Hostinger vs Squarespace: Which Is Best for You?

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Headshot of Emma Ryan
Written By
Headshot of Ollie Simpson
Reviewed By
Updated on November 18, 2025
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We may receive a commission from our partners if you click a link and purchase a product or service. This does not impact our ratings, which are determined by years of hands-on testing and expert research.
Hostinger
Premium
See Pricing

Starting from $11.99

$2.99/mo

  • Free domain for 1 year
  • 170+ designer-made templates
  • AI & SEO tools
Hostinger
Business
See Pricing

Starting from $18.99

$3.99/mo

  • Sell up to 1000 products
  • Zero transaction fees
  • Offer 100+ payment methods
Squarespace
Basic
See Pricing

$19 per month

$17.10 with code WBE10

  • Free custom domain
  • Squarespace AI tools
  • Beautiful templates
Squarespace
Core
See Pricing

$29 per month

$26.10 with code WBE10

  • Unlimited contributors
  • Advanced website analytics
  • Professional Google email

After 300 hours of testing and research, Hostinger and Squarespace sit comfortably in our top three website builders for the year. But, if we compare the builders head-to-head, which comes out on top? Squarespace is the better option overall, offering stylish designs, a beginner-friendly editor, and scalability for online stores.

In a rush? Take a look at our side-by-side table to learn the key differences between Hostinger and Squarespace:

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Overall rating
Today's best price
Free plan or free trial
AI website builder
Recommended for
Squarespace logo black background
hostinger logo

Squarespace

Hostinger

4.5
4.2

$11.99

$2.99/month

14-day free trial

14-day free trial

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check

Creatives, portfolios and service-based businesses

Freelancers and budget-conscious users

If you’re looking for the most cost-effective builder, Hostinger beats Squarespace when it comes to price. In fact, Hostinger is one of the cheapest website builders out there, with both of its plans costing just a few dollars per month.

How Much Does Hostinger Cost?

  • Hostinger’s pricing ranges from $2.99 to $3.99 per month (for a 48-month term)
  • There are two premium plans to choose between
  • You’ll need the Business Website Builder plan to sell online
  • Hostinger has a seven-day free trial to test out the platform
Hostinger's website builder plans and pricing
Hostinger has some of the cheapest website builder plans, particularly if you want to sell online. Source: Website Builder Expert

How Much Does Squarespace Cost?

  • Squarespace’s pricing ranges from $19 to $99 per month (billed annually)
  • There are four premium plans to choose between
  • You can sell products and services with any Squarespace plan
  • Test out the builder yourself with its 14-day free trial
  • Get 10% off your plan with our code “WBE10”
The Winner

Hostinger's plans are very cheap

Both Hostinger and Squarespace are pretty affordable, but Hostinger’s plans are incredibly cheap and budget-friendly. While there’s less flexibility and scalability with Hostinger’s two plans, they’re a great option for personal sites and small businesses looking to get online without breaking the bank.

Squarespace is the easiest website builder I’ve tested, thanks to its drag-and-drop editor, stylish designs, and AI support when getting set up. However, it’s a close call between the two builders, with both providing impressive tools and editors for beginners.

Setting Up Your Site

Hostinger and Squarespace guide new users towards their AI website builders to help speed up the onboarding process. Hostinger uses a traditional AI prompt format, where you can describe your website or business in a few sentences and get a personalized template generated for you.

With Squarespace, I could use Blueprint AI, its AI-powered guided design process. This five-step journey gives you more control over how your site looks before you get into the editor. For example, I was asked to choose what pages to include, as well as pick a font type and color scheme to match my brand.

Quote
Is it worth using an AI website builder?

From my testing, Hostinger’s AI builder is quicker in general, but the time you spend with Squarespace’s Blueprint AI is really up to you. You can take half an hour looking through different design options or fonts if you want to, or click through the process in less than a minute. Alternatively, I could skip the AI builder altogether and choose one of Squarespace’s stunning templates.

With either platform, their AI builders are great for anyone short on time or unfamiliar with building a website. However you feel about AI, there’s no doubt that it makes getting online incredibly accessible and easy. 

Headshot of Emma Ryan
Emma Ryan Lead Writer
Squarespace Blueprint AI stage asking you to choose from a list of font types
I enjoyed the collaborative experience provided by Squarespace's Blueprint AI. Source: Website Builder Expert

Using the Editor

Both builders have drag-and-drop editors – the most user-friendly way to build a website from scratch. Hostinger lets you drag items anywhere, whereas Squarespace has a grid framework in place to help you snap elements and sections together.

