Compare the best Squarespace alternatives for 2027, from Wix and WordPress to Shopify and Carrd, with current pricing for small businesses, creators and stores.
Squarespace is still one of the easiest ways to get a polished website online. Its templates look good out of the box, hosting and SSL are included, and the editor keeps most people from breaking their own layout. On its pricing page today, the Basic plan costs $25 per month billed monthly or $19 per month billed annually, Core costs $39 or $29, Plus costs $65 or $49, and Advanced costs $139 or $99. There is no free plan, only a 14-day trial with no credit card required.
The reasons people look for an alternative to Squarespace tend to be specific. Basic charges a 2% fee on online store sales on top of card processing, and it limits you to two contributors, so a small shop or a growing team is pushed toward Core. Digital content and memberships carry their own fees (7% on Basic, 5% on Core, 1% on Plus) until you reach Advanced. Others leave because they want a real free tier, a cheaper single-page site, deeper design freedom, a larger app and plugin ecosystem, or a store that can grow past what a website builder is built to handle.
This guide covers ten platforms that small businesses, creators, photographers and simple stores actually shortlist when they move off Squarespace. Every price below was checked on the vendor’s own pricing page in November 2026. Where a vendor does not publish a figure, we say so. If you are coming from a design-led builder rather than Squarespace, our guide to the best Webflow alternatives covers a different set of tools.
Squarespace Alternatives At A Glance
Tool
Starting Price
Best For
Standout Feature
Wix
Free; paid from $17/mo (billed yearly)
Small businesses wanting an all-in-one builder
Free plan plus scheduling and payments on paid tiers
WordPress.com
Free; Personal $4/mo yearly or $9 monthly
Bloggers and content-led sites
Plugin installs from the Personal plan up
Self-hosted WordPress
Free software; hosting extra
Owners who want full control and portability
Open source with any host you choose
Webflow
Free Starter; Basic $15/mo billed yearly
Designers and marketing sites
Visual control over layout and CMS structure
Framer
Free; Basic $10/mo
Freelancers, studios and startup landing pages
Fast, animation-friendly design canvas
Shopify
Basic $29/mo yearly or $39 monthly
Stores that plan to scale
Commerce tooling and a large app ecosystem
Hostinger Website Builder
$2.49/mo promo on a 48-month term
Budget-conscious small sites
Low upfront cost with AI tools included
Square Online
Free; Plus $49/mo per location
Restaurants and retailers already on Square
Online store tied to Square POS
Showit
$22/mo billed annually
Photographers and creative service businesses
Freeform design with a WordPress blog
Carrd
Free; Pro from $19/year
One-page sites, link pages and personal profiles
Very low annual cost
Best Squarespace Alternatives For 2027
1. Wix: Drag-And-Drop Builder With A Permanent Free Plan
Wix is the closest like-for-like swap for most Squarespace users. It is a hosted, drag-and-drop website builder with thousands of templates, built-in hosting, and business tools for bookings, payments and marketing. Where Squarespace keeps elements on a structured grid, Wix lets you place them more freely, which appeals to people who want to adjust layouts by hand.
Wix lists five plans: Free at $0, Light at $17 per month, Core at $29, Business at $39 and Business Elite at $159. These figures are monthly equivalents of yearly subscriptions paid in full upfront, and taxes are added at checkout based on your billing address. Wix notes that prices and currency vary by location, so check the final price at checkout. Light gives 2 GB of storage and two collaborators; Core adds payments, scheduling, basic eCommerce, 50 GB and five collaborators; Business raises that to 100 GB and ten collaborators. Wix offers a 14-day money-back guarantee on the first Premium upgrade.
Wix beats Squarespace on two counts: you can build and publish on the free plan before paying anything, and layout freedom is greater. For a deeper side-by-side, see our Wix vs Squarespace comparison. Where it falls short is consistency. Freer layouts make it easier to produce a page that looks off on mobile, and the free plan has no custom domain. Light also does not include online selling, so a store needs Core or higher.
Wix suits small businesses that want one dashboard for a site, bookings and basic sales, and owners who prefer to tinker with layouts rather than accept a template’s structure.
2. WordPress.com: Hosted WordPress With Plugins From The Personal Plan
WordPress.com is the hosted, managed version of WordPress run by Automattic. You get WordPress’s editor and publishing tools without arranging your own server, updates or backups. For anyone whose site is mostly writing, it is the most natural move away from Squarespace’s simpler blogging tools.
