WIX VS SQUARESPACE (2026)
Wix vs Squarespace: which is better for a small business in 2026?
Compared on the 14 things that decide it for a business that wants customers from its site: today's US prices, booking, payments, the AI, editing, measured page speed and what you can take with you. Prices read on their own pages on November 4, 2026; features from their help centres.
How we compared them
Checked on November 4, 2026. We compared Wix and Squarespace on the 14 things that decide it for a small business that wants customers from its website: what it costs to start and to run for a year, whether customers can book and pay, how much the AI does, how you change the site next month, how fast real sites load, how the site gets found on Google, and what you can take with you if you leave. Each row says which builder is better for that one thing; there's no weighting and no overall score, because the row that matters most depends on your business.
What we read, and what we measured. Every Wix and Squarespace fact on this page comes from the company's own pricing page or help centre, read between September 28 and November 4, 2026 (the sources at the foot of the page list each one); the one exception is the July price news, which is PetaPixel's report and says so. Prices are US dollars, before tax, as each company's pricing page showed them to a US visitor on November 4, 2026. Page speed is our own measurement: Google PageSpeed Insights on ten live small-business sites built with each builder (September 28, 2026). We did not build the same site twice, and we didn't time support or rate the templates' looks; those are judgment calls, and the page says so where they come up.
The short answer
For most small businesses that take bookings, Wix does more on one bill. For a design-led brand or a shop that doesn't need booking, Squarespace is the cleaner pick. On our 14 rows, Wix is better on 4, Squarespace on 2, 7 are a tie, and on 1 neither does it.
Wix's edge is what's included: a free plan to build on, online booking from its Core plan, and 200 marketing emails a month. Squarespace's edge is a cheaper way to take payments (its Basic plan sells, with a 2% fee on store sales), a partial export if you ever leave, and templates people choose it for. The difference that costs real money is booking: on Squarespace it's Acuity Scheduling, a second subscription, so a business that books appointments pays $420 a year on Squarespace against $348 on Wix at regular prices.
THE SCORECARD
Wix vs Squarespace, row by row
Each row: what Wix does, what Squarespace does, and which is better for that one thing. Read on their own pages (dates in the sources); page speed is our measurement.
| What decides it | Wix | Squarespace | Better for this |
|---|---|---|---|
| Try it before you pay | Yes — A free plan, no credit card needed, on a wixsite.com address with Wix ads | Partly — A 14-day free trial; the trial site isn't public until you pay | Wix |
| A simple site, no payments | Yes — Light, $17 a month billed yearly | Yes — Basic, $19 a month billed yearly | Wix |
| The cheapest plan that takes card payments, at regular prices | Yes — Core, $29 a month billed yearly ($14.50 on the sale running November 4, 2026) | Yes — Basic, $19 a month billed yearly, with a 2% fee on online store sales | Squarespace |
| Online booking | Yes — Wix Bookings, included from the Core plan | Yes — Acuity Scheduling, its own scheduler, as a second subscription from $16 a month billed yearly | Wix |
| Selling products online | Yes — A store with payments, from Core | Yes — A store on every plan; 0% store fee from Core | Tie |
| An AI first draft | Yes — Free: describe the business in a chat and it builds the site | Yes — Describe the business and it builds a multi-page starting site, during the trial | Tie |
| Changing the site by typing | Yes — Aria edits pages and adds new ones by chat (in the desktop view) | Yes — Squarespace AI changes text, swaps images, updates site styles and creates products | Tie |
| The editor | Yes — Drag and drop, with thousands of templates | Yes — Drag and drop onto a grid (Fluid Engine), design-led templates | Tie |
| Quotes, invoices and a contacts list | Yes — Price quotes clients accept online, invoices, contacts | Yes — Estimates and proposals with an Accept button, invoices, contacts | Tie |
| Email marketing | Yes — 200 emails a month free; more on an email plan | Yes — Email Campaigns, billed separately from the site | Wix |
| Page speed, measured on 10 live sites each | Yes — Median 65 on phones, 77 on desktop | Yes — Median 56 on phones, 74 on desktop | Tie |
| Search basics: titles, sitemap, Google Search Console | Yes — Automatic sitemap, Google connection, AI-written titles | Yes — Automatic titles and sitemap, Search Console connection | Tie |
| A new template later | No — Not on an existing site: a new template means a new site, then copy across | No — Not on a version 7.1 site: change fonts, colours and spacing instead | Neither |
| Taking the whole site with you | No — No external backup; contacts, products and your uploads download | Partly — A partial .xml export built for WordPress | Squarespace |
Wix better on 4 rows, Squarespace on 2, 7 ties, 1 where neither does it. The rows aren't weighted: booking may decide it for a salon and mean nothing to a photographer.