Hostinger is a better choice if you want total creative control, but I’d recommend using Squarespace if you’re a beginner. From my time with Squarespace, the editor is so intuitive and easy-to-understand, and you can take your pick from a library of stylish design elements. Just remember to save your work manually, since Squarespace doesn’t have an autosave feature.

Squarespace's grid overlay in the website editor appearing when moving a text box
I found it easy to avoid making my pages messy thanks to Squarespace's grid. Source: Website Builder Expert
The Winner

Squarespace is best for beginners

It’s a pretty even fight, but Squarespace’s Blueprint AI and drag-and-drop editor are better for beginners than Hostinger. Personally, I find Squarespace’s builder more enjoyable to use and the editor feels very supportive with its grid overlay. Plus, the variety of trendy and modern designs makes it easy to pull together a professional-looking website with no experience.

We’ve tested the top ecommerce website builders for the year, with both Squarespace and Hostinger making our list of the top five. But, if we put them head-to-head, I’d recommend Squarespace for your online store.

Squarespace lets you sell products with any of its plans, giving you room to grow and expand your business. In comparison, Hostinger has a single ecommerce plan, so there’s limited scalability.

🛒 Selling With Squarespace

Here are some of the key Squarespace ecommerce features you can expect:

  • Sell unlimited products on all plans
  • Unlimited storage space
  • Acuity Scheduling (to take bookings)
  • Squarespace Payments (to centralize your finances and reduce processing fees)
  • Abandoned cart recovery
  • Shipping labels
  • POS integration
  • Create gift cards and discounts
  • Set up product status labels
  • Connect with socials, marketplaces, and Google Shopping

You can see a full breakdown of Squarespace’s ecommerce features in our video:

🛒 Selling With Hostinger

Hostinger’s ecommerce features aren’t as expansive as Squarespace’s:

  • Sell up to 1,000 products
  • Schedule and sell services online
  • Unlimited storage
  • 100+ payment methods
  • Create gift cards and discounts
  • Customize shipping options
  • Product reviews
  • Add suggested products
The Winner

Squarespace is better for online stores

Squarespace offers a great range of sales features and the scalability to support both new and growing online stores. And, its Acuity Scheduling tool is ideal for service-based businesses looking to manage and take bookings online.

I wouldn’t say either builder excels when it comes to website features, but Hostinger and Squarespace provide you with the basics. If you’re looking for the best suite of built-in tools, Wix is actually your best bet, but Squarespace outperforms Hostinger in our testing.

➡️ See how the three compare in our Hostinger vs Wix vs Squarespace review!

You can expect the following features from Hostinger and Squarespace:

  • A free custom domain for the first year
  • Email marketing
  • SEO tools
  • Social media integration
  • Blogging capabilities
  • Analytics to monitor performance
  • Free SSL certificates
Hostinger Reach chat to create a new email template for a store sale
I asked Hostinger Reach to help me create an email template for a summer sale. Source: Website Builder Expert

What Could Be Improved?

Squarespace and Hostinger both fall short when it comes to adding extra functionality to your site. Hostinger doesn’t have an app market with third-party integrations, so the built-in features are all that you get.

Squarespace does have an app library, named Squarespace Extensions, but it doesn’t match the scale of the app markets you get with other major builders, including Wix or Shopify. Squarespace Extensions provides access to over 40 integrations, which isn’t many, but you can connect with popular platforms, such as ShipStation, QuickBooks, Mailchimp, and Printify.

The Winner

Squarespace offers more functionality

A large portion of Hostinger’s built-in functionality is only available if you upgrade to the Business Website Builder plan, whereas Squarespace’s best tools are available from its cheapest plan. Squarespace also gives users and merchants the ability to add third-party software to their site.

Hostinger and Squarespace both sit in our list of the best AI website builders for 2026, offering beginner-friendly AI tools to help you design your site from scratch. However, when it comes to creating content with AI, Hostinger takes the lead.

