Squarespace pricing: how much will it cost to build my business website with Squarespace?

One of the most popular website builders on the market, Squarespace offers a variety of pricing plans. But does it have one to suit your business? And is Squarespace worth it? Let's find out...

Our research

When reviewing website builders, our expert team of writers and independent researchers focuses in on the most important factors for small business owners. We look at the range of templates and designs available to choose from; how easy it is to get started building your site and customising it; the help and support options available; the range of available plugins, apps and extensions; the ability to customise a mobile design, and above all, the value for money – including any hidden pricing, ongoing fees, and initial setup costs.
Written and reviewed by:
Robyn Summers-Emler Grow Online Editor

Startups.co.uk is reader supported – we may earn a commission from our recommendations, at no extra cost to you and without impacting our editorial impartiality.

Squarespace pricing starts from just £12 per month for its most basic plan, rising to £35 per month for an advanced ecommerce plan. It’s not the cheapest way you can build a website, but the Squarespace platform aims to provide a solid solution for small businesses of all shapes, sizes, and budgets.

Based on in-depth product research and analysis conducted by our researchers, Squarespace is our fifth best value for money website builder, scoring a respectable 3.6 stars out of 5 in this area.

Squarespace Pricing

Swipe right to see more
0 out of 0

Personal Plan

Business Plan

Basic Commerce

Advanced Commerce

Price
Price
Price
Price

*Prices correct as of January 2024

With just four premium plans to choose from and two billing cycle options (monthly and annually), Squarespace avoids baffling its customers with excessively complicated pricing.

But which is the best value choice for your small businesses? In this article, you’ll learn about:

  • The features you will (and won’t) get from each of Squarespace’s various pricing plans
  • How to choose the right Squarespace plan for you, with help from our clear pricing tables
  • The additional or hidden costs you need to know about before committing
  • how Squarespace’s pricing plans square up to its top competitors
4.6 out of 5
  • Website Features
    4.0
  • Design Functionalities
    4.7
  • Value for Money
    3.6
  • Help and Support
    4.8
  • Customer Score
    4.3
  • Ease of Use
    4.4

Our methodology for ranking each website builder in terms of value for money is based on two carefully researched criteria:

  • The average price of all its plans
  • The quality and breadth of web builder features vs average plan price

Squarespace pricing plans – which one is best for you?

Squarespace offers four unique plans to its customers, each with different costs and a variety of features.

We’ve broken down each plan into finer detail and highlighted the pros and cons, using our value for money research methodology to help determine which plan is best for small businesses.

Squarespace Personal – £12 per month

Pros:
  • Can create a mobile-optimised website of up to 1,000 pages - ideal for businesses with portfolios (like photographers)
  • Access to Squarespace's over 100 industry-leading, design-focused templates
  • 24/7 help and customer support available even on its cheapest plan
  • Unlimited bandwidth and storage so you can create a visually stunning, content filled site for minimal cost
Cons:
  • You can't sell online with this plan - zero ecommerce functionality
  • You are limited to two website contributors - so if you have more staff needing to access and edit the site, this could be a problem
  • Relatively expensive compared to other providers basic plans (such as Wix and Weebly)

The Personal plan is well-suited to businesses that want to create a stylish small, informational website that lets your customers know who you are and what you do.

Whether you’re looking for somewhere to host a business blog or just need to establish a basic web presence for your company, the Personal plan will allow you to create a mobile-optimised website of up to 1,000 pages. This is great for businesses that need the space to showcase their products and services or provide portfolios like photographers.

The Personal plan costs £12 a month when billed annually (£144 a year), or £16 a month when you pay month-by-month.

For this, you get access to almost all of Squarespace’s web builder tools, including over 100 sleek templates – precisely what Squarespace is renowned for (the provider scored an incredible 4.7/5 stars for design flexibility in our latest research).

You also get to enjoy unlimited bandwidth and storage, in contrast to Wix’s similar ‘Combo’ plan which has limitations on storage space and bandwidth. You’ll also be able to use Squarespace’s SEO tools, extensions, and 24/7 help and support. This is key for those who are beginners in the web building sphere as you’ll have all the support you need in case you’re feeling lost and get guidance on how to optimise your content so you rank better in the SERPs.

Overall, Squarespace is our second-best web builder for small businesses scoring an impressive 4.6 out of 5 stars and, to see why we rate it so highly, check out our full Squarespace web builder review.

