Squarespace Pricing – How Much Does It Really Cost? [2022]

Knowing how much a website builder costs is essential in making a decision, so if you’re looking for an in-depth Squarespace pricing article, you’re in the perfect place.

I have already tried and tested a couple of website builders for my online business, and I found that Squarespace is one of the best in the industry. 

So with my first-hand experience, I can share which plans will help you set up the perfect website and make the most out of your money.

In this article, I’ll show you how much it really costs, what you will be getting, reveal any hidden costs, and show you its complete pricing structure.

Let’s go.

1. Squarespace Pricing At A Glance

Let’s set the record straight. How much does Squarespace really cost?

Squarespace pricing plans are competitive and reasonable. It offers plans for website-only needs and plans with eCommerce solutions. Its paid plans range from $16 to $54 per month—if you choose the monthly billing, the Business plan is the most popular plan.

Monthly pricing

Annual pricing

It offers four paid plans with options for either monthly or annual pricing.

Let’s take a look at the breakdown:

• Personal ($12/month if annual, $16/month if monthly): Its lowest plan includes only the core features, such as SSL Security, Unlimited Bandwidth and Storage, SEO Features, 2 Contributors, 24/7 Customer Support, etc. However, it does not include the eCommerce feature.
• Business ($18/month if annual, $26/month if monthly): This is the most popular plan. It includes all Personal features, Unlimited Contributors, Premium Integrations and Blocks, Professional Email from Google, and Fully Integrated eCommerce. There is a 3% transaction fee on sales in the Business plan.
• Basic Commerce ($26/month if annual, $30/month if monthly): This plan includes all Business features with the addition of No Commerce Transaction Fees, Checkout on Your Domain, and Customer Accounts.
• Advanced Commerce ($40/month if annual, $54/month if monthly): This plan has all the features of the Basic Commerce plan, including Abandoned Cart Recovery, Gift Cards, and Sell Subscriptions.

Here’s a glimpse at the core features.

All plans come with these core features. All plans purchased for an annual term come with one (1) year of free domain registration. 

Aside from these features, there are also paid add-ons that you can avail of. Let me share some of them.

First is the Appointment Scheduling add-on. Here’s the pricing.

This has three plans:

• The Emerging plan costs $15/month for monthly billing and $14/month for annual billing. It includes one calendar, calendar syncing, card vaulting, and automatic reminder emails.
• The Grow plan costs $25/month for monthly billing and $23/month for annual billing. It includes 2-5 calendars, the Emerging plan features plus SMS/text reminders, and gift certificates and subscriptions.
• The Powerhouse plan costs $50/month for monthly billing and $45/month for annual billing. It includes 2-5 calendars, the Emerging plan features plus SMS/text reminders, and gift certificates and subscriptions.

Another add-on is the Members Areas. Let’s look at the pricing:

It also has three plans. All plans come with no ads or Squarespace branding, unlimited members, and lets you offer discounts and promotions.

• The Starter plan costs $10/month for monthly billing and $9/month for annual billing. It includes one (1) member area and a 7% transaction fee.
• The Core plan costs $20/month for monthly billing and $18/month for annual billing. It includes three (3) member areas and a 4 % transaction fee.
• The Pro plan costs $40/month for monthly billing and $35/month for annual billing. It includes ten (10) member areas and a 1% transaction fee.

It also has an Email Marketing add-on for your email campaigns.

It has four plans. All plans include unlimited subscribers, integrated marketing analytics, mailing links, and sender profiles. 

• The Starter plan costs $7/month for monthly billing and $5/month for annual billing. It includes three (3) campaigns per month and 500 emails per month.
• The Core plan costs $14/month for monthly billing and $10/month for annual billing. It includes five (5) campaigns per month, 5000 emails per month, and email automation.
• The Pro plan costs $34/month for monthly billing and $24/month for annual billing. It includes 20 campaigns per month, 50000 emails per month, and email automation.
• The Max plan costs $68/month for monthly billing and $48/month for annual billing. It includes unlimited campaigns per month, 250000 emails per month, and email automation.

Squarespace also offers extensions whose price also varies. Keep in mind that the extensions are from third-party providers.

2. Are There Any ‘Hidden’ Costs?

Now, let’s find out if Squarespace has any hidden costs.

According to Squarespace’s pricing page, for commerce transactions done under the Business plan, there is a 3% commerce transaction fee on your sales.

