Key highlights
- Know what makes this Squarespace review essential for anyone considering a new website builder in 2025.
- Learn the real pros and cons of using a Squarespace site for personal, business or online store needs.
- Explore Squarespace offers, pricing plans and how its advanced eCommerce features compare with other eCommerce platforms.
- Understand whether Squarespace plans fit your website building goals and where it might fall short.
- Uncover why many users still compare Bluehost vs Squarespace and how Bluehost can power your long-term growth.
Building a website today is easier than ever, but choosing the right platform can still feel overwhelming. Between the Squarespace vs Bluehost debate and the buzz around other platforms, it’s tough to know where to start.
Squarespace has carved out its place as a popular website builder, loved for its sleek design and simple setup. Many small business owners are drawn to it because it feels effortless, no steep learning curve, no heavy technical know how.
In this Squarespace review, we’ll dig into the real story behind the platform. You’ll see the pros and cons of Squarespace, how its built-in tools and advanced features stack up and where it shines or falls short.
We’ll also cover a Squarespace eCommerce review, breaking down its strengths for those who want to sell products online. By the end, you’ll know whether to choose Squarespace for simplicity or choose Bluehost if you need more flexibility as your business scales.
Overview of Squarespace
Squarespace, a company based in New York, has changed the way people create websites. Founded in 2004, the company’s goal is to help creatives and entrepreneurs bring their ideas to life online.
Squarespace aims to empower individuals and businesses to succeed in the digital world by offering a user-friendly platform with stunning designs.
Ideal for creatives, small businesses and entrepreneurs, Squarespace is perfect for those looking to establish a strong online presence without needing advanced coding skills.
With its simple drag-and-drop interface and stylish templates, Squarespace allows users to create professional websites quickly.
Squarespace stands out with its focus on design and user experience. Its unique selling points include its beautiful templates, seamless integrations with popular eCommerce platforms and exceptional customer support.
Pros of using Squarespace
If you’re new to building websites, Squarespace makes it easy to start without deep technical knowledge.
The drag and drop editor and smooth user interface allow you to design in just a few clicks, which is why many users recommend Squarespace for simple, stylish sites.
Here are the top pros:
1. User-friendly interface
One of the notable advantages of Squarespace is its user-friendly interface. The platform’s drag-and-drop functionality makes it accessible, even if you’re not tech-savvy. You can create a functional and visually appealing website without needing to know how to code.
This ease of use is suitable for beginners and non-technical users, allowing you to focus more on your business rather than the intricacies of website development.
2. Professional templates
Squarespace gives you a range of templates to choose from, each with its own unique design options. While they may not have the largest selection, the templates available are attractive and professional. This means you can find the perfect fit for your brand and website’s style.
These templates are designed to be easy to use and customize, so you can make your website exactly how you want it. Whether you’re starting a business, launching a blog or showcasing your work, Squarespace offers templates that can help you create a professional online presence.
3. Mobile accessibility
Squarespace allows you to manage your online presence on-the-go. This functionality enables you to update your Squarespace sites, blog or online store anytime and anywhere.
This feature caters well to entrepreneurs, small business owners and creatives who need constant connectivity with their audience.
4. Integrated features
Squarespace also offers integrated features that make it an all-in-one solution for website owners. The platform includes built-in SEO tools to help improve your website’s visibility, eCommerce capabilities to sell products online and blogging tools to create and share content easily.
Also, Squarespace integrates social media seamlessly to make it easy to share your website content on various platforms. It also supports integration with Google Analytics to provide comprehensive insights into your website’s performance.
5. Professional customer support
Squarespace offers several ways to get help when you need it. Their automated Support Assistant is designed to guide you toward quick answers and if you prefer, it can connect you with a real person through live chat or email.
You can reach out to them through live chat and email and they also offer a detailed knowledge base that answers almost any question you might have. However, they don’t provide phone support.
There’s also a community forum where you can ask questions and get answers from other users. This is very useful if you prefer not to wait for customer service to respond. The forum is filled with helpful advice and tips from experienced users.
Cons of using Squarespace
While many Squarespace review articles praise its simplicity, there are still drawbacks to consider. A Squarespace website can work well for beginners, but compared to a flexible web hosting provider, its limits become noticeable as your site grows.
Even though the website builder and site builder are user-friendly, customization and scalability can be restrictive.
Here are the top cons:
1. Pricing
One significant drawback of using Squarespace is its pricing model. Compared to its competitors, Squarespace tends to be more expensive, which can be a barrier for individuals or small businesses on a tight budget.
Their plans start at $16 and go up to $52 per month, with discounts when you commit to a year. Each plan is different, with varying numbers of pages, contributors, eCommerce tools and support.
