Wix vs Squarespace

Wix and Squarespace both belong to the list of the most popular, full-featured and functional DIY website builders. The systems are used to set up various types of personal and business projects, each offering a particular toolset that makes it stand out from the crowd.

Wix has distinguished itself as a versatile and user-friendly website builder that empowers individuals and businesses to create stunning websites without requiring coding skills. With a drag-and-drop interface, Wix offers a wide range of customizable templates catering to various industries and purposes. While offering creative freedom, it might be slightly complex for more intricate designs, however.

Squarespace comes as a sophisticated website builder renowned for its visually appealing templates that prioritize aesthetics and cater to different project types. The system integrates well-designed tools for analytics, eCommerce management and content editing. However, customization options, while elegant, may be somewhat limited for those seeking more advanced design alterations.

Both systems rank high in the list of the best website builders. To decide which of them to use for your particular project, however, it makes sense to explore this in-depth review.

Quick Summary

Wix positions itself as a user-friendly web building platform that works great for non-techies and web design pros alike. Its intuitive drag-and-drop interface makes it possible to effortlessly create websites – from simple portfolios to complex eCommerce stores.

With a vast selection of professionally designed templates spanning various industries, Wix provides a solid foundation for diverse projects. To diversify users’ choice, Wix developers have suggested two project editing options – standard editor and Wix ADI tool.

What’s more, Wix App Market lets users enhance their websites with various tools and plugins. It’s actually no secret that Wix offers creative freedom. At the same time, though, it might require a learning curve for those picking intricate customization solutions.

Squarespace stands out for its sleek and elegant templates ideal for artists, photographers, and small businesses. The platform seamlessly integrates tools for analytics, SEO optimization and content editing, simplifying professional website management.

The website builder is also known for its customizability, business focus, eCommerce and blogging solutions as well as multiple integrations. However, Squarespace’s design customization might be more limited compared to other platforms. This could be a consideration for those seeking unique layouts.

Wix and Squarespace are both applicable for professional website creation. As two multifaceted systems, they provide a broad range of tools and features to get started with any project. No programming skills are needed to work with them, even if you are a beginner. Squarespace, however, offers more business-specific features, being a worthy pick for its subscribers.

Price

Wix has several pricing tiers that can fit any budget, project and user requirements. There are two groups of subscriptions to pick from based on the website type you intend to set up. These include Standard and Business/eCommerce subscriptions.

There is also a free plan here that lasts for an unlimited period of time yet is best suited for testing the software features. The plan comes with an ad banner and it also has limitations in terms of bandwidth, storage capacity, custom domain availability and some other crucial features.

In other words, if you plan to set up a full-featured project, you will have to upgrade to one of premium plans. Their brief overview will certainly come in handy to you to make the right choice.

Standard Wix Plans

The Standard Package includes three subscriptions:

• Combo ($22/mo) – free hosting and domain, 2GB bandwidth, 3GB storage space, a Google Ads bonus, 30 minutes of video hours, removal of ad banners etc.;
• Unlimited ($27/mo) – unlimited bandwidth, 50 GB disk storage video, 2-hour bonuses for advertising in Google Ads, apps for boosting productivity and enhancing visitors’ analysis etc.;
• VIP ($45/mo) – unlimited subscription options, extra 100 GB on disk, priority support, logo maker, unlimited video and bandwidth etc.

Business/eCommerce Plans

Plans that come as a part of Business/eCommerce package include:

• Business Basic ($27/mo) – unlimited bandwidth, 5 hours of video, free domain on annual plans, 50 GB of disk storage space, online payments acception, analytics tools and productivity boost etc.;
• Business Unlimited ($32/mo) – business development tools, 10 hours of video, special apps for entrepreneurs, 100 GB of disk storage space, integrated eCommerce platform, logo maker etc.;
• Business VIP ($59/mo) – complete Wix Suite, priority support, unlimited bandwidth and unlimited video storage space etc.;
• Enterprise ($500/mo) – advanced business solution that grants the maximum amount of tools and integrated functionality.

A positive feature is the availability of the moneyback guarantee. Wix lets you get your payment back during 14 days of the refund period, when you can cancel the subscriptions for any reason.

