Squarespace vs Wix (2025): Which Website Builder Is Better?

Squarespace and Wix are two of the most popular website builders, but they take fundamentally different approaches to design and flexibility. After building multiple sites on both platforms, here’s our honest comparison to help you choose the right one.

Quick Comparison#

Squarespace Overview#

Squarespace is the premium option, prioritizing design quality and sophistication over feature quantity. It’s the choice for creatives who want their website to look like it was designed by a professional agency.

Strengths#

• Superior design aesthetic — Every template feels premium and modern
• Better out-of-the-box results — Less customization needed for professional look
• Cleaner, less cluttered interface — More curated, less overwhelming
• Better for content-heavy sites — Excellent blogging features and typography
• Professional templates — All designed by in-house team

Weaknesses#

• Less flexibility — Can’t place elements anywhere with absolute positioning
• Smaller app ecosystem — About 40 extensions vs Wix’s 300+
• No free plan — Only 14-day trial (Wix offers free forever with ads)
• Steeper learning curve — Takes longer to master the editor
• More expensive — Generally $5-10/mo more than equivalent Wix plans

Wix Overview#

Wix is the feature-rich option, offering maximum flexibility and the largest app marketplace. It gives you more creative control but requires more design decision-making.

Strengths#

• Maximum flexibility — Place elements anywhere with pixel-perfect control
• Extensive app marketplace — 300+ apps for extended functionality
• Better for complex functionality — More integrations and third-party tools
• Free plan available — Forever free (with Wix branding)
• Easier for beginners — Truly intuitive drag-and-drop
• Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) — AI can build entire site for you

Weaknesses#

• Inconsistent template quality — Some templates look dated or amateur
• Can look “Wix-y” — Generic aesthetic if you don’t invest design time
• Feature overload — Too many options can be overwhelming
• Ads on free plan — Wix branding and ads unless you upgrade
• Less elegant typography — Font rendering not as refined as Squarespace

Design Quality & Templates#

This is where Squarespace clearly wins.

Squarespace Templates#

Squarespace offers 150+ templates, all designed by professional designers. Every template is:

• Modern and sophisticated
• Mobile-responsive by default
• Appropriate for business use
• Interchangeable (switch templates without losing content)

Popular templates like Wells (portfolios), Bedford (blogs), and Beaumont (stores) are used by major brands and creative professionals. The design quality is consistently high.

Wix Templates#

Wix offers 900+ templates across every category imaginable. However, quality varies significantly:

• Some templates are modern and professional
• Others look dated (early 2010s aesthetic)
• Not all templates are equally mobile-optimized
• Template switching is limited (you can’t change templates without rebuilding)

The best Wix templates (like Elara, Carine, or Montauk) can match Squarespace’s quality, but you need to be selective. Many free Wix templates look generic.

Winner: Squarespace — More consistent design quality, better default aesthetics.

Ease of Use#

Both are beginner-friendly, but they approach simplicity differently.

Squarespace Editor#

Squarespace uses a section-based editor with a grid system (Fluid Engine):

• Drag sections and blocks within a structured grid
• Less freedom, but harder to make design mistakes
• Live preview of changes
• Cleaner interface with fewer options visible
• Takes 2-3 hours to learn the system

It’s like designing with guardrails — you can’t break the design, but you have less absolute control.

Wix Editor#

Wix uses absolute positioning — place anything anywhere:

• Completely free-form drag-and-drop
• Pixel-perfect control over element placement
• More visible options and settings
• Can feel overwhelming with choices
• Takes 30 minutes to understand basics

Wix also offers ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence), which builds an entire site by asking you questions — perfect for users who want zero design work.

Winner: Wix — Slightly easier for absolute beginners, though Squarespace is easier to get professional results without design skills.

Ecommerce Comparison#

Both platforms handle small to medium online stores well (under 1,000 products).

Squarespace Ecommerce#

Available on Business ($23/mo) and Commerce plans ($27-49/mo):

• Clean, professional checkout experience
• 0% transaction fees on Commerce plans (3% on Business)
• Unlimited products on Commerce plans
• Abandoned cart recovery (Advanced plan)
• Subscriptions and memberships
• Print-on-demand integration
• Real-time shipping rates
• Automatic tax calculation

Squarespace’s checkout feels more premium — similar to Shopify’s experience.

Wix Ecommerce#

Available on Business & Ecommerce plans ($27-159/mo):

• More apps for extended sales functionality
• 0% transaction fees on Ecommerce plans
• Unlimited products on all plans
• Abandoned cart recovery
• Multichannel selling (Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, eBay)
• Dropshipping apps
• More payment gateways (50+ vs Squarespace’s Stripe/PayPal)

Wix offers more selling channels and app integrations, while Squarespace offers a more polished checkout experience.

