WordPress vs Squarespace has been in a debate for many people. Mostly, when you are searching for a blog engine or a platform to create a website, you might have heard about WordPress and Squarespace. We are going to do an in-depth review of the two most amazing platforms.

We will see various factors when comparing these two platforms. So, let’s begin with the basic overview of WordPress vs Squarespace. Later on, we will compare all the things one by one to give the final answer on which is more scalable.

Overview of WordPress vs Squarespace

WordPress is an open-source script where you can create amazing websites with just a few clicks. It’s a modern-day Content management system allowing you to create a website as per your wish. One can create any website with no or less coding skills.

It’s a self-hosted platform and hence, you will have to get the hosting. The overall market share of WordPress is 34%. WordPress is free to use and more than 27 million websites already use it.

On the other hand, Squarespace is a website builder mostly famous due to high-quality templates. It’s already hosted by the team and hence, you will not have to get the hosting here. However, it’s not free, you will have to pay to use it. You can create any websites here without any coding skills.

The market share of Squarespace is 0.97% with over 1.8 Million websites running on it.

Talking about the active websites over the years, the usage of both of the platforms are increasing. In 2016, there were less than 1 million websites. The score touched to 1 million in 2017, by 2019, there are roughly 1.8 million websites.

On the other hand, WordPress has roughly 18 Million websites in 2016, the score wen to almost 20 Million in 2017. The score was roughly 22 Million in 2018. However, by the end of 2019, there are roughly 27 Million websites.

Share this infographic on your website:

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Pricing and costs

Pricing and costs play an important role if you are just starting. As you are comparing the two platforms, there are good chances that you are just starting. So, you need to keep an eye on your wallet before you make your decision. Hence, this section is all about the pricing and the cost of the two platforms.

WordPress is free software you can use. However, the main point here is that it is a self-hosted software, In other words, you will have to pay for the hosting and the domain name. Hosting and domain names are not much expensive and you can get it at an attractive price.

On the other hand, Squarespace comes with a monthly fee. It offers free hosting so you don’t need to buy it yourself.

If you compare both the platform here, WordPress is affordable but you will have to get hosting. On the other hand, if you are ready to pay more to the Squarespace platform, they will handle all the things for you. You can choose the hosting as per your budget whereas you will have to pay the fixed monthly fee when it comes to Squarespace.

Ease of use

When it comes to the user-friendly experience, the hosted websites always steal the competition.

If you are using WordPress, you will have to invest your time in learning a couple of things. No doubt, you can also hire someone to do it for you. The point here is that you will need to invest some time in setting up the website, installing plugins, etc. WordPress has a visual editor and block editor in-built. If you want a drag and drop builder, you will need to install one of the page builders.

On the other hand, Squarespace comes with the website builder which supports drag and drop interface. It will only take you minutes to create your website with the templates. Also, there is a drag and drop builder available that you can directly start using. Further, you don’t need to worry about the hosting here as it is not a self-hosting platform. The website is already hosted for you.

Hence, the results are as we have already mentioned above. Squarespace is easier to use as compared to WordPress. So, if you are looking for the easiest platform, you should go with Squarespace.

Design and Layouts

When it comes to the website, the first thing that people will notice is the design of the website. You need a good theme, layout, and design for your website.

WordPress has thousands of free as well as premium themes that you can go with. All of them have some of the best customization options. Further, if you want more customizations, you can always install a compatible plugin. Due to the huge popularity and usage, you will also get a huge scope to choose from. You can easily choose one from the many themes available.

Squarespace also has some of the best high-quality designs that you can directly import. You will get some of the best designs in the entire market using which you can design your website. Although, the choices are less as compared to WordPress you will get the best quality here.

If you are looking for a conclusion in terms of design and layout, both of them are equally good. You can choose any one as per your wish. You will find the best design that you want on both of the platforms. Hence, there is nothing to worry about in terms of the appearance of your website.

Maintenance and Updates

WordPress is an amazing platform but when it comes to updates and Maintenance, there are some of the major drawbacks. Do doubt, you get the auto-update feature but there are still many limits. You will have to update some parts of the website manually. If you don’t update it regularly, you will end up hurting your website. This is the main reason why people plan on getting maintenance service.

