Website builder software · 11 alternatives

Squarespace alternatives: 11 compared

By Sebastiaan Smits · Published October 8, 2026 · Updated October 8, 2026

People look past Squarespace when they want more control over code and content, a free tier to test with, or a cheaper way to sell online. Most go to Wix or WordPress.com for a similar all-in-one builder, to Webflow or Framer for design control, and to Shopify when the store matters more than the site.

Short answer: The closest replacements for Squarespace in our website builder software ranking are Wix, WordPress.com and Webflow. Choose Wix if you want a free tier to test with and a wide choice of paid tiers. All 11 alternatives below are ranked products from Best Website Builder Software in 2026, and each says where it differs from Squarespace and when Squarespace is still the better choice.

Visibility in our rankings can be paid for. Payment moves a vendor's position within the shortlist; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review or of this page. How it works: placement disclosure · editorial process.

Squarespace at a glance

Headquarters: United States
Pricing model: Per site / month
Pricing: Published plans are billed per site with no permanent free tier, only a 14-day trial; all plans can sell, with a 2% store fee on Basic that Core and above remove.
Free option: Free trial
Built for: Design-conscious small businesses and creative professionals
Wrong for: A business wanting a genuine free tier or deep app-based extensibility should look at Wix instead; Squarespace's strength is curated design, not breadth of features.
Place in our ranking: #7 of 12
Website: squarespace.com

Facts from our website builder software ranking, last checked October 8, 2026.

Why buyers look past Squarespace

The export only reaches WordPress

Squarespace exports an .xml file in WordPress format. It carries layout pages, one blog with up to 1,000 comments per post, text and image blocks. Product blocks, store pages, video, audio, drafts, style settings and custom CSS do not export.
Fees depend on the plan

On the plan pages, Basic charges a 2% fee on online store sales and 7% on digital content and memberships, and allows up to 2 contributors. Squarespace says upgrading lowers or removes the fees, and Core lists unlimited contributors.
No permanent free plan

Squarespace offers a 14-day free trial and then charges. Its help center also says content cannot be exported from a trial site, so you must pay and publish before you can test whether a move away would work.

11 alternatives at a glance

Closest replacement first. The last column is our place in the full 12-product ranking.

#	Alternative	Headquarters	Pricing	Key difference	Switch if	Our rank
1	Wix	Israel	Per site / month; free plan	All-in-one, AI-assisted website builder with the widest app ecosystem	you want a free tier to test with and a wide choice of paid tiers	#6
2	WordPress.com	United States	Per site / month; free plan	Managed WordPress hosting with a builder-style editor	you want to leave for WordPress and still have someone else host it	#8
3	Webflow	United States	Per site / month; free plan	Visual website builder that outputs clean, production-grade code	you want pixel-level layout control and a real CMS in a visual tool	#1
4	Framer	Netherlands	Per site / month; free plan	Design-tool-grade website builder with built-in motion and AI generation	you design in a canvas tool and want animation and staging on a marketing site	#4
5	Shopify	Canada	Per store / month; free trial	Ecommerce-first platform that also builds a full website	selling products is the main job and the site is secondary	#11
6	Jimdo	Germany	Per site / month; free plan	AI-assisted website builder for small businesses, based in Hamburg	you run a small service business and want bookings and invoices bundled in	#3
7	Hostinger Website Builder	Lithuania	Per plan / month; free trial	Low-cost, AI-assisted builder bundled with Hostinger hosting	price per month matters most and you can commit to a long term	#9
8	IONOS MyWebsite	Germany	Per site / month; free trial	EU-hosted website builder bundled with domain and email	you want domain, email and site on one bill and accept a 1-year term	#10
9	Duda	Israel	Per site bundle / month; free trial	Website builder built for agencies managing many client sites	you build and maintain sites for clients and need white-label or client workspaces	#2
10	Carrd	United States	Flat annual fee; free plan	Simple, inexpensive single-page site builder	you only need a landing page or link page and want the lowest yearly cost	#5
11	GoDaddy Website Builder	United States	Per site / month; free trial	Simple AI-assisted builder bundled with GoDaddy's domain business	you already register your domain at GoDaddy and want a simple site there	#12

What each alternative does differently

1. Wix

All-in-one, AI-assisted website builder with the widest app ecosystem · Israel

Closest all-in-one rival, with a free plan on a Wix subdomain that carries Wix branding. Paid tiers run Light, Core, Business and Business Elite, rising in storage, collaborators and store features. Light allows 2 collaborators and 2 GB, so growing teams hit limits sooner.

Switch from Squarespace if you want a free tier to test with and a wide choice of paid tiers.

Pricing: A free plan is available with Wix branding and subdomain; paid Premium plans are billed per site on a published table, with first-term promotional discounts that reset at renewal. (free plan)

Full review: #6 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Wix →

2. WordPress.com

Managed WordPress hosting with a builder-style editor · United States

Managed WordPress where every paid plan can install plugins, from a catalog of over 60,000, and is ad-free. The free plan has 1 GB and a WordPress.com subdomain. Commerce lists 0% transaction fees through WooCommerce. A step closer to the format Squarespace exports to.