There are a couple of key restrictions though. One is that you’re limited to two contributors (in other words, only two people can log in and edit the website), and the other is that you can’t sell online with the Personal plan.

For that, you’ll need one of the three ecommerce plans discussed below.

*Prices correct as of January 2024

Did you know?

Squarespace has a total of 3.79 million users, making it a popular choice for businesses who are on the hunt for a website builder.

Squarespace Business – £17 per month

Pros:
  • Access to unlimited contributors so members of your team can edit and collaborate on the site
  • Access to analytics tools so you can monitor website performance, including traffic, session duration and bounce rate
  • Ecommerce functionality and the ability to sell online
  • Premium integrations with third party apps that can help you capture leads and connect with customers - including OpenTable for restaurant bookings
Cons:
  • Ecommerce functionality is limited - store design and checkout functions are more simplified than dedicated ecommerce plans
  • A hefty 3% fee on every transaction you make if running your online store on the Business plan
  • No multi-channel selling functionality on platforms like Instagram

The Business plan is perfect if you want an affordable way to build and manage a business website or small online store.

You have access to unlimited contributors so members of your team can help run your website and collaborate on content. Whilst Squarespace’s integration with premium third-party services starts with the Business plan, this enables you to add advanced features such as restaurant booking systems (through OpenTable) and lead capture forms to help you grow your business.

You also have access to analytics tools that show you how your website is performing, and have the freedom to completely customise your website with technical tools like CSS and JavaScript. This is great for those who have some coding experience and want to make their website more customisable beyond the tools that Squarespace offers.

The Business plan costs £17 a month when billed annually (£204 a year), or £24 a month when you pay month-by-month.

The big advantage of this plan is of course the ability to sell online.

With the Business plan, you can sell unlimited items and get all the integrated ecommerce features you’d expect (including order management, inventory tools, and an interface that handles payment, taxes and shipping), plus the ability to accept donations and sell digital gift cards. This means you don’t have to worry about takings things off your inventory to add new ones, which is great specially if you’re launching a new set of products or services.

This is in comparison to other providers with similar plans, such as GoDaddy and Wix, which do not offer any ecommerce functionality and will not let you sell online until you have upgraded to a more expensive and sales-specific plan.

According to our research, Squarespace performs very well as an ecommerce platform, coming out joint-second for selling online with an excellent score of 4.6 out of 5. To learn more, head to our in-depth Squarespace ecommerce review.

However, the Business plan won’t suit every business that wants to sell online. The store design and checkout functions are more simplified than those on the dedicated Commerce plans discussed below. And then there’s the issue of transaction fees.

Squarespace commerce plans have high subscription fees but don’t have any transaction fees. On the Business plan though, you’ll be charged a 3% fee on every transaction you make.

Because of this, a Commerce plan is a better fit if your online store makes more than £2,293 a year.

*Prices correct as of January 2024

Did you know?

Squarespace’s market share is approximately 3.71%, ranking fourth of all website builders with 2.8 million websites. This means Squarespace is definitely a competitive contender when it comes to identifying the best website builder.

Squarespace Basic Commerce – £23 a month

Pros:
  • 0% transaction fees on all purchases to help you keep operating costs down
  • Customer accounts so visitors can checkout quickly the next time they buy from your store
  • Advanced ecommerce analytics that let you spot sales trends and track conversions, so you can make confident business decisions
  • Ability to advertise your products on social media with links directly to your website - on Facebook and Instagram
Cons:
  • A more expensive ecommerce plan in comparison to other competitors like GoDaddy
  • No abandoned cart recovery to remind customers about their purchase
  • No advanced shipping methods or order fulfilment services

The Basic Commerce plan is a great fit for small businesses that want to sell online. You’ll get access to a range of advanced ecommerce tools, and those crucial 0% transaction fees.

This plan costs £23 a month when billed annually (£276 a year), or £28 a month when you pay month-by-month. In contrast, the similar ecommerce plan offered by Wix will set you back £20 per month, and unlike Squarespace includes features such as abandoned cart recovery and subscriptions.

Squarespace’s ecommerce tools include customer accounts that allow people to save their details and speedily check out, making it easier for them to purchase next time.

You’ll also have access to advanced ecommerce analytics that let you spot sales trends, track conversions, and monitor your best selling products so you can make informed, data-drive decisions as a business. This is useful if you’re looking for new creative ways to scale your business, retain existing customers, or find new clients. Having data will help you make more informed business decisions.

