Wix vs Squarespace 2023: 9 Key Differences You Need to Know

Wix vs Squarespace: Quick Comparison

Go to the top

Expert Insights

Katherine Brown

Katherine Brown is the founder and marketing director at Spyic, a tech company specializing in parental control and remote monitoring programs.

I decided to use Wix over Squarespace to build my website for various reasons. Wix offers more ecommerce features, and the pricing structure of the Business and Enterprise plans all facilitate ecommerce. Also, a vital ecommerce feature – abandoned cart recovery – is available at a considerably lower price with Wix.</p> <p>I liked that Wix is more beginner friendly and easier to use. In terms of quantity, Wix offers more templates than Squarespace. It also offers a free plan, which Squarespace doesn’t. However, regardless of Wix having more templates, there is something undeniably special about the design of Squarespace templates.

In a rush? Looking for quick answers? We get it – here’s a quick side-by-side comparison table to help you weigh up whether Wix or Squarespace is better for your needs.

Read on for our detailed comparison to find out exactly why Squarespace’s designs are better, why we recommend Wix for beginners, and which has better marketing tools.

Ease of Use

Which Is More Beginner Friendly?

Go to the top

Which Is More Beginner Friendly?

The Winner

Wix is easier to use than Squarespace

Although Squarespace is by no means difficult, Wix’s drag-and-drop editor and optional Wix ADI feature make it better for beginners. Squarespace has come on leaps and bounds in terms of its ease of use, but it still requires a little more patience than Wix.

Visit Wix

Drag-and-Drop Editor: No Need for Code

Both Wix and Squarespace are drag-and-drop website builders.

Wix is a “pure” drag-and-drop builder, meaning you really can drop whatever you want, wherever you want it. Squarespace isn’t exactly the same – you can’t drag elements around as freely as you can with Wix. This means it takes a little longer to get used to.

If you’re short on time or you don’t feel you have the confidence to build your own website from scratch, both Wix and Squarespace have an Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) option which will generate a website for you based on your answers to a few simple questions.

In our testing, Wix scored 4.4 out of 5 for ease of use, because of its smooth drag-and-drop editor. Squarespace’s section-based design, although simple in the long run, is more challenging initially which is why it came out slightly lower than Wix. Despite this, however, it’s worth shouting out the improvements that Squarespace has made in this category. The editor is now much more beginner-friendly, guiding you around all of the most important components, and its overall ease of use score has seen an increase of 14.6% since our last round of testing. Thanks to this, Squarespace now scores a very respectable 4 out of 5. Although this can’t beat Wix, it puts Squarespace in our top five easiest builders to use.

Expert Insight

Will 'Brimstone' Kucmierowski

Will 'Brimstone’ Kucmierowski is a well-seasoned entertainer and serial entertainment entrepreneur. He boasts a list of titles including professional wrestler, radio host/professional podcaster, actor, voice actor, author, musician, philanthropist, food critic, horror model, and comic book/animated/children’s book/video game hero.

When I started building my website with Wix, the learning curve was really simple and I excelled. I rebuilt my entire website over the course of two weeks, and have never looked back! It was shocking how I was able to rebuild and rebrand my site quickly. I'm thrilled to have everything working as a well-oiled machine without having to rely on anyone other than myself.

Wix vs Squarespace: Ease of Use

Click the image below to expand

Close

Squarespace uses a sidebar to help navigate around the more minimalist editor, as well as an edit button that allows you to make changes to the template

Squarespace starts users off with an editor tour, so you'll have some idea of where all the most important elements live

Wix ADI uses your own choices to create a tailored website in a matter of minutes. You can edit your site later on, and experiment with different styles

Wix’s drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to add in additional elements to your website

Wix in Action: Ksenia Ponka

Ksenia Ponka

Ksenia Ponka is a PR and marketing practitioner. Her passion is to help companies uncover their growth potential and identify solutions to their problems, turning them into growth opportunities. Her professional strength lies in effectively promoting companies and projects through omnichannel communication, combining PR, marketing, CRM, advertising, ecommerce, and social media marketing.

When I announced the launch of my website, more than 20 people wrote to me, asking for contact details for the agency that did the design. And when they heard that it was only me, using Wix, they couldn't believe it.

How long have you been using Wix?

I started to work on my website, Ksenia Ponka, in March 2022. I had no experience in web design, so it was a challenge because I wanted a professional-looking site with multiple pages.

What do you like most about Wix?

