Often, when I talk to a prospective client about their website, they want to know whether I build sites on Squarespace or WordPress. They have seen Squarespace ads that make building a website look simple, and for some people, it is. I tell them right up front that I only build in WordPress. But if you're deciding where to build your new site, or you already built one on Squarespace and you're not happy with it, here is the difference between the two, and why I build only in WordPress.
Rented or owned
Squarespace, and Wix for that matter, rent you a website. They offer easy-to-use templates, everything you need is included, and you can have a site up quickly. What the ads don’t mention is the arrangement you’re signing up for. One company runs the software, the hosting, and the tools you edit with, and you pay them monthly or yearly for as long as the site stays online. Your site lives inside their system, and it works the way they decide.
WordPress is different. It’s free, open-source software owned by a global community of contributors, so you can download and use it without paying a fee. What you do pay for is your own hosting account and your own domain name, and the site and everything on it belong to you. If you ever want to change hosts, you can move it. If you want a different designer, anyone who knows WordPress can pick it up, and there are plenty of them. No single company controls it or can change the terms on you. If you’ve ever been locked out of a site because a designer disappeared, you already know why having control of your own site matters.
One thing can cause confusion. There are two different things called WordPress. WordPress.org is the free software I just described, which you install on your own hosting account. WordPress.com is a separate commercial service that hosts websites for a fee, so it works more like Squarespace or Wix. It’s a legitimate service, but you’re renting space there, and what you can change depends on the plan you buy. I build with self-hosted WordPress from WordPress.org, so the site lives in your account, and you stay in control of it.
That difference also changes how the cost looks. Most people compare the two by price, which is reasonable, but it's easy to get the comparison wrong. A rented platform is a bill that doesn’t end. WordPress has ongoing costs too, such as hosting, your domain name, and the occasional plugin renewal, but you pay those to companies you choose and can switch, and you pay once for the work of building the site.
Who Squarespace suits, and who should come to WordPress
Squarespace does suit some people. If you want a quick, simple site and you’re comfortable keeping it inside their system, it can do the job, and I’m not going to pretend otherwise. But most of the businesses I talk to want more than a template with their logo on it. They need a hand deciding what the site should say, which pages it needs, how the menu should work, and which photos to use. Those decisions matter more than the platform does, and a drag-and-drop builder doesn’t make them for you. Most people end up needing help either way, and the question becomes whether you want that help on a platform you rent or one you own.
I recommend WordPress to businesses that want to own their site, edit it themselves, and keep the freedom to change designers, hosts, or direction later. That’s who I build for, and I only work in WordPress, so if you decide on Squarespace, you’ll need to find someone else for the project.
If you’re already on Squarespace and thinking about leaving, here’s what a move looks like. Your text and photos carry over. The design doesn’t, because the two systems build pages differently, so I don’t convert the old site. I build a new one in WordPress with the Divi theme, using your content. Some people ask whether they’ll lose their Google ranking when a site is rebuilt. I can’t promise you won’t, and nobody honestly can. I’ll do my best to keep you from dropping, and I rewrite your page descriptions so your listing in search results gives people a reason to click.
Working with me
Most new clients don’t arrive with everything written and every photo ready, and that’s fine. Once you’ve decided you need a new site, you usually realize your story and services need updating too, and you’ll want a current headshot. Where something is missing, we work it out together. I help you decide what each page should say and how to organize the site, and if this is your first website, I’m with you from the first conversation to launch.
I build the site on my own server, and nothing moves to your hosting account until the project is paid for. After that, the site is yours, and you can edit it yourself. If you want help later, I’m a phone call away, and I bill by the hour. There is no monthly fee.
Every project starts with a conversation and a written estimate, so you know what to expect before anything begins. I’m a web designer in Birmingham, Alabama. Learn more about website design, or schedule a call to talk it through.