What Is Squarespace?

Squarespace is an all-in-one website builder that lets anyone create a professional website without writing a single line of code. It combines templates, hosting, content management, ecommerce, scheduling, memberships, domains, analytics, and more into a single platform so you can easily design, publish, and run your entire site.

It’s a bit like a meal kit for websites: everything comes ready to use, and you just put it together. Choose a design, add your text and photos, move sections around, and hit publish.

For most people, Squarespace is the easiest way to build a stylish, functional website that just works. Whether you’re launching a small business, showcasing a creative portfolio, or running an online store, Squarespace gives you the tools to do it all from one dashboard.

Squarespace isn’t just for one kind of website — it’s for nearly all of them, from minimalist portfolios to full online stores.

Here are the most common use cases:

• Portfolios: Photographers, designers, and artists love Squarespace for its clean, gallery-focused templates.
• Small Business Sites: Cafés, salons, agencies, and consultants can easily add menus, service lists, and booking forms.
• Online Stores: Squarespace includes built-in ecommerce for physical and digital products, with secure checkout and inventory management.
• Blogs & Magazines: Writers and publishers can manage posts, categories, and RSS feeds with a distraction-free editor.
• Memberships & Courses: Use Memberships to gate content, host paid programs, or share exclusive resources.
• Scheduling: Integrated appointment booking lets clients book and pay online. It’s Squarespace’s add-on that integrates tightly with Squarespace websites.
• Nonprofits: Collect donations, share impact stories, and run newsletters right from the site.
• Personal Websites: Many people use Squarespace to build personal sites, resumes, or wedding pages that feel genuinely custom.

You can find examples of Squarespace-made websites for each category and business here.

Squarespace Overview (2:41)

Squarespace makes building a website simple — you start with a template and then customize it visually using their Fluid Engine editor. Everything happens in your browser. You don’t install software, deal with hosting, or touch code.

1. Choose a Template

Templates are the starting point for every Squarespace website. They come grouped by category — like Online Store, Portfolio, Blog, Restaurant, Photography, and Consulting. Each one is designed with that use case in mind, so it already includes the right page structure and layout.

For example:

• A photography template might open with a full-screen gallery and image grid.
• A restaurant template comes with a menu page and a reservations section.
• A consulting or personal brand template highlights services, testimonials, and a contact form.

All templates are fully responsive, meaning they automatically adapt to phones and tablets.

2. Customize with Fluid Engine

Squarespace’s Fluid Engine is its drag-and-drop layout system — and one of the platform’s biggest strengths.

You can move any block (text, image, button, form, video, etc.) anywhere on a grid. As you drag, guiding lines appear to help you align everything perfectly.

Fluid Engine gives you freedom to design creatively while still keeping everything neat and balanced — like combining the flexibility of graphic design software with the simplicity of a website builder.

You can even design separate layouts for desktop and mobile views, so your site looks great everywhere.

3. Use Sections and Blocks

Every page is made up of sections (large building blocks like “About,” “Gallery,” or “Contact”) and smaller content blocks (text, images, forms, buttons, and more).

If you don’t want to start from scratch, you can add predesigned sections from Squarespace’s library — just click “Add Section,” pick a layout, and replace the placeholder content.

4. Add Features

Once your pages are in place, you can add built-in tools like:

• Online store (with checkout and inventory)
• Blog (for articles or updates)
• Scheduling (for appointments and bookings)
• Forms and newsletter sign-ups
• Maps, calendars, and galleries

Everything integrates automatically, so you don’t have to install plugins or worry about compatibility.

5. Publish Your Site

When you’re happy with your design, you click Publish — and your site goes live instantly. Hosting is built in, and you can connect a custom domain (either one you already own or one you buy directly through Squarespace).

You can keep editing anytime — changes save automatically, and you can preview before publishing.

• Beautiful Templates: Professionally designed, mobile-responsive templates across categories like portfolios, blogs, restaurants, and online stores. You can easily customize colors, fonts, and layouts to match your brand.
• Fluid Engine Editor: Squarespace’s visual drag-and-drop system lets you move and align content freely on a grid. It provides the creative flexibility of graphic design software while keeping your layout neat and responsive.
• Sections & Blocks: Build pages quickly using predesigned sections or create your own with content blocks for text, images, forms, galleries, and buttons — no coding required.
• Blogging & Content: Squarespace’s blogging tools are refined and reliable. You can schedule posts, add tags and categories, host podcasts, and manage multiple authors — all from a clean, intuitive editor.
• Ecommerce: A complete online store system with product catalogs, variants, digital downloads, integrated payments (Stripe, PayPal, Apple Pay), tax and shipping tools, inventory tracking, abandoned-cart recovery, and detailed sales analytics. It’s ideal for design-driven brands that want a store as polished as their visuals.
• Memberships: Create paywalled content for courses, coaching, or premium communities. You can set one-time or recurring payments and control access for specific members or groups.
• Scheduling: Squarespace includes full integration with Acuity Scheduling, its own booking platform. Visitors can view your availability, book appointments, and pay online — perfect for consultants, trainers, and service-based businesses.
• Marketing & SEO Tools: Squarespace manages technical SEO automatically — SSL certificates, sitemaps, structured data, and mobile optimization. You can still customize titles, descriptions, and URLs for SEO. Moreover, you can connect social media and run email marketing campaigns using Squarespace’s own add-on tool.
• Analytics: Built-in analytics track visitors, sales, and engagement in real time. You can see top-performing pages, traffic sources, and conversion data — all from the same dashboard.
• Blueprint AI: Squarespace’s new Blueprint AI feature builds a site structure and starter copy from a short business description. It doesn’t replace your creativity but gives you a fast, design-ready foundation to start from. However, I haven’t found it very useful, so I would recommend the traditional route of choosing a template and tweaking it to build your website.
• Hosting & Security: Reliable cloud hosting, automatic SSL, and regular platform updates keep your site fast, safe, and always online — no extra setup or plugins required.