However, do take note that plans higher than the Business plan—Basic Commerce and Advanced Commerce—do not have any commerce transaction fees.

But that’s not the only fee you have to take note of.

The payment processors, Stripe, Paypal, Square, and Afterpay, all charge processing fees regardless of your chosen Squarespace billing plan.

The processing fees are as follows:

• Stripe’s processing fees depend on your country. You can check their documentation per country (US, UK, Ireland, Australia, etc.) for more details.
• Paypal’s fees also vary by location. Take a look at their documentation.
• Square’s processing fees vary according to how the payment is made. To learn more, read their documentation.

As mentioned before, all plans purchased on an annual term come with one (1) year of free domain registration. But do note that after a year, all domains registered through this will renew at Squarespace’s standard rate of $20/year for a .com domain, plus applicable taxes.

3. Squarespace Pricing Example #1

Website-Only Example

Let’s say you’re a photographer and you’re looking to set up your website to establish your online presence and showcase your photos.

You don’t need the plan that comes with eCommerce solutions; the Personal plan will work just fine for you. This way, you’ll only be paying for the features you will be using to set up your online portfolio.

If you’re still trying to get the ropes and you’re not ready for a long-term commitment, you can go for the monthly billing options. But, if you’ve decided to have your website up for the long run, availing of the annual plan would be the best option.

Let me tell you why.

This is because your monthly cost is lower in the annual billing compared to the monthly billing. You can save up to 25% annually if you go for the annual plan.

The annual Personal plan also comes with a free custom domain good for one (1) year. Just remember that after a year, you’ll be paying for the domain’s registration at a standard rate ($20/year for a .com domain).

With this, if you avail of the annual Personal plan, the total you’ll be paying in the first year is $144. In your succeeding years, if you ever continue with registering your domain with Squarespace, it will be $144 plus the domain registration standard rate(+ applicable taxes).

When it comes to creating a beautiful, professional-looking website, Squarespace will not let you down. It offers you powerful creative tools that help you achieve the look that you want, making it a perfect fit for creatives such as photographers, graphic artists, musicians, and more.

Burkhard Berger

4. Squarespace Pricing Example #2

Small Online Store Example

If you’re trying to set up your online store, that’s a whole different story. 

For an online store, you would need Squarespace’s eCommerce solutions. You can start with the annual Business plan if you’re only selling a few products and have basic shipping needs. 

This plan comes with the basic eCommerce solutions you would need for your online store, and choosing the annual billing lets you save up to 30% annually.

There is, however, a 3% transaction fee on your sales if you avail of this plan. This is why this plan is only ideal for small online stores with a few products to sell.

Now, if your online store grows and you’re now selling more products, and your shipping needs remain the same, I would recommend that you upgrade from Business to Basic Commerce.

Here’s why.

This way, your sales will not be subject to the 3% transaction fee allowing you to save money and offer more versatility. You will also be getting additional features not available in the Business plan.

Now that you’re settled with the Basic Commerce plan running a marketing campaign is a sure way to drive traffic and sales to your online store.

Squarespace got the right solution for you.

It offers an email marketing add-on that you can avail yourself of on top of your existing plan. 

Since you plan to grow and drive traffic and sales to your online store, you can start with the Core plan that lets you have three (3) campaigns per month and send 5000 emails per month.

Now for better visualization of the total cost, let’s add up all the plans. 

For the first year, the annual Basic Commerce plan will cost you $312 plus the yearly email marketing Pro plan which costs $120 per year for a total of $432. 

In the succeeding years, the total cost will be $432/year plus the domain registration standard rate of $20/year (for a .com domain), which is $452/year.

5. What Do You Get For Your Money

Here I’ll be showing you a quick rundown of the features included in Squarespace’s pricing plans. Check which plans come with the features that you need.

Features	Personal	Business	Basic Commerce	Advanced Commerce
Free Custom Domain
SSL Security
Unlimited Bandwidth & Storage
SEO Features
Templates
Ecommerce Solutions
Sell Unlimited Products
Point of Sale
Advanced Shipping
Abandoned Cart Recovery

6. Similar-Priced Alternatives To Squarespace

Squarespace is just one of the many website builders available in the market.

If you ever decide that it is not for you or you want to compare Squarespace’s pricing and features to other website builders, here are a few alternatives you can choose from.

#1 Wix

Wix is one of the world’s most prominent website builders. It’s user-friendly and offers lots of stunning templates to choose from. 

Some of its features include:

• An easy-to-use editor
• Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI)
• Website management
• Ecommerce solutions and more. 