Switch from Squarespace if you want to leave for WordPress and still have someone else host it.

Pricing: A free plan is available with a WordPress.com subdomain, ads and no plugins; paid plans (Personal, Premium, Business, Commerce) are on a published table, and plugins can be installed on every paid plan. (free plan)

Full review: #8 of 12 in our ranking · Visit WordPress.com →

3. Webflow

Visual website builder that outputs clean, production-grade code · United States

Visual builder for designers who want production code. The free Starter plan sits on a webflow.io domain with 2 static pages. Basic has no CMS, which arrives on Premium. Hosting is priced per site and the learning curve is steeper than Squarespace's templates.

Switch from Squarespace if you want pixel-level layout control and a real CMS in a visual tool.

Pricing: Site plans are billed per site on a published table starting with a free Starter tier on a webflow.io domain; Basic has no CMS, which starts on the Premium site plan, and a custom domain requires a paid plan. (free plan)

Full review: #1 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Webflow →

4. Framer

Design-tool-grade website builder with built-in motion and AI generation · Netherlands

Design-tool style builder with AI credits included in each plan. Free covers a Framer domain and 1 GB of bandwidth. Basic allows 2 CMS collections, Pro allows 10 and adds a staging environment. Better for marketing and portfolio sites than for stores.

Switch from Squarespace if you design in a canvas tool and want animation and staging on a marketing site.

Pricing: A free plan includes a Framer subdomain, 500 AI credits and 1GB bandwidth and is pitched for non-commercial use; paid site plans are Basic at $10 and Pro at $30 a month billed yearly, adding custom domains and higher usage limits. (free plan)

Full review: #4 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Framer →

5. Shopify

Ecommerce-first platform that also builds a full website · Canada

Commerce platform first, site second. Basic lists automatic VAT collection and GDPR tools. There is no permanent free plan, only 3 days free then a reduced price for the first three months. A better fit when the catalog is the business and pages are secondary.

Switch from Squarespace if selling products is the main job and the site is secondary.

Pricing: Published monthly plans scale by feature depth and transaction fees; there is no permanent free plan, only 3 days free followed by a reduced price for the first three months. (free trial)

Full review: #11 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Shopify →

6. Jimdo

AI-assisted website builder for small businesses, based in Hamburg · Germany

Small-business builder that bundles bookings, payment links and invoices with an AI-generated site, and states it is made in Germany since 2007. A free tier exists, and paid plans can be paid monthly or for 12 or 24 months. Fewer design tools than Squarespace offers.

Switch from Squarespace if you run a small service business and want bookings and invoices bundled in.

Pricing: A free plan (Play) includes a Jimdo subdomain and branding; paid plans add a custom domain, more storage and ecommerce features on a published monthly table. (free plan)

Full review: #3 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Jimdo →

7. Hostinger Website Builder

Low-cost, AI-assisted builder bundled with Hostinger hosting · Lithuania

Low-priced builder on long prepaid terms: the headline rate assumes 48 months and renews higher. It offers a 14-day trial, a 30-day guarantee, a free domain for a year and AI credits, with ecommerce only from the Unlimited plan. Check the renewal figure before committing.

Switch from Squarespace if price per month matters most and you can commit to a long term.

Pricing: Published plans priced per month on long prepaid terms (the headline rate assumes 48 months) that renew markedly higher, with a custom domain free for the first year; a 14-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee stand in for a permanent free tier. (free trial)

Full review: #9 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Hostinger Website Builder →

8. IONOS MyWebsite

EU-hosted website builder bundled with domain and email · Germany

Builder bundled with hosting, where every plan lists a custom domain, a professional email address and a 30-day money-back guarantee. First-term pricing is steeply discounted for a 1-year term and then rises. No permanent free plan. Suits small sites more than design-led ones.

Switch from Squarespace if you want domain, email and site on one bill and accept a 1-year term.

Pricing: Published plans on a 1-year term, with a steep first-term discount on Starter and Plus that resets at renewal; every tier includes a custom domain and a business email address, and a 30-day money-back guarantee applies, but there is no permanent free plan. (free trial)

Full review: #10 of 12 in our ranking · Visit IONOS MyWebsite →

9. Duda

Website builder built for agencies managing many client sites · Israel

Built for agencies and freelancers who manage many client sites, with unlimited client accounts on every plan and a collaborative client workspace. White-label experience needs the White Label or Custom plan. A 14-day trial without a credit card replaces a free tier. Poor fit for a single personal site.

Switch from Squarespace if you build and maintain sites for clients and need white-label or client workspaces.

Pricing: Published plans from $19/mo billed annually (Basic, Team, Agency) up to a $149/mo White Label plan, with a 14-day free trial and no permanent free plan; white-labeling needs the White Label or quoted Custom plan, and unlimited client accounts come on every plan. (free trial)

Full review: #2 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Duda →

10. Carrd

Simple, inexpensive single-page site builder · United States

One-page sites at yearly prices: Pro Lite is $9 a year for 3 sites, while custom domains, forms and analytics start on Pro Standard at $19 a year. Very cheap for landing pages and link pages. It is not a store or blog platform.