PRICES
Wix and Squarespace prices, plan by plan
US dollars a month, billed yearly, before tax, as each pricing page showed them to a US visitor on November 4, 2026.
| Wix | Squarespace | |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free plan, no credit card, Wix ads, wixsite.com address | No free plan; a 14-day free trial |
| Cheapest paid plan | Light $17: no payments, no booking | Basic $19: store with a 2% fee on online sales |
| Second plan | Core $29 ($14.50 on sale): payments, store and booking | Core $29: 0% store fee |
| Third plan | Business $39 ($19.50 on sale) | Plus $49 |
| Top plan | Business Elite $159 ($79.50 on sale) | Advanced $99 |
| Online booking | Wix Bookings, included from Core | Acuity Scheduling, a separate subscription from $16 a month billed yearly |
| Your own domain | On a paid plan; a free domain voucher for the first year on most yearly plans | Free for the first year on an annual plan, then the standard rate |
| Refund or trial | 14-day money-back guarantee on your first paid plan | 14-day free trial, no card needed |
Wix's sale prices were a "50% OFF select plans" offer on the day we read the page; the crossed-out prices are shown first. PetaPixel reported on July 17, 2026 that Squarespace was raising prices, so older comparisons may quote less.
What a year actually costs
The plan prices don't tell you the bill, because the two builders put booking in different places. Here is the year, at regular prices, billed yearly (November 4, 2026):
- A business that takes online bookings. Wix Core, which includes Wix Bookings: $29 × 12 = $348. Squarespace Basic plus Acuity Scheduling Starter: $19 × 12 + $16 × 12 = $420, or $540 on Squarespace Core, which drops the 2% store fee.
- A simple site with no booking or payments. Wix Light: $204. Squarespace Basic: $228. Squarespace Basic can also sell and send invoices; Wix Light can't take payments.
- Wix's sale. On November 4, 2026 Wix's plans page showed "Special offer - 50% OFF select plans": Core at $14.50 a month ($174 for the year, paid up front), Business at $19.50 and Business Elite at $79.50, against $29, $39 and $159 crossed out. The sums above use the crossed-out prices; check what the sale covers, and what the plan renews at, before you pay.
Not in these sums: a domain after its free first year, card processing fees, and paid apps. Squarespace also bills monthly, for more: its monthly prices were $25, $39, $65 and $139 when we read them on October 26, 2026, and Acuity Starter is $20 a month on monthly billing.
Choose Wix if…
- Customers book appointments with you. Wix Bookings comes with the Core plan; on Squarespace booking is a second subscription managed in a separate place.
- You want to build before you pay anything. Wix has a free plan (with Wix ads, on a wixsite.com address); Squarespace gives you a 14-day trial.
- You'll send a newsletter. Wix includes 200 emails a month; Squarespace's Email Campaigns are billed separately.
Choose Squarespace if…
- You've seen a Squarespace template you love. That's a fair reason to choose it. How a template looks is taste, which this page doesn't score.
- You sell, and don't take bookings. Squarespace Basic takes card payments and sells products at a 2% store fee for $19 a month, less than Wix Core's regular $29 (Wix's sale had Core at $14.50 on November 4, 2026).
- You like a tidy layout without thinking about it. Squarespace's Fluid Engine shows a grid as you drag blocks, so sections line up.
- You might move to WordPress one day. Squarespace exports some of your content to a file WordPress can import; Wix doesn't export the site at all.
- You already use Acuity. It's Squarespace's own scheduling product, so the two sit together.
