Squarespace is one of the best website builders for creating a visually stunning and optimized website without knowing how to code. However, if you’re looking for advanced customization or ecommerce scalability, then you might want to consider a Squarespace alternative.
Whether you’re looking for more flexibility or a feature-rich platform to run your business, there are plenty of alternatives to Squarespace. Let’s look at some of the best options below.
Squarespace Pros and Cons
If you’re on the fence about using Squarespace, I’ll share some pros and cons of the platform. In my experience using Squarespace, these are the standout features and the potential downsides that may have you considering an alternative.
Pro: Modern, responsive templates.
One of my favorite things about Squarespace is the variety of templates. The designer templates have a creative, modern aesthetic that appeals to service providers, designers, artists, and lifestyle businesses. If you’re like me and want a well-designed, responsive website without having any design skills yourself, then Squarespace is a great option.
Con: You can’t change your template.
This leads to one of the biggest gripes I have with Squarespace: You can’t change your template once your website is published. This is specific to Squarespace’s latest version 7.1 as all of the templates designed for this version are part of the same template family. This means if you want to change your website’s look, you can only change the content and style or else you’ll have to start over with a new template.
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Pro: Built-in business features.
In addition to the core offerings you expect from a hosted website builder, including domain registration, hosting, responsive themes and templates, and expert support, Squarespace offers more advanced business features. With built-in ecommerce, blogging, SEO, and analytics tools, you can create and optimize your site to attract more visitors and grow your business.
In my experience, Squarespace’s built-in business features are ideal for service businesses and ecommerce shops. The features are designed for selling services, goods, and appointments. Here are some of the things you can do with Squarespace’s online business tools:
- Sell products.
- Promote your service offerings.
- Create and monetize content.
- Offer exclusive memberships.
- Create an online course.
- Schedule appointments.
Con: Limited customization.
While Squarespace offers a rich selection of out-of-the-box features, it offers few extensions for enhancing the functionality of your site. That means if you’d like to add a missing feature on your site, like an auto-save button or module for a table, you’re out of luck.
For businesses who want a highly customized website, Squarespace may not offer the features needed to do that.
What to Look For in a Squarespace Alternative
If any of the cons listed above resonate with you, then you may want to look into a Squarespace alternative. Here are some features I suggest looking for.
Scalability
While Squarespace offers enterprise solutions, I personally believe its strength lies in supporting small and medium-sized businesses. If you’re looking for robust, enterprise-level functionality, you may want to look for an alternative.
This is especially true for B2B or global companies. I suggest looking for a website builder that’s geared toward your industry. Shopify, for example, is designed for ecommerce, while Content Hub helps B2B businesses scale their content and business.
Customization
While I love Squarespace for its ready-made templates, the features and CSS options are limited. If you want more control over the design and functionality of your website, look for an alternative that offers enhanced customization.
You may want to choose a platform like Webflow. The advanced web builder appeals to designers with coding experience due to its ability to build CSS grid-powered layouts and work in the back-end.
Squarespace Alternatives
- Content Hub
- Webflow
- Dorik
- Cargo
- Shopify
- GoDaddy
- BigCommerce
- Wix
If you’re looking for a Squarespace alternative, check out some options below. These content management systems and website builders offer unique experiences for building and managing a site. To help you decide which one is right for you, I specified an ideal use case for each platform.
1. Content Hub
As a fully integrated content management system that offers features specifically designed for marketers, developers, and IT professionals, Content Hub enables businesses of all sizes to build more complex sites than Squarespace.
There are built-in SEO tools, and contact attribution reporting for marketers to create and optimize content. There are also serverless functions, flexible theme options, and command line tools for developers looking to make changes and custom web assets faster.
My favorite feature is the drag-and-drop editor. In my experience, drag-and-drop design is best for people who don’t have a background in web design. I consider myself somewhat tech savvy — I know my way around most CMS platforms and can create simple landing pages — but sometimes Squarespace’s drag-and-drop editor can be tricky. Content Hub’s drag-and-drop editor is incredibly intuitive and easy to navigate.
Content Hub offers multiple options to get started, too. You can use one of the hundreds of free and paid themes and templates, start creating web and landing pages from scratch, or import an existing website.
Another feature I love is the AI website builder. All you have to do is enter your business name, a description, and choose a style for your website — and voila! you’ll a website.
Content Hub generates a fully-designed website for you in seconds. I couldn’t believe how fast and easy the process was. All that’s left to do is fill in my business details and customize the branding elements, and I can publish a brand-new website in just an hour or two.
