Squarespace is a popular tool that allows customers to build an attractive website without coding. Squarespace offers web hosting, domain registration, customizable templates, ecommerce features, SEO tools, and blogging capabilities.
When we talk about website builders, Squarespace stands out as one of the most commonly used site builders to create blogs, online stores, and other websites. But is it really the best option out there? Are there any alternatives to Squarespace?
Our article aims to answer these questions by providing some of the best alternatives to Squarespace. Without further adieu, let's get into it.
Why Should You Look for Squarespace Alternatives?
Squarespace is a website builder that allows users to create simple websites with the help of their eye-catching templates, drag-and-drop editor, and simple features. All you need to do is choose a theme and start designing your website according to your vision.
While Squarespace offers popular integrations and the ability to add an e-commerce option, it doesn't offer the flexibility that other website builders do.
Squarespace can be challenging to customize. It's hard to add specific features or functions to your website. While sites like WordPress provide endless customization options, Squarespace is more limited.
In addition, Squarespace doesn't offer a free plan, and their prices can be a little high if you are a beginner looking to grow your online presence.
Squarespace does offer e-commerce features through add-ons. However, if your major focus is on building an online store, there are better website builders in the market that provide advanced ecommerce features.
8 Best Squarespace Alternatives for 2024
There are dozens of Squarespace alternatives. These website builders have various features. As you look through the list, consider what your goals are with your website.
Are you looking to create a free website? Are you looking for a website builder with e-commerce capabilities? Do you want the easiest site builder, or do you want the option to customize code on the back end?
1. Pixpa - Easy to Use, Feature Rich and Affordable
Why is it an ideal Squarespace alternative?
Pixpa is an all-in-one online portfolio website builder with built-in e-commerce, blog, and client galleries.
Pixpa is a user-friendly Squarespace alternative designed specifically for creatives such as photographers who want to create a professional portfolio website, sell their work and grow their business effortlessly. Here are 25 top reasons why photographers and creators choose Pixpa to build their online portfolio website.
Pixpa features customizable themes and professionally designed templates. Use the drag-and-drop builder to customize your website in no time.
For example, you can effortlessly start a blog with embedded photos and videos. Models can create online modeling portfolios, and through public and private galleries, they can share their work with clients. Clients love the custom galley app!
With Pixpa, you can easily add pop-ups and announcements.
Pricing Plans
Pixpa users can start with a no-credit card needed 15-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Pixpa's Light plan is just $3 a month. This plan includes:
- Mobile Optimization
- Beautiful, customizable templates
- Menu options
- Domain connection
- SSL security
- custom CSS & HTML editing,
- 24/7 support
- Basic mailing list features
Pixpa's Personal plan is $7 monthly, including 301 redirects, file storage, unlimited blogs, and e-commerce features.
The Expert plan is $10 a month and offers unlimited gallery images, advanced email marketing, expert website set-up, and custom photo apps for clients.
The Business plan is $16 a month and includes advanced discount coupons, store inventory management, abandoned cart recovery, and unlimited custom photo apps for clients.
| PROS | CONS |
Great Support with 24/7 live chat | Can't use the same photos in different galleries |
Stripe, Paypal, and similar payment gateway integration | Users won't be able to publish the site during the trial period |
Can add more storage at any time | |
Shopify integration |
Pixpa Website Examples
Take a look at Pixpa's website examples and see how creatives and online businesses are making use of Pixpa's templates and high-level features.
2. WordPress for Endless Customization
Why is it an ideal Squarespace alternative?
WordPress is best known for its blogging capabilities. If blogging is your main purpose, you can start one completely free on WordPress. A great alternative to Squarespace, am I right?
Countless bloggers have started their blogging journey on WordPress, and it is revered as one of the internet's biggest website builders.
Whether your neighbor is creating a beautiful blog or your CEO friend is managing a massive online store, we guarantee you know someone who uses WordPress.
WordPress offers endless themes and plug-ins. This means you can start a simple website for free and add on different features as your business grows.
Pricing Plans
The pricing plans are as follows:
- Personal plan is $4 a month and includes web hosting and a custom domain.
- The Premium plan is $8 a month and includes access to premium themes.
- The Business plan is $25 a month and offers access to Wordpress's 50,000 plug-ins.
