Squarespace has risen to popularity among creatives and small business owners, thanks to its intuitive interface, stunning templates, and reasonably priced monthly plans. At a glance, Squarespace’s monthly plans look straightforward. However, choosing the perfect plan for you–one with the lowest Squarespace yearly cost but still addresses your business needs–isn’t as easy as it seems.
This is especially true if you’re planning on building an e-commerce store as there are additional charges that will add to Squarespace’s yearly cost. This can range from shipping costs to transaction fees and additional tools you may need to run your business. To cut to the chase, the Squarespace plan that offers the best value for money is the Business plan, while those who want to sell physical products will need the powerful e-commerce tools of Squarespace’s Advanced E-Commerce plan. Keep reading to find out why these two Squarespace plans come out on top in our in-depth article below.
Contents
Squarespace Yearly Cost & Pricing Plans
Personal Plan
Squarespace’s Personal Plan has the lowest yearly cost and is best for users who just want a blog or portfolio site
If you don’t plan on selling anything online just yet, this is the perfect Squarespace plan for you. It already includes access to Squarespace’s blogging and SEO tools, award-winning templates, SSL certificate, and free domain name registration in the first year. The bandwidth storage is unlimited, too. However, this plan doesn’t let you Squarespace’s premium extensions.
Pricing
Starting a website can be as low as two to three cups of a latte a month with Squarespace’s Personal Plan. This plan only costs $12/month if you opt to be billed annually and $16/month if billed monthly. That’s 25% savings on Squarespace’s yearly cost if you choose the annual subscription.
Business Plan
Squarespace’s most popular plan with a low yearly cost
The Squarespace Business Plan has all the features of the Personal plan, and a lot more. For one, it lets you build an online store, although Squarespace will take a 3% commission for every sale you make. With this plan, you can start accepting donations or selling unlimited products and gift cards.
Even if you don’t plan on selling online, having access to Squarespace’s extension library is worth the slightly higher yearly cost. It also lets you further customize Squarespace templates through CSS and JavaScript. Among the popular third-party tools that can be integrated into Squarespace with this plan are Freshbooks, Zapier, Printful, and Quickbooks. Most of the extensions available to Squarespace are tools that small business owners might need.
Pricing
Squarespace made its annual Business Plan hard to resist even if you don’t plan on selling anything online just yet. If you opt for the annual billing, the Business Plan only costs $18/month or a yearly cost of $216. If you choose to be billed monthly, you’ll have to pay 30% more at $26/month or a total of $312/year.
Basic Commerce Plan
Start selling on Squarespace without worrying about transaction fees
If you’re also selling products in-store, you’ll need to upgrade to the Squarespace Commerce Plans as they allow you to seamlessly integrate your online sales to your physical store’s sales. If you’re not selling in-store, another factor to consider when choosing between the popular Squarespace Business Plan and the Basic Commerce Plan is your sales. Are you selling enough that paying the 3% transaction fee on the Business Plan actually yields a higher Squarespace yearly cost compared to paying for the Commerce Plans?
In addition to transaction fees, upgrading to the Basic Commerce Plan allows your customers to create user accounts and checkout using your custom domain. This plan also provides advanced e-commerce tools to help you with marketing and increasing a sense of scarcity through Squarespace’s limited availability alerts. For instance, you can sell your products on Instagram with this plan, something you can’t do on the lower-tier Squarespace plans.
Pricing
The Squarespace Basic Commerce Plan costs $30/month when billed monthly or $26/month when billed annually. That saves you 16% on the Squarespace yearly cost if you choose the annual subscription plan.
Advanced Commerce Plan
Best for bigger e-commerce stores that require more powerful tools, integrations, and features
Just like the Basic Commerce Plan, the Squarespace Advanced Commerce Plan doesn’t charge transaction fees for every sale. Among its top e-commerce features include abandoned cart recovery, selling subscriptions/memberships, commerce APIs, and advanced discounts and shipping calculator features.
Pricing
The Squarespace Advanced Commerce Plan costs $46/month when billed monthly or $40/month when billed annually. That saves you 13% on the Squarespace yearly cost if you choose the annual subscription plan.
Verdict
The Squarespace Business Plan offers the best yearly cost, but bigger e-commerce stores may need the Advanced Commerce Plan’s features
Of the four Squarespace plans, the Business Plan delivers the best value for money if you’re only starting out. It offers the basic tools you need to start selling online while keeping the Squarespace yearly cost low. Do take note of the 3% transaction fee, though.
For e-commerce stores who need more powerful tools and want all the bells and whistles, the Advanced Commerce Plan is the best option. Its advanced shipping calculator and discounts are a must-have if you want to give your customers a better shopping experience. It’s also the only plan that lets you sell subscriptions to members.
FAQs
Squarespace’s yearly cost can range from $144 to $552, depending on the plan. For a more specific breakdown of Squarespace’s plans, see our comparison chart above.
The Squarespace Business Plan offers the best value for money overall while the Advanced Commerce Plan is better for bigger e-commerce stores or selling memberships.
Yes, you get a free custom domain if you opt for the annual subscription. The domain registration is free on your first year.
Squarespace doesn’t charge a transaction fee on the Basic and Advanced Commerce Plans. If you’re on the business plan, Squarespace charges a 3% transaction fee for every sale.