Firstly, I tried to use the Tilda website builder, but the number of free templates and the interface weren’t a good fit for my needs. So although it was a great choice to create a portfolio, a resume, or a personal blog, it didn’t work for me. I needed a more complicated design but with easy-to-understand layouts and tools to adjust it. I didn’t watch any guides and how-tos to start a website. I just opened the Wix manager and went on. It was intuitive and user-friendly with plenty of possibilities, including online bookings, request forms, galleries, and sub-pages. Moreover, I got a free voucher for a website domain upgrading to a business account, which helps avoid the service’s ad on your page. Nice touch!

Is there anything you would change about Wix?

Some in-built and third-party plugins cost extra, even if you’ve already paid for a business account. For example, you can choose a template with an online booking service, but if you want it to work, you need to pay, which is a bit frustrating if you already have a professional subscription. Also, even though Wix is a simple website builder for total beginners, some editor options can be intimidating at first.

Would you recommend Wix?

When I announced the launch of my website, more than 20 people wrote to me, asking for contact from an agency that did the design. When they heard that it was only me, using Wix, they couldn’t believe it. So that’s why I would recommend this website builder to other users.

Click the + to see our favorite part of Ksenia's website

Ksenia’s homepage makes a big statement. The color scheme is bold and striking against the stylish white background, and visitors immediately know what it is she offers.

Do You Want To Try Wix’s Simple Editor?

Give it a go and see how easy Wix is for yourself! Take advantage of its free plan and start experimenting today.

Yes, I Want to Try Wix for Free

Design Flexibility

Who Offers More Creative Control?

Go to the top

Who Offers More Creative Control?

The Winner

Squarespace has better design flexibility

Squarespace offers quality over quantity, tons of customization options, and flexibility in spades. Whilst Wix has over 800 attractive, customizable templates, not all its designs have the wow-factor that Squarespace’s template designs do.

Visit Squarespace

Wix has an impressive range of templates, most of which are attractive and provide a foundation for a professional-looking website. They’re all mobile responsive, and come with a mobile editor so you can customize both your desktop and your mobile view.

You’ll notice we said most of Wix’s templates are attractive. When you have over 800 designs, there are bound to be some that miss the mark. We found this one uncomfortable to look at for too long:

Squarespace, on the other hand, provides beautiful template designs right across the board. We found that they were all modern, professional, and carefully tailored to different industries:

In this area, Squarespace is the unbeaten champion of stunning, modern design, scoring 4.7 out of 5 for design flexibility. This is a classic case of quality over quantity; Squarespace may have a smaller range than Wix, but every template has been created by professional designers. And, of course, they’re all mobile responsive.

Expert Insight

Michelle Mak

Michelle Mak is a product developer at Mewl Baby, specializing in baby and motherhood items. Michelle is the creator of the original Mewl Baby Whiteboard.

Squarespace is very intuitive and easy to use – it doesn’t require any coding! Plus, it has a range of beautifully designed templates to choose from. It's also very easy to make changes yourself instead of paying someone else to do it. I completed my site in just one week!

Wix, on the other hand, scored 4.4 out of 5. Although less than Squarespace, this is still an excellent score, putting it in second place for design out of all the website builders we tested. Its strength here lies in the fact that its customizability is nearly unparalleled. You can quite literally drag anything anywhere.

This is very different from Squarespace, where your design is somewhat hampered by the structure of the template you choose. Wix is therefore a good option if you want a lot of creative freedom. However, a word of caution – because there really is no limit to what you can do, it can be easy to lose sight of your overall design, resulting in a website that doesn’t have the same polish as Squarespace’s sites.

Squarespace in Action: Well Together

Iyana Anderson

Iyana Anderson is the Founder and CEO of Well Together LLC, a wellness company dedicated to providing all the truth and tools needed to invest in the wellbeing of both the individual and the collective. She is a licensed social worker, motivational speaker, innovative wellness strategist, and thought leader. Iyana holds a BA degree in Psychology and an MA in Social Work.

Squarespace is user-friendly, and it is easy to access support if you need it.

How long have you been using Squarespace?

I first used Squarespace to build my website, Wellness Together, about a year and a half ago.

What do you like most about Squarespace?

I like that Squarespace is user-friendly. This was really helpful when I initially started my business and had to create my own website, due to my limited budget. Fortunately, the user-friendly aspect allowed me to enhance my knowledge of web design.

Is there anything you'd change about Squarespace?

If I could change one thing about Squarespace, I would change the access to templates once you’ve already created your website.

Would you recommend Squarespace?

I would recommend Squarespace because I find it to be very user-friendly. Plus, it’s easy to access support, whether it be through the Help Center or by contacting a representative.

Click the + to see our favorite part of Iyana's website

Iyana’s website features a clear contact CTA that is followed by descriptions of all the services Iyana offers. This makes it easy for clients to decide what they want.

