5 Best Squarespace Alternatives that are Cheaper and Better (Updated for 2024)

Last updated: January 23, 2024

If you’re about to get started on creating your own website, you may have encountered Squarespace as one of the website builder options. In this day and age, creating a website is an easy task as platforms like Squarespace allows anyone to create stunning websites without any coding or design skills.

However, Squarespace might not be for everyone. Amongst other reasons, users who need more robust eCommerce features and more affordable website builders might not find Squarespace an attractive option.

We’re going to highlight five Squarespace alternatives that are cheaper, better, and will let you create any stunning website you can imagine – all while having a bit of fun along the way.

Here is our list of the best Squarespace alternatives:

• Payhip
• Wix
• Shopify
• GoDaddy
• Webflow

What is Squarespace used for?

Founded in 2003, Squarespace is a popular content-management platform for creating websites. It offers user-friendly tools and templates to get you started on making your own website including a simple drag and drop editor, eCommerce tools, blog CMS, and more.

How Much Does Squarespace Charge?

As a new user on Squarespace, you can start with the Personal plan for just $23/month. However, the personal plan does not allow you to accept transactions i.e. you won’t be able to sell anything as an online store.

Beyond that Squarespace provides the Business plan at $33/month and the Basic Commerce plan at $36/month. The pricing plans go all the way up to the Advanced Commerce plan at $65/month where you can unlock all sorts of features. All of these plans include eCommerce functionalities (i.e. you can accept transactions on your website).

If you’re planning to use Squarespace as an online store, be aware that Squarespace’s Business Plan has an additional 3% fee per sale on top of the monthly cost.

Squarespace also has a 14 day free trial so you can try it out before you purchase any of their subscription plans.

5 Best Squarespace Alternatives that are Cheaper and Better

1. Payhip

If you’re wondering whether there’s a website builder that allows you to build a beautiful website for free (no, I mean really free, no annoying ads and all), then this is it!

Payhip is an eCommerce platform that allows you to build beautiful websites with built-in eCommerce features for free. Payhip’s simple drag and drop website builder is beginner friendly and fully customizable to create any website you can imagine. You won’t need any coding or design skills to create your website.

Psst..here comes the internet’s best-kept secret: If you’re looking to create a website that doesn’t need to sell anything or accept transactions, then creating your website on Payhip is 100% free. Payhip only charges when you receive orders or transactions. Even if you decide to publish a bunch of product listings later on, you still won’t be paying anything until you actually receive orders on your website. Payhip has maintained this pricing for years, and you can have a peace of mind that this pricing isn’t going anywhere.

Payhip is the best Squarespace alternative overall in terms of affordability and value.

PRICING:

Payhip’s pricing is unique as all of the pricing plans offer the same access to all of their features. The pricing plans are solely meant for businesses to manage their fees as their businesses grow.

If you’re just starting out, you can start on Payhip’s most popular Free-forever plan with no monthly fees + 5% fees per sale (excluding shipping fees). This gives you access to all the features that Payhip has to offer.

Once your business grows, you can switch to Payhip’s Plus plan at $29 per month fees + 2% fees per sale or the Pro plan at $99 per month fees (no other fees per sale).

If you own an online store and you’re still adamant about using Squarespace, you can inject eCommerce features into your existing Squarespace website by embedding Payhip into it.

PROS 👍:

• Perfect for anybody who wants to own a powerful and professional website without breaking the bank. Payhip is the most affordable alternative to Squarespace
• Free domain with the ability to connect a custom domain
• Simple drag and drop website builder with extensive customizability
• Free website templates
• Instant payouts through integration with Paypal and Stripe
• Unlimited product listings and revenue
• Built-in eCommerce tools so you can sell a range of product types such as online courses, digital downloads, coaching, subscriptions or memberships, and physical products
• Marketing features such as referral system, affiliate program, upselling, cross-selling, coupon codes, email marketing, and more
• Bonus: Payhip also collects and remits UK & EU VAT on your behalf

CONS 👎:

• No automated shipping label integration (e.g. Shippo or ShipStation). Payhip’s platform is originally meant for digital product sales, but you’re still able to comfortably sell physical products if you want to
• One website or storefront per email (if you own more than one, you’ll have to create separate accounts under separate emails)
• No third party app store. However, Payhip has an integration with Zapier (which in turn provides connections to over 5000 apps), and all the eCommerce features you need are built into the platform

2. Wix

Wix is a popular alternative to Squarespace because both platforms offer very similar features. Wix is another website builder that offers robust drag and drop website builder tools as well as a lot of free website templates to choose from.

PRICING:

Wix offers a free plan that allows you to create a website with limited features. You’ll be able to create a website with their simple drag and drop website builder, but you won’t be able to connect a custom domain or do anything else more advanced than that. Your website will also be covered in tons of branded Wix ads.

Beyond that, if you’re not planning on selling anything online, then you have a choice between the Combo ($16/month), Unlimited ($22/month), Pro ($27/month), or VIP ($45/month) plans. All of these plans will not provide any eCommerce tools i.e. you can’t sell anything from your website.

If you’re planning to turn your website into an online store, then you can choose from one of Wix’s Business and eCommerce plans that starts at Business Basic ($27/month), Business Unlimited  ($32/month), or Business VIP ($59/month).

