About 9; min
Squarespace starts at $16/month for a beautiful website. E-commerce starts at $23/month with zero transaction fees. But the cheapest plan has a 2% commerce fee, and the most expensive plan is $52/month — still less than half of Shopify Advanced. We mapped every plan to figure out who should pay $16 and who should pay $52.
All pricing verified March 2026 from squarespace.com.
Every Squarespace Plan
| Plan | Price (annual) | Transaction fee | Key features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $16/mo | 2% commerce | Website, blog, SEO, SSL |
| Core | $23/mo | 0% | Full e-commerce, customer accounts |
| Plus | $35/mo | 0% | Abandoned cart, subscriptions, advanced commerce |
| Advanced | $52/mo | 0% | Lower card rates (2.5% + 30¢), advanced shipping |
Basic ($16/mo): Website Only
Beautiful templates, blogging, SEO tools, SSL, custom domain, and unlimited bandwidth. You can sell products on Basic — but there’s a 2% Squarespace transaction fee on top of payment processing fees.
Who it’s for: Portfolios, personal sites, blogs, restaurants (menu/info only), and anyone who doesn’t sell online. At $16/month, it’s the cheapest premium website builder.
Don’t sell on Basic. The 2% transaction fee makes it expensive. On $5,000/month in sales, that’s $100/month in Squarespace fees alone — more than the cost of upgrading to Core ($23) with 0% fees.
$7/mo upgrade saves $100/mo at $5K revenue
Basic + 2% fee on $5K/mo: $16 + $100 = $116/month
Core + 0% fee: $23/month
Core saves $93/month. The upgrade pays for itself at ~$350/mo revenue.
If you sell anything online, skip Basic and go straight to Core.
Core ($23/mo): E-Commerce Sweet Spot
Zero transaction fees, full e-commerce, customer accounts, product pages, checkout, gift cards, and 0% Squarespace fee. This is the plan 80% of small online sellers need.
What Core adds over Basic:
- 0% Squarespace transaction fee
- Customer accounts and checkout
- Unlimited products
- Donation and gift card features
- Point of sale (Square integration)
Plus ($35/mo): Conversion Features
Abandoned cart recovery, subscription products, advanced discounts, and commerce APIs. The abandoned cart feature alone can recover 5-15% of lost sales — at $5,000/month revenue, that’s $250-750 recovered monthly.
Advanced ($52/mo): High-Volume Stores
Lower credit card processing rate (2.5% + 30¢ vs standard 2.9% + 30¢), advanced shipping with real-time carrier rates, and custom checkout. The 0.4% processing savings matter at volume:
- $10K/month: saves $40/month (doesn’t justify $17 upgrade from Plus)
- $25K/month: saves $100/month (justifies the upgrade)
- $50K/month: saves $200/month (clearly worth it)
Squarespace vs Competitors
| Squarespace Core | Wix Core | Shopify Basic | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $23/mo | $29/mo | $39/mo |
| Design quality | Best | Good (varies) | Good |
| E-commerce depth | Good | Good | Best |
| Blogging | Best | Good | Basic |
| App ecosystem | 44 extensions | 300+ apps | 8,000+ apps |
Who Should Pick What
Portfolio, blog, or info site: Basic ($16/mo). Cheapest plan for a beautiful website. Don’t sell products on this plan.
Small online store (under 100 products): Core ($23/mo). Best value e-commerce. 0% transaction fees, beautiful design, $16 cheaper than Shopify.
Store with abandoned carts: Plus ($35/mo). Abandoned cart recovery alone justifies the $12 upgrade over Core at any meaningful revenue.
$25K+/month revenue: Advanced ($52/mo). Lower processing rates save more than the plan upgrade at this volume.
Serious e-commerce (500+ products): Shopify instead. Squarespace works for small catalogs but Shopify scales better with apps and multi-channel.
Design-first brand: Squarespace at any tier. No other builder matches these templates for visual quality.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Squarespace cheaper than Shopify?
Yes. Core at $23 vs Shopify Basic at $39 — $16/month cheaper. And Squarespace includes features Shopify charges apps for (product reviews, basic SEO tools). The gap widens when you factor in Shopify’s app costs.
Does Squarespace have a free plan?
No. 14-day free trial only. For a free website builder, use Wix Free (with ads) or WordPress.com Free.
Can I switch plans later?
Yes, upgrade or downgrade anytime. Changes take effect at your next billing cycle. No penalties for switching.
All pricing verified March 2026 from squarespace.com. Annual billing rates shown.