Hostinger’s AI Tools 🔍

  • AI website builder
  • AI image generator
  • AI writer
  • AI blog generator
  • AI SEO tools
  • AI logo maker
  • AI product generator
  • AI assistant, Kodee
  • Hostinger Horizons
  • Hostinger Reach (email marketing)

Squarespace’s AI Tools 🔍

  • AI website builder (Blueprint AI)
  • Text generation
  • AI blog posts
  • Brand identity support
  • AI SEO site descriptions
  • AI video descriptions
  • AI course descriptions
  • AI proposals
  • Business name generator
  • Domain name generator
Hostinger's AI product generator tool
I could get Hostinger to populate my product pages based on an image. Source: Website Builder Expert
The Winner

Hostinger has a growing suite of AI tools

While Squarespace’s AI website builder is arguably better than Hostinger’s brief form, Hostinger’s AI tools are some of the best we’ve tested. The platform prioritizes AI support for its users above most other areas, and Hostinger has introduced multiple new features, such as Horizons and Reach, in this year alone.

Based on our most recent 2025 testing, Squarespace’s customer service is better than Hostinger’s. What helps give Squarespace the edge is its 24/7 email support, community forum, and the option to hire experts for help on topics such as SEO, scheduling, and online store setup.

You can expect the following support channels and resources from both builders:

  • Live chat
  • Social media (Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, X)
  • Help Center

Unfortunately, Hostinger and Squarespace lack phone support, so you’ll have to communicate with the customer service teams via messages only.

Squarespace chatbot assistant in the help center
I could chat with Squarespace's AI live chat or request to be connected with a human team member. Source: Website Builder Expert
The Winner

Squarespace offers expert support

Both builders provide responsive, 24/7 customer service, but Squarespace goes the extra mile by providing hands-on support from experts across a variety of topics. This is something that all of our top five website builders offer, apart from Hostinger.

I’ve spent over three years building websites and reviewing platforms, like Hostinger and Squarespace. As a team, we’ve carried out 300+ hours of analysis and hands-on testing to deliver accurate recommendations.

Our research process looks at key areas, such as pricing and website features. You can learn more about how we test website builders below:

When testing website builders, our focus is on six core areas of investigation:

  • Website Functionality: 30%
  • Design Features: 25%
  • Pricing: 15%
  • User Experience: 15%
  • Help and Support: 10%
  • Reputation: 5%

Each category has a unique weighting, depending on its importance to individuals and businesses looking to get online. We can then award a builder its overall rating, based on its scores across our research categories.

Hostinger and Squarespace are great choices for anyone looking to get online, but the right builder for you will depend on your site and business needs.

Based on our testing, Squarespace is the better choice overall, offering a user-friendly editor, modern templates, and great booking tools, whereas Hostinger shines with its affordable plans and AI tools.

No matter which builder you pick, I recommend checking out the free trials on offer to test out the features and editors for yourself.

Written By

Headshot of Emma Ryan

Emma is Deputy Editor of MVF’s B2B brands, specializing in website builders, ecommerce, marketing, and vibe coding. Emma combines her wealth of knowledge and years of hands-on testing with a passion for helping small businesses and website owners navigate the highs and lows of being online. Her work has been featured in Newsweek, Digiday, TechRound, and Industry Today.

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Reviewed By

Headshot of Ollie Simpson

After three years of refining his skills in data analysis, Oliver transitioned to a role as a researcher to help understand reader preferences, decision making factors, pain points, and needs when it comes to building an online presence.

Oliver’s professional journey started out as a researcher in law enforcement, where he developed strong analytical abilities. He later moved into operations, which strengthened his understanding of quantitative data.

Now, Oliver blends his quantitative analysis skills with qualitative research to explore both audience preferences and product nuances.

In his three years at Website Builder Expert, Oliver has used his skills to provide up to date, unbiased insights into the products we review, to help ensure the best possible recommendations for readers. Oliver regularly assesses and iterates our website builder research methodology, staying on top of industry trends, digging into platform features and UX, and prioritizing areas that matter most to business owners. This provides web builder and ecommerce rankings you can trust.

In 2025 alone, Oliver’s conducted over 100 hours of data collection across website builder and ecommerce testing, and investigated 283 individual areas in the ecommerce methodology. He’s overseen 54 individual user tests of website builders, to assess how easy they are to use, and compiled the data into clear ratings for each builder.

You’ll find Oliver’s research referenced across all of our key pages; our content team use it to determine the ranking orders of pages such as the Best Website Builders of 2025, or comparisons like Wix vs Squarespace. We don’t decide who “wins” on personal preference; Oliver’s thorough research clearly outlines which platforms are best for different user needs.

Equipped with a UX design diploma, Oliver translates complex research findings into actionable insights that facilitate informed decision-making.

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