Wix vs Squarespace (2025): Which Website Builder Is Best for Your Business?
Choosing between Wix and Squarespace is not just about picking the easiest website builder — it’s about choosing a platform that can actually grow with your business goals.
Whether you’re launching a small service business, a portfolio, a blog, or a full e-commerce store, the differences between Wix and Squarespace can impact your site’s success.
In this detailed guide, we break down every key factor, with real data, examples, and use case recommendations, so you can make the best choice.
Light
Pros
- Wix-powered websites are fast
- Has intuitive drag-and-drop design features
- Digital marketing integrations are super easy
Cons
- One paid plan (except Enterprise) for only one site.
- Wix branding on Free plan
Basic
Pros
- You can create up to 1,000 pages
- In-built SEO tools
- Free SSL certificates
Cons
- You can not publish your professional website on the free trial mode
- No free plan, only free trail period
Wix Overview
Wix is a beginner-friendly website builder with drag-and-drop controls and hundreds of templates.
It’s great if you want full creative freedom to design any type of site — business, portfolio, blog, or online store — without needing technical skills.
You can start for free and expand as your needs grow.
Squarespace Overview
Squarespace is built to create beautiful, professional-looking websites quickly.
It offers sleek templates, built-in marketing tools, and strong support for e-commerce and blogging.
Squarespace is ideal for a clean, polished site that’s easy to manage without extra apps.
Wix vs Squarespace: Quick Overview
| Feature | Wix | Squarespace |
| Ease of Use | Drag-and-drop, beginner-friendly | Structured editor, professional design |
| Design & Templates | 800+ templates, highly customizable | 150+ polished templates, mobile-first |
| E-commerce | Good for small to mid-size stores | Stronger for serious selling |
| SEO | Solid (needs manual optimization) | Very strong out-of-the-box |
| Blogging | Good features | Excellent blogging tools |
| Pricing | Lower start, free plan available | Slightly higher cost, no free plan |
| Free Plan/Free Trial |
✅ Free Plan | ✅ Trial only |
| Integrations | Wix App Market (500+ apps) | Limited integrations, built-in tools |
| Best For | Beginners, creatives, service sites | Businesses, online stores, bloggers |
Wix vs. Squarespace Key Differences
1. Ease of Use
Wix
- True drag-and-drop: Move anything anywhere on the page.
- Wix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence): Auto-builds a site for you.
- Learning curve: Very low — users can publish in under an hour.
- Flexibility downside: Beginners sometimes make messy designs without guidance.
Squarespace
- Structured editor: Keeps layouts clean and professional automatically.
- No “blank canvas” freedom: More rigid but better for branding.
- Learning curve: Slightly steeper, but less risk of poor-looking pages.
💡 Insight: Wix is like a blank art canvas; Squarespace is like coloring inside beautiful lines.
2. Design, Templates, and Branding
| Wix | Squarespace | |
| Number of Templates | 800+ | 150+ |
| Mobile Responsiveness | Manual tweaks sometimes needed | Auto-optimized |
| Industry Coverage | Business, portfolio, blog, store, restaurant, event | Business, portfolio, blog, photography, online stores |
| Branding Options | High customization, but possible inconsistency | Highly consistent, brand-focused |
Real-world numbers:
- Wix claims 200 million users globally (Source: Wix Investor Relations).
- Squarespace powers about 3.79 million websites (Source: BuiltWith 2025).
💡 Insight: If brand consistency and luxury feel matter most (especially for portfolios, agencies, and photography), Squarespace wins.
3. E-commerce Features: What You Can (and Can’t) Sell
Wix
- Best for small stores: Up to a few hundred products.
- Selling digital goods: Supported (music, ebooks, online courses).
- Multi-currency: Only via third-party apps.
- Subscriptions/memberships: Available with paid add-ons.
- Dropshipping: Supported via Modalyst, Spocket apps.
Squarespace
- Stronger inventory management: Good for selling 500+ SKUs.
- Selling services: Natively supported.
- Subscriptions: Built-in for recurring billing (ideal for SaaS, coaching).
- Gift cards: Available by default.
- Limited dropshipping: Limited integrations compared to Wix.
| E-commerce Type | Best Platform |
| Small handmade store | Wix |
| Subscription box business | Squarespace |
| Digital products | Both are good |
| Global/multi-currency store | Neither natively (use Shopify instead) |
💡 Insight: Squarespace is much better if you plan on recurring revenue models (subscriptions, memberships).