Squarespace has a 14-day trial period as well. When it comes to the end, the system allows upgrading to one of the paid subscriptions. Here is their brief overview:

• Personal ($16/mo billed annually) – free custom domain, 24/7 customer support, SEO features, website metrics, SSL Security, 2 contributors,30 minutes of video storage, unlimited bandwidth and storage, Squarespace extensions etc.;
• Business ($23/mo billed annually) – unlimited contributors, CSS/JavaScript design customization, advanced website analytics, professional email from Google, 3% transaction fees, premium blocks and integrations, fully-integrated eCommerce etc.;
• Basic Commerce ($27/mo billed annually) – advanced built-in eCommerce analytics, customer accounts, domain checkout feature, 0% transaction fees, Instagram synchronization etc.;
• Advanced Commerce ($49/mo billed annually) – abandoned shopping cart recovery, APIs for order and inventory, advanced shipping and discounts, limited availability labels, gift cards etc.

Whatever Squarespace subscription you go for, it will come with free domain name and hosting. If you have one already, the software allows transferring it from another host to its servers in several easy steps.

As for the cost aspect, Wix offers a free neverending subscription, while Squarespace allows exploring the system for free during 14 days only. The price of plans is moderate and quite similar in both systems. You need to consider the features and tools included in each plan when making the final choice.

Creating a Website

Starting a website with Wix does not take much effort and time. In fact, a few hours will be enough to get started. This is initially explained by the simplicity and the intuitive nature of the drag-and-drop editor.

To proceed to the process of website creation, you need to initially sign up for a Wix account and pick a web editing solution to go for. The website builder actually offers two options – Standard Editor and Wix ADI tool.

Wix ADI is the website editing option powered by Artificial Intelligence. The system will ask you a few questions to discover the details of the project you are going to set up. Afterwards, it will create a website for you based on the submitted info. You will further have to customize the ready-made project. That’s it.

When using a Standard Editor, you will need to select a customizable template from the available gallery. The themes cover a multitude of industries and styles, from business and eCommerce to portfolios and blogs.

Once you’ve selected a design that resonates with your vision, you can jump right into the Wix Editor. This is where you will be able to customize every element of your project by simply dragging and dropping components into place. You can also add text, images, videos, buttons and other elements.

The platform offers a comprehensive library of design tools, making it straightforward to adjust colors, fonts, layouts, and other visual aspects. Additionally, Wix’s App Market lets you integrate various functionalities into your website, such as social media feeds, contact forms, eCommerce capabilities and booking systems. Mind that you will not be able to change the template during the editing process.

As you fine-tune your website, Wix provides a preview option, allowing you to see exactly how your site will appear to visitors. This real-time preview enables you to make adjustments as needed, ensuring a polished and professional look.

Once you’re satisfied with the result, hit the “Publish” button and your website will go live. Wix also provides domain name registration options, making it convenient to establish a custom web address.

You may take a look at my handpicked Wix website examples collection: portfolio, business, best, ecommerce, personal, blogs, photography.

Squarespace also requires a subscription to get started. Upon signing up for the system, you will have to create an account and proceed to the template selection. The design gallery is not that extensive here as compared to Wix yet the quality of themes is not quite a high level.

Having picked the design, you will be redirected to the interface, which is user-friendly and understandable to everyone. Here, you can personalize your website by adding content blocks, including text, images, galleries, videos and other elements.

By the way, Squarespace’s editor is designed with simplicity in mind, letting you effortlessly rearrange and customize the selected elements. The platform also offers a range of design options, making it possible to adjust colors, fonts and spacing to achieve a cohesive and aesthetically pleasing layout.

Squarespace’s integrated features extend far beyond design. You can seamlessly incorporate tools for eCommerce, analytics and search engine optimization. This is done to enhance your project functionality.

Once your website is ready to go live, Squarespace offers domain registration services, simplifying the process of securing a custom web address.

You may take a look at my handpicked Squarespace website examples collection: portfolio, photography, best, ecommerce, artist.

Both Wix and Squarespace are all-in-one website builders, which explains their extensive applicability. You need to complete similar steps to set up a project with any of these systems. With Wix, however, you will have to dive deep into details as this is a multifaceted software. Squarespace offers less flexibility yet it is a more intuitive platform for its subscribers.

Interface

Wix stands out from the crowd due to its comprehensible WYSIWYG interface. As mentioned above, there are three options to choose from – Wix ADI, Wix Editor and Wix Velo. The process of content uploading and editing, however, is nearly the same across the entire board. It’s not that difficult at all, even for a newbie.

While the Standard Editor and Wix ADI tool are both DIY solutions, Wix Velo platform makes it possible to hire an experienced web developer. This is a high end tool, which grants access to the advanced feature set available in stock.

A user gets access to the range of JS scripts in order to customize web page design. This, however, requires at least baseline web design/programming skills.

Squarespace grants access to its user-friendly interface, which is quite intuitive and simple for everyone. As soon as you log in, you will be redirected to the dashboard where you can handle all the website-related issues – from design configurations and up to content management.