Unlike Squarespace pricing, Wix offers an entirely free plan but at the expense of having Wix ads on your website and ‘wixsite’ added to your domain name.

If you want to know more about its features, I recommend that you read my Wix vs. GoDaddy, Wix vs. Shopify, and Wix vs. Squarespace comparisons.

Using Wix is super easy. It doesn’t require you to have any technical knowledge that even beginners will have no problem using it

Burkhard Berger

Let’s have a look at Wix’s pricing plans.

It offers four website plans. 

• Connect Domain plan costs $4.50/month
• Combo plan costs $8.50/month
• Unlimited plan costs $12.50/month
• VIP plan costs $24.50/month.

For the business and eCommerce plans, it has three pricing options. 

• Business Basic costs $17/month
• Business Unlimited costs $25/month
• Business VIP costs $35/month

#2 Weebly

Weebly is another household name in website building. Its features include:

• A simple and easy to use website builder/editor
• A slideshow maker and photo gallery
• Ecommerce solutions, add-ons, and more

What makes Weebly different from Squarespace is that it offers an entirely free plan with decent basic features. Squarespace has no free plan.

If you’re interested to know more about Weebly, you can read my Squarespace vs. Weebly and Wix vs. Weebly comparisons for in-depth discussions.

Now, let’s head on to its pricing plans. 

For Websites:

For Online Stores:

It offers four plans for websites and three plans for online stores. 

The Pro and Business plans for online stores are the same for websites. 

• Free plan costs absolutely nothing
• Connect plan costs $5/month
• Pro plan costs $12/month
• Business plan costs $25/month
• Business Plus plan costs $38/month

Do take note that these prices are for annual billing. The Pro plan and the Business plan for websites and online stores are the same.

#3 WordPress

WordPress is another leading name in the industry. It offers hosted and self-hosted sites that are great for building simple to complex websites.

A few of its features include:

• A website builder
• Ecommerce solutions
• Customizable themes
• Seo tools and more

If you’re interested to know more about it, you can read my Squarespace vs. WordPress comparison.

Now then, let’s take a look at its pricing.

WordPress offers two different solutions, the self-hosted WordPress.org and the hosted WordPress.com.

WordPress.org is free and open-source, meaning you have to pay nothing to use it. 

WordPress.com, on the other hand, offers a free plan and four paid plans. Here’s a glimpse at its cost:

• Personal plan costs $4/month
• Premium plan costs $8/month
• Business plan costs $25/month
• eCommerce plan costs $45/month

7. Who Is Squarespace Best For?

Squarespace is best for creatives such as photographers, artists, musicians, and people who want to showcase their content artistically.

Entrepreneurs and businesses looking to set up their online stores will also find that its eCommerce solutions are one of the best in the industry.

8. Conclusion – Squarespace’s Pricing

As a recap, Squarespace’s pricing offers four (4) pricing plans depending on what you’re going to use your website for.

The Personal plan includes only the core features and costs $16/month for monthly billing. The Business plan includes all Personal plans plus a 3% transaction fee on sales and costs $26/month.

The Basic Commerce plan costs $30/month, and the Advanced Commerce costs $46/month. Both of these plans do not have transaction fees on sales.

I would definitely use it because Squarespace’s pricing is affordable and reasonable, given the quality of features you’re going to get with each plan. It offers a powerful website builder that will help you achieve a stunning and professional-looking website.

Interested in getting started with Squarespace? Visit their site to learn more.

9. Squarespace’s Pricing – FAQ

Here I will be answering four (4) of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) about Squarespace’s pricing.

How much does Squarespace cost?

Here are Squarespace’s pricing plans to help you see if it fits your budget:

• Personal: $12/month if annual; $16/month if monthly
• Business: $18/month if annual; $26/month if monthly
• Basic Commerce: $26/month if annual; $30/month if monthly
• Advanced Commerce: $40/month if annual; $54/month if monthly

Can you sell things on Squarespace?

Yes! Its Business, Basic Commerce, and Advance Commerce plan come with eCommerce solutions that can help you set up your online store and start selling your products.

Can you use Squarespace for free?

Although Squarespace doesn’t offer a free plan, you can still have a taste of Squarespace features with its 14-day free trial.

Does Squarespace own my domain?

No, the domain that comes with your plan is yours and will stay yours as long as you renew it on its renewal date. You can review your options before you decide to cancel the service to retain ownership.