Squarespace will automatically update your website to the latest version. All the Squarespace versions are tested. On the other hand, WordPress versions are also tested but some of the plugins/themes in WordPress will offer an untested version that might give a massive change to your website. However, most of the versions are safe in both of them.

The only difference here is that you will have to update some of the themes/plugins manually when it comes to WordPress. In Squarespace, you will get all the versions directly installed on your system. That’s a pretty good thing if you don’t want to spend time in updates nor you want to hire people to do it for you.

Plugins and apps

The next important thing is the plugins and apps. Plugins are a great way to extend the functionality of the website. You can increase the number of features you will get using the plugins.

WordPress has more than 55000 free plugins. Further, if you are not satisfied with these plugins, you can surely go with the premium plugins. The premium plugins are not too expensive. You can get pretty much any plugin you want at a very affordable price. Also, there are many developers constantly developing plugins for WordPress. The good part about the WordPress plugins is that most of the developers do offer a free plugin to test the features.

For instance, if there is a plugin that will offer a lot of features. The developer will also create a lite version of the same plugin and offer it for free. So, if you are a beginner, you can use it easily.

On the other hand, Squarespace has not plugin store. In other words, you can only use the apps that come along with the platform. There is not a way to use third-party plugins here. So, if you are planning to extend your functionality, you should go with WordPress here as you will get enough choices.

eCommerce

Everyone is selling something in this online world. You will surely have thought about creating your online store. If not, you might need it shortly. Therefore, it is necessary to have eCommerce functionality on the platform you choose to go with.

WordPress provides you enough options to create your eCommerce store using various free plugins. The free plugins will let you create the store, accept payment, and also do a lot of other things. If you are still looking for more, thousands of plugins will help you with the eCommerce store.

Our competitor, Squarespace also provides eCommerce features. However, you will have to upgrade the plan if you want to use the eCommerce feature. You can’t create an eCommerce store on a basic plan. So, it’s a disadvantage fo the eCommerce entrepreneur who is just starting. You might end up paying more and getting less.

As we have already mentioned, you won’t get plugins to support your eCommerce store. If you just want the basic features, you can do it with Squarespace. However, if you are looking to do something extraordinary with WordPress, you will have to pay more here. Hence, it’s up to you how you want to take things further.

Data Portability

It comes to a point when you want to move the website. In WordPress, it might be from one domain to another or it might be from one hosting to another. So, you will have to export all the data from one website and then import it to the other one. In the same way, you might want to transfer your website from one domain to another in Squarespace. So, let’s talk about data portability and how easy it is to move your website.

WordPress makes it extremely easier to transfer your website, there is a built-in option to transfer the data. Along with this, many plugins will make the whole migration process easier and faster. You can even migrate the complete website in just a few clicks with the help of the plugins.

On the other hand, Squarespace has an import tool using which you can import the content easily. If you are looking for final answers in terms of data portability, both of them are merely equal. You can import and export data easily. However, if you are looking for more than one type of migration option, you can choose to go with WordPress as there are hundreds of migrations/backup plugins available that you can go with.

Final words

To conclude, this was all about the two platforms, WordPress vs Squarespace. If you talk about scalability, WordPress is better due to various reasons. In WordPress, you own the website.

If you are looking for a conclusion, here are our recommendations.

You can go with WordPress if you are ready to invest your time in learning some things or you can also hire a person/team to do it for you. If you are a tech-savvy person and want the complete rights on your website, WordPress is the choice for you. You can not only add more plugins but you will also learn some of the coolest things. Most 9importantly, it is affordable to create a WordPress website. No coding knowledge is needed in WordPress. However, if you do have it, you can code to make the customizations.

Squarespace is the choice for you if you are looking for the easiest way to create the website. No doubt, there are some limitations when it comes to functionalities but the design is extremely good. You can surely code on both the platforms, but you will not need it due to the customization options. Squarespace is already hosted. So, you don’t have to know more things about the platform to get started. However, it will cost you more as you are paying for everything here.

That’s pretty much it, now it’s up to you which one you should go with. Our recommendation is always WordPress due to the easy interface, scalability, and due to the large support/developers base available on the internet.

Why Website Maintenance is Important?

Importance of website maintenance is always the question for any business, regardless of its size. Owning a website is just like owning a brand new car.

Edvins Gailums

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