Square vs Squarespace sounds alike, don’t they? Nevertheless, they are as different as chalk and cheese. While Square is popular as a payment provider with powerful POS features and lightweight eCommerce tools, Squarespace is well-known as a design-focused website builder.
So, between these two platforms, which one should you choose? Let’s find your answer with our head-to-head comparison between Squarespace and Square based on these criteria:
- Pricing
- Transaction fee
- Ease of use
- Sales and marketing features
- Website templates
- Design customization
- Integration
- Support
Let’s dive in!
Square vs Squarespace: An Overview
Is Square the same as Squarespace?
Short answer: Square vs Squarespace is absolutely not the same thing.
Square Overview
Square was initially a financial services and mobile payment company founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey. It is renowned for its comprehensive suite of business tools, including point-of-sale systems, payment processing, and, notably, the recently launched Square Online.
Square Online extends Square's services into the eCommerce ocean, enabling businesses to create online stores that integrate seamlessly with Square's payment system. This platform is particularly beneficial for existing Square users, as it allows for a unified system for in-person and online sales.
Squarespace overview
Squarespace is a leading website builder and hosting service founded in 2003 by Anthony Casalena. It is designed to help users create professional and aesthetically pleasing websites without the need for coding.
The platform is famous for its sleek designs, customizable templates, and intuitive drag-and-drop interface. This makes Squarespace a versatile platform as it can cater to a wide range of users, from individuals to small businesses.
With Squarespace, you can build your websites for various purposes, including eCommerce, blogs, portfolios, and more. The platform comes with a comprehensive set of tools for website design, management, and optimization.
Square vs Squarespace: Pro & Cons
Here are the pros and cons of Square and Squarespace:
Square Online Review | Pros | Cons |
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Pros | Cons | |
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Squarespace vs Square: Quick Comparison
In a hurry? Below, we pit Square against Squarespace across seven key criteria, with a clear winner for each category:
Criteria | Square | Squarespace | Winner |
Pricing (monthly) |
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| Square |
Transaction and payment processing fees | Online payment processing fees:
Transaction fees:
| Online payment processing fees:
Transaction fees:
| Square |
Ease of use | Straightforward setup and user-friendly interface, especially for POS. | Intuitive drag-and-drop website builder, often preferred for website design. | It’s a tie |
Sales and marketing features | Provides tools for sales reports, inventory, and customer data; less extensive marketing features. | Offers strong marketing tools and integrations, including SEO and social media. | Squarespace |
Website templates | Only 28 templates focused on eCommerce functionality. | Up to 168 high-quality, customizable templates for various types of websites. | Squarespace |
Design Customization | Basic customization options for online store layouts and aesthetics. | Extensive design customization options without you having to code. | Squarespace |
Integration | Over 300 apps for various functions and integrations. | Offers a curated selection of around 40 extensions. | Square |
Support | 6 a.m - 6 p.m, Mon to Fri. 24/7 phone support for Premium plan. | 24/7 support via chat, email, Facebook Messenger, and X for all plans. | Squarespace |
Squarespace vs Square: Pricing
When considering Square vs Squarespace, it's essential to choose the one that aligns with your budget. And this is where Square shines. Square Online has a free plan, which is ideal if you're starting out or if your budget is limited.
If you’re looking to expand your business's capabilities, Square provides two paid plans. The Plus plan costs $29 a month, and the Premium plan is $79 a month, each with a suite of features designed to support your growth.
In contrast, Squarespace doesn't have a free tier but offers a selection of all-inclusive paid plans for eCommerce. Starting at $36 a month for the Business plan and scaling up to $72 a month for the Advanced Commerce plan, they cater to a range of needs from basic websites to complex online stores.
With Squarespace Business plan, you can host a basic online store on Squarespace’s server. If you move to Basic Commerce, you’ll get access to POS features, product reviews, social-selling, etc.
And for the Advanced Commerce plan, you’ll unlock premier features like abandoned cart recovery, subscription selling, etc.
📢 Square is the winner.With its free entry-level option and reasonably priced advanced plans, Square caters to both new entrepreneurs and growing businesses.
Square vs Squarespace: Transaction fees
When it comes to payment processing and transaction fees, both Square and Squarespace offer similar online payment processing fees. Square charges 2.9% + 30¢ for its Free and Plus plans and a slightly reduced rate of 2.6% + 30¢ for its Premium plan.
Squarespace, however, maintains a flat rate of 2.9% + 30¢ across its Business, Commerce Basic, and Commerce Advanced plans.
However, Square sets itself apart with a 0% transaction fee across all plans, which can be a significant saving for businesses with a high volume of transactions. Squarespace waives transaction fees only for its Commerce plans, while its Business plan incurs a 3% fee.
Square vs Squarespace: Ease of use
When assessing the ease of use between Squarespace vs Square, we’d love to praise Square for its straightforward setup and user-friendly interface. Square’s dashboard is intuitive, allowing quick adoption with a minimal learning curve. You can add products, manage customers, sales tax, etc., easily in one place.
Squarespace also shines with its sleek drag-and-drop website builder, which we think would benefit those looking to create aesthetically pleasing websites. Squarespace allows you to craft a website that stands out without delving into coding.
📢 It’s a tie. Both platforms are designed to be accessible to users without technical backgrounds.