To get access to the required website features and elements (pages, eCommerce, design modifications etc.), you will have to reach the navigation menu. A handy drag-and-drop editor will let you set up and customize your project by dragging and arranging the selected content blocks as required.

Having picked a suitable template, you will be able to instantly proceed to its customization. This refers to various website elements, including colors, styles, fonts etc. Likewise, the system allows modifying content blocks (text, buttons, images, videos etc.) to match your project type and style. Don’t forget to preview the result before going live – fortunately, the system allows doing that.

All in all, the Squarespace somewhat overcomes Wix in terms of convenience and ease of use. You won’t find any distracting features here – only required elements. Wix’s interface is intuitive as well, but subscribers may need more time to get used to it.

Templates and Website Design

Wix templates deserve special user attention due to their versatility, quality and advanced customizability. The themes cater to various industries, interests, and design preferences. They serve as a foundation for creating a website, providing a starting point with pre-designed layouts, color schemes and typography choices.

Currently, the template collection of the website builder includes over 900 themes. They are all free, responsive and completely customizable. Whatever niche you are interested in, you will surely find a suitable theme. Most of them come with sample content to provide you a vision of how your website may look in the long run.

Each template is crafted with a specific purpose in mind, featuring elements that are relevant to the type of website you want to build. For instance, an eCommerce template might come with built-in product galleries, shopping carts, and checkout pages, while a photography portfolio template could emphasize image display and gallery organization.

Another highlight of Wix designs is their customization flexibility. While the themes offer a structured layout, you’re not confined to sticking to the default design.

An intuitive drag-and-drop editor of the software makes it possible to personalize templates according to your unique preferences. You can easily modify the positions of elements, change fonts, adjust colors, and upload your own images to make the template align with your brand or personal style.

Furthermore, the editor lets you add new elements to your site, such as contact forms, social media integration, videos, and interactive widgets. This level of customization empowers users to create websites that not only suit their content but also reflect their individuality.

By the way, if you do not wish to bother about standard editor features, Wix ADI tool may be a better solution. Just provide your project info, ask the provided questions and the system will generate a unique theme for you.

Keep in mind that switching between the themes is not allowed here. So, think twice when making the template choice.

Squarespace template collection is less numerous and versatile as compared to that offered by Wix. However, their quality is above average. Currently, users may choose from over 100 themes only. They are also divided into categories for simpler and quicker choice.

What’s important, the templates initially come with built-in features that are relevant to their intended use, such as integrated eCommerce/blogging functionality, gallery layouts and customizable content blocks.

Squarespace also offers a Style Editor, which allows for more in-depth customization, enabling users to fine-tune details like button styles, spacing and image overlays. Such level of control ensures that even though multiple users might start with the same template, the end results can be vastly different and reflective of each user’s distinct style.

Along with the Style Editor, the website builder has a built-in Cover Page Builder, available with over 30 ready-made themes suitable for quality customization. Everyone can use the drag-and-drop editor to properly arrange elements on a web page.

Squarespace encourages users to experiment with their customizations by offering a “Duplicate” feature, which creates a copy of the current template. This enables users to test out different design directions without affecting the original version of their website.

The live preview feature is also available here, letting users see changes in the real-time mode and make instant edits to refine their website design before publishing.

In terms of template choice and design customization, Wix seems a more preferable solution due to its versatile and abundant selection of themes. Squarespace, however, offers quality designs as well, although their number is somewhat limited. Unlike Wix, it also allows switching between the themes on any stage of the website creation process. Importantly, any content that has been submitted before, remains intact. This is a notable advantage, indeed.

SEO

Wix offers a range of built-in SEO features that empower users to optimize their websites for better search engine rankings. The highlight of the system is its built-in SEO Wiz tool – a kind of a step-by-step guide that helps beginners and experienced users alike, offering personalized recommendations to improve their project SEO performance. It provides insights into keywords, meta descriptions and other essential on-page elements, ensuring that users have a solid foundation for optimizing their content.

Another essential SEO feature of Wix website builder is its SEO-friendly URL structure. Wix lets its subscribers customize their project URLs, ensuring that they are concise and contain relevant keywords.

Additionally, the software provides tools for editing meta tags, titles and descriptions for each page, enabling users to effectively present their content to search engines and potential visitors.

Furthermore, Wix automatically generates a sitemap for websites, making it easier for search engines to crawl and index the site’s pages. It also offers tools for quality image optimization, which can impact both page load speed and user experience.

Squarespace also places strong emphasis on the issue of quality SEO optimization. Its clean and structured HTML markup, combined with responsive design, ensures that websites are mobile-friendly and easy for search engines to crawl and index.

