Squarespace Pricing: How To Choose The Best Plan
By Sam Nguyen
In this article, we delve into the realm of Squarespace pricing, exploring its various plans and features to help you choose the best plan for your business.
Key Takeaways
- Squarespace offers four plans priced at $23 to $65/month that cater to different website requirements, from simple website building to advanced e-commerce stores.
- Additional costs, such as transaction fees, processing fees, domain customs, third-party extensions, and more, can be incurred during use.
- The platform offers a 14-day free trial and up to 30% discounts on annual subscriptions for users to explore the platform and save on their budget.
Overview of Squarespace Pricing Plans
Generally, Squarespace offers four different pricing plans tailored to a wide spectrum of needs. Besides, a 14-day free trial is available to try it risk-free.
- For website creation, you should use either the Personal plan or the Business plan.
- For online selling, your better options are the Basic Commerce plan or the Advanced Commerce plan.
| Plans | Monthly price (paying monthly) | Monthly price(paying annually) | Transaction fee | Domain name(for plans paying monthly) | Email marketing |
| Personal | $23 | $16 | No | $20-$50 | Start at $5/ user/ month for Google accounts |
| Business | $33 | $23 | 3% | ||
| Basic Commerce | $36 | $27 | 0% | ||
| Advanced Commerce | $65 | $49 | 0% |
Squarespace Pricing Plans: A Detailed Breakdown
Four pricing plans available on Squarespace are Personal, Business, Basic Commerce, and Advanced Commerce, ranging from $23 to $65 per month when paid monthly. By opting for the annual subscription, you can save from 24% to 30% on fees, bringing the cost down to $16 to $49/month.
At the most budget-friendly end is the Personal and Business plan, tailored for individual use and offering a robust array of fundamental features to build a website.
On the other side of the spectrum, the Advanced Commerce plan stands as the premium choice, armed with a comprehensive toolkit designed to nurture the growth of e-commerce enterprises.
The website builder plans
Personal
This plan is an ideal choice to try and build a simple website or create an online portfolio with basic features.
The pricing structure for this plan offers two choices: a monthly payment of $23 or a discounted annual billing rate of $16 per month (30% off).
The Personal’s features include:
- Unlimited bandwidth and storage
- Free custom domain for a year
- SSL security
- Mobile-optimized
- Two contributors
- Templates available
- Basic website metrics
In a nutshell, Squarespace’s Personal plan is a perfect match if you seek a straightforward and resource-rich platform for blogging or showcasing your creations.
However, it’s worth noting that this plan has limitations regarding advanced features, such as eCommerce integration and advanced tools.
Business
So when your products become well-known, and you intend to sell them online in small quantities, leveling up to the Business plan can solve it for you.
The plan charges $33 per month with a monthly bill or $23 with an annual bill accounting for a 30% saving.
It comprises much more features than Personal to start selling. They are:
- SEO features
- Unlimited contributors
- Basic website metrics
- Professional email from Google
- Premium integrations
- Complete customization
- Full marketing tools
- Ability to receive online payments and donate
- Basic eCommerce functionalities
- Advanced website analytics
The plan is a wise option for small retailers and or for individuals and organizations who take donations in small volumes. Unlike Personal, it provides e-commerce functionalities like sales, accepting donations, gift card features, and discount codes.
It also grants complete access to marketing tools and allows you to sell a limited number of products online.
While not a comprehensive online store plan, the Business plan offers the ability to sell. It’s important to remember, though, that a 3% transaction fee is applied to all sales. It would be a big challenge to scale your business. Thus, upgrading to ecommerce plans should be considered to avoid paying the transaction fee.
Ecommerce plans
Basic Commerce
Having a solid foundation to build a simple but effective online store is a strength of Basic Commerce.
The monthly fee for the plan is $36, or $27 per month if billed annually. The annual payment comes with 25% savings.