The pricing page lists six tiers in US dollars. Free costs $0 with 1 GB storage and WordPress.com ads shown to visitors. Personal is $4 per month billed yearly or $9 billed monthly, with 6 GB. Premium is $8 yearly or $18 monthly, with 13 GB and PayPal and Stripe payment buttons. Business is $25 yearly or $40 monthly, with 50 GB and WooCommerce support. Commerce is $45 yearly or $70 monthly with full WooCommerce tools. Two- and three-year terms are cheaper still. Enterprise pricing is not published. Note the fees on paid subscriptions and payments collected through the platform: 10% on Free, 8% on Personal, 4% on Premium, 2% on Business and 0% on Commerce.
Compared with Squarespace, WordPress.com is cheaper to start and far more extensible. Every paid plan, from Personal up, can install plugins from a catalog of more than 60,000, and paid plans include premium themes. Blogging, categories, archives and editorial workflows are stronger. It falls short on out-of-the-box design polish and simplicity: there are more settings to learn, and a good-looking site takes more work than picking a Squarespace template. The payment fees on lower tiers also add up if you sell memberships or donations. Our Squarespace vs WordPress guide goes deeper on the trade-off.
It suits bloggers, publishers, newsletters and content-led small businesses that want WordPress without the hosting chores.
Self-hosted WordPress means downloading the free, open-source software from WordPress.org (version 7.1.4 at the time of writing) and running it on hosting you rent yourself. You own the files and database, choose your own host, and can install any theme or plugin, including WooCommerce, which is also free to download.
The software itself costs nothing. Your real costs are hosting, a domain and any premium themes or plugins you buy. WordPress.org lists recommended hosts including Pressable, Bluehost and Hostinger, without publishing prices. As one example, Hostinger’s WordPress hosting page shows Premium at $2.49 per month on a 48-month term paid upfront ($119.52 total), renewing at $10.99 per month, with prices shown excluding VAT. WordPress.org recommends PHP 8.3 or greater and MySQL 8.0 or MariaDB 10.11 or greater, which most hosts meet.
The main advantage over Squarespace is control. You are not tied to one company’s pricing, payment fees or feature roadmap, and you can move the whole site to another host if you need to. The ecosystem covers almost any feature a small business could want. The downside is responsibility. Updates, security, backups and performance tuning are yours or your developer’s job, and a site built from many plugins can become fragile. Squarespace handles all of that for you.
It suits owners with some technical comfort or a developer on call, and businesses that want long-term ownership of their site and content.
4. Webflow: Visual Builder With Pro-Level Layout And CMS Control
Webflow is a visual development platform that exposes the box model, classes and responsive breakpoints that front-end developers work with, without requiring code. It is popular with designers and marketing teams who want pixel-level control and a structured CMS for blogs, case studies and resource libraries.
Pricing has two layers. Site plans are per site: Starter is free with two static pages, 50 CMS items and a webflow.io subdomain; Basic is $15 per month billed yearly with 300 pages but no CMS; Premium is $25 per month billed yearly with 20,000 CMS items. Ecommerce plans run $29 (Standard, with a 2% transaction fee and 500 items), $74 (Plus) and $212 (Advanced) per month, billed yearly. The page has a monthly toggle but we could only confirm the yearly rates. Separately, Workspace seats apply: a Full seat is $39 per month and a Limited seat $15 per month, billed yearly, with one Full seat included for the owner.
Webflow beats Squarespace on design freedom, interactions and CMS structure. You can build almost any layout and model custom content types. It falls short on ease of use and cost clarity. The learning curve is steep for non-designers, the cheapest plan with a CMS is Premium, and adding collaborators means paying for seats. Its commerce tools are also thinner than a dedicated store platform.
Webflow suits designers, agencies and startups that want a custom marketing site and are willing to learn the tool or hire someone who knows it.
5. Framer: Design-First Builder For Fast, Animated Marketing Sites
Framer started as a prototyping tool and is now a website builder that feels like a design canvas. It is quick to go from layout to live site, handles animation and effects well, and includes AI features and a CMS. Many freelancers and small studios use it for portfolios and startup landing pages.
Framer’s pricing page lists Free at $0, Basic at $10 per month and Pro at $30 per month, plus custom Enterprise pricing. The page states all prices are monthly and billed according to the cycle chosen at checkout; it does not list separate yearly rates. Free is intended for non-commercial use, runs on a Framer domain and includes 1 GB of bandwidth. Basic, which Framer describes as for students, freelancers and small studios, includes 30 pages, two CMS collections, 1,000 CMS items, 50 GB bandwidth and a custom domain. Pro raises that to 150 pages, ten collections, 2,500 items and 100 GB, and adds staging. Additional editors cost $20 per month each, content editors $10 each.
Framer beats Squarespace for creative control and speed when you want a distinctive, motion-rich site, and Basic is cheaper than Squarespace’s entry plan. It falls short in commerce: the pricing page does not mention ecommerce or checkout features, so it is not a store replacement. Page and CMS limits on Basic are also tight for a growing blog, and extra pages are sold in paid blocks.