SEO tools available in stock here include customizable meta titles, descriptions and URLs for each web page. The platform also automatically generates XML sitemaps, which help search engines effectively navigate and index the website content.

Additionally, Squarespace offers SSL certificates for all websites, which not only ensures secure browsing for visitors but also contributes to higher search engine rankings.This is because Google considers HTTPS as a quality ranking signal.

Squarespace’s integration with Google Analytics and Search Console allows users to monitor their project performance, track traffic and gather insights to refine their SEO strategy.

When it comes to SEO, both website builders can be considered SEO-friendly platforms. They provide all the required tools and features for efficient set up of search engine optimization parameters. This eventually has a positive impact upon the positions of websites they power in the search results.

Publishing a Website

With Wix, publishing a website is easy and quick. To speed up the process, go for Wix ADI – an artificial intelligence-powered tool helping match website design, content, logo and integrated functionality with no coding required.

A more complex solution is Standard Editor, but it just takes a bit more time and knowledge to set up a full-featured project.

Whatever option you go for, you will be able to eventually publish a website in the Editor by clicking the corresponding button. Then click the View Site button to be redirected to the live site mode. By the way, you can make edits any time, even if your site is already published. Just reach the editor, update the project and then publish it again for the edits to come into power.

Squarespace offers quite a seamless and understandable process of website publishing. As soon as you sign in and choose a suitable theme, you will be redirected to the dashboard to proceed to design customization, integration of external services and content uploading.

When the project is ready, you will be offered to select a custom domain name or publish it on the subdomain. The latter option is not quite preferable as such an URL will have a negative impact upon further project promotion. If you already own a domain, by the way, the system allows transferring it to its servers from another host.

Before going live with your website, take your time to adjust SEO settings, check the way the SSL certificate is connected and hit the “Publish” button to make the project accessible on the web.

Connection of analytics will be the final step that will help you track visitors’ behavior and promote your project via various channels.

When it tackles the issue of website publishing, the steps are nearly the same in both systems. It’s just a matter of your choice which one to eventually go for.

Online Store

Need a full-featured eCommerce website? Then Wix will easily get you covered. The website builder realizes this functionality via Wix Stores widget integration. The software, however, works well for setting up small and medium online stores.

Starting a hypermarket will hardly be possible here. This is no wonder as eCommerce is not in the focus of Wix specialization. So, don’t expect deep functionality from it.

The software provides a broad range of eCommerce features – from product management and design customization and up to payment processing and order shipping. The intuitive drag-and-drop editor enables businesses to display product images, descriptions, prices and product variations.

Moreover, Wix’s product pages are equipped with SEO optimization options, making products more discoverable by search engines and potential customers.

Wix integrates with multiple payment gateways, letting businesses accept various payment methods, including credit cards, PayPal etc. The system also comes with the built-in shopping cart and checkout system that are designed with user-friendliness in mind.

The software also offers inventory management tools that help businesses track stock levels, automate notifications for low inventory and manage product variations effectively.

Along with discount and coupon management systems as well as opportunity to integrate with multiple shipping carriers, Wix empowers businesses to professionally optimize their online stores, boost customer satisfaction and drive sales growth.

If you intend to set up international online stores to target customers and partners from abroad, Wix allows doing that with ease. This is due to the multi language support the website builder is known for.

Squarespace also works well for small and medium web stores. Its integrated eCommerce engine grants access to the broad array of tools and features for quality online store set up and customization.

The system empowers users to monetize their offerings, whether they’re services or products showcased within their projects. To start with, you will require a Squarespace account and a template for further customization.

The website builder offers free and premium web store themes that cater to diverse niches. It also provides access to customizable product pages available with tools to showcase goods using high-resolution images, comprehensive descriptions and diverse product variations.

Users working with Squarespace-powered web stores can access and apply diverse inventory management tools. This is needed to effortlessly add and manage products, monitor inventory levels and establish automated notifications for items running out of stock.

Flexibility characterizes the shipping options, making it possible for users to configure flat-rate, weight-based, and real-time carrier-calculated methods. If needed, you can integrate with well-known payment gateways, guaranteeing secure transactions for customers and web store owners.

Other Squarespace features related to the eCommerce niche include an opportunity to schedule appointments via online calendars, share company updates via social channels, send mailing lists, embed Google maps and employ online forms to ensure better customer interaction.

There is also access to powerful marketing tools, discount creation options, promo campaigns as well as integration with email marketing services. Opportunity to connect analytics and stats tracking tools is available here as well.

As for the eCommerce aspect, both website builders make it possible to launch and run online stores. Squarespace, however, somewhat prevails over its competitor due to a simpler choice of eCommerce tools and features that does not compromise with the software functionality.