Do You Want a Beautiful Website?

Squarespace sounds like the perfect match for you! It offers a 14-day trial, which is plenty of time to explore its range of stunning templates.

I Want to Choose My Squarespace Template

Pricing and Value for Money

Where Should You Invest?

Go to the top

Where Should You Invest?

The Winner

Squarespace offers better value for money

Squarespace has four price plans starting at $16 per month, since the recent pricing updates, both Squarespace and Wix pricing is a fairly even match. Even though Wix offers a free package – and a wider choice of plans overall, it still can’t beat Squarespace when it comes to value for money!

Visit Squarespace

Is Wix or Squarespace Cheaper?

Squarespace’s starting plan is cheapest at $16 per month (billed annually). This is compared to Wix’s starter plan, which costs $16 per month (billed annually). However, Wix also comes with a free plan, while Squarespace doesn’t.

Wix and Squarespace Pricing Plans

Click the image below to expand

Close

Wix has three regular ecommerce plans ranging from $27 to $59 per month (billed annually).

Squarespace pricing starts at $16 per month, billed annually, and comes with a 14-day free trial.

Despite this, we don’t recommend staying on Wix’s free plan in the long run. This is because you’ll need to use a Wix subdomain and put up with Wix adverts being littered all over your site.

If you want your website to grow and be taken seriously, you’ll need to upgrade at some point, and when you do, you’ll be paying more than you would be with Squarespace. This is why Wix only scored 3.4 out of 5 in this category, compared to Squarespace, which achieved 4 out of 5. 

Plus, Squarespace’s cheapest plan comes with a ton of great features, making it excellent value for money. For example, it gives you unlimited bandwidth and storage straight away on its $16 per month Personal plan, whereas Wix only unlocks unlimited bandwidth on its $22 per month Unlimited plan. Plus you’ll only find unlimited storage on the Wix’s plans.

Overall, you’ll get better value for money with Squarespace.

Ecommerce

Which is Best For Selling Online

Go to the top

Which is Best For Selling Online

The Winner

Wix comes with better selling tools

With Wix, it’s super easy to add ecommerce functionality to your website, and you can install a wide variety of apps to support your operations. Squarespace is a great ecommerce option, but it has a smaller app store and loses this round.

Visit Wix

You’ll find these features on both Wix and Squarespace’s cheapest ecommerce plans. For Wix, that’s the $27 per month Business Basic plan, while for Squarespace it’s the $23 per month Business plan.

Although Squarespace has a cheaper starting price than Wix, it also reserves certain features for its top-level plans. For example, you have to be on its $49 per month Advanced Commerce plan to unlock abandoned cart recovery and subscriptions.

In comparison, Wix is much more generous with its sales tools – you get abandoned cart recovery on its $27 per month Business Basic plan, and subscriptions on its $32 per month plan.

This means that for online stores, Wix’s cheap ecommerce plans offer better value for money than Squarespace, making it a better choice for budget-conscious businesses.

Start Your Store With Wix

It’s easy to create a stunning online store with Wix – find out how by visiting the Wix website. Follow the link below to get inspired!

Sell With Wix

Features and Tools

What Will Your Site Be Able to Do?

Go to the top

What Will Your Site Be Able to Do?

The Winner

Wix has better features

Wix has an impressive range of features, backed by the Wix App Market’s extra tools. However, although Wix technically scored higher, Squarespace’s in-house features are well designed, can save you hassle, and are the best quality features on the market.

Visit Wix

This area of testing was pretty close between the two builders, but the sheer number and quality of Wix’s features eventually beat Squarespace’s smaller range of carefully curated tools. This is clearly reflected in their category scores, with Wix scoring a record 4.9 out of 5 compared to Squarespace’s 4.4.  Let’s take a closer look at their key features:

We discuss blogging, marketing, SEO, and ecommerce further down this page – use these links to skip straight to the features you want to know most about:

• • Take me to Wix vs Squarespace: Ecommerce
  • Take me to Wix vs Squarespace: Blogging
  • Take me to Wix vs Squarespace: Marketing
  • Take me to Wix vs Squarespace: SEO

From comparing Wix and Squarespace’s features, it’s clear that their job isn’t only to help you build your website, but to help you run it and create a successful online presence, too.

On the whole, both Wix and Squarespace are pretty evenly matched. Wix has more features than Squarespace, although Squarespace ensures quality by building all its features in-house. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that if Squarespace doesn’t come with a certain feature, you’ll still need to use a third-party integration to add that feature to your site.