What neither of them lets you do
Two things owners usually find out after they've chosen, both in the builders' own help centres:
- You can't switch template on a site you've built. Wix: "While it's not possible to switch to a different template for a site you already created, you can create as many sites as you want in your account" — a new look means a new site, into which "you can import elements, pages and media from your old site, and transfer your plan and domain to it". Squarespace: "It's not possible to change templates on a version 7.1 site"; you restyle with fonts, colours and spacing instead.
- Neither hands you the whole site. Wix: "Currently, it is not possible to back up your site externally"; your contacts, store products and your own uploads download, and a domain you bought from Wix can be moved. Squarespace: "You can export certain content from your Squarespace site into an .xml file", built for WordPress, and "you can't import every type of Squarespace content."
Neither is a reason to rule a builder out. They are reasons to pick the template carefully, and to keep your own copy of your words and photos.
Which is faster? What we measured
We measured it rather than repeat what the builders say. On September 28, 2026 we ran Google PageSpeed Insights three times, on phone and desktop settings, on ten live sites built with each builder: the first ten per builder that came up in Google for house cleaning, junk removal, car detailing, pressure washing, plumbers, dog walkers and handymen in Columbus, Charlotte, Denver, Phoenix and Tampa. Each site's score is the middle of its three runs.
Wix: a median of 65 on phones and 77 on desktop. Squarespace: 56 on phones and 74 on desktop. Out of 100, higher is faster. It's ten sites each, all home-service businesses rather than the portfolios and shops many Squarespace sites are, so read it as "these Wix sites loaded faster on phones and about the same on desktop", not as a promise about your site: big photos, video and add-ons move the score more than the builder does.
Moving from Wix to Squarespace, or back
If you're moving between them, plan for a rebuild either way: Wix doesn't export the site, so there's no file for Squarespace to import, and Squarespace's export file is built for WordPress, not Wix.
- Wix → Squarespace. Wix doesn't export the site, so you rebuild the pages on a Squarespace template and copy your words and photos across (your own uploads download from Wix's media manager; free Wix and Shutterstock images don't). Contacts download as a CSV, up to 50,000 at a time, and store products as a CSV. Point or move your domain last.
- Squarespace → Wix. The same applies the other way: rebuild the pages in a Wix template, copy the content, then move the domain.
- Either way. Before you point the domain at the new site, set a redirect from each old page address to its new one, so Google and old links keep working, and keep the old plan running until the new site has taken a test booking or enquiry.
Wix vs Squarespace: the questions people ask
For a small business that takes bookings, Wix: booking comes with its Core plan, there's a free plan to build on, and 200 marketing emails a month are included. For a design-led brand or a shop that doesn't need booking, Squarespace: it takes payments on its cheapest plan, its editor keeps layouts tidy, and it exports more of your site if you leave. On our 14-row scorecard Wix is better on 4 rows and Squarespace on 2, with 7 ties (checked November 4, 2026).
For a simple site, Wix: Light is $17 a month billed yearly against Squarespace Basic at $19, and Wix has a free plan. For taking payments, Squarespace: Basic sells at a 2% store fee, while Wix's cheapest plan with payments is Core at $29 ($14.50 on the sale running November 4, 2026). For a business that takes bookings, Wix: $348 a year on Core against $420 for Squarespace Basic plus Acuity Scheduling. US prices, before tax.
Yes, for what it's good at: polished templates, a store on every plan, invoices and estimates built in. What changed is the price. PetaPixel reported on July 17, 2026 that Squarespace was raising prices by up to 26%, and on November 4, 2026 its plans read Basic $19, Core $29, Plus $49 and Advanced $99 a month billed yearly. Booking is still a separate Acuity subscription.
Five, from its own pages: there's no free plan (a 14-day trial, and the trial site is private); online booking is Acuity Scheduling, a second subscription; you can't switch template on a version 7.1 site; and its export covers only some content, in a file built for WordPress. Email Campaigns are billed separately from the site too.