Blog

Wix excels at blogging features due to its powerful integrated blogging engine. If you plan to connect a blog to your website or just need a new blog, using Wix can be a good idea.

The system has a nice collection of blog designs, a user-friendly blog editor as well as opportunity to integrate external services for more efficient blog management. Wix makes it possible to format the project as required by means of integrating media elements, adding tags, tables, text blocks and categories to every post. This is quite convenient and simple for all users.

Squarespace is good for blogging as well. The system makes it possible to set up blogs for personal and business use.

What you can do here is adding and scheduling blog posts, hosting blog podcasts, adding geolocation tags, user comments etc.

If you already own a blog created on another platform like WordPress, Tumblr etc., Squarespace lets you transfer it to its servers at no cost and with no coding skills needed.

When making the choice between Wix and Squarespace to set up a blog, any of these services will actually work well. Wix ensures more flexibility, while Squarespace comes with an opportunity of blog transfer. This is an undeniable advantage for current blog owners.

Third-Party Integrations

Wix website builder definitely boasts its superior choice of integrations. Its App Market grants access to multiple widgets and add-ons that suit various niches, implications and objectives. The apps available there are free and paid. Some of the most popular samples include Event Calendar, Comments, Wix Hotels, Wix Restaurants, Form Builder, Site Search, Newsletter Signup Form, Customer Reviews, Appointment Booking, Get Subscribers, 123 Form Builder,Forum, Wix Bookings, Wix Photography, Video, Wix Music etc. The system generally encounters over 300 integrations.

Along with the App Market extensions, users can download,use and install the Wix Owner app. This is an innovative mobile application presented by the website builder for effective website control and editing that can be completed even on the go.

What’s more, Wix is known for its Ascend platform, which is a nice pick for business website management. Among the recent and most innovative integrations for mobile devices, one can mention Fit, Dine, Wix Spaces etc.

Squarespace can offer you quite a nice choice of widgets and add-ons, including those for photo and image galleries, social media channels, eCommerce tools for cafes and restaurants etc.

Additionally, the website builder grants access to the integrated tool used for stats tracking. It allows connecting Google analytics or choosing Squarespace Metrics App, if required.

There is also access to integrated customizable online contact forms, extensive social media integration options, advanced image editor, Cover Page builder, online calendar, Google Maps embedding and other integrable solutions.

The Acuity Scheduling platform is another highlight of the system. It is very helpful when it comes to creating online appointments directly on the website. The Unfold app (an advanced storytelling tool) is also worth user attention as it allows creating and sharing stories in social networks.

Finally, it makes sense to mention an innovative Video Studio App. It makes it possible to create and share video presentations to offer the samples of user products/services and other related info.

When you wish to compare the available integrations, Wix and Squarespace both have much to offer. The latter, however, offers more innovative solutions, which work best for various types of projects. In this respect, Squarespace is a more trustable system to use.

Technical Support

Wix customer support has always been on the top level. There are various types of support services available here, including support via email, phone and live chat, of course. More expensive subscriptions additionally encompass VIP Support that makes it possible to skip the line and get priority assistance to instantly solve urgent problems.

The website builder also boasts a comprehensive and informative Help Center that comprises articles, video guides and tutorials available in 16 languages.

Squarespace tech support level is also high. The platform offers several support options clients may choose from to solve their problems. There is email and live chat assistance here that are realized via the ticketing system.

If you are just about to explore the website builder and its features, access the Help Center any time. This is the place to find video tutorials, blog posts, how-to guides and other resources that come with all the required info.

The community forum provides support to its registered members, letting them browse different branches, discuss popular topics, burning problems as well as share the experience that may help other users with their inquiries.

Wix and Squarespace are both good at customer support. Offering a range of assistance solutions, they simplify the process of website creation and management for their subscribers.

The Winner

Wix and Squarespace are both included in the list of trusted DIY website builders. The systems actually provide versatile template choice and design customization options, useful integrations and affordable pricing.

Wix website builder has always been in the focus of user attention due to its impressive design solutions, powerful add-ons and opportunity to choose a preferable website editing option with regard to users’ coding skills and web design expertise. At the same time, the platform somewhat lacks flexibility when it comes to setting up complex projects.

This is where Squarespace comes into play. It prevails over Wix in multiple aspects. Offering a curated selection of professional templates, it provides users with a polished starting point for almost any project. It seamlessly integrates with eCommerce, blogging and portfolio tools, being an ideal choice for creative professionals who wish to showcase their services as well as for businesses. This is not to mention contemporary integrations and moderate pricing solutions the system is ready to offer to its subscribers.