Squarespace or WordPress?[ 4 min read ]

Here at The Smart Bear, we’re experts in WordPress websites but that doesn’t mean we don’t use any other platform, we can and do frequently!
One of our favourite alternative website platforms is Squarespace.

Squarespace is super easy to set up and comes with a lot of community support – a bit like WordPress. It has some pre-built themes to use/modify or you can create your own with the simple drag and drop builder they have.
It has a visually appealing user interface making it easy to see how your website will look without needing any coding ability.

There are a number of add-ons to choose from too, including appointment scheduling and e-commerce. Albeit, some of these are at an additional cost, or bump you up to the next Squarespace package.

Included in the fee is hosting, speed management, and maintenance – no need to check for plugin updates which is perfect for those with busy businesses. The Squarespace fees can be paid monthly or paid yearly which benefits for a small discount.

There are a range of packages, which can be seen here: https://www.squarespace.com/pricing, we recommend the first two packages for small brochure websites.

In some respects it is, but not in others. For example, there’s a limit to what they’ll allow you to do – you don’t have as much access to be able to modify or develop the site further.
And, certainly not without paying for extra fees features or add-ons. The add-ons range itself is quite small at the moment so there’s not as much scope to develop as with WordPress.

The themes, which are free, are also quite basic, although with the builder they can be customised somewhat. And, there are developers out there that have access to Squarespace development tools and will create you a bespoke theme, if you want one.

However, the biggest consideration to take into account is that unlike WordPress*, Squarespace is essentially a rental service so should you decide you don’t like Squarespace anymore, it doesn’t do what you want, or you no longer want to pay their fees, then the site pretty much has to be abandoned. It can be partly exported but essentially you’ll be rebuilding the site if you move away.

(*WordPress hosted on your own server as opposed to wordpress.com)

We recommend Squarespace to our clients only if we think the business will benefit from using it – so if the positives outweigh the negatives in their case.
These are usually businesses that are time-short or not office-based, and their site will essentially be nothing more than a brochure website for the long-term; they’re unlikely to want to develop the site further in the future.

The good news is, Squarespace offers a free trial so you can always try it out, before you commit to subscribing, to see if it suits your needs or not. And, of course, feel free to book in with us for a free consultation if you need further advice.