Webflow and Squarespace are solutions designed for very distinct audiences. Webflow is a website design and editing tool for professionals. Meanwhile, Squarespace is a website builder and business solution rolled into one.
From the outside, each of these platforms appear to be very distinct. Webflow aspires to be a serious, professional tool for designers, freelancers, and agencies. Meanwhile, Squarespace serves as a straightforward, beginner-friendly company alternative. It provides an easy solution for anybody to develop an online presence, with a plethora of amazing themes and other business features baked right in.
Because the choice between the two platforms is totally dependent on your aims and tastes, I built up two test sites, one for each platform, for this Webflow vs Squarespace comparison. In this essay, I’ll describe my experiences doing so, including cost, ease of use, templates, business features, and general performance.
You may read it all or skip through to the end by clicking here. Alternatively, use the links in the table below to read solely about the sections that interest you the most.
Webflow vs Squarespace -- Right Choice?
Webflow vs Squarespace Pricing Review
The pricing comparison here is a little more complicated: the platforms are significantly different, as are the costs. Squarespace has four premium plans ranging in price from $14.00 to $49.00 per month.
Meanwhile, Webflow provides website plans ranging from $12.00 to $212 a month, as well as additional Account options for constructing websites for others ranging from $16 to $35 per month.
Let’s take a closer look at them, shall we?
Webflow pricing Review
Webflow divides its plans into two types: Site plans and Account plans.
While this may appear to be confusing, there is a valid reason for it: they are intended for two separate sorts of labour.
Site plans are designed for individuals who wish to create, host, and administer their own websites. Account plans are intended for designers and agencies who wish to utilise Webflow as a work tool.
Regular Site plans
eCommerce Site plans
If you want to sell online, the Plus plan is the ideal option because it is the lowest plan with a 0% transaction cost.
Account plans
Pro and Teams are the finest plans in the Account plan category. The Pro plan is ideal for designers and freelancers, while the Team plan includes all of the Pro features but allows you to connect numerous team members.
Overall, Webflow allows you to choose the type of website creation experience you desire. Do you just want to create a basic website for yourself? Choose one of the more affordable Website options. Are you looking for a platform to create websites for clients? There are several upgrades available.
Squarespace Pricing Review
Squarespace is a breeze in comparison to Webflow. There are just four plans, each with its own set of features.
Similar to Webflow, the costs for a website are listed. That is, you cannot create many premium websites with a single premium subscription. There is no free plan, though, but there is a 14-day free trial, which should be plenty for trying out the platform’s potential.
If you don’t want to read our comprehensive Squarespace pricing comparison post, I’ll attempt to describe each plan in a few phrases.
If you want a basic spot to write or show off your talents, Personal is the ideal price plan to go with. While this plan is rather restricted (it lacks eCommerce features as well as comprehensive analytics and marketing tools), it is an excellent starting point. Especially if you only want to make a landing page or a portfolio.
You may believe that the Business plan is the ideal plan for businesses (it’s in the name, after all), but I would not suggest it to anybody. While this plan allows you to sell an infinite number of items and collect contributions, Squarespace will charge a 3 percent transaction fee for any transaction that comes into your site. The monthly cost of this plan might soon rise.
If you desire an eCommerce website, the Basic Commerce package is a good place to start. This package eliminates the transaction cost while still providing strong eCommerce analytics. It also has some intriguing features, such as client accounts. After your online business has outgrown the Basic Commerce plan, Advanced Commerce is the inevitable next step. It also includes complex eCommerce capabilities including the ability to sell subscriptions and provide advanced shipping choices, as well as abandoned cart recovery and advanced discounts.
When you peel back the layers, you’ll notice that the cost for Webflow and Squarespace is very comparable – $12 per month for a standard site, and less than $30 per month for a store. However, Webflow has a transaction charge as well as a slew of tools for designers, freelancers, and agencies. This has the potential to easily raise the price. By a long shot.
Webflow vs Squarespace -- Case Study
Let’s put Webflow and Squarespace to the ultimate test. I created webpages on both platforms for this comparison. This manner, I could obtain a thorough understanding of how these systems operate.
So, here is the Webflow website:
Webflow vs Squarespace -- Ease Of Use
- Webflow has a very customisable interface, which will be difficult for new users to navigate.
