WordPress vs Squarespace: Non-Jargon Comparison + Which Is Better For You

You’ve more than likely seen the ads and heard the news about a very popular website option: Squarespace. But what is Squarespace, and how can you determine if Squarespace or WordPress is right for you? Here are a few factors you should consider before making your big decision.

Simplicity

Squarespace focuses on award-winning, beautifully designed websites that can be created within minutes. For bloggers, artists, photographers, and creatives of all kinds, Squarespace gives full flexibility with color palettes, designs, and details that will make your website stand out from the crowd. Also available are website analytics, e-commerce templates, and SEO tools.

Simply put, Squarespace is a great option for website owners if they don’t want to expand their capabilities with code in the long run but still want a beautiful website. With Squarespace, you are always limited to the interface. However, Squarespace offers other benefits with their higher-tiered plans, such as 24/7 customer support, a free domain name for one year, and marketing tools such as email campaigns and social media tools.

While WordPress isn’t as simple to use as Squarespace, the capabilities the website owner retains are vast compared to the Squarespace platform. With over 8,000 free themes to choose from, you can still create a beautiful, professionally designed website without sacrificing your access to backend coding. With a fully managed web host such as SiteGround, you can sign up for web hosting that includes on-demand backup copies, unlimited websites, and priority customer support to help you through any issues you run into.

Templates and Design

With easy-to-use templates for blogging, portfolios, and even online resumes, Squarespace is a great option for all kinds of websites, even those with quite a bit of content like photographers and videographers. Squarespace templates are also mobile-responsive and can be used with e-commerce for businesses like restaurants and online boutiques.

With Squarespace, you are limited to hiring a Squarespace designer or developer to help you expand your website to meet more specific needs beyond your template. While Squarespace is known for its user-friendly design, there may also be times when you need to customize your website with more complicated designs and applications.

The disadvantages of hiring a developer for your Squarespace page are cost and time. Developers charge high hourly rates, and you are subject to their rates for any minor changes you cannot complete on your own. As well, you are restricted to their ongoing availability, which may not always suit your timetable.

With a little bit of time and patience, you can easily learn to look at code and learn how to add your own customizations to a WordPress website without having to hire a professional. Hosting providers like SiteGround offer priority customer support for any issues you might encounter, and there are endless resources available to help you through any coding issues you will face.

Functionality

Squarespace offers an entire marketplace of extensions, which are third-party integrations that customize your website and make your website function in a completely different way. From streamlining shipping to improving SEO, Squarespace offers a wide variety of extensions to add lots of functionality to your website. There is a cost associated with many of the extensions, so be sure to keep room in your budget for extensions you will need and use regularly on your website.

The WordPress marketplace offers over 58,000 free plugins for you to fully customize your website. From spam protection to drag-and-drop website builders, there are endless combinations of plugins that can transform your website and your website building experience. With a little bit of coding knowledge, you can easily expand your website capabilities and your confidence in creating and managing a WordPress website.

WordPress vs Squarespace

Both Squarespace and WordPress give any user the ability to create beautifully, professionally designed websites in a small amount of time. The investments are relatively the same, and both options are great for any e-commerce website or creative website. The most important factor to consider is whether you want your website to grow and expand in the long run, as you will not be able to do as much expanding on Squarespace as you will with WordPress. The long-term cost of hiring a developer can be very steep, but you can overcome this by teaching yourself how to code in a supportive online community.

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