Winner: Tie — Squarespace for design-focused stores, Wix for multichannel selling.

SEO Capabilities#

Both platforms provide good SEO fundamentals, with Wix offering slightly more control.

Squarespace SEO#

• Clean, fast-loading code
• SSL certificates included
• Mobile-responsive (critical for Google)
• Custom URLs and meta descriptions
• Alt text for images
• Auto-generated sitemaps
• 301 redirects
• AMP support for blogs

Squarespace’s SEO is solid but streamlined — no advanced plugins.

Wix SEO#

• All Squarespace features plus:
• More granular robots.txt control
• Structured data markup
• Wix SEO Wiz (guided optimization)
• Better URL structure control
• Canonical tags for duplicate content
• More detailed meta tag control

Wix has made huge SEO improvements since 2018 and now offers more control than Squarespace for technical SEO.

Winner: Wix — More SEO control and optimization tools.

Pricing Comparison#

Both are similarly priced, with Squarespace slightly more expensive.

Website Plans#

Ecommerce Plans#

Winner: Wix — Free plan available, similar pricing otherwise.

Blogging Features#

Squarespace has the edge for content creators.

Squarespace Blogging#

• Multiple blog pages per site
• Rich post editor with formatting
• Scheduled publishing
• Categories and tags
• Author profiles (multi-author support)
• AMP for mobile speed
• RSS feeds
• Built-in commenting or Disqus integration
• Beautiful typography and reading experience

Squarespace started as a blogging platform and it shows — the blogging features rival WordPress.

Wix Blogging#

• Single blog per site (without apps)
• Good post editor
• Scheduled posts
• Categories and tags
• Basic author profiles
• Comments and social sharing
• RSS feeds
• Less elegant reading experience

Wix’s blog is functional but not as refined as Squarespace’s.

Winner: Squarespace — Superior blogging platform for content creators.

Customer Support#

Both offer solid support with different approaches.

Squarespace Support#

• 24/7 live chat and email
• Extensive video tutorials
• Help center with detailed guides
• Community forum
• Responsive (typically under 5 minutes for chat)

Wix Support#

• 24/7 phone and email support
• Live chat (business hours)
• Massive knowledge base
• YouTube tutorials
• Community forum with 1M+ members

Winner: Tie — Both provide excellent support through different channels.

App & Integration Ecosystem#

Wix dominates with quantity, Squarespace focuses on quality.

Squarespace Extensions#

About 40 curated extensions including:

• Scheduling (Acuity)
• Social media feeds
• Customer reviews
• Printful (print-on-demand)
• Google Workspace
• Mailchimp, ConvertKit
• Zapier for custom integrations

Squarespace’s approach is curated — fewer options but well-integrated.

Wix App Market#

300+ apps covering:

• Marketing and SEO tools
• Booking and scheduling
• Forms and surveys
• Social media integrations
• Analytics and tracking
• Live chat and support
• Shipping and fulfillment
• Payment processors

Wix’s marketplace feels like a mini app store — far more options.

Winner: Wix — Much larger app ecosystem for extended functionality.

Which Should You Choose?#

Choose Squarespace If:#

• You prioritize beautiful, professional design
• You’re a creative (photographer, designer, artist, writer)
• You want a sophisticated blog or content-heavy site
• You prefer curated simplicity over endless options
• You’re willing to pay more for premium aesthetics
• You want your site to look expensive without design skills

Choose Wix If:#

• You want maximum flexibility and customization
• You need lots of third-party apps and integrations
• You’re building a complex site with custom functionality
• You want multichannel ecommerce (Amazon, eBay, social)
• You need a free plan to start
• You want absolute control over element placement
• You’re comfortable making more design decisions

Our Bottom Line#

Both are excellent website builders, but they serve different users. Squarespace is the premium option for those who value design quality and sophistication — it’s the choice for creatives, content creators, and businesses that want to look professional with minimal effort.

Wix is the flexible powerhouse for those who want maximum control and functionality — it’s the choice for entrepreneurs, marketers, and businesses that need extensive app integrations.

For most small business websites and portfolios, we lean toward Squarespace because the design quality makes such a difference in perceived professionalism. But if you need specific functionality (like dropshipping apps, advanced booking systems, or multichannel selling), Wix offers more tools to get it done.

Squarespace Pros & Cons#

Wix Pros & Cons#

FAQ#