Bluehost vs Squarespace: Which Platform Wins in 2026?

Bluehost is a better web host than Squarespace, because the two platforms offer entirely different customer experiences.

I highly recommend choosing Bluehost if you’ve built a website with WordPress, since every plan includes free WordPress migration, automatic updates, a staging environment, and other optimized features for the CMS. In fact, Bluehost has been recommended by WordPress for over two decades, showing just how trusted Bluehost is for WordPress-built sites.

Of course, Bluehost has its drawbacks, namely steep renewal fees and a considerable number of premium add-ons (including security and domain privacy). That said, you can choose a hosting plan that suits your budget, storage needs, and performance requirements.

Who Should Choose Squarespace?

Squarespace is ideal for portfolio sites, creatives, or service-based businesses, because of its built-in functionality (including scheduling tools) and stunning designs.

Squarespace doesn’t offer hosting-only plans. Instead, you need to sign up to its website builder, which has hosting built into the package. As a result, Squarespace is only compatible with Squarespace-built websites – website management, hosting, security, ecommerce, and content creation exists within the Squarespace ecosystem.

This is incredibly convenient for beginners and small businesses looking for an easy-to-use solution and a simple billing cycle. You pay for your website builder plan and the essentials are included automatically.

To help you compare Bluehost and Squarespace, I’ve put them side-by-side in the table below:

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WINNER
Bluehost	Squarespace
Starting from $3.99	Starting from $16
Renewal price From $9.99 per month	Renewal price From $16 per month
Money-back guarantee 30 days	Money-back guarantee 14 days
Types of hosting Shared, WordPress, WooCommerce, VPS, dedicated	Types of hosting Fully-managed cloud hosting
AI website builder Bluehost AI Site Creation tool	AI website builder Blueprint AI Builder
Number of sites 10 – 100	Number of sites 1
Storage space 10 – 3,000GB NVMe SSD	Storage space Unlimited
Uptime guarantee 99.99%	Uptime guarantee 99.9%
Server locations USA, Canada, Germany, France, UK, Spain, India, Brazil, Australia	Server locations USA
Free domain Free for 1 year	Free domain Free for 1 year
SSL certificate Free	SSL certificate Free
Email accounts 1 month free trial (then $2.99/month)	Email accounts Google Workspace (free for 1 year, then $7/per user per month)
WordPress migration Free	WordPress migration Manual
Automated backups Weekly	Automated backups None
Security features Malware scanning, web application firewall, DDoS protection, weekly website backups, SiteLock Essentials, Codeguard, domain privacy	Security features Web application firewalls, DDoS protection, domain privacy, 24/7 monitoring, PCI compliance
24/7 support Live chat, phone	24/7 support Email
Visit Bluehost	See Squarespace

Squarespace is a cheaper option than Bluehost, but you’re paying for a website builder, not a web host. Squarespace’s plan pricing stays the same year-on-year, whereas Bluehost’s cheap introductory deals are replaced by higher standard rates eventually. Plus, a lot of features, such as ecommerce and security are included in the price for Squarespace, whereas these are add-ons with Bluehost.

Bluehost’s pricing ranges from $3.99 to $144.19 per month (for a 36-month term):

Squarespace’s pricing ranges from $16 to $99 per month (billed annually), split across four plans:

Bluehost is a reliable and fast web host, with our tests recording a US server response time of 0.58s. Our website builder site speed tests found Squarespace to be a little sluggish at times, with an average score of 53 – a sign that improvement’s needed.

Additionally, Bluehost has a better uptime guarantee of 99.99%, whereas Squarespace promises 99.9%. This makes Squarespace less reliable than Bluehost. Of course, both platforms aim for 100% uptime, but you could experience up to 44 minutes of downtime with Squarespace, versus Bluehost’s potential for four minutes of downtime.

Bluehost is a very recognizable web host, with most customers offering positive feedback about its WordPress-optimized plans and 24/7 support. However, I noticed negative sentiment around Bluehost’s parent company, Newfold Digital, particularly for its poor customer service and aggressive upselling schemes.

And, with some customers feeling trapped by Bluehost’s renewal rates, it’s not surprising to see less-than-glowing feedback around billing.

Praise for Squarespace is mostly directed at its easy-to-use editor and professional templates, especially for beginners to website building. However, some users have difficulty with the limited 24/7 support options and payments, especially for domain names.

Bluehost is a better web host than Squarespace because of its cheap introductory prices, WordPress integration, scalable plans, and 24/7 customer support. With a range of hosting types, from shared to dedicated, Bluehost offers something to both beginners and advanced users, personal projects and high-traffic businesses.

On the other hand, Squarespace provides convenience and a beginner-friendly experience for users looking to build a website from scratch. While I’ve made my recommendation clear, assess your business needs, long-term goals, and budget before deciding which web host or website builder to choose.