Switch from Squarespace if you only need a landing page or link page and want the lowest yearly cost.

Pricing: A free plan covers up to three sites with core features; Pro tiers are billed yearly, from Pro Lite at $9 (branding removal) to Pro Standard at $19 (custom domains, forms, widgets, analytics) and Pro Plus at $49 (password protection and more). (free plan)

Full review: #5 of 12 in our ranking · Visit Carrd →

11. GoDaddy Website Builder

Simple AI-assisted builder bundled with GoDaddy's domain business · United States

Builder sold alongside GoDaddy's domain business. We could not load GoDaddy's builder pages this session because they returned errors, so plan, trial and renewal terms are unverified here. Check the renewal price before choosing, as category data notes a steep first-term discount.

Switch from Squarespace if you already register your domain at GoDaddy and want a simple site there.

Pricing: Published monthly plans with a steep first-term discount that resets meaningfully higher at renewal; no permanent free plan, only a trial period. (free trial)

Full review: #12 of 12 in our ranking · Visit GoDaddy Website Builder →

When Squarespace is still the right choice

Squarespace is still the right choice when you want one managed, template-based site with a built-in store, invoices that are free on all plans, and AI tools, and you have no plan to move the content to WordPress. A small team that mostly edits text and images will rarely outgrow it. Moving costs time, so go only for a specific gap.

What to expect when you switch from Squarespace

Export early and from a paid, published site

The export needs an active, published site and does not work from a trial. If a subscription has lapsed, reactivate it first, since content may be deleted after a while. Run the export before you cancel, and keep your own copy of images.
Plan to rebuild the store and media by hand

Because products, store pages, video and audio do not export, treat those as a fresh build. Export products separately if the platform allows, and download videos and photos from the old site.
Check images after the WordPress import

Squarespace warns that the WordPress Importer may only pull reference links for images, which break when the old site is deactivated. It recommends importing through WordPress.com or downloading the images and uploading them directly.

Questions and answers

Can I export my Squarespace site to another platform?

Yes, but only as an .xml file in WordPress format. It is meant for importing to WordPress, though you can export it without importing it. Squarespace says not everything exports, because many features rely on its own JavaScript and CSS.

Will my online store products move with the export?

No. Squarespace lists product blocks and store pages among the content that does not export. Plan to recreate the catalog on the new platform or move it with a separate process.

Can I export from a Squarespace trial site?

No. The help center says it is not possible to export content from a trial site. The site has to be active and published, so you pay for at least one period before you can test an export.

Can I recover content after my site expires?

Possibly. Reactivating the subscription may let you recover and export the content, but Squarespace says that depending on how long the site has been expired, the content may already be deleted.

Can I copy a Squarespace site into another Squarespace site?

Not reliably. Squarespace says it is not possible to export content from one Squarespace site and import it into another, because the platform is not optimized for it and links to images may break.

Do transaction fees disappear on a higher plan?

On the pricing page, the 2% fee on online store sales that applies to Basic is shown as removable by upgrading, which Core and higher plans do. Payment processor fees, listed from 2.0% plus a fixed amount for Squarespace Payments, still apply.

Sources

Prices, plan limits and product facts about Squarespace on this page were checked against the vendors' own pages on October 8, 2026. Vendors change both without notice, so treat the figures as of that date.

Squarespace Help: Exporting your site: WordPress-format .xml export, what exports and what does not, trial and expired sites, image import warning.
Squarespace pricing: 14-day trial, transaction fees, contributor limits, free invoices, CSS and JavaScript on Core.
Wix plans: Free plan with subdomain and branding, Light to Business Elite tiers, collaborators and storage.
WordPress.com pricing: Free plan storage, plugin installation on paid plans, ad-free, Commerce 0% transaction fees.
Webflow pricing: Starter, Basic without CMS, Premium with CMS.
Framer pricing: Free plan, CMS collections per plan, staging environment, AI credits.
Shopify pricing: 3 days free then reduced price, VAT collection and GDPR tools.
Jimdo home: Bookings, payment links, invoices, free tier, made in Germany since 2007.
Jimdo pricing: Monthly or 12 or 24-month payment terms.
Hostinger Website Builder: 48-month headline term, higher renewal, 14-day trial, 30-day guarantee, free domain, ecommerce plans.
IONOS website builder: Free domain, professional email, 30-day guarantee, 1-year term discount.
Duda pricing: Plans, 14-day trial, unlimited clients, client workspace, white-label tiers.
Carrd Pro plans: Yearly prices, site counts per plan, custom domains on Pro Standard.

Who wrote this

Sebastiaan Smits, Founder, wrote, edited and fact-checked this page. Founder of The Interregnum and of 2 Steps Ahead, an AI search visibility agency. Writes, edits and fact-checks every page here. Last reviewed October 8, 2026. How we review.