Wix or Squarespace: Which One Should You Use?

Choosing the right platform to build your online store can make the difference between a project that goes smoothly and one that stalls due to technical or design limitations. Among the many options available, Wix and Squarespace stand out as two of the most popular website builders for small and mid-sized businesses looking to sell professionally online.

Both platforms are all-in-one, cloud-based solutions, meaning you don’t need to worry about finding separate hosting, SSL certificates, or installing templates. Everything is included from the start. They also offer visual design tools, ecommerce features, and various integrations that let you launch and grow your online business without writing a single line of code.

If you're exploring options to build an online store, this Wix vs. Squarespace comparison will help you understand what each platform offers, from ease of use and SEO to blogging features, pricing, security, and customer support. We’re sharing clear examples, updated data, and no unnecessary jargon.

Ease of Use & Editors: Which Is More Intuitive for Designing Your Store?

One of the most important factors when choosing a platform for your online store is how easy it is to use right from the start. Wix and Squarespace are both designed for users without technical backgrounds, but their editing experiences are quite different.

Wix offers two ways to build a website: you can use its classic drag-and-drop editor for full visual freedom, or opt for its AI Website Builder, powered by GenAI technology, which generates a complete website based on a few simple questions about your business. Even if you’ve never built a website before, you can have a functional base tailored to your goals in minutes. Plus, the classic editor is one of the most powerful on the market, offering a very high level of visual customization. This flexibility makes it ideal for creative users or businesses needing more complex site structures.

Squarespace, on the other hand, focuses on a more guided and structured experience. It also uses a drag-and-drop block editor, but with more limited options that help create a consistent, professional final design. While it offers less creative freedom than Wix, it also reduces the risk of “visual clutter,” making it great for users who want quick, polished results without much hassle.

Both platforms let you preview your design before publishing, and you can start editing immediately with no installation or setup required.

Comparison: Ease of Use & Editors

Templates & Design: Variety, Aesthetics, and Visual Customization

Design is key for any online store because it directly impacts user experience, brand trust, and ultimately, conversions. Here, Wix and Squarespace both offer strong options, with some key differences.

Wix provides over 900 pre-designed templates, all mobile optimized and organized by industry (e.g., fashion, restaurants, tech, beauty, professional services). A major plus is that you can start with any template and customize it extensively using the visual editor with no tech skills needed. However, once you’ve published a site, you can’t switch templates without rebuilding the entire site, which is worth noting.

Squarespace offers around 160 professional templates focused on clean design, visual storytelling, and consistent typography. While the selection is smaller, many templates are geared toward creative portfolios, lifestyle brands, visual products, and premium services. Editing is done through a structured block system that offers clean, polished layouts but allows less freedom than Wix.

Both platforms allow you to customize colors, fonts, images, section layouts, and menu elements. Squarespace limits structural changes a bit more, while Wix offers almost unrestricted design flexibility.

Comparison: Templates & Design

Artificial Intelligence: How Much Automation Do Wix and Squarespace Offer?

Both Wix and Squarespace have begun integrating AI tools to streamline tasks like design, content generation, and initial site setup, though their approaches differ.

Wix has heavily invested in AI for years. Its Wix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) tool can build a complete website by asking you a few simple questions about your business, branding, and goals. The result is a functional, well structured site ready to edit or publish. It also includes AI-powered assistants for product descriptions, SEO meta tags, blog content, and even email marketing. Its AI Editor can suggest industry specific visual elements and sections automatically.

Squarespace recently launched Squarespace AI, which helps generate product descriptions, section copy, and layout suggestions. While promising, this tool is still in its earlier stages compared to Wix. It also offers AI support for structuring new pages and writing general content, which is handy during initial setup.

Overall, Wix leads in AI capabilities due to its longer development history and deeper integration across its platform. Squarespace is catching up but doesn’t yet offer the same level of automation or feature range.

Ecommerce: Which Platform Makes It Easier to Sell Online?

Both Wix and Squarespace let you build fully functional online stores with no technical knowledge, but they differ in scalability, customization, and overall business management.

Wix ecommerce has evolved into a robust solution for small to mid-sized shops. You can manage up to 50,000 products (physical or digital), set up shipping methods, accept payments through multiple gateways, apply coupons and discounts, and automate abandoned cart emails. You also get built-in tools for bookings, memberships, and subscriptions, all without relying on external apps. Plus, Wix supports selling on Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, and more.

Squarespace Commerce offers a sleek, user-friendly shopping experience. It covers all the basics: product catalogs, inventory management, secure payments, coupons, subscriptions, and abandoned cart automation. However, some advanced features, like POS systems, multichannel selling, and powerful logistics integrations, require third-party apps or higher-tier plans.

