Deciding between WordPress and Squarespace for your website build can be a difficult choice. They are the top platforms for building websites without having much technical knowledge. Here is the WordPress vs SquareSpace comparison in 2022.
WordPress itself is free open-source software. You just need to find a hosting provider to run this software on. Hosting can be as cheap as $3.89/month for getting your site off the ground. Check out the Top 3 Canadian-owned Web Hosting Providers for a comparison of the best Canadian hosting providers.
Squarespace plans start at $14 USD/month when paid annually and they offer a 14-day free trial to test their platform. Their most expensive plan comes in at $65/month for their “Advanced Commerce Plan”. A domain comes free of charge when you pay for an annual subscription. All plans come with unlimited bandwidth which is great as you don’t need to worry about your site hitting any traffic limits.
WordPress requires more technical knowledge as its software can be modified to provide any business functionality. You may need to set up the server on your own if you’re using a cheap hosting plan. You will also need to make sure WordPress is updated along with any plugins/themes used. Without doing this may result in a hacked website or security vulnerability.
Squarespace makes it easy to set up a website as their platform comes with all the necessary features to launch such as beautifully designed templates, and SEO and analytics tools to help with marketing your website.
The Squarespace Template Store offers designs ready for various industries such as Restaurants, Fashion, and Professional Services. You will have a hard time deciding which template to go with as they’re so many amazing templates at your fingertips.
WordPress offers the most customization between the two as it’s open-source software which means everything can be changed according to your needs. In terms of website builders, WordPress comes with the Gutenberg Block editor which allows you to create dynamic web pages without using any code.
For a more visual real-time editor, we would recommend Elementor as it offers a live drag and drop editor which makes building web pages easier and more efficient, especially when using pre-made templates and elements.
Squarespace also comes with an easy-to-use drag and drop builder which will allow you to create elements of text, images or videos on your web pages without doing any coding. We would recommend that you take your time to find a suitable template so that you just need to import your content onto the template without making any major changes to the design of the template.
The WordPress community is almost 20 years old as WordPress was created in 2003. As WordPress is the more mature platform of the two, it will be easier for you to find web developers & designers that work with WordPress. 65% of all websites using a CMS solution are using WordPress which shows their market dominance.
Squarespace was founded in 2003 and they’re headquartered in New York City. They have a market share of 2.7% of all the websites using a CMS solution. They’re slightly more popular than Wix at 2.3% but both are dwarfed in comparison to WordPress at 65% market share of all the CMS websites. If you decide to go with Squarespace it may be difficult to find a dedicated developer that specializes in Squarespace that can help expand your website when you need technical expertise. You can check their Expert Marketplace if you need developer support.
Squarespace has an excellent help center that covers everything you need to understand their platform and develop an awesome website. We like specifically that all their articles also come with supporting videos as you can easily follow along to emulate the same solution onto your website.
Both WordPress and Squarespace offer premium themes and plugins which can handle business functionalities such as Ecommerce, Booking, Elearning.
If you’re looking for more variety of themes and plugins then go with WordPress, Wix currently offers hundreds of themes on their Squarespace template store whereas WordPress offers thousands of themes on their WordPress theme catalog.
WordPress wins in this category as there are a vast number of themes and plugins available; this shouldn’t deter you from going with Squarespace as their apps and themes available will work for most businesses.
Between these two website platforms, I would recommend WordPress as it offers the best value for money and you’re able to have complete control over how your website functions with their open-source software finding dedicated developers to help with your website will be easier if you choose WordPress as your CMS solution.
I would only recommend Squarespace if you’re looking for an easier platform to work with as someone without technical knowledge as you just need to pick one of their fully designed templates but you will be limited in expanding the functionality of your website as you can’t edit all aspects of your website and it will be harder to find a dedicated developer that specializes in Squarespace development as the platform popularity is less than WordPress.
So that’s our WordPress vs SquareSpace comparison for 2022. If you’re also considering Wix check out our WordPress vs Wix Comparison in 2022 article.
I hope this comparison helped you with your decision on choosing a website platform for your next project. If you’re looking for a WordPress Expert, then we at MapilitMedia Inc. provide expertise in building WordPress websites and themes. Let us know how we can help with your online presence.