Square vs Squarespace: Sales and marketing features
Next, let’s examine Square vs Squarespace under another key factor – their sales and marketing features.
Features | Square | Squarespace |
Shipping |
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SEO and marketing |
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📢 Squarespace is the winner. Considering the diversity and depth of sales and marketing tools that both Square and Squarespace offer, Squarespace takes the lead.
Squarespace vs Square: Website templates
Building a functional web store from scratch will take eons. Therefore, we’ll continue this Square vs Squarespace comparison by looking at the template options the two platforms offer.
Squarespace impresses us with 168 aesthetic, responsive website templates, allowing you to easily pick the one that best suits your store’s niche and style.
Square templates are stunning and great, with lots of built-in features as well. However, regarding numbers, Square is far behind Squarespace in the game when the platform only has around 28 templates.
📢 Squarespace is the winner. It’s obvious: Squarespace has 168 templates, while Square only has 28.
Square vs Squarespace: Design customization
When testing Squarespace vs Square, we noticed Square offers basic design customization options compared to Squarespace. This can be a straightforward advantage for users who need simplicity and speed in setting up their stores without delving too deeply into design elements.
Squarespace, by contrast, provides users with extensive design customization options. With Squarespace's advanced design capabilities, you can manipulate a wide range of design elements such as fonts, colors, page configurations, and more to achieve a more personalized and professional look.
📢 Squarespace is the winner. For businesses and individuals who prioritize design and wish to create a unique online presence, Squarespace is the clear winner.
Square vs Squarespace: Integration
Square, with its expansive app marketplace featuring over 300 integrations, takes the win for providing a wide variety of functionalities that cater to all aspects of business operations.
Apps on Square span across multiple categories with a strong focus on POS features like delivery, order, booking, items and inventory, etc.
Squarespace offers a curated selection of integrations but with around 40 available in 4 main categories– shipping and fulfillment, finance, inventory and products, sales, and marketing.
Both Square and Squarespace App Store have multiple free options for you to choose from, but there are not too many.
On average, an app on the Square App Store might cost you from $15 to $350 a month or so, depending on the features you need and their complexity. Likewise, Squarespace extensions also cost you from a few dozen to hundreds depending on the app you choose.
📢 Square is the winner. Square App Marketplace accommodates up to 300+ apps. Meanwhile, this number is only 40 with Squarespace.
Squarespace vs Square: Support
Let’s finally close the battle between Square vs Squarespace by reviewing the two platforms’ support services.
Square provides its Premium plan users with 24/7 phone support, offering round-the-clock assistance. However, this level of support is not extended to users on other plans, who have access to support only from 6 am to 6 pm from Monday to Friday.
Squarespace, on the other hand, offers all users 24/7 support through multiple channels, including chat, email, and social platforms like Facebook Messenger. This wide availability makes support accessible for Squarespace users at any time, regardless of the plan they are on.
📢 Squarespace is the winner.Given the broad accessibility of its support across all plans and communication channels, Squarespace wins in providing a more comprehensive and readily available support system for its users.
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- Squarespace vs GoDaddy: Comparing the Key Differences
Square and Squarespace Integration: Can They Work Together?
Nope, only Square POS can be integrated with Squarespace. In other words, Square Online cannot work with Squarespace.
If you want to migrate from Square to Squarespace, LitExtension’s automatic Squarespace migration can be a lifesaver, allowing you to perform the migration automatically & effortlessly.
And if you want a professional migration, you can choose our All-in-One package and have a dedicated Personal Assistant managing the migration project with top-tier quality.
Square vs Squarespace: FAQs
What is the difference between Square site and Squarespace?
Square site refers to online storefronts created using Square's eCommerce solutions, which focus on selling products online and managing payments.
Squarespace, on the other hand, is a website builder and hosting service that offers tools for creating a wide range of websites, including eCommerce, but with a broader focus on design, blogging, and portfolio sites.
Is Squarespace owned by Square?
No, Squarespace is not owned by Square. They are separate companies. Squarespace is a website builder and hosting company, while Square is a financial services and mobile payment company that also offers eCommerce solutions.
What are the downsides of using Squarespace?
Squarespace might be less flexible for advanced users who require custom coding and specific integrations. Its eCommerce capabilities, while robust for small to medium-sized businesses, may not scale as well for very large operations.
Additionally, compared to other platforms, it might be seen as having a higher cost due to its all-in-one pricing structure.
Is Square a good eCommerce site?
Yes, Square is considered a good eCommerce site for small to medium-sized businesses. It offers a user-friendly platform with integrated payment solutions, making it easy to sell products online.
Square provides various tools for inventory management, sales analytics, and customer engagement, which are beneficial for starting and growing an online business.
Is there a monthly fee for Square?
Square does not require a monthly fee for its basic point-of-sale (POS) system and payment processing services.
However, additional features like advanced inventory management, employee management, and certain eCommerce and marketing tools may require subscribing to paid plans
Square vs Squarespace: Which is better?
Now that you’ve made it to these final words, have you decided on which platform to choose between Square vs Squarespace? Well, if you are selling offline with Square POS and want to dip your toes into the eCommerce world, Square is the optimal choice.
Meanwhile, if you are a design-focused brand that strives for a unique website with bespoke eCommerce experiences, Squarespace is the way to go.
Don’t forget to check out LitExtension’s blog and join our active Facebook Community to gain the latest eCommerce insights.