From its own pages: the free plan shows Wix ads and can't use your own domain; the cheapest paid plan, Light, can't take payments or bookings; you can't switch template on a site you've built (a new template means a new site); and you can't back the site up outside Wix.
We can't survey why people leave, but Wix's own pages show the limits leavers run into: the template can't be switched on a site you've built (a new look means a new site), the whole site can't be exported, and payments and booking start on the Core plan rather than the cheapest one.
On the basics they're level: both write page titles, build a sitemap and connect Google Search Console, and Wix adds AI-written titles. No builder can promise a ranking; for a local business, a complete Google Business Profile and a page for each service and town usually matter more than which of the two you pick.
Not automatically. Wix doesn't export the site, so there's nothing for Squarespace to import; you rebuild the pages on Squarespace and copy your words and photos across; contacts and store products come out of Wix as CSV files. Set up redirects from your old page addresses, then point the domain at the new site.
Yes, with limits: the free plan needs no credit card, but the site lives on a wixsite.com address, shows Wix ads on every page, and can't take payments or bookings. Your own domain needs a paid plan. Squarespace has no free plan; it has a 14-day trial.
There isn't one for every business. The right builder depends on whether customers book, buy or mostly look at your work; the scorecard above shows where each of these two is stronger, row by row.
The third option: an AI build from a description, free to build
If you've read this far and neither sounds like an evening you want to spend, there's a third route, not scored above: a builder made around its AI. Wix and Squarespace both start you with an AI draft too; on Zarla the AI is how you build and change the whole site. Tell it what you do, where, and your business name, and it writes and designs the site, search basics included, in about 30 seconds, with booking, a leads inbox, quotes and invoices behind it; after that you change it by typing what you want or clicking the section. It's free to build and preview; publishing starts on the Premium plan.
Already on Wix or Squarespace? Give Zarla the live address and it rebuilds your pages and words into a new Zarla site, keeping your old page addresses where it can and redirecting the ones that change. It isn't the only tool that rebuilds from an address (Hostinger's AI Website Cloner does it too), and the same caution applies to all of them: check what came across before you switch. The trade-off is the one this page applies to Wix and Squarespace: on Zarla your contacts download, and the site itself doesn't export.
The third option
Describe your business. Zarla builds the site from that one line.
Words, design, search basics, booking, quotes and invoices. Free to build and preview; you pay when you publish.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.
Sources
Prices were read on November 4, 2026 as each pricing page showed them to a US visitor (Google PageSpeed Insights renders pages from Google's US servers; read from Australia the same day, both pages showed Australian dollars). Features come from the help-centre articles below, read between September 28 and November 4, 2026. Plans and prices change; check them before you decide. PetaPixel reported on July 17, 2026 that Squarespace was raising prices by up to 26%, so comparisons written before then may quote less.
Wix
- Plans and pricing — wix.com/plans
- AI website builder — wix.com
- Working with Aria in the Harmony editor — support.wix.com
- Using Wix for free — support.wix.com
- Switching your site's template — support.wix.com
- Storing a backup of your site outside of Wix — support.wix.com
- Transferring your Wix domain away — support.wix.com
- Exporting your contacts — support.wix.com
- Price quotes — support.wix.com
- Upgrading your site to Premium (ads, domain) — support.wix.com
- Creating SEO tags using AI — support.wix.com
- Email marketing monthly balance — support.wix.com
- Submitting a sitemap to Google — support.wix.com
Squarespace
- Pricing — squarespace.com/pricing
- AI website builder — squarespace.com
- Scheduling (Acuity) — squarespace.com/scheduling
- Acuity Scheduling plans — acuityscheduling.com
- Edit your site with Fluid Engine — support.squarespace.com
- Switching templates — support.squarespace.com
- Exporting your site — support.squarespace.com
- Using Squarespace AI — support.squarespace.com
- Verifying your site with Google Search Console — support.squarespace.com
- Accessing and sharing a trial site — support.squarespace.com
- Sending proposals, estimates and contracts — support.squarespace.com
- Invoicing clients and wholesalers — support.squarespace.com
- Email Campaigns billing — support.squarespace.com
- How Squarespace optimizes your site for search — support.squarespace.com
Reported elsewhere