2020’s Squarespace Reviews (Features, Plans, Add-Ons)
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To keep our website running, we partner up with some of the companies featured in our reviews. This means that Review42.com may receive compensation from the companies we review when you sign up for a service or purchase a product using one of our links, at no cost to you. Our goal is to test, evaluate and spread the word about solutions that work. Therefore, the expressed opinions in this article are independent and unbiased. Please read our disclosure for more info.
Strengths
- 14-day free trial
- Customizable website design packages
- Hosting and domain registrations included
- 30% discount on long-term commitment plans
Weaknesses
- Limited theme templates available
Breakdown
Domain Name
Available with all paid plans
Language Supported
German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese
Web Hosting
Free
Best Offer
$12/month on a basic personal plan (annual package)
Best For
Best for creatives, bloggers, and small business owners who want an easy ecommerce solution
Squarespace is a website building platform that was founded by Anthony Casalena while he was studying at the University of Maryland in 2003. Since its humble beginnings, the site has launched millions of websites and employs over 1,140 talented individuals. Over the last 5 years, Squarespace was named as one of the best places to work in New York City and opened offices in Dublin and Portland.
Additionally, the platform is recognized by thousands of business owners and website creators as a leader in the industry. Squarespace reviews deem the website builder to have quality designs and high tech features.
With plans starting at only $12/month, Squarespace website reviews prove that it’s a great choice for bloggers, content creators, business owners, and online entrepreneurs.
Website Creation Services
Squarespace offers an all-inclusive website design service that allows users to create a professional website, portfolio, or online ecommerce store.
The initial setup is quite easy. Many Squarespace website design reviews have confirmed that the sign-up process is much easier compared to other similar site builders.
> To start off, users enter information on what their sites are about.
> Choosing from categories that include music, jewelry, health & beauty, food, marketing, photography, politics, and many more.
> Users are then encouraged to add their top goals for the creation of their website. Goals might include ‘building a community’ or ‘selling memberships’. Adding this information gives the integrated AI some clues on what your site design should look like.
> Squarespace will then suggest a few portfolio options for you to choose from as a starting point. After registering, you are ready to go by adding additional features and signing up for a paid plan.
Features
Award-Winning Designs
Users can explore a variety of designer color palettes, designs, and award-winning templates for their websites. All templates are modern, adjustable, and easy to customize. You can add many sections and delete blocks you don’t want. Other additional features include lists, contacts, headlines, galleries, text, videos, products, and reservations.
Compared to other website builder services that offer hundreds of templates, Squarespace offers only 60 different templates. Despite this fact, Squarespace user reviews state that the ones available are highly customizable.
Portfolio Designs
Finally, artists and designers from all over the world have the opportunity to showcase their best work through a Squarespace custom-designed portfolio. Users can display their designs and create their own unique portfolios. These sites feature password-protected pages that can be privately shared with potential clients.
Built-in Style Kit
The built-in style kit allows users to change font sizes, types, and colors as well as adjust imagery and margins to best suit their brand’s style.
SEO Optimization Tools
To make it in the competitive world of online marketing, website owners should invest in SEO tools. Hiring SEO specialists can be quite expensive. Squarespace makes it that much easier by adding already built-in SEO tools that help you maximize your online presence. Reviews on Squarespace SEO integration features are highly positive.
Blogging Tools
The smart blogging features allow users to post and share stories, news, and product information in an organized and aesthetically pleasing way. Additionally, users can schedule posts for regular updates.
Statistics and Analytics
To make sure that you are reaching your target market, as well as to find out who your target groups are, Squarespace’s analytic feature gives great insight into traffic, visitors, geographical locations, top products, and popular blog posts. This information can help users when creating different optimization and marketing strategies.
Apps and Tools
To allow for easier all-platform function Squarespace allows users to integrate popular apps and tools, such as Dropbox, Zapier, Instagram, Xero, YouTube, GoogleMaps, Unsplash, and Twitter, into the platform.
Editing on a Mobile Device
Squarespace designed a powerful app that allows mobile editing on iOS and Android, allowing you to edit your website or add content while you are on the move.
Logo Maker
A great additional feature for new business owners is creating a custom logo. All you have to do is enter your company’s name, add symbols, adjust color, change font style, add a tagline, and your custom logo is ready!
If we review Squarespace vs Wix in an honest comparison of their logo maker services, Squarespace’s logo maker falls short slightly. However, you can download the Squarespace logo for free, whereas you have to pay an additional fee for a Wix logo.