Squarespace offers four main plans — Basic, Core, Plus, and Advanced — with savings of up to 35% when you pay annually.

• Basic: $16/month when billed annually. Best for simple personal websites or portfolios. Includes core design tools, SSL security, and basic analytics.
• Core: $23/month annually. Ideal for small businesses or freelancers who need marketing integrations, custom code, and basic ecommerce tools.
• Plus: $39/month annually. Designed for growing online stores. Adds real-time shipping, abandoned cart recovery, and digital product sales.
• Advanced: $99/month annually. Suited for high-volume businesses. Includes 0% transaction fees on digital products, advanced discounts, and priority support.

All plans include hosting, SSL security, and a free custom domain for the first year.

Squarespace doesn’t offer a free plan, but you can start with a 14-day free trial — no credit card required.

Learn more about Squarespace pricing and use our pricing calculator here.

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Pros	Cons
\ Beautiful templates: \ Squarespace offers some of the best-designed templates online — clean, modern, and ready to use. \	\ Learning curve: \ Squarespace is one of the most intuitive \ website builders \ for what it offers, but beginners may still need some time to adjust. \
\ Visual editing (Fluid Engine): \ The drag-and-drop editor makes layout design flexible while keeping alignment and responsiveness intact. \	\ Pricing: \ Strong value overall, but more expensive than simpler platforms like Hostinger or Carrd. There is no free plan. \
\ All-in-one platform: \ Hosting, domains, templates, analytics, SEO, and ecommerce are included — no plugins required. \	\ Advanced customization limits: \ CSS and code injection are available, but deep structural customization is limited compared to WordPress, Webflow, or Framer. \
\ Mobile optimization: \ Templates automatically adapt to phones and tablets for consistent cross-device design. \	\ Closed platform: \ Squarespace limits portability, data ownership, and backend control compared to open systems. \
\ Built-in tools: \ Blogging, ecommerce, scheduling, memberships, and analytics are included by default. \
\ Reliability: \ Secure cloud hosting with SSL, backups, and automatic updates — no maintenance required. \
\ SEO & marketing: \ Squarespace handles technical SEO and includes built-in email campaigns. \
\ Customer support: \ 24/7 email support, weekday live chat, plus tutorials and a comprehensive help center. \

**Squarespace vs Wix
**Wix offers more freedom, but it can feel messy. Squarespace trades some flexibility for a cleaner, more cohesive design.

**Squarespace vs WordPress
**WordPress offers endless customization but requires plugins, hosting, and maintenance. Squarespace is plug-and-play — everything just works.

**Squarespace vs Shopify
**Shopify is built for large ecommerce stores. Squarespace is better for small to medium shops that care about design and storytelling.

Squarespace vs Hostinger

Squarespace offers great value for the money because of its features. Hostinger is also a good option and is cheaper, but it has fewer features and is simpler to use.

**Squarespace vs Webflow or Framer
**Webflow and Framer target designers who want granular control. Squarespace is more accessible, with ready-made layouts that still feel premium.

Squarespace vs GoDaddy

Squarespace offers better design, customization, and ecommerce tools, while GoDaddy is faster and simpler but far more limited and a bad value-for-money compared to other platforms.

Who Squarespace Is Perfect For

• Freelancers and creatives who want design-led portfolios
• Small business owners who want an online presence that looks professional
• Independent brands selling products or services
• Coaches, trainers, or teachers running membership programs
• Professionals looking for elegant, low-maintenance websites
• Anyone who values good design and simplicity \

Who Might Want Something Else

• Developers who need full backend access or APIs (Our recommendation: Webflow, WordPress)
• Enterprises running large-scale ecommerce (Our recommendation: Shopify)
• Users who want total control over every line of code (Our recommendation: Use a framework like React or Next.js, or build manually with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for complete flexibility. You can also look into static site generators like Jekyll or Hugo)
• Multi-language or region-specific businesses (Our recommendation: Wix, Webflow, Duda) \

Squarespace succeeds because it respects your time. You just start building.

It’s a platform where design and practicality meet: every template feels intentional, every tool fits naturally, and the end result always looks better than you expect.

If you want a website that looks like it was designed by a professional — and you’d rather not spend weeks figuring out how — Squarespace is one of the best choices you can make in 2025.

Related: Best Website Builders

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