Squarespace is one of the popular website builders that you can use to set up your own website. It has a wide range of features to help you control the design and functionality of your site. Squarespace offers a wide range of pricing plans that you can choose according to your business requirements. In this article, we will take a look at Squarespace pricing, and try to understand the cost perspective more clearly.
Squarespace pricing overview
Squarespace offers 4 simple pricing plans that suits varied business requirements. All plans offer round-the-clock customer service and the rates will differ based on whether you choose the annual or monthly plan. The following are the available plans.
Annual
- Personal – $12
- Business – $18
- Basic Commerce – $26
- Advanced Commerce – $40
Monthly
- Personal – $16
- Business – $26
- Basic Commerce – $35
- Advanced Commerce – $54
Features available with all plans
There are a range of features available with all plans. Firstly, let’s take a look at those:
- SSL Certificate
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Search engine optimization
- Diverse templates to create different kinds of websites.
- Mobile optimization
- Basic metrics to measure website performance.
- Access to a large pool of third-party extensions.
Features available in Business plan and above
- Professional Gmail and Google Workspace account
- Premium integrations for reservations and bookings
- Option to add CSS and JavaScript elements.
- Marketing features like advanced analytics, ads credits, and option for promotional popups.
- Option to sell online, accept donations and offer gift cards.
Features available in Commerce plan and above
- Square POS payments
- Option for customers to create accounts
- Allow customers to checkout securely on your own domain.
- More advanced analytics features to help you identify sales performance and more.
- Better inventory management and upselling options.
- Option to sync products with Facebook Catalog.
Features available exclusively for Advanced Commerce plan
- Automated email option to recover abandoned carts
- Capability to sell subscriptions
- Real-time shipping rates of popular carriers like FedEx, UPS and USPS.
- Total control over setting dynamic discounts on your store.
- Ability to create custom integrations with third party services.
- Display availability status of products to improve conversions.
How to choose the best plan for your website?
Depending on your requirements, you can choose one of the pricing plans. Here we will try to give a basic idea on which plan will be suitable for different websites.
- Personal websites – If you are looking to create a simple website where there is no plan to sell products, the Personal plan will be a great fit. It offers all the essential features to run a secure and stable website including round the clock customer support.
- Websites with one or two products to sell – For business websites that sell just one or two products, Business plan will be an apt option. In addition to setting up a basic website, this plan will let you add a few number of products as well. The catch here is that there will be a 3% transaction fee applicable on your site sales.
- For online stores – You can create a comprehensive eCommerce store using the Basic Commerce plan. As you have seen above, the feature-list has several options such as advanced analytics and inventory management. This plan also allows point of sale integration as well as customer account creation for a better checkout experience.
- For stores that want the best selling experience – If you want to experience all the advanced features of Squarespace for your online store, the Advanced Commerce plan is best suited for you. It offers advanced features to set up shipping and discounts, along with powerful integrations with third party APIs. You will be able to sell subscriptions through your store, if you have opted for the advanced plan. Cart recovery emails, stock status labels, etc., are some of the other features you will get to promote your eCommerce store.
Setting up professional emails with Squarespace
In the Personal plan, Squarespace does not offer options to set up a business email. However, for Business plan onwards, you can get a free professional Gmail and Google Workspace account. For additional users and renewals, standard rates will apply according to the plans that you choose. Please note, this offer is only valid for new Google Workspace accounts. The Business Starter plan of Google Workspace starts from $6 per user per month.
Domain name registration with Squarespace
If you are choosing to pay annually, Squarespace offers free domain name registration for the first year. You can choose from the available options in the lowest price bracket. Once the free registration period of one year is over, the domains will be renewed at standard rates. Also, the free domain should be registered within one year of the start of the subscription plan. Squarespace also allows you to attach any number of domains to their plans annually or monthly.
Cost of customization
You will find a wide range of add-ons and extensions to customize your site’s features and functionality while using Squarespace. There are several third party extensions available for diverse categories such as sales and marketing, finance, inventory management, shipping and more. The cost of extensions could be completely different according to the extension that you choose. Some may have an monthly fees while some other may have just a one time payment. Some will have free trial options, and there are even extensions that are totally free.
Priority support
All plans of Squarespace offer great customer support. However, you can opt for the advanced support service called Squarespace Select for an outstanding support experience. The highlights of this service is the personalized account manager, and advanced consultations in design and search engine optimization. You need to contact them through the form provided to get a better understanding of the pricing for this service.
Squarespace pricing compared to competitors
Compared to some of the other popular website and online shop builders, Squarespace is not really different. More importantly, it offers great value for money, and the flexibility to help you choose the most suitable plan according to your requirements. You can check the below table to get an overview of the pricing of different Squarespace competitors.
| Platforms | Wix | Shopify | Weebly | BigCommerce | PrestaShop | WooCommerce |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | $14/month | $29/month | $12/month | $29.95/month | Free to download | Free to download |
How to get started with Squarespace?
It is pretty easy to get started with Squarespace compared to some of the other popular website builders in the market. There are a wide range of templates available that can be picked according to your business idea. Once you choose a template, you can get started with a free trial. As discussed above, you can get a custom domain name registered for free for the first year. With user-friendly builder, you will be able to easily add content and configure the appearance of your site with a great choice of colors and photos. Once you site is ready, you will also get advanced features to enhance its visibility and user experience.
We hope this article has provided you with a clear idea on Squarespace pricing and the costs involved in creating a site using this popular builder. If you have any queries or concerns, don’t hesitate to leave us a comment in the below section.