In contrast, Wix has a lot more features built into its platform. For example, to sell tickets, you just need Wix Events. Although technically an app, it’s built by Wix. The ‘app’ label just means that people who don’t need it, won’t have to add it to their site.  Overall, this system makes life easier than integrating with a third party. You can easily add more features to your site via Wix’s App Market, but more on that in a moment…

Like the Look of Wix’s Features?

Wix has too many features to list them all here – instead, you can browse them at your leisure by visiting Wix’s website.

See Wix's Features

Apps and Integrations

Which Extras Are On Offer?

Go to the top

Which Extras Are On Offer?

The Winner

Wix has a more extensive app store

There’s really no competition here. Squarespace’s extensions are all high quality and carefully chosen, but compared to Wix’s in-house and third-party apps, they’ve still got a little way to go before having a chance of winning this round.

Visit Wix

Both Wix and Squarespace are pretty evenly matched when it comes to features. But if you want to go one step further, you can add apps.

Wix has its own dedicated App Market, providing apps made by both Wix and other third parties. There are 47 “Made by Wix” apps, such as Wix Bookings or Wix Events, as well as tons of third-party apps such as Printful and Instagram.

There’s also a mix of free and paid apps – over 200 in total! This gives you the freedom to choose the features that work best for your website as it grows.

Are You Ready to Explore Wix’s App Store?

Wix has a huge range of apps you can install to add extra functionality to your site. The choice is endless!

Explore Wix's App Store

The majority of Squarespace’s features are designed in-house, and already built into the editor for you. This means everything you need to build, grow, and manage your website is right there at your fingertips – you don’t have to go looking for extra functions.

For features that Squarespace doesn’t have in-house, it relies on third party integrations. For example, you need to use OpenTable for online reservations.

Squarespace’s app store is called Squarespace Extensions, and features a small selection of 23 third-party integrations covering four main categories:

• Shipping and Fulfillment
• Finance
• Inventory and Products
• Sales and Marketing

Examples of these apps include Printful, ShipStation, QuickBooks, and TaxJar. These extensions are designed to help you scale, optimize, and manage your website and are especially useful for growing businesses.

It’s worth mentioning that both builders have a mobile app that lets you manage your site on the go from your phone. You can also edit your Wix or Squarespace site on your phone, too, which is super useful – especially if you’re running a side hustle and aren’t tied to a desk all day!

Blogging

Which Is Better for Posting Online?

Go to the top

Which Is Better for Posting Online?

The Winner

It's a Tie!

Both Wix and Squarespace have a wide range of sophisticated blogging tools. Squarespace offers stunning blogging templates, whilst Wix’s app store makes it easy to expand your blogging functionality.

Marketing

How Can You Grow Your Site?

Go to the top

How Can You Grow Your Site?

The Winner

Wix has better marketing features

Wix is great if you want to put together an all-around marketing strategy. It offers a free email marketing tool, apps such as Social Media Icons and Visitor Analytics, and Wix Ascend, a powerful marketing suite. Conversely, you’ll need to pay for Squarespace’s Email Campaigns feature, or integrate it with a third-party app.

Visit Wix

One of the things we like most about Wix’s marketing tools is how customizable they are. For example, one of Wix’s main marketing features is Wix Email Marketing, which lets you run email campaigns to promote your website, blog, or business. This includes features such as:

• Customizable styles – change your font, background, and more
• Contact integration – add and store your contacts’ details
• Stats tracker – see how many people open, view, and click your emails
• Social media tools – share campaigns across social platform

Additionally, Ascend by Wix is Wix’s most powerful marketing tool. It’s Wix’s all-in-one marketing suite for businesses, and includes:

• Customizable email editor
• Automations
• Advanced analytics
• SEO tools
• Social integration
• Video maker
• Live chat
• Forms
• Invoices

There’s a limited free version, then three paid plans ranging from $9 to $45 per month.

Squarespace’s Marketing Tools

Squarespace also aces the email marketing game, offering an all-in-one platform called Squarespace Email Campaigns. This integrates fully with your website, providing a streamlined service across your brand.

Unlike Wix’s email campaign add-on, Squarespace Email Campaigns doesn’t have a free version. Instead, you get a trial period that lets you send out three campaigns in total, with 50,000 sends per campaign. After this, you’ll need to upgrade to one of the paid plans, which range from $5 to $48 per month when billed annually.

Is Squarespace’s email marketing platform worth the cost? Here are a few things you can do with it:

• Import content from your website to draft emails
• Send automated emails to subscribers
• Choose from over 30 starter layouts
• Manage your marketing on the go with mobile editing
• Track your campaigns’ success with integrated analytics

There’s no denying you get stellar service from Squarespace’s email marketing. However, if it doesn’t tick your boxes, there are five sales and marketing apps in its Extensions Store to choose from, too – or you can integrate with MailChimp instead!