Squarespace’s Basic Commerce plan gives your business a powerful online store that can scale as you grow. But, it does fall short in a number of areas.

As mentioned previously, you don’t have access to important customer sales features like abandoned cart recovery and product/service subscriptions, and there are no advanced shipping methods. This could make selling internationally difficult as you can’t organise end-to-end order fulfilment – which is a feature offered by Wix on its similar, but more importantly cheaper, plan.

If you want to take advantage of a wide range of powerful ecommerce functionality, then you’ll need the Advanced Commerce plan.

*Prices correct as of January 2024

Squarespace Advanced Commerce – £35 a month

Pros:
  • Enables you to sell subscriptions so you can generate recurring revenue from your customers
  • Abandoned cart recovery that sends push notifications to customers reminding them to complete their purchase
  • Set up advanced discount offers that will automatically generate at checkout for your customers depending on certain criteria
  • Build custom integrations to third party systems to help you manage things on the back end - including order fulfilment
Cons:
  • Very limited dropshipping functionality - only available if you have the knowledge to build custom integrations
  • An expensive ecommerce plan compared to other competitors

The Advanced Commerce plan is the best choice for medium-sized online businesses with high-level ecommerce needs.

It costs £35 a month when billed annually (£420 a year), or £43 a month when you pay month-by-month.

On top of the features offered in the Basic Commerce plan, this plan gives businesses the ability to sell subscriptions to generate recurring revenue, meaning your customers can sign up to regular product deliveries or service offers.

You can also make use of abandoned cart recovery to automatically email customers that abandon the checkout process before completing their purchases, as well as offer advanced shipping, and automatically apply discounts to qualifying orders at checkout. This is great if you’re looking to implement customer retention strategies.

The major downside is of course the cost, as many of Squarespace’s competitors (such as Wix and Shopify) offer these features at a much cheaper cost. Shopify for example offers abandoned cart recovery with its cheapest plan, which will only cost you round £19 per month compared to Squarespace’s £35.

Paying at least £35 a month is a significant outlay for most businesses, so you should make sure that these advanced features will really benefit your business (and you know how to use them) before shelling out for them.

Particularly as Squarespace doesn’t offer much in terms of dropshipping capabilities, unlike the likes of Wix, BigCommerce, and Shopify.

Read Shopify’s guide on how dropshipping works to find out more about this simpler, and more affordable way of selling online.

*Prices correct as of January 2024

Which plan should you choose?

If you’re convinced you’re going for Squarespace, our recommendation is to start with the Business Plan. For just £17 per month, you’ll have unlimited contributors, access to analytics tools, an array of ecommerce functionalities, and premium integrations with third party app.

However, we know that there will be businesses out there that want a more powerful offering. If you’re thinking of going for Basic Commerce or Advanced Commerce, we’d imagine you’re a scaling ecommerce business with a more expansive budget. The big differentiating criteria between the two is the reach of its ecommerce features. With Advanced Commerce, you’ll be able to sell subscriptions, send abandoned cart recovery messages, set up advanced discount offers, and more. Basic Commerce is a slight step down from this, which means it’s great for ecommerce brands that are not looking for super sophisticated ecommerce tools.

In short, when you’re deciding which subscription to go for, consider your budget, the range of features you need, and how powerful you want the ecommerce functionalities to be.

Does Squarespace have a free plan?

Squarespace doesn’t offer a free plan, but it does offer a 14-day free trial.

During the free trial, you’ll have access to most premium features, as well as customisable code, so you can create a website to your exact requirements without spending a penny.

You don’t even need to supply credit card information in order to sign up, but you will lose access to your website at the end of the trial unless you upgrade to a paid plan.

And there are limitations. For example, trial sites can’t accept payments or use advanced ecommerce features, and your site won’t be indexed by search engines until it’s published on a paid plan.

Read our review of the best free website builders to find out more information on our top picks for small businesses.

Squarespace costs: billing cycles, ongoing costs, and hidden fees

As we’ve already mentioned, there’s something you really need to know about Squarespace’s pricing (and the pricing of most web builders).

Just because the advertised price is £17 per month, that doesn’t actually mean you’ll spend £17 per month on your Squarespace website.

Confused?

It’s all down to billing cycles.