- Webflow, on the other hand, does a good job of simplifying everything as much as feasible.
- Squarespace attempts to appeal to novice customers by providing a straightforward experience throughout the website-building process.
- In general, Webflow is intended for professionals, whereas Squarespace is intended for everyone else.
The best website builders are typically defined by their ease of use – the simpler a job, the better! So that’s what this section is going to be about.
Let’s examine how simple it was to put up a website on each platform.
Using Webflow
Webflow’s installation process is straightforward. There were no downloads or additional setup required; just a simple “Get Started” button that took me directly to the questionnaire. It considers your company objectives as well as your general experience levels.
After the questioning, I found myself in a Webflow Editor, which contained a small setup lesson.
I strongly advise against skipping the lesson. It’s short and to the point, demonstrating a few key website editing skills.
The portion on the right has all of the elements that may be edited, whilst the section on the left allows me to choose the precise action I want to take.
There are also opportunities to add independent pieces as well as pre-made layouts, which may significantly minimise the time spent on website creation.
You can switch to Webflow Editor at any moment if you have a plan that supports it. The interface is far less sophisticated and does not focus on modifying the look of the site. It is intended for content editors rather than website designers.
You may alter the site’s copy as well as manage pages, blogs, forms, and other dynamic material as the Editor.
Was all of this simple?
You’ll feel right at home if you’re an ardent website designer or are familiar with Adobe tools. But this isn’t exactly a “intuitive interface for novices,” even if it never purported to be.
Webflow is as straightforward as a difficult product can be. It’s really strong, and the fact that I just required a few hours to feel comfortable with Webflow is fantastic. It would be difficult to find a platform that makes things so much easier.
Using Squarespace
All I had to do after signing up for Squarespace was choose a template and follow a basic setup tutorial. As with Webflow, I urge that you pay close attention. While Squarespace is not as complex as Webflow, there are some good page management skills to master.
Following that, I jumped directly into the website editor. Naturally, it was far easier to use than Webflow’s.
The Squarespace editor is divided into sections and blocks. Sections are pre-made areas of the site that mix text, interactive components, and media. Squarespace has a good selection of them, and I really liked how they reacted to my design tastes.
If that isn’t enough, you may jazz up the sections with blocks that include text, media, code, and a variety of other elements.
Webflow vs Squarespace -- Templates
- There are over 500 templates available in Webflow. 40 of them are free, while the others are premium.
- The free Webflow themes are simple yet effective. The premium ones are fantastic, but they range in price from $30 to $150.
- Squarespace has over 110 templates to choose from. They’re all free and stunning.
Webflow categorises its topics into 16 different groups.
You’ll discover that whomever stated “the finest things are free” was a liar. Webflow provides a large number of premium themes created by a large community. They’re fantastic – but they’re not cheap.
When you go through the theme library, you’ll see these little grey indicators: these icons show if the theme is CMS Editor friendly or eCommerce friendly, for example.
Webflow themes have a unique feature: many of them have additional sections, layout, and even sample landing pages. By selecting a theme, you will also receive a selection of items that correspond to its style.
There are also a lot of wonderful free themes. However, they are just not as broad or as nicely designed as the premium choices.
Overall, you get a large range of attractive and responsive themes, and the most of them are fairly priced. My only complaint is that I wish more of the themes were free.
Squarespace has no paid themes; all of its alternatives are free.
Squarespace’s designs are divided into 15 categories, with options ranging from photography to events and weddings and everything in between.
Unlike Webflow, you will not be provided with a plethora of bespoke pre-made layouts for each. Furthermore, most Squarespace designs will rely on stunning high-quality graphics. So, if you want to make the best of the themes, you should prepare some photographs ahead of time.
Squarespace is a less expensive choice, with all templates accessible for free. Webflow, on the other hand, offers a larger library that contains not just templates, but also more layout possibilities – you simply have to pay for it!
Webflow vs Squarespace -- Business Features
- Webflow has an eCommerce package that is actually pretty easy to maintain.
- Integrations are used to build up other business features on Webflow, which are frequently merely instructions on how to utilise third-party technologies.
- Squarespace provides a more comprehensive business solution, including eCommerce, marketing, and third-party connectors.