Functional, no-code design isn’t the only great thing about Content Hub. For improved security and performance, Content Hub has a global CDN, Web Application Firewall, SSL encryption, and a dedicated security team to support IT professionals in keeping their sites safe. Such an all-in-one connected platform is ideal for all types of businesses, from small to enterprise.
Below is an example of a dynamic website created on Content Hub. Property management company Second Nature wanted an online presence that could house valuable informational content for its residents. The result is vibrant, seamless, and provides an excellent user experience.
Key features:
- Easy drag-and-drop editor.
- Flexible themes.
- Custom domain and premium hosting.
- Integrated CMS.
Price: Free to $450 per month, depending on your team size.
Best for: Any-sized businesses looking for an easy-to-use website with rich functionality.
2. Webflow
While Squarespace is a drag-and-drop, template-based tool that appeals to users at different skill levels, sometimes designers are looking for a little more customization. Webflow is the solution for those who want more control over design and functionality.
Combining a CMS with a visual web design tool, Webflow is a much more flexible tool that appeals to advanced users with coding skills. Its front-end customization options require no coding, but experienced developers can dive into the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript on the back-end for more customization, if they prefer.
I decided to experiment with setting up a Webflow website to see how it compares. I decided to start by using one of Webflow’s templates, and my initial reaction is that it’s more geared toward website designers than Squarespace. As I was poking around the dashboard, trying to figure out where to start, I felt somewhat intimidated. However, I did appreciate the “Get started” checklist, which gave me direction.
Curious to see what a real-life Webflow website looks like? Check out web designer Jomor’s site below. It’s an impressive example of the custom branding and complex web design that’s possible using Webflow.
Key features:
- Ability to build CSS grid-powered layouts.
- Custom code options.
- Over 2,000 web font families.
- Can create 3D CSS transforms.
Price: Webflow offers a free plan. Paid plans are $14–$39 per month; Contact for enterprise pricing.
Best for: Website designers looking for advanced customization.
HubSpot's Free Website Builder
Create and customize your own business website with an easy drag-and-drop website builder.
- Build a website without any coding skills.
- Pre-built themes and templates.
- Built-in marketing tools and features.
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3. Dorik
If you want to create a website with AI using Squarespace, you have to go through several steps, which is time-consuming. But with Dorik AI, you can generate any type of website in your preferred language with just a single text prompt.
Dorik offers convenient features like an intuitive drag-and-drop editor, a dedicated white-label CMS, an AI Text Generator, an AI Image Generator, robust third-party integrations, built-in SEO and Analytics tools, team collaboration, membership, free SSL certificate, etc.
This no-code builder has 100+ fully responsive free templates and 250+ UI blocks. They are highly customizable and flexible. You can create unlimited pages and posts with its affordable Business plan. You will also enjoy unlimited storage and bandwidth in all of its plans. 
Key features:
- AI website generation and image generation
- Unlimited pages and posts
- Easy to use editor and drag and drop functionality
Price: Dorik plans start at $18 per month.
4. Cargo
As a general website builder geared toward creative companies, Squarespace offers a little bit of everything: features for photographers, bloggers, shop owners, and more. That’s great if you need a multi-purpose tool. But if you need a website builder for one specific need — like building a portfolio site — then you’ll be better off using a specialized builder like Cargo.
Cargo has over 70 templates that can be fully customized or used as is. These templates have stunning and unusual layouts, color schemes, and animations that are perfect for portfolio sites. Cargo also has an extensive selection of premium typography and a built-in CSS editor to create a portfolio with the exact look and feel you want.
I wanted to see how all of these features translate into a real website. Below is the portfolio site of artist Chiara Bugatti. I like that it uniquely represents her sculptural work and art installations in an easy-to-scan way.
Key features:
- Responsive, fully customizable templates.
- Hundreds of premium fonts for creative typography.
- Commerce integration.
Best for: Creative consultants, freelancers, and students looking to create unique portfolios.
Price: Cargo is free to use for students. Paid plans are between $14–$28 per month.
5. Shopify
With both Squarespace and Shopify, you’ll get customizable templates, inventory management tools, secure payment options, and more. But as a dedicated ecommerce builder, Shopify has more features and extensions to help your ecommerce business scale.
For example, you can use Shopify Payments to process credit card payments on your site and avoid transaction fees, Multi-Currency to allow customers to pay with their local currency, and Shopify Pay to let customers save their payment details for faster checkout. I also like that with Shopify Channels, you can sell your products on additional marketplaces like Amazon and Instagram and continue to manage your inventory and orders in one place.
