I don't blame you for considering creating your website with Squarespace.
After all, they have some of the most beautiful templates in the industry, a robust eCommerce platform, you can customize your site in great detail, and not forgetting the lightning fast responses from the support team.
But, out of the four plans available, which is the right plan for you and how much is your potential new website actually going to cost I hear your cry?
Let’s go and take a look;
1. How Much Does Squarespace Cost? - A Quick Overview
When you first arrive on the Squarespace pricing page, you'll notice there are two payment options.
The first is for an annual plan (the cheaper option) and the second allows you to pay monthly for a slightly higher price.
You can toggle between the two by clicking on the button as shown in the image below;
All Prices in USD
Although the annual plan shows a "per month" cost, this figure will be multiplied by twelve and taken as one single upfront payment.
I've put together a table below so you can see exactly how much you'll be paying in each scenario.
Plan | Best For | Annually 1 x Payment | Monthly 12 x Payment | Annual Saving |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Personal | Personal or basic small business sites | $144 | $16 | $48 |
Business | Unlocking additional features such as marketing tools or sell a few products. | $216 | $26 | $96 |
Basic Commerce | Perfect if you're starting an online store. | $312 | $30 | $48 |
Advanced Commerce | Established businesses | $480 | $46 | $72 |
Regardless of whether you choose to pay monthly or annually, your plan will include;
Should you decide pay annually, not only will you receive a discount on the plan itself, you'll also get a free domain name (your website address) free for the first year ($20 value) giving you one less thing to worry about!
It goes without saying, the better the plan the more features you'll unlock and that exactly what we'll be diving into in the following sections.
2. Wait, No Free Website Option?
The first thing to strike me about Squarespace was the lack of a free website option.
After all, many of Squarespace's closest competitors offer this feature.
Please, don't let this put you off...
As good as the free option from other platforms may seem, there are always downsides such as not being able to connect your own domain name, advertisements on your site, and many of the features are restricted.
If you intend on creating a website for your business or a portfolio, the chances are at some point you’ll want to upgrade to a premium plan anyway to give your site a more professional look.
Instead of a free account, Squarespace offers a 14-day risk-free trial allowing you to put them through their paces and decide if the platform’s a good fit before committing financially.
In my humble opinion, 14 days is ample time to make up your mind.
3. Website Plans - A Closer Look
Plan 1) Personal
- Annual - $12/month (taken as one upfront payment of $144)
- Monthly - $16/month
This is the cheapest plan of the bunch and although it's called "Personal", it’s more than adequate for basic small business sites, freelancers, and portfolio sites of up to 20 pages.
You get all of the benefits we mentioned above in the overview including access to all of the templates, fantastic support, and unlimited bandwidth & storage space.
The biggest drawback to this plan is that you won't be able to sell products or services.
If you're looking to set-up-shop then you'll need to consider one of the other plans below.
Plan 2) Business
- Annual - $18/month (taken as one upfront payment of $216)
- Monthly - $26/month
The Business plan is Squarespace's most popular and it's a great option for businesses wishing to unlock additional features such as marketing tools.
Think pop-ups, banner ads and more detailed website analytics.
It's also the first of the four plans that allows you to start selling products & services through your website.
I should point out that while you're able to sell an unlimited amount of products with this plan, Squarespace takes a 3% transaction fee on your sales.
I see the Business plan as a great way to test the water before diving head first into the world of eCommerce.
Other benefits of Business over Personal include;
4. eCommerce Plans
Plan 3) Basic Commerce
- Annual - $26/month (taken as one upfront payment of $312)
- Monthly - $30/month
I recommend starting with this plan for your online store. When you need more features, you can always upgrade later.
No point in spending more than you need to right?
Plan 4) Advanced Commerce
- Annual - $40/month (taken as one upfront payment of $480)
- Monthly - $46/month
This is Squarespace's most expensive and feature packed plan.
The Advanced gives you everything you need to help increase sales and take your store to the next level including;
This plan's perfect if you already have an established business.
5. Additional Costs To Be Considered
As with most website builders, there're usually a few other pricing considerations that are not always immediately obvious.
Let's take a quick look at them below so you don't end up with any surprises down the road!
Note: These costs may need to added on top of your plan total.
Domain Name
For anyone that doesn't know, a domain name is your website address.
When you sign up for a free trial or a paid plan, Squarespace will you give you a free domain name which looks something like this...
Example of a free built-in-domain name
This is great when you're starting out but if you're creating a professional website then at some point you'll probably to purchase your own domain without the Squarespace branding.
You can purchase one for $20 directly through Squarespace or at a third party site such as Namecheap (where I buy mine).
Purchasing a new domain name through Squarespace
If you purchase it elsewhere, it's a little cheaper but you'll have to connect it to your Squarespace website.
It's not difficult to do, it just requires a little extra work. If you'd rather keep things simple, you may be better off going directly through Squarespace.
Don't forget, You'll get your domain name free for the first year if you choose to pay annually!
Personalized email address
As Squarespace doesn’t offer an in-house email solution, you can get a customized email address to match your domain name through Google's (G Suite).
Example; yourname@shinynewwebsite.com
If you choose the Business plan or higher and register a new domain name, you'll also get this free for the first year.
When the years up (or if you choose the cheaper Personal plan) it'll set you back around $5 per month (or $60 per year billed annually).
You’ll be billed directly through Squarespace which helps to keep things a little more manageable!
6. Changing Plans & Cancelling Couldn't Be Simpler!
Unlike some companies out there, Squarespace makes it really easy to change or cancel your plan.
If you realize in a few weeks time that you need more or less features, you can upgrade/downgrade from your main account dashboard.
Squarespace no longer for you? No problem!
You can cancel your account at any time by visiting Settings > Billing and Account > Billing.
Just keep in mind that you'll only receive a refund if it's within the first 14-days.
7. Conclusion - Which Plan Is Right For You?
I sincerely hope I've helped clear things up and not left you feeling even more confused!
If you have any questions, please fire away in the comments section below and I'll get back to you as soon as humanly possible.
