Squarespace vs Webflow (2022): Where Should You Build Your New Site?

Squarespace and Webflow may both offer web hosting and website builder, but they cater to different types of users. In a nutshell, Squarespace is for you if you’re happy with Squarespace’s templates, while Webflow is better if you have web design skills or are willing to invest time and energy to learn the latter’s platform. We compare these website building platforms and their features to help you decide which one can better address your business needs.

Squarespace vs Webflow Comparison Chart

Model	Squarespace	Webflow
Price	Check Price on Squarespace	Check Price on Webflow
Standout Feature	Professionally-designed templates	Limitless customizability and clean code
Ease of Use	Moderate	Complex
Free Forever Plan	No	Yes
Monthly Cost	From $12 to $40/month	From $12 to $36/month (a custom plan is available for enterprises)
Hosting	Yes	Yes
Monthly Visits	Unlimited	25,000 to custom for enterprises
SSL Certificate	Yes	Yes
Free Templates	60+	40+
E-Commerce Features	Yes on select plans	Yes on select plans
SEO	Built-in	Built-in
Domain Name	Free for one year	N/A

Website Builder & Interface

Squarespace’s editor is more simple, albeit more limited, than Webflow’s

If you’ve ever used Adobe Photoshop, you’ll notice similarities in its interface and
Webflow’s. For users who have never used editors like Illustrator or Photoshop, Webflow’s interface can be very intimidating. Granted, Webflow has a wealth of information and free tutorials, but it requires a much steeper learning curve than Squarespace.

In contrast, Squarespace’s interface looks much simpler, clean, and beginner-friendly. It claims to be a drag-and-drop builder, but you can’t literally drag an element and drag it where you want (you have Wix for that). With that said, it’s still a lot easier to make changes on Squarespace and replace the template’s elements with your own.

While Squarespace may be simpler and lets you get your website up and running fast, it lacks in the flexibility and customizability department, unless you know how to code. The beauty of Webflow is its limitless customization options and the clean code it generates on the backend as you design the front end. From animations to parallax effects, Webflow lets you go crazy with your website’s design. On the other hand, Squarespace is quite limited and puts you in a box, unless you’re willing to write your own CSS code.

Templates

Squarespace comes with more free templates you can choose from, but Webflow’s templates are also well-designed

From photography to nonprofits, Squarespace has a library of 60+ templates that are designed for certain industries. It grew in popularity first among creatives for their big, bold images and typography. Today, Squarespace also offers e-commerce templates should you want to sell online. Webflow doesn’t offer as many templates, but its available ones are more than enough for many and can be customized to match your vision for your website. If you want to use premium templates, Webflow also has a library of paid versions you can get.

E-Commerce, Blogging & SEO

Both offer great SEO tools, but if you want an e-commerce store, it’s easier and faster to set up one on Squarespace

Squarespace provides all the basic tools you will need to run an online store. From abandoned cart recovery to advanced shipping options, you can do all these within select Squarespace plans. You can even start selling memberships within Squarespace itself. Customizing your shop and cart pages is also pretty straightforward compared to using Webflow. Between Squarespace and Webflow, we’ll have to recommend Squarespace if you want to build an e-commerce store (more on this on the Reddit Reviews section below).

Both platforms come with robust SEO tools that will help you rank on search engines. On Squarespace, the headings are optimized for you and you can even connect your Google Search Console to your Squarespace account so you can research keywords within your dashboard. In terms of speed, a major search engine ranking factor, Webflow websites typically load faster. This is what Webflow highlights, after all: its clean code and reliable hosting that result in blazing fast websites.

In terms of blogging, Webflow offers more customizability in this area. You can add or remove elements you want on the blog and design the page to your heart’s content. On Squarespace, however, you’re most likely stuck with the blog layout that comes with the template unless you use a plugin or code the layout yourself.

Reddit Reviews

Redditors don’t recommend Webflow for e-commerce

If you’re looking to build an e-commerce store and you want the more efficient t and cost-effective solution, then go for Squarespace. With Squarespace, you can easily set up customer accounts using their Commerce Plans. Like what Reddit user Totz91 said, you’ll need MemberStack if you want your customers to create an account in your shop or sell memberships.

Reddit user Willkode recommends Squarespace, Shopify, or WordPress + WooCommerce if you’re looking to build an e-commerce store or sell memberships.

Third-Party Integrations

Webflow has a wider range of integrations available while Squarespace tries to offer most of what you need within its platform

Among the biggest website builders today, Squarespace and Webflow integrate well with many of the frequently-used online tools today. Webflow has a big library of available third-party integrations, including HubSpot, Printful, Shopify, Hotjar, Google Analytics, and more.

Meanwhile, Squarespace offers built-in tools that most websites need. These include an analytics dashboard, email marketing tool, social sharing, and more. With that said, they’re not as robust as dedicated software, but for smaller businesses, they can do the job. There are also a couple of Squarespace Extensions available in its library, but they’re mostly focused on e-commerce. These include Printful, ShipStation, AfterShip, TaxJar, Xero, and Quickbooks. One way to use third-party tools that are not available as an extension on Squarespace is through its HTML block. You can copy the code your software will generate for you and paste the code in this block.

Monthly Cost & Pricing

Squarespaces e-Commerce plans are more affordable than Webflow’s

When it comes to building basic websites, Squarespace and Webflow’s monthly cost is around the same. However, Squarespace’s plans offer unlimited bandwidth and storage, products, and pages, while Webflow’s is limited. In addition, if you want to add a blog to your Webflow site, you’ll need their second-tier CMS plan which starts at 16USD/month if you pay annually and $20USD/month if billed monthly.

If you want to build an online store at a lower cost, Squarespace is the better fit for you. Their Business Plan starts at $18/month when billed annually while Webflow’s starts at $29 when paid annually and shoots up to $42 if you opt to billed monthly. Squarespace and Webflow charge a 3% and 2% transaction fee, respectively, if you opt for their lower-tier e-commerce plans.

Verdict

Squarespace is for businesses who want a website up and running fast while Webflow is for those who want the freedom of customization and don’t mind the learning curve

Squarespace

Best for non-technical users

Webflow

Best for professional web designers

When it comes to these two website builders, one is not always better than the other. If you’re not a designer and don’t mind the limitations that come with Squarespace’s templates and interface, then Squarespace is good enough for what you need. Squarespace is a no brainer if you also want to set up an online store or sell memberships fast and at a lower cost.

Meanwhile, Webflow is for you if you’re willing to put in the time and effort to learn the platform and its complex interface. The customization option on Webflow is limitless and it is undoubtedly a powerful website builder, but the learning curve is also higher. In addition, Webflow is not the best option if you’re looking to build an e-commerce store.

FAQs