PROS 👍:

• Wix takes ease of use really seriously when it comes to website building. The drag and drop builder is intuitive and beginner friendly
• Lots of free website templates to choose from. You’ll then be able to customize those website templates accordingly
• Wix offers a free plan with limited features

CONS 👎:

• While the free plan is great for saving money, everything else about it isn’t great. Your website will be covered in annoying Wix ads, you won’t be able to connect a custom domain, and forget about any eCommerce functionalities
• Wix imposes limitations on storage size depending on which pricing plans you’re on. This isn’t great for artists or other users who require tons of storage space to upload heavy images and videos on their websites
• Wix’s eCommerce functionalities do not cover the features you need to sell digital products. You’ll need to install separate apps (most of them at extra costs) to be able to sell products such as digital downloads, courses, coaching, and memberships

3. Shopify

Next on the list of Squarespace alternatives is Shopify, which is a popular e-commerce platform for business owners to easily create and manage their online shops. Shopify provides various subscription plans tailored towards individuals just starting out who may only need basic features, to larger businesses requiring more advanced marketing tools and integrations with external systems. With a 14-day free trial option, Shopify is worth exploring for anyone looking to start an online store.

PRICING:

Shopify provides a 14-day free trial which is great for small businesses that need to explore various platforms before settling on one that suits their needs.

Shopify’s most popular pricing plan starts at the Basic Plan at $39/month. Beyond that, there is a Shopify Plan which costs $105/month, Advanced Shopify Plan which costs $399/month, and a Shopify Plus/Enterprise Plan which will cost upwards of $2000/month.

PROS 👍:

• Thousands of third party apps on the Shopify app store. Many of these apps cater to various online shop needs. On the other hand, Squarespace only offers a handful of extensions as you can see here
• There are a lot of small businesses that use Shopify, as well as content creators who create content exclusively for Shopify businesses. You’ll most likely be able to get a lot of helpful tips from these communities
• Multi-channel sales including brick-and-mortar

CONS 👎:

• Given Shopify’s focus on retail brand online stores, it does not have suitable features to sell any digital products without additional third party apps (which are often not free). To be fair, this is also true for Squarespace. You’ll only be able to get built-in eCommerce functionalities for digital products on platforms like Payhip
• Shopify’s entire platform is hyper focused on eCommerce/online store functionalities. This is not suitable for bloggers, artists, or agencies who are looking for extensive website builder capabilities or to create static websites that do not need eCommerce functionalities
• Shopify’s blog CMS is not as robust as Squarespace

4. GoDaddy Website Builder

Another alternative to Squarespace is GoDaddy. GoDaddy is a less popular feature as this giant company has been historically popular for providing domain names and hosting services. While the platform still has a lot to go in terms of catering to complex eCommerce needs for small businesses, the GoDaddy website builder has a simple interface that is beginner friendly.

PRICING:

GoDaddy’s website builder pricing starts from its Basic plan at $11.99/month, but none of their plans offer any eCommerce functionalities except their highest Ecommerce and Commerce Plus pricing plans at $24.99/month and $29.99/month respectively. You can enjoy a 30-day free trial to see if this platform might hold up well as a Squarespace alternative.

PROS 👍:

• Provides ADI to help you build websites quickly and easily
• Quite affordable in comparison to Squarespace
• Beginner friendly drag and drop editor

CONS 👎:

• Compared to Squarespace, GoDaddy severely lacks scalability. GoDaddy’s pricing plan places limits on email marketing, the number of product listings, and the number of orders on certain sales channels so keep this in mind as your store grows in orders
• While creating websites might be quite simple and easy, some of its e Commerce functionalities are not as robust as Squarespace or other eCommerce platforms in the industry

5. Webflow

The final Squarespace alternative on the list is Webflow. Webflow is a website builder platform that takes the web design experience to a whole new level. No longer do web designers and developers have to rely on scattered HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code because Webflow does all the coding work for you. With intuitive drag-and-drop customization tools, you can easily style and customize your webite pages without any line of code.

PRICING:

As soon as you visit Webflow’s pricing page, you’ll notice the features listed aren’t your typical eCommerce and/or website builder platforms like Squarespace. Webflow’s pricing for Site plans starts from Free which is basically just for you to learn how to use Webflow. The pricing plan goes all the way up to the Business plan at $49/month. But none of these plans will have eCommerce functionalities.

Webflow’s eCommerce pricing plans start at the Standard plan at $42/month up to the Advanced plan at $235/month.

Bear in mind that there is an additional Workspaces monthly subscription if you need to provide multiple access to your team members to manage your website.

PROS 👍:

• While Squarespace focuses more on ease of use, Webflow is more flexible and appealing to actual web developers with coding skills. You’ll have much more control over how your website will look
• Webflow’s platform is also built with team functionality in mind. You can easily have multiple people managing your website (but be wary of the additional Workspaces subscriptions)

CONS 👎:

• Webflow’s eCommerce plans have limits on the number of items you can sell as well as the annual sales volume. This isn’t great for scalability if you are a small business that owns an online store
• If you intend to have a team of people who manage your website on a regular basis, Webflow’s pricing might be harder to understand as you need to pay for their Site Plan and the Workspaces Plan
• While Webflow certainly has some advantages over Squarespace, the platform is meant for web developers and designers. Its ease of use certainly pales in comparison to Squarespace, and it’s not recommended for people who are looking for beginner friendly website builder

Final Thoughts – Finding The Best Alternative to Squarespace

So there you have it! Five of the best Squarespace alternatives that are cheaper, better, and will let you create any stunning website you can imagine. Remember to take advantage of free trials from these website builder platforms so you can find one that caters to your specific needs and let you have a bit more fun while creating your stunning website.

Register for a free account on Payhip to start your own online store and create your dream website in less than 5 minutes.