Now, let’s look at how both platforms handle key business aspects – who are they best suited for, and which should you choose for your next project?
Webflow business and eCommerce features
Webflow is more than simply a website design tool. In fact, I was rather impressed with their eCommerce platform. It allows you to simply manage all of your products and orders. And, despite the fact that it’s a costly alternative ($29 per month with a 2% transaction charge, $74 per month with no fee), I truly loved it.
Variables like as price, description, category, and so on can be set up for each item. It is entirely up to you how everything is set up.
These modifications are simple to do from the product management area:
- Create new things with various variations.
- Market both physical and digital products or services.
- Make inventory tracking possible.
- Configure shipping choices for each product.
Then, from the Editor, any of the editors may quickly monitor orders, set discounts, manage goods, and perform other eCommerce-related tasks.
You may need to start writing a blog to increase traffic to your website. Webflow has one major limitation: it has a maximum of ten thousand “items,” where a “item” in a blog is a blog post, a tag, or a category. If you plan on posting numerous articles every day, you may rapidly run out of space.
Furthermore, if you’re thinking about starting a blog, you should know what type of SEO modifications you may do to your website without using any additional tools. In such situation, the following are the usual SEO benefits:
- Enable sitemap generation automatically.
- Configure the global canonical URL
- Configure unique SEO settings for each product, page, and category
- Create and manage email campaign forms and mailing lists.
There are third-party connectors for everything else. There are a plethora of them, covering areas like email marketing, membership tools, CRM, and so on.
But there’s something peculiar about them. Most of these integrations, you see, aren’t really integrations. They are just instructions on how to add special features to your Webflow website. For example, the Privado tool just referred me to their landing page and requested that I book a trial with them.
So you’ll get eCommerce, but for additional features, you’ll have to roll up your sleeves and get to work. It won’t be as simple as clicking a button and waiting for the results.
Squarespace business and eCommerce features
Squarespace guides you through the whole business-building process. For example, when I was putting up an internet store, I had to fill out a questionnaire. Some of the general inquiries were included, such as “what do you wish to sell?”
Once completed, it stocked my aspiring vinyl business with a plethora of pre-made goods, replete with stock photos and auto-generated descriptions!
All of the eCommerce editing tools were accessible directly from the dashboard: this is where I could configure almost anything.
We have a complete essay about Squarespace eCommerce if you want a more in-depth look at Squarespace’s product management.
When it comes to blogging, Squarespace is the superior choice over Webflow. You may make blog entries and snippets on its built-in blog page. You may also tag and classify content, allow comments, and do other things.
Squarespace’s SEO tweaking is straightforward and effective. After you’ve finished creating your blog post, go to the post’s settings and fill in all of the relevant post information.
If you want to make some worldwide SEO modifications, there is a section dedicated to SEO on the Squarespace web hosting editor’s side menu.
One of the links on that page takes you to Squarespace’s own SEO checklist. It contains some fundamental information on essential SEO strategies such as adding site names, SEO page descriptions, and so on.
Squarespace prioritises email and social media marketing. For example, the Unfold tool allows users to create unique articles straight from the dashboard and leverage templates created by Squarespace design pros. The tool is free, but the Premium edition, which includes all design possibilities, costs $2.99 a month.
Squarespace allows you to connect to your email subscribers directly from the dashboard.
There will also be a plethora of pre-made templates available for you to find and utilise the one that best matches your style.
Unfortunately, there is no free plan available: email marketing will cost you anything from $5 to $48 per month, depending on how many emails you want to send.
There’s also a third-party application store, which differs from Webflow in that these are genuine integrations that you can download to your site. They primarily concentrate on growing Squarespace’s eCommerce.
Webflow provides a solid eCommerce package, but you’re on your own for anything else. Squarespace has some excellent marketing tools in addition to eCommerce; but, you must be prepared to open your wallet in order to use them.
Webflow vs Squarespace -- Performance
- The performance of both systems is quite comparable.
- Squarespace and Webflow both meet industry performance criteria.
We’ll look at the performance of these platforms in the last test of this Webflow vs Squarespace comparison.
To do this, I submitted both of my test sites to GTMetrix. This platform assesses overall platform optimization as well as site performance.