It suits designers, freelancers and early-stage companies that need a strong portfolio website builder or launch page rather than a shop.
6. Shopify: Dedicated Commerce Platform Built To Grow With Your Store
Shopify is an ecommerce platform first and a website builder second. If your Squarespace site has become mainly a store, Shopify is the most common next step. It handles inventory, checkout, shipping, taxes, multiple sales channels and in-person sales, with a large app store for everything else.
Shopify’s US pricing page lists Basic at $39 per month billed monthly or $29 billed yearly, Grow at $105 or $79, Advanced at $399 or $299, and Plus from $2,300 per month. Online card rates through Shopify Payments start at 2.9% plus 30 cents on Basic and fall on higher tiers. If you use a third-party payment provider instead, Shopify adds a fee of 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced. A 3-day free trial is available, followed by $1 per month for three months.
Shopify beats Squarespace on commerce depth: product variants, inventory across locations, apps for subscriptions and reviews, and point of sale. Squarespace’s own store features are solid for small catalogs, but Shopify is built for scale. Our Squarespace vs Shopify comparison breaks down where each fits. Shopify falls short as a content site. Blogging and page design are more limited, and many features you want end up as paid apps, which raises the real monthly cost.
It suits product businesses that sell online as their main channel, or plan to, and want an online store builder that will not need replacing in two years.
Hostinger, best known as a web host, sells a drag-and-drop website builder bundled with its hosting plans. It includes AI tools such as an AI Writer, AI Logo Maker and AI SEO Assistant, plus templates and a basic online store.
The builder page lists three plans with promotional pricing that requires a 48-month term paid upfront: Premium at $2.49 per month ($119.52 total), Unlimited at $3.49 ($167.52) and Cloud Startup at $7.99 ($383.52). Renewal prices are $10.99, $16.99 and $25.99 per month respectively. Premium covers up to three websites; the other two allow unlimited sites. Each includes a custom domain free for one year, and Hostinger advertises a 30-day money-back guarantee. The page lists “ecommerce available” on Unlimited and Cloud Startup and advertises 0% transaction fees, but it does not state product limits for any plan.
Hostinger beats Squarespace on upfront cost by a wide margin if you commit to the long term, and it adds hosting for other projects on the same account. It falls short on template quality and depth of features, and the headline price only applies to a four-year prepayment. Compare the renewal rate with Squarespace’s annual price before deciding, because that is what you will pay after the first term.
It suits very small businesses, side projects and anyone who wants a cheap website builder for small business needs and is comfortable prepaying.
8. Square Online: Free Online Store Connected To Square Point Of Sale
Square Online is the website and online store builder from Square, the payments company. Square now labels the product as its websites offering, and Weebly, which Square acquired, is now part of the same product suite. Its strength is that online orders, inventory and payments live in the same system as your Square point of sale.
Square’s US pricing page lists Square Free at $0, Square Plus at $49 per month per location and Square Premium at $149 per month per location, with a 30-day free trial on the paid tiers. Annual prices are not listed. Online processing is 3.3% plus 30 cents on Free and 2.9% plus 30 cents on Plus and Premium. The free plan includes hosting, SSL, SEO tools, pickup, local delivery and shipping, but custom domains require a paid annual plan.
Square Online beats Squarespace for businesses that already run on Square in a physical location. Menus, pickup orders, local delivery and shared inventory work without extra integrations, and you can start selling for free. It falls short on design flexibility and content: templates are more basic, blogging is limited, and it is not a good fit for portfolios or content-heavy sites. The per-location pricing on paid plans also adds up for multi-site businesses.
It suits cafes, restaurants, bakeries and local retailers that want online ordering tied to their counter.
9. Showit: Freeform Design Canvas Paired With A Hosted WordPress Blog
Showit is a website builder made for photographers, wedding professionals, coaches and other creative service businesses. You design pages on a freeform canvas with separate desktop and mobile layouts, and Showit hosts a WordPress blog alongside the site so you get WordPress’s blogging and SEO plugins without managing it yourself.
Showit’s pricing page shows prices in USD, with annual billing saving 20%. The entry Showit plan, aimed at sites that do not need a blog, is $22 per month billed annually ($259 per year) or $27 billed monthly. Showit & Basic Starter Blog appears at $27 per month annually ($326) or $34 monthly, and Showit & Advanced Blog at $39 annually ($470) or $49 monthly. Higher-traffic blog tiers cost $63 annually or $79 monthly for up to 100K blog visits, and $119 annually or $149 monthly for up to 200K. The page layout makes it hard to pair every price with its plan name with certainty, so confirm the exact tier at checkout. A 14-day free trial needs no credit card, though you cannot connect a domain or reach the WordPress blog admin during the trial.
