Squarespace review

Squarespace suits beginners who want their first site to look professional without making many design choices. Its pricing page describes beautiful templates designed for business and personal goals, and layouts are edited with Fluid Engine, which Squarespace calls its newest drag-and-drop editing experience on version 7.1 sites. Every site starts with a 14-day free trial and no credit card is needed, which gives you time to build the whole site before deciding. Annual plans include one year of free domain registration, and built-in AI tools can draft site text. The limits matter for budget-minded first-timers. Squarespace says it does not offer a free plan, and the Basic plan charges a 2% transaction fee on online product, service or donation sales, which you avoid by upgrading. Its pricing page showed us prices in another currency, so we list the price as pending rather than guess at a US figure. If design quality matters more to you than cost, it is the strongest alternative to Wix.

Who it is for

Beginners who care most about a polished look and want a template that already looks finished.

Price

See vendor pricing (USD check pending). No free plan; every site starts with a 14-day free trial and annual plans are cheaper.

US price check pending. See the vendor pricing page.

Key features

• Designer templates built for business and personal goals
• Fluid Engine drag-and-drop editor on version 7.1 sites
• 14-day free trial with no credit card required
• Free custom domain for the first year on annual plans
• Built-in AI tools for writing site content

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Templates look finished out of the box, so less design work
• Strength: Drag-and-drop layout editing without code
• Strength: Trial needs no credit card
• Weakness: No free plan once the trial ends
• Weakness: Basic charges a 2% transaction fee on online sales
• Weakness: USD prices were not shown to us, so price is pending

Key facts

• Free plan: No, 14-day free trial
• Editor: Fluid Engine drag and drop
• Free domain: First year on annual plans
• Store fee on Basic: 2% per online sale

Where it ranks

Squarespace is No. 2 in our Best Website Builders for Beginners verdict and No. 3 in Best Website Builders for Dance Studios and No. 2 in Best Mobile-Friendly Website Builders and No. 9 in Best Website Builders for Real Estate and No. 4 in Best Website Builders for Salons and No. 1 in Best Website Builders for Templates and No. 6 in Best Website Builders in Canada and No. 7 in Best Website Builders in India and No. 3 in Best Website Builders in the UK.