- E-commerce plan is $45 a month.
| PROS | CONS |
Relatively cheap web development solution | Keeping up with updates is a major concern |
Beginner-friendly and easy to get started | Optimizing site speed can be challenging |
Highly modular (Thousands of plugins and themes) | Custom WordPress solutions can be expensive |
Frequent updates and increased security | WordPress is prone to hacking |
WordPress Website Examples
WordPress is used by neighborly bloggers and worldwide corporations like BBC America and The Walt Disney Company.
3. Wix for Flexibility
Why is it an ideal Squarespace alternative?
Wix is a popular website builder and one of Squarespace's main competitors. Wix has features that make it attractive to those who want the flexibility of WordPress and the ease of Squarespace.
Wix offers about 2500 app integrations for users to choose from. It's not as many as the 50,000 integrations that WordPress offers, but in this case, more than Squarespace.
Pricing Plans
You can build a website on Wix for free. However, free websites use a Wix subdomain, and users will have to display Wix ads on their site's front end.
Paid Wix plans cost between $14 and $49 a month, and their e-commerce plans start at $23 a month.
| PROS | CONS |
Large library of templates | Visitor analytics are not available on free plans |
Supports a range of ecommerce store tools | Storage limits on all plans |
Option to choose a free plan | Can't change templates once your site is live |
Wix Website Examples
Wix has a host of examples to check out. Evolve Clothing is a great example of an online clothing storefront. Wendy Ju utilizes Wix to showcase her beautiful design portfolio.
4. Weebly for the Easiest Web Builder
Why is it an ideal Squarespace alternative?
Weebly is another website builder that offers free plans. The free plan is ad-supported, and users are given a Weebly subdomain.
Weebly offers e-commerce features such as a shopping cart, coupons, inventory management, and a tax calculator.
One of Weebly's biggest selling points is its straightforward user friendly site builder. The interface is very simple, making it an excellent option for those who shy away from technical interfaces.
If you are a beginner and looking to build a quick website on a budget, Weebly is a great alternative to Squarespace.
Pricing Plans
Weebly offers a free plan. Users on the free plan will have a Weebly sub-domain and will have to show ads on their website.
For $6 a month, users can upgrade to a Personal plan and connect to their domain.
Ads are removed with the $12 a month Professional Plan. The Professional Plan also includes a free domain and more options. The Performance Plan is $26 a month.
| PROS | CONS |
Competitively-priced premium plans | The site has square ads for basic plans |
| No programming skills required | Limited customization options |
| Can build & manage from mobile devices | Phone support is only available on Professional plans |
| Analytics help you monitor your site | Limited blogging tools |
Weebly Website Examples
Flaming Pear Software uses Weebly and offers Photoshop plug-ins. Kerlin BBQ is a BBQ restaurant that uses Weebly to build their website.
5. HubSpot for Small Business Owners
Why it is an ideal Squarespace alternative?
Business owners can track customer interactions with CRM tools.
Yes, HubSpot also helps you build a website. The CRM giants have an intuitive website builder that requires zero coding knowledge.
HubSpot offers dozens of free and paid themes, and you can easily customize each with a block-style builder.
You can analyze your website's performance without installing additional tools. HubSpot offers almost 200 free themes, with more customizable professional themes starting at $49. Moreover, HubSpot offers SEO tools, a free blog builder, and CRM integration.
Pricing Plans
HubSpot offers a free plan. The starter plan is priced at $25/month. It includes marketing and SEO tools and removes HubSpot branding from your website.
HubSpot also offers a Starter CRM Suite for $50/month, which includes more advanced CRM and customer service tools. HubSpot also offers Professional ($400/month) and Enterprise ($1,200/month) plans to help you scale your business.
HubSpot Website Examples
GoalsGetter created a dynamic website with HubSpot to offer investment services to customers in New Zealand. Suvoda offers clinical trial software to customers using its HubSpot website.
6. Webflow for Advanced Users
Why is it an ideal Squarespace alternative?
Webflow offers a flexible drag-and-drop editor that allows users to build custom websites. Users can add custom HTML, CSS, and JavaScript on the back end.
Webflow is preferred by web designers with coding skills who want control over their website's appearance. Webflow offers around 40 free templates. However, if you're looking for a high-end template, expect to pay between $19 and $149.
Webflow offers marketing and SEO tools, a solid blogging platform, and e-commerce functionality, perfect for designing an online store.