It offers all the Business plan’s features. Moreover, it plus many extras to build a storefront, including
- 0% transaction fees
- Unlimited products
- Selling on Instagram
- Integrated accounting
- Domain checkout
- Customer accounts
- Powerful merchandising features: products review, products recommendation, product waitlists, low stock alerts, etc.
- Full access to marketing tools: coupons, gift cards, etc.
Apart from gaining entry to advanced analytics, you’ll also benefit from point-of-sale capabilities for in-person transactions and useful merchandising tools. With its expansive e-commerce features, the Basic Commerce plan equips you with everything necessary to kickstart your online business journey.
If you aim to operate a functional small-to-medium-sized e-commerce website, this plan should be at the forefront of your considerations. It is designed for those who have progressed to higher sales and boast a thriving e-commerce venture.
Advanced Commerce
Last but not least, the most expensive and upgraded choice, Advanced Commerce, will provide essential tools and specialized features for you to build a successful online store.
The Advanced Commerce plan comes at $65 per month or a reduced rate of $49 per month when you make an annual payment.
It encompasses all the features offered in the Basic Commerce plan and goes a step further by providing upgraded functionalities that elevate your online store’s capabilities.
- Sell subscriptions
- Commerce APIs
- Abandoned cart recovery
- Advanced shipping
- Automatic discounts on qualifying orders
This is the only plan on Squarespace throwing additional but advanced features. These additions encompass sending automatic emails to recover the products left on the carts, the capability to sell weekly or monthly subscriptions, and the provision of real-time shipping quotes from postal companies. Furthermore, if you intend to integrate third-party software, it provides access to the platform’s API, making it an essential choice.
The plan is absolutely a top choice for big retailers, reputable brands, or existing online stores with a high-volume scale that need powerful tools to drive and boost sales effectively.
Recommendation
While the “best” plan in Squarespace depends on your specific needs and goals, I personally find the Basic Commerce plan to strike a balance between affordability and robust features.
It offers e-commerce functionalities, including sales, donations, gift cards, and discount codes. Including marketing tools and access to advanced analytics is valuable for growing businesses. If you’re looking to establish a functional and efficient e-commerce presence without breaking the bank, the Basic Commerce plan provides an excellent starting point.
However, for more established businesses seeking specialized features and API integration, the Advanced Commerce plan becomes a strong contender. Ultimately, the choice hinges on aligning the plan’s offerings with your unique requirements.
Additional Costs
Although the stated monthly price grants access to the majority of features, it’s worth noting that extra fees might come into play with certain things based on the nature of your business when you choose Squarespace as your e-commerce platform.
Here are several common costs that could potentially add up alongside your monthly expenses:
Transaction Fees
Squarespace refrains from imposing transaction fees on its two e-commerce plans, Basic Commerce and Advanced Commerce. However, for the Business plan, a 3% transaction fee is applied to all sales and donations made.
Undoubtedly, the leap from 0% to 3% is quite substantial. Thus, this significant difference prompts individuals seeking to establish an online store with Squarespace to naturally lean toward the pricier Basic Commerce and Advanced Commerce plans to avoid the fees.
In comparison, Squarespace’s rival, Wix, refrains from imposing transaction or commission fees. Conversely, Shopify incorporates such fees, substantially lower than the 3% of Squarespace’s charges.
Processing Fees
Connecting with payment processors in the payment setting gives convenience and flexibility for customers to complete their checkout. However, a payment processor fee is charged depending on each gateway and applies to all plans, regardless of whether you pay monthly or annually.
Spacesquare connects with some well-known payment providers in the industry: Stripe, Paypal, Square, ClearPay, and Afterpay. Each provider has specific regulations and charges a different payment processing fee.
To illustrate, we look at two giant providers, PayPal and Stripe.
- Paypal charges 5.4% + 30¢ for each credit card online transaction.
- Stripe’s processing fees vary by country. Typically, customers in the US and UK might spend 2.9% + 30¢ per successful card charge.
For more information and details about other payment providers, you should reach out to Spacesquare’s Help Center.