Squarespace Ecommerce Services
For both starters and established brands, Squarespace provides excellent templates to give you an online store that stands out. Features that can be applied to your online store within this service include:
- Merchandising to showcase your products
- Embedded videos and vibrant product display
- Templates allow for an engaging customer experience through product suggesting
- Manage inventory with customized tags, drag-and-drop sorting tools, and categories
- All products added to your online store will be automatically added to a product catalog for easier browsing
- Labels on products to show ‘last-minute sales’, ‘limited editions’, and ‘limited offers’ to encourage a call to action
- Already optimized for browsing on mobile and almost all other devices
- Sell digital content
Additional features noted in Squarespace ecommerce reviews:
- Scheduling appointments
- Making online bookings
- Collecting customer contact information for future promotional content
- Integrating social channels for easy cross-channel sharing
- Embedding physical address in order for customers to find you easier
All ecommerce templates include an easy built-in tax tool, as well as a payment and checkout feature that encourages your customers to purchase through your ecommerce store.
Hosting and Domain Services
All Squarespace accounts feature a free domain and hosting for the first year. Domains can be registered through the Squarespace platform. Currently, there are more than 200 top-level domains available that have WHOIS privacy.
Additional features:
- Easy transfer from a third-party domain
- Seamless domain registration without referring to older DNS records
- Comes with a free SSL certificate
Pricing and Plans
All Squarespace plans are offered on a monthly or yearly basis. Users can save up to 30% when they purchase an annual plan. Payments are accepted through credit card, Paypal, and Stripe in supported countries. Users can switch between plans at any time. It’s as easy as upgrading or downgrading through your website manager.
Squarespace pricing reviews show many satisfied users who are pleased with the affordable entry-level fee for the personal plan at only $12/month. Let’s have a closer look at the different plans and pricing options that Squarespace offers.
Personal Plan – $12/month annually or $16/month monthly
The Personal Plan is the basic entry-level website option that features:
- A custom domain name
- SSL security
- Unlimited bandwidth
- A choice of all Squarespace templates
- SEO integrations and features
- Unlimited storage
- 2 contributors
- 24/7 customer support
Business Plan – $18/month annually or $26/month monthly
The Business Plan is a great option for entry-level ecommerce business owners. It includes all of the Personal Plan features with the following additional ones:
- Professional and personalized email from Google
- Premium integrations
- Fully integrated ecommerce (allows you to accept donations, gift cards, upsells)
- Marketing integrations ($100 Free Google Ads credit, pop-ups, ad banners)
- Advanced analytics and traffic insight
Basic Commerce Plan – $26/month annually or $30/month monthly
Squarespace website reviews show that the Basic Commerce Plan is perfect for upscaling business owners looking to generate more income and brand awareness. It includes all features from the Personal and Business plans plus the following additional features:
- Unlimited contributors
- Squarespace extensions
- Complete customization with JavaScript and CSS
- Extra commerce and marketing tools that include point of sale, checkout on domain, merchandising tools, product labels, and social media integration for marketing
Advanced Commerce Plan – $40/month annually or $46/month monthly
This plan is for well-established ecommerce stores looking to upgrade their website plans. It includes all website design and ecommerce features plus:
- Sell subscriptions
- Abandoned cart recovery
- Advanced shipping and discounts
- Commerce APIs
All plans come with a free 14-day trial. There is no money-back guarantee if users neglect to cancel the free trial within 2 weeks.
Support
Users can contact specific customer care specialists from different departments (HR, PR, Tech, Security, Customer Care, or Partnerships) by visiting their contact page – https://www.squarespace.com/contact.
Support is offered in 6 languages including German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese.
Pros & Cons
14-day free trial
Customizable website design packages
Hosting and domain registrations included
30% discount on long-term commitment plans
Limited theme templates available
Squarespace Reviews and Ratings
Squarespace customer reviews are fairly positive. The few complaints mostly center on customer service and the limited amount of templates. Some online ratings include:
- Capterra: 4.6-star rating from 1,886 reviews
- WebsiteToolTester: 4.2-star rating (private review)
- Website Builder Expert: 4.3-star rating (private review)
- Website Planet: 4.8-star rating from 9 reviews
- G2: 4.4-star rating from 863 reviews
Check our comparison page featuring the most prominent website builders on the market today to find out where Squarespace stands.
Wrap Up
Making an upfront long-term commitment will save you at least 30% on a Squarespace website building and hosting plan. Effective built-in tools like G Suite, SEO, social media integration, ecommerce features, and Paypal payments make it easy for bloggers, creatives, and small business owners to run their own ecommerce stores and profiles at a low monthly cost.
On top of that, Squarespace reviews prove that clients are satisfied with their customizable templates and design features.