Key facts
- Squarespace's UK plans are Basic £12, Core £17, Plus £29 and Advanced £79 a month on annual billing (Squarespace pricing page, October 2026).
- Squarespace Basic charges a 2% transaction fee on online store sales; Core and above charge 0% (Squarespace pricing page).
- Squarespace's export tool only covers layout pages, one blog, text, image and gallery content; store pages, products, video blocks and custom CSS stay behind (Squarespace Help Center).
- WordPress runs 39.6% of all websites and Squarespace 2.4%, according to W3Techs on 18 October 2026.
- Squarespace includes hosting, SSL and updates; WordPress needs hosting and regular maintenance.
- Squarespace card payments cost from 2.0% + £0.25 on Basic and Core to 1.5% + £0.25 on Advanced (Squarespace pricing page).
The short answer
Squarespace is a polished, hosted website builder with strong typography and image handling. It suits photographers, makers, consultants and hospitality businesses who want a good-looking site, a few pages and simple selling or booking, all under one bill.
WordPress is the better base when the site needs to do more: dozens of service or location pages, a busy blog, booking or CRM integrations, trade pricing or membership areas. It costs less in licence fees but asks more of you, or of us, in upkeep.
WordPress and Squarespace side by side
| WordPress | Squarespace | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Self-hosted, open-source CMS | Hosted website builder |
| Plan cost | Software free; hosting extra | £12 to £79 a month on annual billing (Squarespace, October 2026) |
| Store transaction fee | None from WordPress; your gateway charges | 2% on Basic, 0% on Core and above |
| Design control | Total, with a custom theme | High within Squarespace's section and style system |
| Plugins and integrations | Very wide choice | Built-in features plus a smaller extensions marketplace |
| Exporting | Everything: files and database | Partial WordPress-format export; no store pages or products |
| Upkeep | Updates, backups and security checks | Handled by Squarespace |
| Best for | Growing, content-rich or integrated sites | Small, visual sites that change little in structure |
Costs in practice
Squarespace published four UK plans when we checked in October 2026: Basic at £12 a month on annual billing (£16 monthly), Core at £17 (£24), Plus at £29 (£36) and Advanced at £79 (£89). If you sell physical products, note that Basic adds a 2% transaction fee on top of card processing, so a shop doing regular sales usually belongs on Core or above.
WordPress has no plan fee. Your costs are hosting, a domain, any premium plugins and maintenance. For a small brochure site, WordPress usually works out cheaper over three years. For a small shop that would need several paid WordPress plugins plus a care plan, the gap narrows, and Squarespace's all-in pricing can be the simpler buy.
The export question
This is the point most owners only discover when they want to leave. Squarespace's Help Center lists what its export tool includes: layout pages, one blog with its posts and comments, text blocks, image blocks and gallery pages. It does not export store pages, products, additional blogs, audio or video blocks, page headers and footers, style settings or custom CSS. Images in the export are links to Squarespace's servers, so they need moving before the account closes.
None of that makes Squarespace a bad choice. It just means you should treat a Squarespace site as something you rent, and keep your own copies of product data and photographs. WordPress, by contrast, can be packed up and moved to any host in an afternoon.
When the other option is better
For most service businesses aiming to win local search traffic, we lean towards WordPress. Squarespace is the better option when:
- Your work is visual and the site is a showcase: photographers, architects, interior designers, florists.
- You want to edit layouts yourself, confidently, without breaking the design, and you value Squarespace's guard rails.
- You sell a small range or digital products and want selling, email campaigns and scheduling under one login.
- You do not want to own any maintenance at all.
WordPress is clearly better if you need more than about 20 pages built to rank, advanced schema, trade or member pricing, integrations with your accounts or booking software, or a site you can move between hosts.
How we help
We build custom Squarespace sites that do not look like the demo they started from, with proper SEO settings, page structure and forms. On WordPress, we build lightweight themes that pass Core Web Vitals and keep the editor simple. Start with Squarespace website design or WordPress web design, or see WordPress vs Wix if Wix is also on your list.
Frequently asked questions
Is Squarespace or WordPress better for photographers?
Squarespace is often the better fit for photographers because its galleries, image handling and layouts look good with little effort and need no maintenance. WordPress makes sense if you also run a busy blog, sell prints with complex options, or want client proofing tools that need specific plugins.
Can I move from Squarespace to WordPress?
Yes, partly automatically. Squarespace exports layout pages, one blog, text and images in a WordPress-compatible file, per its Help Center. Store pages, products, video blocks and custom CSS have to be rebuilt by hand, and images must be downloaded separately. Old URLs need 301 redirects.
Does Squarespace charge transaction fees?
On the Basic plan, Squarespace charges a 2% transaction fee on online store sales, per its UK pricing page in October 2026. Core, Plus and Advanced charge 0% on store sales. Card processing fees apply on top, from 2.0% + £0.25 down to 1.5% + £0.25 depending on plan.
Is Squarespace good for SEO?
Squarespace handles the basics well: clean URLs, editable titles and descriptions, SSL, sitemaps and mobile-friendly templates. It is fine for small local sites. WordPress gives more control over templates, schema and large page structures, which matters more for content-heavy sites or competitive searches.
Which costs less over three years?
For a small brochure site, WordPress usually costs less because there is no plan fee, though you should budget for maintenance. For a small shop that would need paid plugins and a care plan on WordPress, Squarespace's single monthly plan can come out close or cheaper. Price both before deciding.
Do you design Squarespace sites from scratch?
We start from a Squarespace base, as every Squarespace site does, then design the layout, typography, colours and page structure to your brand, so it does not look like a stock template. Pricing starts from £250 + VAT, with your Squarespace plan paid directly to Squarespace.
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