Domain Names
Having your own custom domain name for your website is essential, as it provides a recognizable and trustworthy image to your visitors. Initially, your Squarespace site’s domain will appear as www.yoursite.squarespace.com, which lacks memorability and professionalism.
You have the option to transfer your custom domain to your Squarespace site or purchase it directly through Squarespace.
Purchasing an annual plan entitles you to a complimentary custom domain registration for a year. However, it’s important to note that you’ll need to renew it once that period concludes. Renewing or obtaining a new domain through Squarespace initiates at a cost of $20 per year for commonly used domains like.com or.net. However, certain others are pricier and might reach upwards of $50 per year.
Conversely, this benefit is not extended to monthly plan purchases. You can register your custom domain with other hosting services, which is an ideal price option, generally costing from $10 to $20 per year.
To cut down on domain name expenses, we suggest opting for Squarespace’s annual plans, which include a free domain name for the first year.
Email Marketing
Using email is a fantastic way to connect with visitors and expand your site’s audience. Whether you’re announcing a sale, launching new products, or sharing blog posts, emails can be highly effective. Squarespace presents a variety of choices for your marketing endeavors.
Except for the Personal plan, the platform offers one free professional email account through Google Workspace. However, to fully harness the capabilities of this solution, payment is required, which could substantially increase your monthly Squarespace expenses, especially after a year of use.
Squarespace also provides an all-in-one email marketing platform named Squarespace Email Campaigns. With this tool, you can design personalized emails directly from your website, ensuring your marketing aligns seamlessly with your site’s branding. The cheapest Email plan costs $5 per month with 3 standard campaigns and 500 emails per month bearing Squarespace’s branding. The most expensive plan would cost up to $48 with unlimited standards.
Extension
Squarespace boasts a comprehensive range of features; however, if you desire more integrations, additional costs are involved in the services you integrate. For instance, extensions like ShipStation for shipping or OpenTable for restaurants.
Naturally, the pricing varies depending on the chosen extension, and third-party integrations might also present their own array of plans with diverse costs. In general, you can anticipate expenses ranging from a nominal fee per usage to several hundred dollars per month.
3 Tips To Save Money With Squarespace
Annual Subscription
Initially, the idea of investing in an annual subscription might appear pricier, yet it turns out to be the most economically prudent path in the long term. Opting for a 12-month payment in advance can lead to savings of up to 30% annually.
Subscribing for an annual subscription helps you save money and grants you a free domain.
Avoid transaction fees
As mentioned above, a 3% transaction fee charged on all sales and donations seems to be a stiff challenge for businesses in the long run. Thus, upgrading to the Ecommerce plan of Spacequare will cost you a little bit extra per month, but you can take advantage of more powerful tools and avoid being charged for every transaction you have made.
Get special Squarespace discounts
Squarespace offers a range of enticing discounts to save money on your new Squarespace website. Here’s a breakdown of the various Squarespace discounts available:
- First purchase discounts: about 10% off the website or domain on any plan for the starter with the first-time subscription
- Student discount: Make the most of the Squarespace student discount, which grants you a remarkable 50% reduction on any annual plan during your initial year. Just confirm your student status, and you’ll be ready to craft the website you envisioned.
- Non-profit organization discount: Squarespace extends a one-time 10% discount across all its plans for organizations that work for non-profits.
- Sale promotion: Some annual events offer discounts for users, especially for Black Friday, typically ranging from 10% to 50% off annual plans.
Is Squarespace Free?
Unlike many other e-commerce platforms or website builders, such as Wix or Square Online, Squarespace does not offer a free plan.
Nevertheless, every Squarespace plan begins with a 14-day free trial, allowing you to explore its features without any initial cost.
Squarespace Pricing vs Competitor Pricing
Squarespace is not the cheapest option among the landscape of website builders. Thus, When comparing Squarespace’s pricing to that of its competitors, such as Shopify – a comprehensive solution, or Wix – a platform with ideal prices to kickstart, it’s important to consider each platform’s various features and offerings.