Here are the Webflow results:
And now for Squarespace:
“It’s the same image.”
When it comes to website optimization, both systems perform admirably. Google recommends a load time of 3 seconds for optimum surfing.
Webflow loads in 2.4 seconds, whereas Squarespace takes 2.8 seconds – both are excellent times! Furthermore, they load the top half of the site in less than 1.5 seconds, making real-world loading rates much faster.
Overall, I’m quite pleased. In this performance comparison, we are the only winners.
Webflow vs Squarespace -- Conclusion
Webflow has the potential to make me into a website designer. I’m not a professional, just a hobbyist, but the few days I spent on this platform were very encouraging. I was delighted by the platform’s ability to develop almost whatever I wanted.
I went through it in greater detail in my Webflow review, but in a nutshell, it manages to take really difficult, very sophisticated things and transform them into something considerably less threatening. Webflow is an excellent choice if you are ready to devote days to learning and months to honing your skill.
If not, there is another option that I totally support.
Squarespace made things as easy as possible. I liked its designs since they made it appear as though I had engaged someone to construct a website for me rather than purchasing a $12 builder plan. In addition, there are several business tools, third-party connectors, and other features, all of which I discussed in my Squarespace review.
You will not be able to accomplish as much as you would on Webflow. However, if you need a platform to create a website rather than learning how to create websites, choose Squarespace – and don’t look back.
In a nutshell, this is how I feel about these two platforms.
If you want to become (or already are!) a professional website designer, Webflow is an excellent choice. If you just want to construct a website and get on with your life, Squarespace is ideal.
webflow and squarespace Alternatives
If webflow and squarespace aren’t exactly perfect for you, there are other excellent hosting companies and functional website builders to consider. Hostinger, Bluehost, and Zyro are all excellent possibilities.
BLUEHOST
Bluehost’s costs are somewhere in the centre of those of HostGator and GoDaddy. The most affordable shared hosting plan starts at $2.95 per month.
Bluehost primarily provides WordPress hosting. It has a highly user-friendly hosting administration panel and several amazing scalability capabilities, like staging. It’s a fantastic alternative regardless of your degree of hosting experience. If you want to operate a commercial website or a personal blog, this is the platform for you.
Hostinger
Are you on a tight budget? Then Hostinger is the most affordable solution. Its entry-level package starts at $2.59 per month. In comparison, Bluehost charges $2.95 per month and SiteGround charges $2.99 per month. You just cannot. Furthermore, it lets you to select one of its seven data centre locations, making it an excellent choice if your target audience is in a certain place.
When you see pricing like these, you might wonder, “What gives?” Nothing, it appears. Hostinger provides fantastic speed that I can vouch for, a bespoke control panel called hPanel that is simple to use, and trustworthy 24/7 customer service.
DREAMHOST
DreamHost, like SiteGround and Bluehost, is a WordPress-focused service that has been endorsed by the platform’s designers. It’s a less expensive option, with costs beginning at $2.59 per month.
Simultaneously, DreamHost introduces new security features like as daily backups and domain privacy. Consider this web host if you need a dependable and safe web host at a low cost.
InMotion Hosting
InMotion Hosting is a versatile solution for nearly any website building project. The service provider is well-known for its dependable performance and wide range of hosting options.
You may select from shared, WordPress, dedicated, and VPS hosting options. If you want traditional cPanel hosting, shared hosting options beginning at $2.29/month are ideal.
Zyro
Zyro is an easy-to-use website builder with 130+ professional-looking designs and a drag-and-drop editor. The builder is also noted for its extensive feature and tool set, which includes powerful marketing, SEO, and AI technologies.
Its monthly fees begin at a relatively reasonable $2.61.
Webflow vs Squarespace FAQs
Is Webflow or Squarespace better?
Webflow is more suited for experienced website designers, whilst Squarespace is better suited for novice users wishing to establish an online presence.
Is Webflow or Squarespace better for bloggers?
Squarespace provides a superior blogging platform. It features a better editor, which makes writing and editing material on Squarespace much easier.
Which is more affordable, Webflow or Squarespace?
Both systems have pricing that is quite similar. Website options start at $12 per month, while eCommerce subscriptions cost between $25 or $27 per month.
