Squarespace vs Wix for Small Business (2026)

The Short Answer

We build and fix a lot of small business websites. Many of them started life on Wix or Squarespace. The owner always asks the same thing. Which one should I have picked?

Here is the honest answer. Both are good. They fail in different ways.

• Pick Squarespace if you want a clean site with little effort, plan to sell products or bookings, and want the same price every year.
• Pick Wix if you want to drag any box anywhere on the page, need a free plan while you build, or want the biggest app store.

On October 13, 2026 we read both companies' own US pricing pages. The middle plans, Wix Core and Squarespace Core, both listed at $29 a month on a yearly plan. Wix was showing half off the first year of three plans. That sale is real, but it ends after the first term. Most comparisons stop there. We do the math for year two.

The Prices Side by Side

These are US prices per month, before tax, read on Squarespace's pricing page and Wix's plans page on October 13, 2026.

A few notes on this table.

• Wix also has a free plan. It shows Wix branding and runs on a Wix address, not your own domain. Squarespace has no free plan. It has a 14 day trial with no credit card.
• Wix's page shows yearly prices, paid in full up front. It did not list month to month prices.
• On October 13, Wix showed 50 percent off Core, Business and Business Elite. Its fine print said the offer was only for the first term of a yearly or multi year plan. Light was not on sale.

Year One vs Year Two

This is the table nobody shows. It is a worked example on yearly billing, before tax, not a quote.

So over five years, Wix Core still comes out $174 cheaper than Squarespace Core, if you catch the sale. The gap is the sale and nothing else. After year one the two plans cost the same.

Your domain is free for the first year at both, on a yearly plan. After that it renews at the normal rate. Wix's voucher must be used within 60 days and only on a new domain bought from Wix. Squarespace says its free domain must be registered within the first year of the plan.

The Fees That Change the Math

The monthly price is not the whole bill. These are the costs that show up later.

Sales Fees

Squarespace Basic adds a 2 percent fee on online store sales. Core and higher plans drop it to zero. On digital content and memberships the fee is 7 percent on Basic, 5 percent on Core, 1 percent on Plus and zero on Advanced. These are all on Squarespace's pricing page.

Card fees come on top at both. Squarespace lists 2.9 percent plus 30 cents on Basic and Core. Wix lists the same rate for Wix Payments in the US, on its processing fees page.

Here is why that 2 percent matters. Say you sell $1,000 a month online on Squarespace Basic. The fee is $20 a month, or $240 a year. Moving up to Core costs only $120 a year more. If you sell anything at all, skip Basic.

Wix Light does not include online payments. To take payments on Wix you need Core or higher.

Storage and Video

Wix caps storage by plan. Light gets 2 GB, Core 50 GB, Business 100 GB and Business Elite has no limit. Squarespace limits video instead. Basic gets 30 minutes of video, Core 5 hours, Plus 50 hours and Advanced has no limit. Style Factory's review says storage for other files is unlimited on Squarespace.

For a service business with photos of your work, 2 GB on Wix Light can run out. Plan on Core.

People Who Can Edit

Squarespace Basic allows 2 people to edit the site. Every higher plan has no limit. Wix allows 2 on Light, 5 on Core, 10 on Business and 100 on Business Elite.

Email

Neither one gives you mailboxes on its own servers. Squarespace includes Google Workspace free for the first year on Core and higher. Wix sells Google Workspace through a partnership. Either way you will pay Google after that. Our guide to Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365 has the October 2026 prices.

What Happens When You Want to Leave

This is the part that costs owners the most, and the top comparisons barely mention it.

Wix. Wix says a Wix site must run on Wix's servers. It cannot be moved to another host, ever. Your text and photos are yours, and your domain can leave. But the site itself stays. Wix also says you cannot switch the template of a site you already built. A new design means a new site, and some things like stores, bookings, members and contacts do not carry over between sites. Those come from Wix's own export page and template page.

Squarespace. Squarespace lets you export, but only part of the site. You get one file in WordPress format. It carries basic pages, one blog with its posts, text blocks, image blocks and gallery pages. It leaves out store pages, products, audio and video blocks, extra blogs, drafts, your styles and your custom code. That list is on Squarespace's export help page.

So with either one, leaving means a rebuild. Squarespace just gives you a head start on the blog. Keep your own copy of every photo and every page of text from day one. If you ever move, that folder saves you days.

One more tip. Buy your domain somewhere you control, or move it out after the free year. Then the builder holds your site, but not your name. Our guide to domains vs hosting explains why that split matters.

What We Found on 803 Small Business Sites

Most Wix vs Squarespace reviews test a demo site the reviewer built. We wanted to see real sites run by busy owners. So on October 13, 2026 we picked 1,000 independent auto repair shop websites at random and loaded each home page once. 803 loaded. Here is what they ran on.