Shopify
Shopify is renowned for its comprehensive e-commerce capabilities, making it a go-to choice for online stores.
The Basic plan starts at $39 per month, a little bit higher than the Personal plan of Squarespace ($23) for starters, but it is already packed with abandoned cart recovery and the ability to sell multichannel, which seem to be advanced features.
Its most expensive and premium plan is Advanced, which costs $399 per month and comes with the most upgraded tools for growing businesses. Compared with the highest paid plan of Squarespace – Advance Commerce ($65/month), we can clearly see how many advantages Advanced can bring to reputable and large enterprises to solve their online selling challenges.
Wix
Wix is another direct competitor of Spacesquare on the market.
Wix’s Light plan, priced at $16 per month, offers limited features such as a complimentary domain, an SSL certificate, and 2GB of storage. On the other hand, Squarespace’s entry-level plan, the Personal plan, also costs the same price per month and provides better resources, including unlimited bandwidth and storage, along with a more extensive set of features for websites.
Both Wix’s Core plan ($32/month) and Squarespace’s Business plan ($33/month) represent the entry-level options for eCommerce. Squarespace’s Business plan offers a more abundant unlimited storage capacity than Wix’s 50GB. While these plans offer similar features, it’s worth noting that Wix’s Business Basic is commission-free, while Squarespace’s Business plan entails a 3% transaction fee.
Bottom Line
From personal websites to thriving eCommerce ventures, Squarespace offers various pricing plans to cater to your diverse needs. As you navigate the features, costs, and potential discounts, keep in mind the unique requirements of your project.
Choose wisely, and embark on a seamless and successful online journey with Squarespace.
FAQs
While it may not be as extensive as some dedicated e-commerce platforms, Squarespace offers a user-friendly interface and design flexibility that can be beneficial for small businesses looking to establish an online presence and sell products online.
- Step 1:Sign in to your Squarespace account using your credentials.
- Step 2:In the Home Menu, click on “Settings,” then navigate to “Billing”
- Step 3:Under the “Billing” section, click on “Subscriptions.”
- Step 4:Choose the appropriate option based on your subscription or plan: Website, Commerce, or Squarespace.
- Step 5:Hit the Cancel button under either the Website or Store box labeled.
- Step 6:Squarespace will ask for a reason for cancellation. Select your reason for canceling the subscription in the drop-down menu, and then click “Next.”
- Step 7:Complete the remaining form to provide feedback about your experience with Squarespace. If you prefer not to answer, you can proceed by clicking “Next.”
- Step 8:If your site has other active subscriptions, such as Scheduling or Google Workspace, a panel labeled “Your other subscriptions” will appear. Review these subscriptions and then click “Continue.” You can choose to cancel them at a later time.
- Step 9:Lastly, click the “Cancel” subscription button.
Shopify is known for its robust ecommerce features, extensive app ecosystem, and scalability, making it a strong choice for businesses of all sizes, particularly those focused primarily on online selling.
On the other hand, Squarespace offers a more visually appealing, basic website metrics and user-friendly website design experience, making it an ideal option for those looking for a seamless blend of aesthetics and online selling.
To sum up, Shopify’s robust and advanced features can benefit businesses more in the e-commerce competition.
- Limited customization: While Squarespace provides visually appealing templates, the level of customization might be limited compared to some other platforms. Advanced customizations often require coding knowledge.
- Ecommerce complexity: While Squarespace has ecommerce capabilities, it might not be as feature-rich or suitable for large-scale online stores compared to dedicated ecommerce platforms like Shopify.
- Transaction fees: Squarespace charges a 3% transaction fee on its Business plan for ecommerce sales, which could impact your overall profitability.
- Third-party integrations: While Squarespace offers integrations, the range might be narrower compared to platforms with larger app ecosystems, potentially limiting your ability to add specific features.