In my opinion, these ecommerce and point-of-sale features make Shopify perfect for businesses who want to scale their ecommerce operations. It’s also an ideal platform for in-person businesses as Shopify offers a POS that syncs online and in-person sales.
Want to see how Shopify functions in real life? Check out the website of shoe company GREATS below. Powered by Shopify, this site features a growing selection of luxury sneakers. Customers are encouraged to create an account.
Key features:
- Localized global selling.
- Dedicated Shopify POS to sync in-person and online sales.
- In-depth commerce analytics.
Ideal for: Ecommerce businesses looking for scalability.
Price: Plans are $29–$299 per month.
6. GoDaddy
Remember when I mentioned Squarespace only offers a few third-party extensions to connect its platform to other platforms to enhance your site? GoDaddy offers a completely different approach to extending your site‘s functionality. It offers built-in marketing and business-building tools, so you’re not limited to the core functionality of the GoDaddy platform — but you’ll have to upgrade to a higher-level premium plan to unlock these functionalities.
I like that GoDaddy’s Website Builder integrates SEO, marketing, and other business functionalities to help your business scale at any size. It's not just an online editing and publishing tool. GoDaddy is ideal for getting your business website up quickly and seamlessly.
Ellevest uses a clean, modern template to outline the company's benefits. This website supports membership options, too.
Key features:
- All-in-one hosting, domain, and website builder.
- Built-in marketing tools like SEO.
- Free email that matches your domain.
Ideal for: Small business owners who want to set up a website fast.
Price: $9.99–$20.99 per month
7. BigCommerce
BigCommerce is ideal for big brands. The main difference between BigCommerce and Squarespace (as well as other ecommerce competitors like Shopify) is that BigCommerce is an open SaaS platform that can be used as a headless CMS. This means that you can build and customize your website on the back end in BigCommerce and then deliver and display your content across hundreds of channels, including Google, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and Target.
It also allows you to localize the content, currency, checkout experience, and more of your site so you can meet the needs and expectations of international customers. This makes BigCommerce ideal for growing ecommerce businesses that are looking to have a global footprint.
Even though most of what makes BigCommerce unique is hidden from the front-end of the website, Burrow is a great example of how you don’t have to sacrifice quality for ease-of-use. In my experience, a site built on this platform can be beautiful and easy to navigate on the front-end and easy to manage on the back-end.
Key features:
- Ability to have multiple storefronts.
- Connect your store to online marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart.
- Accept payments in over 100 currencies.
Ideal for: Scaling global ecommerce businesses on a customized platform.
Price: $29–$299 per month; Contact for enterprise pricing.
8. Wix
If you’re looking for a free Squarespace alternative, Wix is a great option.
While Squarespace offers a 14-day free trial, Wix offers a free forever plan for individuals and small businesses looking to build a site. This plan comes with hosting, an AI website builder (and built-in tools), an easy-to-use editor, and over 900 templates. It also allows you to create unlimited pages for your site and drag and drop elements anywhere on the page (not just in columns and rows like in Squarespace).
The free plan requires you to use an assigned Wix subdomain and display ads on the front end of your site. Several paid plans are available, so you can start with the free version and then upgrade later. These paid plans grant you access to additional storage, collaborators, and business solutions, such as Wix’s eCommerce features and marketing suite.
Check out Evolve Clothing, an online clothing gallery built on Wix. Beyond having all the fixings of a strong eCommerce site, Evolve includes membership login, site search, and on-site chat to better guide customers through the shopping process.
Key features:
- Free to use, with access to premium features if you upgrade.
- Built-in marketing suite.
- AI tools to generate content and design.
Ideal for: Entrepreneurs, small businesses, and creative professionals.
Price: $0–$159 per month; Contact for enterprise pricing.
Creating Your Website With a Squarespace Alternative
In my experience, Squarespace is a great website builder for anyone who wants strong design and visuals without having any coding skills. The templates are creative and modern, and with the drag-and-drop editor, it’s easy to make style changes.
However, if you’re looking for more robust customization or want to scale your B2B or ecommerce, then you’re better off looking for a Squarespace alternative.
Advertisements for Squarespace are everywhere, but rest assured, there are alternatives if you need a tool that’s more affordable or customizable. Using any of the tools above, you can create a website that meets your unique needs and budgets. Ideally, I recommend you select a tool that can not only help you get started but can also help you grow over time.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in April 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
HubSpot's Free Website Builder
Create and customize your own business website with an easy drag-and-drop website builder.
- Build a website without any coding skills.
- Pre-built themes and templates.
- Built-in marketing tools and features.
- And more!