Billing cycles

Squarespace offers you a choice of two billing cycles: monthly, or annually.

Although given as ‘monthly’, the advertised prices are always for an annual subscription, which you’ll pay for in one upfront lump sum.

However, this does work out much cheaper than if you pay month-by-month, as you can see in the table below.

PersonalBusinessBasic CommerceAdvanced Commerce
Annually£12 per month (save 25%)£17 per month
(save 29%)
£23 per month
(save 17%)
£35 per month
(save 18%)
Monthly£16 per month£24 per month£28 per month£43 per month

You can find out more about this, as well as any current offers on annual vs monthly Squarespace subscriptions, on Squarespace’s official pricing plans page.

The advertised prices also exclude VAT, which is added on at checkout at 20%.

Transaction fees and payment processor fees

If you’re on the Squarespace Business plan, any payments taken through Squarespace are subject to a standard payment processor fee and a Squarespace Commerce transaction fee of 3%.

If you’re on either the Basic or Advanced Commerce plan, you’ll only have to pay the payment processor fee. This varies depending on which payment provider you choose, and which country you’re in.

Squarespace integrates with Stripe, Paypal, Square, and Afterpay so, in the majority of cases, you’ll be able to choose which one of these four suits your needs.

Squarespace domain name renewal

You get a free custom domain name with every Squarespace plan on an annual billing cycle. This domain name is free for the first year, starting from the date it’s registered. It will then renew automatically at the standard annual rate.

On average, a .com or .co.uk domain name will cost you around £10‌–£15 a year. Find out more with our guide to domain name costs.

One way to keep your domain name cost low is to shop around for a cheaper provider, and then transfer your domain name to Squarespace.

Squarespace add-ons and extras

Using Squarespace Extensions, you can enhance your business website with a range of third-party apps, plugins, and add-ons.

Squarespace doesn’t charge you for connecting extensions, but many will have a monthly or per-user fee. There are also plenty of free apps available, and a large number offer a free plan or trial period.

How to save money on SquareSpace

You have two main options when it comes to saving money on a Squarespace subscription

  • Billed annually: if you pay annually, you’ll be able to save up to 29% annually. For instance, if you take out a Business subscription, instead of paying £24 monthly (so £288 per year), you could be paying £17 monthly if billed annually (£204 per year).
  • Look out for discounts: you can use the code SU10 to receive a 10% discount on all Squarespace plans!
Did you know?

There are over 2.8 million active websites built on Squarespace.

How does Squarespace pricing compare to other website builders?

Swipe right to see more
0 out of 0

Wix

Shopify

Squarespace

GoDaddy

Site123

WordPress.com

Hostinger

BEST FOR

Best all-round website builder for small businesses

BEST FOR

Best for dedicated sales features when selling online

BEST FOR

Design flexibility & businesses looking to scale

BEST FOR

Ease of use and simplicity

BEST FOR

Help and support

BEST FOR

Blogging tools

BEST FOR

Cheap builder

Overall Score
Based on our in-depth research and user testing
4.8
Overall Score
Based on our in-depth research and user testing
4.0
Overall Score
Based on our in-depth research and user testing
4.6
Overall Score
Based on our in-depth research and user testing
4.4
Overall Score
Based on our in-depth research and user testing
3.7
Overall Score
Based on our in-depth research and user testing
3.6
Overall Score
Based on our in-depth research and user testing
3.6
Price
Price

£5-£259 per month, billed annually

£1 for first month

Price

£12-£35 per month, billed annually

Use code “SU10” to receive a 10% discount on all Squarespace plans

Price

£6.99-£12.99 per month, billed annually (first term discounts available)

Price

$0 – 12.80 per month (about £10.22)

Price

£3-£20 per month, billed annually

Price

£2.59-£8.99 per month

Up to 81% discounted with code “STARTUPS”

Free trial
Free trial
Free trial
Free trial
Free trial
Free trial
Free trial
Try Wix Try Shopify Try Squarespace Try GoDaddy Get Site123 Get Wordpress Get Hostinger

*Prices correct as of January 2024

Squarespace is nearly the most expensive of our top website builders by a small margin, with an annual cost of £144 for its most basic plan (excl. VAT). With its Business plan, you’ll be paying £17 per month annually, which is £9.50 more than Wix’s equivilent ‘Combo’ plan. The most expensive plan is Shopify, where you pay up to £344 with their Advanced subscription.