Pricing Plans
Webflow offers a Basic plan at $14 a month. The plan includes a custom domain and a 25,000 monthly visit limit. The CMS plan is $23 a month, and the Business plan is $39 a month. The ecommerce plan ranges from $29 to $212
| PROS | CONS |
| Great levels of design customization | Relatively difficult to use for a website builder |
| Excellent range of templates | Expensive plans, the price are relatively high when compared to the competition |
| Good autosave, backup, and history features | No live chat or phone support |
| Comprehensive set of SEO tools and options | Traffic limits are applied to its plans |
Webflow Website Examples
EMdash carries out email campaigns and has designed their website using Webflow. Eskimi, a well-known ad tech platform, uses Webflow to build its AdTech marketing website. Belt Creative, a Webflow agency uses Webflow for their own business website.
7. Shopify for eCommerce Focus
Why is it an ideal Squarespace alternative?
Shopify is one of the most popular e-commerce platforms on the web. If you want to turn your website into a storefront, look no further than Shopify, which is an excellent alternative to Squarespace for creating online stores.
Users can build their storefronts and launch their websites right away. You can easily design your website by using Shopify's drag-and-drop editor.
Shopify is focused solely on e-commerce and offers excellent e-commerce options and apps. Users can integrate their shipping and accounting tools and quickly add an abandoned cart recovery option.
In addition, Shopify offers email list management and social media integration.
Pricing Plans
All Shopify plans charge transaction fees on top of their monthly prices. The Basic plan is $39 a month, and the "Shopify" plan is $89 a month, which includes access to reports.
The advanced plan is $299 a month. The more expensive plans offer lower transaction fees.
| PROS | CONS |
| Provides an email marketing tool | The number of free themes provided is quite low |
| Templates are attractive and fully responsive | Key functionality requires the installation of an app |
| True multi-currency selling is possible | Abandoned cart saving function is sophisticated |
Shopify Website Examples
Huit Denim is a U.K. store focused on selling jeans. The Package Free Shop focuses on selling and delivering zero-waste products.
8. BigCommerce for Agile, International E-commerce
Why is it an ideal Squarespace alternative?
BigCommerce is built on an open platform and allows CMS customization. You can edit all the back-end code in BigCommerce and deliver your content across hundreds of channels like Facebook, TikTok, Google, Instagram, Pinterest, Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and Target.
BigCommerce will also customize the currency, content, and checkout for international customers.
Pricing Plans
BigCommerce offers a Standard plan at $29.95. The Plus plan is $79.95 and includes an abandoned cart recovery option. The Pro plan is $299.95.
| PROS | CONS |
| Built-in product review functions | Widgets don’t support custom typefaces |
| Search engine optimization features are strong | Free themes, in many cases, are too similar to each other |
| Reporting tools available on all plans | Custom styles are very costly |
| Really easy to create custom fields | Limits are placed on annual online sales |
BigCommerce Website Examples
American Leather sells furniture and uses BigCommerce to run its website. Annesley Surfboards also uses BigCommerce for their website.
Which Squarespace Alternative Are You Choosing?
If you're looking for alternatives to Squarespace, there are plenty of website builders out there. It all comes down to the website's primary purpose, your budget, and your technical know-how.
For instance, if you're a photographer looking to create a photography portfolio, the best option will be to choose Pixpa, as it is mainly created for photographers and other creatives. Everything from templates to features and even pricing is designed for that particular audience.
It's all about finding niche website builders that contain all the features required to design a website according to your vision.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there any platform better than Squarespace?
Squarespace is good, but it does not excel at everything, and there are limitations. If you are focused on a specific goal, such as e-commerce or portfolio sharing, you might be able to find a website builder that shares your focus.
Why Shouldn't You Use Squarespace?
If you are on a budget, you can find free alternatives or less expensive options to build your online presence. If you are focused on e-commerce, try a platform that offers high-level e-commerce features.
While Squarespace is relatively simple to use, there are Squarespace alternatives that are even user-friendly. If you want complete control over your site, you might try a website builder that allows you to edit your site's code. Finally, if you want more integrations, try a website builder that provides you with the best in class plugins.
Are there any free alternatives to Squarespace?
WordPress, Weebly, and Hubspot all offer free versions or plans to users. Choosing a free alternative will always depend on your site's purpose. Bear in mind that a free plan may subject your website to ads and various restrictions.