However, Squarespace charges a small fee for eCommerce sales. This fee ranges from 0%- 3% of each sale, depending on your plan. It also applies to payments made through services like PayPal and Stripe.
If you plan to sell a lot of products, you might want to explore other eCommerce options with lower fees.
2. Customization limitations
Another limitation of Squarespace is its customization options. While it offers a range of stylish templates, you may find it challenging to make advanced customizations, especially if they require custom code. This rigidity can be frustrating for users who want a unique online presence.
If you want to customize your website design to match your business and brand, a platform like WordPress is a better option.
3. Performance issues
Given the competitive nature of online businesses, a delay in page load time can be detrimental.
Unfortunately, several users of Squarespace have highlighted concerns about downtime or slow loading times, which can negatively impact user experience and search engine rankings.
4. eCommerce limitations
While Squarespace offers eCommerce features, they are relatively basic. Squarespace allows you to create an online store, but it lacks some of the more advanced features available on other platforms.
For instance, other platforms may offer functionalities such as multiple currency support, integrations with third-party apps, advanced inventory management toolkits and tax calculation functionality.
While Squarespace offers a range of payment gateways, its selection is limited compared to other platforms. This restriction can be frustrating for businesses with unique payment needs.
If your business relies heavily on online sales, Squarespace might not be the most suitable option.
5. No phone support
Another significant drawback of using Squarespace is the lack of phone support. While Squarespace offers email support and an extensive knowledge base, users who prefer to resolve issues over the phone may find this limitation frustrating.
Imagine trying to troubleshoot a technical issue with your website on a deadline, only to be forced to wait for an email response. This lack of phone support can be a significant obstacle for users who value timely and personal assistance.
Squarespace review: What customers are saying
To provide a well-rounded perspective on Squarespace, we’ve analyzed user reviews from reputable sources.
Many users appreciate Squarespace for its ease of use and professional design capabilities. The drag-and-drop interface is frequently highlighted for its simplicity and effectiveness in building visually appealing websites without needing to know how to code.
Small business owners and creatives often praise Squarespace for enabling them to create a professional online presence quickly. One user mentioned, “Squarespace has lots of templates that you can easily use to get a beautiful website up in less than one week.”
However, despite its many benefits, Squarespace has its share of criticisms. Some users report dissatisfaction with the platform’s customer service, citing no response to emails and chats as significant drawbacks.
Another reviewer stated, “Impossible to get in touch with anyone there. Our company website and e-mail have been down for 3 days and we are unable to connect via e-mail or live chat to anyone on customer support.”
Customization limitations are another common gripe. While the drag-and-drop editor is user-friendly, it operates within a grid system that can restrict the placement of elements, limiting the flexibility compared to other platforms.
Additionally, some advanced users find the lack of integration with third-party tools to be a hindrance, feeling confined within the Squarespace ecosystem.
Overall, while Squarespace is praised for its ease of use and professional design options, some users find its limitations and customer support issues to be significant drawbacks. This mixed feedback highlights the importance of considering both the strengths and weaknesses of Squarespace when deciding if it is the right platform for your needs.
Why consider alternatives like Bluehost?
While Squarespace has its merits, it’s important to consider alternatives that might better suit your needs. Here’s why Bluehost could be a better choice for you:
1. Premium benefits
One of Bluehost’s strongest advantages is the premium value it delivers. Bluehost provides competitive pricing plans, allowing individuals and small businesses to establish an online presence without spending too much. This means that you can get a reliable and professional website up and running without a large upfront investment.
This matters most for startups and entrepreneurs who want the quality of a top-tier service while managing a lean budget. Instead of overspending on hosting, you can put more resources into marketing, growth and product development. With Bluehost, you can secure a high-quality hosting services in the form of diverse hosting plans offered.
Bluehost also includes valuable extras at no added cost such as a powerful website builder, a free custom domain name for the first year, SSL certificates and built-in marketing credits. These features, which often cost more with other providers, are bundled to give you true premium value and help your website grow effectively from day one. Get yours now!
2. Flexibility
Another key aspect is flexibility. Bluehost offers a variety of hosting plans, including shared hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated hosting and cloud hosting, each catering to your different needs and preferences. This range of options ensures that you can find a plan that fits your current requirements and budget without compromising on quality or features.
Shared hosting
If you’re a beginner or have a small website, shared hosting is the most affordable option for you. It allows multiple websites to share the same server resources, which keeps costs low. This plan is perfect if you’re just starting out and expect moderate traffic to your site. Explore Bluehost Shared Hosting plans!
VPS hosting
As your website grows and requires more resources, you might consider upgrading to VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting. VPS hosting offers you more control and flexibility than shared hosting, with dedicated resources allocated to your site. This means better performance, enhanced security and the ability to handle higher traffic volumes. Explore Bluehost VPS Hosting plans!