What you’re paying for with Squarespace is a superb web builder and a great way to start selling online (with a very good 4.6/5 rating in our ecommerce testing). We also found from our first-hand user testing that Squarespace has a really robust analytics section and integration of support systems, like links to join webinars. The analytics portion is crucial for ecommerce websites who are trying to scale, so even though Squarespace is on the pricier end, it’s worth the investment if you want to have a bird’s eye view of how healthy your numbers are looking.

Despite the expense, whether you want a stylish business website or an attention-grabbing online store, Squarespace more than justifies its premium price tag thanks to its huge range of templates, intuitive interface and powerful ecommerce tools.

Final thoughts – Is Squarespace worth it?

Squarespace might be more expensive than some of its nearest rivals, but it’s still an easy and very affordable way to get a business website online or launch an online store.

If you want the tools and freedom to create a really slick and professional site for your business, Squarespace is well worth the investment.

And not just a pretty face. Squarespace also offers top-of-the-range sales and marketing features to help you take your business to the next level.

If you run a small online store, we’d recommend starting out on the Business plan for £17 per month. Its ecommerce features are limited compared to the two Commerce-specific plans, but it’s a great way to get a feel for the platform, and you can always upgrade later as your business grows.

Or why not try out any of Squarespace’s premium plans by using a 14-day free trial, and get started designing your Squarespace website for free.

4.6 out of 5
  • Website Features
    4.0
  • Design Functionalities
    4.7
  • Value for Money
    3.6
  • Help and Support
    4.8
  • Customer Score
    4.3
  • Ease of Use
    4.4
FAQs
  • What is Squarespace?
    Squarespace is a website building and hosting company. With it, you can use pre-built website templates, drag-and-drop elements, and other features to create and modify your site. Based on our in-depth research, it's definitely a strong option if you're thinking of getting a website builder subscription. It scored an overall 4.6 out of 5 thanks to its strong design functionalities, website features, and ease of use.
  • Is Squarespace really free?
    Squarespace isn't free - however you can start a free 14-day trial on any of its paid plans so you can try the product before you buy it. But after the 14-day free trial you will need to make a decision about whether you want to choose Squarespace as your provider, and from then you must pay for one if its four premium plans depending on your needs.
  • Does Squarespace take a percentage of sales?
    Squarespace only takes a percentage of sales on its 'Business' plan. This transaction fee is 3% per transaction, and has to be paid for every sale made on your website. If however you are on Squarespace's ecommerce specific plans, Basic and Advanced, you will not be charged any transaction fees and Squarespace will not take a percentage of sales. Although you will always have to pay a payment processing fee charge and this amount differs depending on the payment processor.
  • Is Squarespace worth the cost?
    Yes, a Squarespace premium plan is definitely worth it. With the best-looking templates around and excellent design flexibility, Squarespace gives you all the tools you need to create a professional-looking business website or online store for between £12 and £35 per month.
  • What is better, Squarespace or Wix?
    Based on our in-depth research, we think Wix is marginally better than Squarespace. When we zoom in on the numbers, Wix scored a 4.8 out of 5 in our research, just slightly above Squarespace's 4.6 out of 5. This difference is because Wix has a stronger range of website features.
  • Is Squarespace free to use?
    Squarespace doesn't have a free plan, but you can try it for free for 14 days. After that, you'll need to get a subscription to continue using Squarespace.
  • Is Squarespace affordable?
    Squarespace is neither the most expensive nor the cheapest website builder out there. You can take out a business subscription for £17 per month, if you're being billed annually. It scores a 3.6 out of 5 for value for money, so you're getting a decent range of features for the money you're putting down. Whether this is affordable to your business will depend on your budget.

Startups.co.uk is reader-supported. If you make a purchase through the links on our site, we may earn a commission from the retailers of the products we have reviewed. This helps Startups.co.uk to provide free reviews for our readers. It has no additional cost to you, and never affects the editorial independence of our reviews.

Written by:
Ross has been writing for Startups since 2021, specialising in telephone systems, digital marketing, payroll, and sustainable business. He also runs the successful entrepreneur section of the website. Having graduated with a Masters in Journalism, Ross went on to write for Condé Nast Traveller and the NME, before moving in to the world of business journalism. Ross has been involved in startups from a young age, and has a keen eye for exciting, innovative new businesses. Follow him on his Twitter - @startupsross for helpful business tips.
Back to Top