Squarespace also allows you to connect your website to various social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter. Plus, it offers excellent built-in analytics to help you gauge your marketing impact and improve your strategy.

Interested In Trying Wix's Marketing Tools For Yourself?

Wix has plenty of marketing tools and apps to help your site grow. But first, you need a website – which you can build, publish, and market for free.

Start Building My Wix Site for Free

SEO

Which Will Rank Better?

Go to the top

Which Will Rank Better?

The Winner

It's a Tie!

Wix and Squarespace are neck-and-neck in this category, with both providing comprehensive SEO support throughout the building process. Thanks to its SEO Wiz, Wix is excellent for beginners, whilst Squarespace has a great selection of built-in SEO tools, including keyword support, as well as a useful SEO Checklist feature.

Both Wix and Squarespace have built-in SEO tools to help you boost your website’s ranking. These include mobile responsive pages, optimized headings, and alt text for images. Compare their key SEO features in the table below:

Previously, Squarespace’s SEO tools could have been considered too advanced for a beginner, but it’s made big improvements to ensure optimizing your website for search isn’t too daunting. It now provides a checklist to make sure you haven’t missed anything, as well as keyword support, and a vast range of SEO articles in its excellent knowledge center. However, it doesn’t provide any best practice prompts throughout the building process, as Wix does.

Ease of use is at the forefront when it comes to Wix’s SEO tools and processes. It’s SEO Wiz is awesome for teaching you the basics of SEO whilst you build, and you can also make the most of best practice prompts whilst constructing your website. Unlike Squarespace, however, it doesn’t offer any keyword support, so you’ll be on your own here.

Help and Support

Who Has the Better Helping Hand?

Go to the top

Who Has the Better Helping Hand?

The Winner

Squarespace offers better help and support

Squarespace’s customer support is the best out of any builder we’ve tested. It scored full marks in this category due to its wide range of help and support features, including email, live chat, and on-site editor help. Its comprehensive help center is the real cherry on top though, and whilst Wix’s help and support is good, its help center lets it down.

Visit Squarespace

Wix provides support through forums, social media, live chat, and a 24/7 callback service for phone support. It also comes with a dedicated Support Center, however, this doesn’t always provide the answers you need.

Squarespace, in addition to providing a forum, also has a live chat function (from 3am to 8pm EST, Monday through Friday) and a 24/7 email response team. There’s currently no phone support available, but if you need a speedy reply you’re in luck – it’s Squarespace’s policy to respond to all emails within one hour – impressive stuff!

One of the best features of Wix’s support is its on-page help while you edit. If you get stuck, or don’t know what something is, all you have to do is click on one of the little question marks on your screen for more information.

Squarespace gives its users more onboarding than it used to, and now offers on-page support while you build – but it hasn’t quite caught up to Wix’s level of helpful prompts.

However, the main thing that puts Squarespace ahead of Wix and helps it achieve that 5 out of 5 score is how comprehensive its Knowledge Center is. Here, you’ll find a wealth of information at your fingertips, often solving your problems before you need to even think about contacting a Squarespace advisor directly.

Wix vs Squarespace: Our Overall Winner

Go to the top

This article has helped you decide whether Wix or Squarespace is better for you. We’ve explored all the important areas, and shown which builder is better for different users.

Both builders are very easy to use, but Wix is the more beginner-friendly out of the two, while Squarespace’s sleek designs require a little more patience. Wix is quick and easy to use, letting you create a stunning site in no time. Squarespace is ideal for creatives, bloggers, and those looking for beautiful designs, but its templates come with a more rigid structure, meaning you won’t get full creative control over how your website looks.

If you’re in doubt, we recommend you try Wix. It’s the overall better website builder, scoring 4.8 out of 5 in our research and just pipping Squarespace, which achieved 4.7.  Wix is easy to use, comes packed with helpful features, and, overall, was the builder our users were most likely to recommend.

Who Do We Recommend Overall?

Overall, we recommend Wix over Squarespace. There are three main reasons Wix should be your go-to choice: it’s easier to use, gives you more creative freedom, and offers a wider choice of premium plans than Squarespace. Sure, Squarespace is ideal for creatives – but Wix has something for everyone.

With Wix’s great support, large app market, and interactive SEO, there’s nothing stopping even the most nervous of technophobes from jumping feet first into the world of website building. And with Wix’s free plan, you can start straight away!

Are you ready to give Wix a try? Create your site for free and see if Wix is the builder for you!

Start Building My Wix Website for Free