Wix showed up on 60 sites and Squarespace on 36. That is close to five Wix sites for every three on Squarespace. Both trail WordPress by a mile.

Then we looked at the basics each owner got right or wrong. These are counts from the same home pages.

Three lessons stand out.

• Wix owners leave the default title. Nearly a third of Wix home pages had a title like "Home | Shop Name". One just said "Home | My Site 2". That title is what Google shows as the blue link. Change it to your service and your town.
• Squarespace owners skip the description. Half had no meta description. That is the gray text under your link in Google. Without it, Google picks words from your page, and it often picks badly.
• Both forget the phone. More than a third of sites on each had no tap to call link on the home page. For a local business, that is the button that pays the bills.

The file size gap was real too. The median Wix home page file was about two and a half times the size of the median Squarespace one. That counts the page file only, not photos. In our one pass from one computer, Wix pages still answered faster, at 0.86 seconds against 1.23 seconds at the median. One pass is a snapshot, not a speed test.

We also saw 64 shop listings that pointed to a free wixsite.com address, against 5 on a squarespace.com address. That fits Wix's free plan. A free address looks temporary to a customer. If you are on one, a domain is the cheapest upgrade you can buy.

What the Top Comparisons Get Wrong

We read the pages that rank for this question before we wrote this one.

• No year two price. Website Builder Expert, the most linked page in the results, lists starting prices but no renewal math. Wix's sale makes year one look cheaper. It is not cheaper after that.
• Leaving is a footnote. None of the top pages we read walked through what Squarespace's export keeps and drops. That is the bill you pay when you outgrow the builder.
• Demo sites, not real ones. Reviewers build a test site with care. Real owners leave the title as "Home". The setup checklist matters more than the template count.

How to Choose in Five Minutes

Answer these in order. Stop at the first clear yes.

1. Do you need to start for free? Pick Wix. Upgrade before you print the address on a truck.
2. Will you sell products, gift cards or bookings online? Pick Squarespace Core or Wix Core. Skip Squarespace Basic because of the 2 percent fee.
3. Do you want a clean look without design skill? Pick Squarespace.
4. Do you want to place every element by hand, or need a special app? Pick Wix.
5. Still a tie? Build your home page on both trials in one evening. Keep the one you finish.

Your First Week on Either One

Whichever you pick, do these five things in the first week.

1. Connect your own domain. Our guide on how to pick a domain name helps if you do not have one.
2. Rewrite the home page title to your main service and town.
3. Write a meta description of one or two plain sentences.
4. Put your phone number at the top as a tap to call link.
5. Run through our small business website checklist before you tell anyone the site is live.

Get Help With the Site

If you would rather not build it yourself, T3CHS builds and hosts small business websites that you can take with you if you leave. Our pages on T3CHS vs Wix and T3CHS vs Squarespace list the dated facts side by side.

Common Questions

Is Wix or Squarespace cheaper?

In year one, Wix can be, because of sales on its yearly plans. On October 13, 2026 Wix Core listed at $29 a month on a yearly plan with half off the first term, and Squarespace Core listed at $29. After the first term the two cost the same.

What is a disadvantage of using Wix?

A Wix site can never be moved to another host, and you cannot switch the template of a site you already built. Storage is also capped by plan, at 2 GB on Light.

Is Squarespace good to make a website?

Yes, for most small businesses. The templates look clean with little effort. Skip the Basic plan if you sell online, because it adds a 2 percent fee on store sales.

Which is better for SEO, Wix or Squarespace?

Both can rank. What matters more is setup. In our check of real small business sites, many Wix owners left a default Home title and half of Squarespace owners had no meta description.

Can I move my site from Wix to Squarespace?

Not directly. Wix sites cannot be exported, so you rebuild the pages on Squarespace using your own text and photos. Your domain can be moved.

Does Squarespace have a free plan?

No. Squarespace offers a 14 day free trial with no credit card. Wix has a free plan, but it shows Wix branding and runs on a Wix address.

Sources

1. Squarespace: Pricingsquarespace.com
2. Wix: Plans and Pricingwix.com
3. Wix Help Center: Wix Payments Processing Feessupport.wix.com
4. Wix Help Center: Exporting or Embedding Your Wix Site Elsewheresupport.wix.com
5. Wix Help Center: Switching Your Site Templatesupport.wix.com
6. Squarespace Help Center: Exporting Your Sitesupport.squarespace.com
7. Style Factory: Wix vs Squarespace (updated August 10, 2026)stylefactoryproductions.com
8. Website Builder Expert: Wix vs Squarespace vs WordPress (updated April 16, 2026)websitebuilderexpert.com

Last reviewed October 14, 2026.