Squarespace vs. Wix for Small Businesses

If you’re setting up a website for your small business, chances are you’ve come across Squarespace and Wix. Both are user-friendly website builders that have made a name for themselves amongst entrepreneurs, creatives, and small business owners alike.

But which one is truly better for kicking off and running your business online? At Pick Wise, our goal is to break down the strengths, weaknesses, and key differences, making it easy for you to decide which platform fits your needs best.

Getting Started: Ease of Use

When you’re building a website and haven’t got much web design experience, ease of use is vital. Both Squarespace and Wix target users who don’t have coding knowledge, but how do their onboarding processes differ?

Wix

Wix uses a drag-and-drop editor. You can move elements anywhere on the page, giving you near-complete freedom. It’s intuitive, and you’ll find an abundance of helpful tooltips and prompts as you build. Wix also offers an ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) tool that can quickly set up a basic website for you based on your answers to a few questions. This is brilliant for getting started fast.

However, this freedom can be a double-edged sword. With Wix, you might find it’s too easy to create inconsistent designs, especially if you get carried away with customisation.

Squarespace

Squarespace’s interface is more structured. While you sacrifice some customisation, you gain consistency. Sections snap into a clean grid, and the interface encourages a visually cohesive look throughout your website. Setting up new pages, adding sections, and adjusting layouts is all straightforward. If you like a more guided approach, Squarespace’s streamlined system helps you achieve a professional-looking site with less effort.

Verdict: Wix offers more creative freedom, but Squarespace provides a smoother, more controlled building experience. For most small businesses, a consistent and professional design is preferable, so Squarespace takes the win for ease-of-use and visual quality.

Design and Templates

Aesthetics matter. Your website is your business’s digital front door, and first impressions count.

Wix

Wix boasts over 800 templates. You’ll find one for nearly every industry and use case, from small retailers and yoga studios, to consultants and tradespeople. Templates are modern and stylish, though quality can be hit-and-miss.

While you can edit absolutely everything, it can be difficult to change your template once your site’s live without starting over. This can be a major drawback if you decide to rebrand or need a fresh look down the line. However, Wix has introduced an AI theme creator which may solve this.

Squarespace

Squarespace has a more curated selection; you’ll get around 100 templates. However, their focus is on quality over quantity. Squarespace templates are beautifully designed, image-focused, and optimised for all device sizes. You can switch templates at any time, making rebranding or design tweaks far easier.

Templates also come with thoughtful built-in features for things like portfolios, blogs, and online shops, cutting down the time needed to add basic functionality.

Verdict: Squarespace’s smaller but more refined template collection stands out. The ability to switch templates is a lifesaver for growing businesses that might need to refresh their image.

Features and Flexibility

Small businesses often need a site that does more than look good; it should grow with you.

Wix

Wix’s App Market is vast, offering over 250 third-party integrations to add booking features, chatbots, e-commerce, and more. This makes Wix very flexible. The only catch is, adding lots of apps can sometimes slow things down or create visual inconsistencies.

Wix also offers business-specific features like bookings, event management, and basic e-commerce support with third-party payment options.

Squarespace

Squarespace may not have as many apps, but many features are built-in and polished. Commerce, blogging, portfolios, online bookings, and email marketing come standard. This all-in-one approach means less hassle, faster load times, and a uniform appearance across your site.

Squarespace’s blogging features are especially robust, perfect for small businesses relying on content marketing. E-commerce is streamlined, with secure payment integrations, inventory, and shipping tools built in.

Verdict: Squarespace’s core features feel more integrated and reliable. However, Wix offers far more integrations and features. It depends on what your business needs in terms of features and integrations.

E-Commerce Capabilities

Selling online is non-negotiable for many businesses today.

Wix

Wix lets you set up a basic online shop with product galleries, inventory management, and payment options including PayPal and Stripe. It’s user-friendly, and you can expand functionality by adding apps.

However, some advanced e-commerce needs (such as multi-currency support, abandoned cart recovery, or detailed reporting) may require a pricier subscription or third-party plugins.

Squarespace

E-commerce is a core feature of most Squarespace plans. You’ll get unlimited products, easy payment processing, customer account creation, inventory management, discount codes, and even digital product sales, all straight out of the box.

Squarespace also handles VAT for EU sellers, and includes features like abandoned cart auto-emails, advanced analytics, and powerful SEO for products. Integrations for print-on-demand and drop-shipping are available, which can be important for scaling.

Verdict: Squarespace offers a stronger, more scalable e-commerce toolkit for small businesses.

SEO Capabilities

No use having a stunning website if no one finds it!

Wix

Wix has seriously upped its SEO game in the last few years. You can adjust page titles, meta descriptions, alt text, and URLs. Wix’s SEO Wiz is particularly helpful, walking you through steps for each page.

However, some users report limitations for full-scale customisation. If you have very specific needs, such as advanced 301 redirects or deep schema markup, you might hit some snags.

Squarespace

Squarespace’s SEO tools are quietly powerful. Everything is mobile-friendly from the start, which Google loves. Editing meta tags, alt text, and URLs is simple. Squarespace even auto-generates clean sitemaps and integrates with Google Search Console.

If content marketing (like blogging or podcasting) is part of your strategy, Squarespace is excellent, letting you easily categorise and promote posts.

Verdict: Squarespace and Wix are both capable for basic SEO, but Wix offers better content tools and an SEO Wizard, giving it the edge for SEO.

Customer Support and Help Resources

When something goes wrong, or you get stuck, you want to know help’s on hand.

Wix

Wix’s Help Centre is packed with guides, videos, and forums. You can contact support via a ticket or phone call (for premium users). Response times are generally good, but some users mention finding it tricky to get help for very specific problems.

Squarespace

Squarespace offers detailed guides and 24/7 email support. Live chat is available during business hours. Their support team is praised for being knowledgeable and responsive, particularly on trickier issues.

Squarespace’s guides are well-written and in plain English, perfect if you’d rather sort things yourself.

Verdict: Both have solid support options, but Squarespace feels more reliable, especially for users outside the US needing timely or more specific help.

Pricing

Both offer free trials and a variety of tiered plans. Here’s a quick look at current starting prices (always check latest deals as these can change):

• Wix: Free (with ads), or paid plans starting from about £8/month for personal, £13/month for business essentials, and up for e-commerce.

• Squarespace: No free plan, but a 14-day trial and paid plans starting from roughly £10/month for the Personal tier, with Business and Commerce plans at £15 to £25/month.

Squarespace’s plans are slightly more expensive. However, all plans come ad-free, with essential features included from the start. Wix’s best features, especially for e-commerce, often require moving up to pricier plans or adding paid apps.

Want to hire someone to create your Squarespace or Wix site for you? We recommend Katie Gets Creative, who provides affordable, custom websites for small businesses.

Verdict: While Wix is cheaper at entry level, Squarespace represents better value when you factor in built-in features you’d otherwise pay extra for. It really depends what your website needs are. If you're looking for a basic site, Wix will be cheaper. If you need more advanced features but an easy-to-use platform, Squarespace will be ideal.

Final Verdict – Squarespace vs. Wix for Small Businesses?

So, Squarespace vs. Wix? Both options are excellent, with millions of small businesses using each platform. Your final decision may come down to personal preference and website needs, but based on our analysis, Squarespace has the edge for most small businesses that are just starting out.

Squarespace’s structured editor offers a professional and cohesive look without the headaches of endless tweaking. Its built-in features, superior template quality, and strong support make it a robust, future-proof choice.

If you need more advanced features and additional SEO customisation, then Wix may be a better option. We recommend trying the free trial of both platforms to decide for yourself.