Showit beats Squarespace on design freedom for visual brands. You can place anything anywhere and fine-tune the mobile version separately, which suits image-led portfolios. The WordPress blog is also more capable than Squarespace’s. It falls short on built-in commerce and scheduling: Showit is a design and blogging tool, so selling products or booking clients usually means connecting third-party services. Managing two layouts per page also adds work.
It suits photographers, creatives and service businesses that rely on visual branding and a regularly updated blog.
10. Carrd: One-Page Site Builder Priced Per Year, Not Per Month
Carrd builds simple, responsive one-page sites: personal profiles, link-in-bio pages, landing pages and small portfolios. It does one thing and keeps it very simple, which is exactly why many creators use it instead of paying for a full website builder.
Carrd’s free plan lets you build up to three sites per account using its core features, with “Made with Carrd” branding in the footer. Pro plans are priced per year. Pro Lite starts at $9 per year for three sites but uses premium Carrd URLs rather than custom domains. Pro Standard starts at $19 per year for ten sites with custom domains, forms and embeds, scaling to $599 per year for 1,000 sites. Pro Plus starts at $49 per year for 25 sites and adds advanced forms. A 7-day Pro trial is available without payment.
Carrd beats Squarespace dramatically on price. A Pro Standard site with a custom domain costs less per year than one month of Squarespace Basic. It falls short on almost everything else: there is no multi-page site structure in the usual sense, no native store or blog, and selling depends on embedding services such as Stripe or PayPal. If you need more than a single page, it is the wrong tool.
It suits creators, freelancers and side projects that need a clean single page, and anyone currently paying Squarespace prices for what is really a digital business card.
How To Choose A Squarespace Alternative
What Is The Site Mainly For?
Start with the job the site does. If it is a store first, look at Shopify, or Square Online if you sell in person on Square. If it is a blog or publication, WordPress.com or self-hosted WordPress will serve you better. If it is a portfolio, Showit, Framer and Webflow offer more design control than Squarespace. If it is a single page, Carrd is enough. General small business sites with a mix of pages, bookings and a few products are where Wix competes most directly.
What Will It Cost After The First Year?
Headline prices are often promotional, annual-only or tied to multi-year prepayment. Hostinger’s lowest rates need a 48-month term and renew at a higher monthly price. Wix and Webflow quote yearly rates. Free domains on most platforms last only the first year. Add up the plan you will actually need at renewal, plus apps, plugins, extra seats and payment fees, and compare that total with Squarespace’s annual price.
How Much Do Transaction And Payment Fees Matter?
If you sell, fees can outweigh the subscription. Squarespace charges a 2% store fee on Basic. WordPress.com charges 2% to 10% on payments below its Commerce plan. Webflow Standard charges 2%. Shopify adds a fee if you use a payment provider other than Shopify Payments. Square charges a higher processing rate on its free plan. Estimate your monthly sales and run the numbers for each platform’s plan tiers before you commit.
How Much Control Do You Need Over Design?
Squarespace’s structure is a feature for many people: it is hard to make a bad-looking page. Wix, Showit and Framer give more freedom with modest learning curves. Webflow gives the most control but expects you to think like a designer. Be honest about how much time you want to spend on layout, because more freedom also means more ways to make mistakes on mobile.
Who Else Needs To Edit The Site?
Team access is priced differently everywhere. Squarespace Basic allows two contributors. Wix sets collaborator limits by plan. Webflow and Framer charge for editor seats. WordPress handles multiple users natively. If several people publish content, check the cost of adding them before you migrate.
How Hard Will It Be To Leave Later?
Moving from Squarespace usually means rebuilding pages by hand, so pick a platform you can live with for years. Self-hosted WordPress gives the most portability because you own the files and database. Hosted builders tie your design to their platform, though most let you export at least some content. Plan your URL redirects in advance so you keep search rankings when you switch.
Conclusion
There is no single best Squarespace alternative, because people leave Squarespace for different reasons. Wix is the most direct replacement for a general small business site and has a free plan to test on. WordPress.com and self-hosted WordPress are the strongest choices for content and long-term control. Shopify is the clear pick once selling becomes the main event, while Square Online fits local businesses already using Square.
For creatives and portfolios, Showit, Framer and Webflow trade some simplicity for much more design freedom. On a tight budget, Hostinger Website Builder offers low upfront costs if you prepay, and Carrd covers single-page sites for a few dollars a year.
Before you switch, list the three things Squarespace does not do for you today, check each candidate’s renewal price and fees, and use the free plans and trials to build one real page. That small test will tell you more than any feature table.
