Squarespace vs WordPress (and Wix) comes down to one question: do you want the quickest way to get a site up, or a site you own outright that can grow with the business? Squarespace and Wix are quick to start and fine for a simple site you’ll run yourself. For a business that wants to be found on Google and keep adding to its site, WordPress is usually the better long-term choice.
That’s our view as a studio that builds websites on WordPress and has done SEO on a Wix site too. All three are good at what they’re built for. The trick is matching the platform to what your business needs now and in a couple of years’ time.
One thing to clear up first: in this post, WordPress means the free WordPress software from wordpress.org, put on hosting you choose. WordPress.com is a separate hosted service, and it isn’t what we’re comparing here.
1. The quick answer
When Wix or Squarespace makes sense
Choose Wix or Squarespace if you want to build the site yourself, you need a handful of pages, and you’d rather not think about hosting or updates. Both give you templates and a drag-and-drop editor, and the hosting comes with the plan. You pick a design, swap in your words and photos, and you can have a site live quickly.
When WordPress makes sense
Choose WordPress if the site has to do more over time: more services, more pages, a blog, a shop, bookings, or something that connects to the systems you already use. WordPress is open-source software, so it can be changed to do almost anything, and you can host it wherever you like. The trade-off is that someone has to look after it: hosting, updates and backups. That’s usually your designer or your host.
2. Squarespace vs WordPress
Design and templates
Squarespace is known for its templates, and they’re good. If you like one and your business fits it, you’ll get a smart-looking site quickly. The limit comes when you want something the template wasn’t designed to do. With WordPress, a designer can build the site around your content, rather than fitting your content into a template.
Adding pages and content as you grow
Both let you edit text and images and add pages yourself. The difference shows as the site gets bigger. If you plan to add a page for every service, a blog that grows every month, case studies or location pages, WordPress handles that kind of growth well, because you can add almost any feature through plugins or custom work.
Selling online
Squarespace has plans that include selling products and services, all in one place. WordPress sells through a plugin, usually WooCommerce, which is free and open source. Squarespace is simpler to start. WooCommerce gives you more control over how products and categories are set up, which matters once you have a lot of them. If a shop is the main job, our guide to Shopify or WooCommerce goes into more detail.
3. Wix vs WordPress
Ease of use
Wix is one of the easiest ways to build a site yourself. The editor is drag and drop, the hosting is set up for you when you publish, and Wix handles the software updates. WordPress has more of a learning curve for building a site from scratch. Once a site is built, though, updating text, images and blog posts in WordPress is straightforward.
Flexibility later on
Wix runs on its own technology, and a Wix site has to be hosted on Wix’s servers. That’s fine while Wix does everything you need. If you outgrow it, you can’t take the site to another host: you’d rebuild it somewhere else. WordPress has no such limit. We’ve done SEO for a travel and events site built on Wix, working with the site as it was. A Wix site doesn’t have to be rebuilt before you start on SEO.
4. SEO on each platform
What all three handle well
All three can rank on Google. Wix and Squarespace both come with SEO tools built in, and WordPress gets them through plugins. On any of them you can write your own page titles and descriptions, and that’s a good place to start. The platform matters far less than the pages you put on it: one clear page for each thing you sell, written the way your customers search.
Where WordPress gives you more control
WordPress gives you more control over the things that matter as a site grows: how the pages are structured, how they’re marked up for Google, how fast they load and which hosting you use. You’re not limited to the settings one company has chosen to offer. That doesn’t make a WordPress site rank on its own. A badly built WordPress site can do worse than a well-kept Wix one. But the control is there when you need it.
5. What each costs over time
Monthly plans vs hosting
Wix and Squarespace charge a subscription, paid monthly or yearly, and the hosting is included. On Wix, taking payments needs one of the higher plans. On Squarespace, every paid plan can sell, though the shop features vary by plan. The cost is simple to understand, and it carries on for as long as the site is live.
WordPress itself is free. You pay for hosting and a domain name, and sometimes for premium themes or plugins. Hosting covers the server, and depending on who you go with, updates and backups too.
Paying a designer
You can build on any of the three yourself, or pay a designer. With Wix or Squarespace, a designer will often start from a template and adapt it. With WordPress, a designer can build the site around your business from the start. It usually costs more up front, so it’s worth weighing against what the site needs to do for you. If you’re thinking of hiring someone, here’s what happens in a web design project.
6. Who owns your site, and moving later
Taking your site with you
This is the biggest difference, and the one people think about last.
- Wix: the content you create belongs to you, but the site itself has to stay on Wix’s servers. You can’t export it and host it elsewhere. You can buy and keep your domain name with another company and connect it, which we’d recommend.
- Squarespace: you can export some of your content as a file that imports into WordPress, but not everything. Store pages, product blocks, style settings and custom CSS don’t come with it, and only one blog can be exported. Your site also needs an active subscription. If it lapses for too long, the content can be deleted.
- WordPress: the software is yours to run however you like, and the site can be moved from one host to another, files, database and all.
Whoever builds your site, make sure you own it once it’s paid for, with the logins to everything. Our clients always have.
Moving to WordPress without losing your Google traffic
Moving from Wix or Squarespace to WordPress means rebuilding the pages, not copying the site across. The part that protects your Google traffic is the redirects: every old page address points to its new one with a permanent redirect, so visitors and Google land in the right place. Skip that step and pages that used to bring in enquiries can drop out of search.
A London caterer we work with was on Wix before we designed and built its new site on WordPress.
How to choose for your business
Ask yourself three things. Will you build and run the site yourself, or pay someone? Will it stay small, or keep growing? And how much does it matter that you own it and can move it?
If it’s a simple site you’ll run yourself, Wix or Squarespace will do the job well. If the site needs to bring in enquiries from Google and grow with the business, WordPress is usually worth it. For a wider look at the options, including Webflow and Shopify, see our guide to choosing a CMS.
If you’d like a WordPress site built around your business, have a look at our web design packages.
You can email us at hello@thesocialbay.co.uk, fill in our start a project form, or call or message us on 07441 918230.
Frequently asked questions about Wix, Squarespace and WordPress
Is Squarespace better than WordPress?
For a simple site you’ll build and run yourself, Squarespace can be the better choice: it’s quick and the hosting is included. For a business site that needs to grow and stay in your hands, WordPress usually comes out ahead.
What are the downsides of Squarespace?
You’re limited to what Squarespace offers, the site only stays live while you pay the subscription, and if you leave, only part of your content can be exported. Bigger or more unusual sites can also outgrow its templates.
Is Wix better than WordPress?
Wix is easier to start with, and it looks after hosting and updates for you. WordPress is more flexible and you can move it wherever you like. If you expect the site to grow, or you want to own it outright, WordPress is the safer long-term bet.
Which is cheaper, WordPress or Wix?
It depends on how you build it. Building on Wix yourself is usually the cheapest way to get started, but the subscription carries on for as long as the site is live. WordPress is free software, so the running cost is mainly hosting. A professionally built WordPress site costs more up front.
Can I move my Wix or Squarespace site to WordPress?
Yes, but expect to rebuild the pages. Wix sites can’t be moved to another host, and Squarespace’s export brings across only some content, such as basic pages and one blog. Set up redirects from every old page address to its new one, so you keep the visitors Google already sends you.