Dedicated hosting
For large businesses or websites with high traffic and resource demands, dedicated hosting is the best option for you. With dedicated hosting, you have an entire server to yourself, providing maximum performance, security and customization. This plan is ideal if you need to run complex applications or handle large amounts of data.
This flexibility allows you to adjust your hosting plan as your website grows. For example, you can start with a shared hosting plan and easily switch to VPS or dedicated hosting as your traffic increases and your needs change. On the other hand, if your needs decrease, you can move to a less expensive plan without any hassle. Explore Bluehost Dedicated Hosting plans!
3. eCommerce strength
Bluehost provides strong eCommerce solutions by integrating seamlessly with WooCommerce, a widely-used eCommerce platform. This integration gives you a wide range of features to manage your online store effectively. You can easily add and manage products, set up different payment methods, handle shipping options and keep track of inventory. This makes it easy to tailor your store to your specific needs, whether you sell physical products, digital goods or services.
WooCommerce is highly customizable. It allows you to design your store exactly how you want it. You can choose from many themes and plugins to enhance the look and functionality of your site. Bluehost supports this customization by giving you the flexibility to implement various design elements and features without being limited by templates.
As your business grows, WooCommerce with Bluehost can grow with you. You can start with a basic setup and gradually add more advanced features, such as membership options, subscription services and advanced shipping solutions. This means your eCommerce site can expand alongside your business without the need to switch platforms. Explore Bluehost WooCommerce hosting!
4. 24/7 customer support
Unlike Squarespace’s limited live chat hours, Bluehost offers 24/7 customer support via phone, chat and email. This means that no matter what time it is or where you are, you can always reach out for help with any issues or questions you might have.
Whether you encounter a technical problem late at night or need assistance with a feature early in the morning, Bluehost’s support team is available around the clock to provide prompt assistance.
Final thoughts
In this comprehensive post, we’ve discussed the pros and cons of Squarespace. We’ve explained how it operates and highlighted its various features.
Ultimately, whether or not to use Squarespace depends on your individual needs and priorities. If you value ease of use and a professional look, creating a Squarespace site may be the way to go. It offers impressive design templates, eCommerce functionalities and security measures.
However, if you’re on a tight budget or need more flexibility in your website design, you may want to explore other website builders.
With Bluehost, you get a wider range of hosting options, scalability and customization capabilities. You have the freedom to choose your preferred technologies, seamlessly integrate additional features and maintain complete control over your online presence.
So, while Squarespace has its advantages, opting for Bluehost ensures a more customizable and adaptable website solution that suits your specific needs.
FAQs
Squarespace isn’t a free plan, but it gives a 14-day trial. After that, you choose from Squarespace pricing and pricing plans. Each Squarespace plan includes a website builder, customer support, hosting plans and a Squarespace site with unlimited bandwidth and visually appealing Squarespace templates.
A Squarespace website is easy with its drag and drop site builder, Squarespace templates and SEO tools. But using a hosting provider like Bluehost with premium hosting plans, WordPress plugins and advanced website building options offers more control. Bluehost offers greater flexibility compared to Squarespace offers.
Yes, Squarespace offers eCommerce tools to run an online store with product management, payments and SSL security. Its basic plan, advanced plans and diversified Squarespace pricing let you sell products easily. Still, other eCommerce platforms like WooCommerce on Bluehost provide more advanced eCommerce features and customization.
Choosing between Bluehost vs Squarespace depends on goals. Squarespace offers drag and drop, Squarespace’s AI tools and Squarespace templates for small business owners. Bluehost as a premium hosting provider delivers advanced features, stronger customer support and scalable hosting plans. Many choose Bluehost for flexibility when their business scales.
Squarespace pros include a simple website builder, SEO tools and marketing tools with visually appealing website templates. Cons are limited flexibility, transaction fee and fewer advanced features. That’s why many large and small business owners both prefer Bluehost offers, with robust hosting plans, advanced tools and a reliable hosting provider experience.
A single Squarespace review may highlight the pros and cons of Squarespace, but it’s not always enough to decide. Consider search engine optimization, built-in marketing features and how easy building websites is with just a few clicks. Comparing premium plans and advanced plans with other content management system options gives a fuller picture.
When it comes to Squarespace vs Bluehost, beginners may prefer Squarespace for its basic commerce tools and easy website builder setup. However, Bluehost offers stronger flexibility for building websites, advanced integrations and scalable hosting plans. For business owners, Bluehost often wins for long-term growth while Squarespace works well for quick launches.
A detailed Squarespace eCommerce review shows how its online store plan, basic commerce and marketing features perform. It helps online store owners weigh simplicity against scalability. While Squarespace offers premium plans and advanced plans, comparing with other eCommerce platforms ensures you don’t miss stronger SEO checklist options or customization beyond Squarespace.
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