4. SEO Capabilities
Both Wix and Squarespace offer strong SEO tools, but their philosophy is different:
| Feature | Wix | Squarespace |
| Meta titles & descriptions | ✅ | ✅ |
| Custom URLs | ✅ | ✅ |
| Mobile optimization | Manual sometimes | Automatic |
| Page speed | Good if optimized | Excellent out of the box |
| Schema markup | Limited, requires apps | Better structured data built-in |
Important stat:
Pagespeed heavily affects SEO. Squarespace sites often score 85–90/100 mobile performance on Google’s PageSpeed Insights out of the box, while Wix averages 70–80/100 unless manually optimized.
💡 Insight: Squarespace wins if you want SEO power with minimal manual work.
5. Blogging Features
| Wix | Squarespace | |
| Post scheduling | ✅ | ✅ |
| Tagging and categories | ✅ | ✅ |
| AMP support (faster mobile blogs) | ❌ | ✅ |
| Multiple authors | Limited | Fully supported |
💡 Insight: If blogging is critical to your marketing (content-heavy sites, personal brands, SaaS blogs), Squarespace is significantly better.
6. Pricing
| Plan Type | Wix Pricing | Squarespace Pricing |
| Basic Website | From $17/month | From $16/month |
| Business Website | From $29/month | From $23/month |
| Advanced E-commerce | From $36/month | From $39/month |
Important:
- Wix: Has a free plan (ads + Wix branding).
- Squarespace: Only a 14-day free trial, then mandatory paid plan.
💡 Insight: Wix is better if you want to start completely free. Squarespace offers more value at mid-level business plans (especially $36/month Commerce plan).
7. Integrations and Extensions
| Wix | Squarespace | |
| Third-party apps | 500+ via Wix App Market | Limited |
| Built-in features | Basic + optional apps | Strong out of the box |
| CRM tools | Separate apps | Built-in Squarespace CRM |
| Booking tools | Separate apps | Built-in Acuity Scheduling |
💡 Insight: Wix gives you more flexibility (but sometimes more complexity); Squarespace offers simplicity at the cost of fewer outside tools.
8. AI Features: How Smart Are Wix and Squarespace?
AI (Artificial Intelligence) is becoming a big part of website building, helping users design faster, write content, and optimize marketing.
Here’s how Wix and Squarespace compare when it comes to AI-powered tools:
| Feature | Wix | Squarespace |
| AI Website Builder | ✅ Wix ADI | ✅ Blueprint |
| AI Text Writer | ✅ (SEO-friendly) | ✅ (Marketing copy) |
| AI Logo Generator | ✅ | ❌ |
| AI Chatbots/Automation | ✅ | Limited to booking/CRM |
Final Recommendation: Who Should Choose Wix vs Squarespace?
| You Should Choose | If You Are |
| Wix | A freelancer, service business, creative, personal brand, small store owner |
| Squarespace | A professional brand, designer, photographer, blogger, subscription business |
Bottom line:
- Use Wix if you want the easiest, freest way to start, especially if your site is mainly informational or smaller e-commerce.
- Use Squarespace for a gorgeous, brand-first site with serious blogging or e-commerce capabilities.
- Best for Beginners: Wix
- Best for Polished Design: Squarespace
- Best for Growing an Online Store: Squarespace
- Best for Testing Free: Wix
- Best for Serious Blogging: Squarespace
Wix vs Squarespace FAQ
1. Is Wix or Squarespace better for beginners?
Wix is better for beginners who want total creative freedom without coding. Its drag-and-drop editor is intuitive and easy to learn, while Squarespace’s structured editor has a slightly steeper learning curve but keeps designs polished.
2. Can I sell products on both Wix and Squarespace?
Yes, both platforms support online selling. Wix is great for small stores and selling digital products, while Squarespace offers stronger built-in tools for larger stores, subscriptions, and scaling e-commerce businesses.
3. Does Wix have better SEO than Squarespace?
Both offer strong SEO tools, but Squarespace usually provides faster page load speeds and cleaner default site structures, which can give it a slight SEO advantage out of the box.
4. Which platform has a better free option?
Wix offers a free forever plan (with ads and Wix branding), while Squarespace offers only a 14-day free trial. If you want to start completely free, Wix is the better choice.
5. Can I switch from Wix to Squarespace later?
It’s possible, but not automatic. You’ll need to manually rebuild your site on Squarespace since there’s no direct import tool between Wix and Squarespace.