Also worth noting: Squarespace charges a 3% transaction fee on its Business plan. Wix does not charge sales commissions (only standard payment gateway fees apply).

Comparison: Ecommerce Features

Both platforms work well for small to mid-sized online stores, but Wix offers more out-of-the-box tools and better scalability without relying on external apps or upgraded plans.

Blogging: Which Platform Offers the Best Blog Management?

Blogging remains a useful tool to drive organic traffic, establish your authority in your niche, and enhance your content strategy. If you're considering adding a blog to your online store, both Wix and Squarespace offer integrated blogging tools, but their approaches differ.

Wix lets you add a blog to any site using its built-in Wix Blog tool. It’s easy to create posts, organize content with categories and tags, schedule publications, enable comments, and customize the blog design just like any other part of your website. It also supports key SEO practices, allowing you to edit meta tags, URL structures, and featured images. You can even collaborate with multiple authors, though this feature is more limited compared to platforms more focused on content publishing.

Squarespace, on the other hand, has made blogging one of its core strengths, especially for creatives and personal brands. Its blog feature is seamlessly integrated into its design system, supports multiple authors, and includes advanced features like comment moderation, collaborative drafts, visual content management, and separate social sharing images from featured images. Everything is designed to maintain both aesthetics and content structure.

On the technical side, both platforms generate an RSS feed automatically and support newsletter and email marketing campaigns. That being said, some of Squarespace's features require a specific premium plan.

Blogging Features Comparison

Bottom Line: Both platforms support blogging, but Squarespace has the edge if blogging is central to your strategy, especially if visual quality and collaboration tools are important to you.

Apps & Extensions: Enhancing Your Online Store

When choosing between website builders, it's key to consider how far you can go beyond the default tools. This is where apps and extensions come in, as these tools let you expand your site’s functionality without coding.

Wix features an extensive App Market with over 1,000 apps, many of them developed by Wix itself, so they are very well integrated. You'll find tools for advanced forms, lead capture pop-ups, live chat, social media integrations, dropshipping, and marketing automation. Many apps are free or offer freemium models.

Squarespace offers fewer extensions, organized into categories like logistics, finance, marketing, and inventory. While more limited, the options are well curated and focused on core features. Notable tools include Printful (print-on-demand), Mailchimp, Weglot (site translation), and LiveChat.

Key difference: Wix emphasizes variety and flexibility, while Squarespace sticks to a minimalistic, visually cohesive ecosystem.

Whether you need advanced store management or just a new feature, high-quality extensions make all the difference, and Wix offers more options, especially if you're looking to personalize your site beyond the default design.

Security & Reliability: Keeping Your Store and Customers Safe

Security is non-negotiable in ecommerce. Your customers’ data, payment safety, and site uptime are crucial for trust and performance.

Both Wix and Squarespace provide strong security features from their basic plans but approach them slightly differently.

Wix includes a free SSL certificate, DDoS protection, GDPR compliance, and automatic backups. It’s hosted on a multi-cloud infrastructure that guarantees fast load times and 99.9% uptime. It also lets you restore previous versions of your site if needed.

Squarespace also includes a free SSL certificate, complies with privacy laws, offers spam protection, and takes automatic backups. While it’s optimized for speed and reliability, it doesn’t offer manual version restoration like Wix does. Like Wix, Squarespace fully manages server maintenance, saving you from technical headaches.

Both platforms apply automatic security updates and don’t require third-party plugins to protect your site—an advantage over self-hosted solutions like WordPress.

Security Comparison

Customer Support: Help When You Need It

No matter how intuitive a platform is, you’ll eventually need help. Whether it's a confusing button or a domain issue before launch, support matters.

Wix provides a wide range of support: a help center live chat (Sunday to Friday), and a callback service. It’s ideal if you prefer speaking with someone instead of waiting on email replies. Wix also has a robust knowledge base with tutorials, videos, and guides.

Squarespace offers email and live chat support, but only in English. While the support is solid, it’s more limited if you need help in another language. Their help center is detailed, making it easy to find answers on your own.

One nice feature is that Squarespace also offers support via social media, such as X/Twitter or Facebook Messenger, which some users find more convenient.

Bottom Line: If language and responsiveness matter, Wix offers more localized support. Squarespace is more self-service and English-centric but still effective.

Pricing & Plans: Which Platform Fits Your Budget?

Choosing the right platform also depends on your budget. Here’s an updated (June 2025) price comparison based on annual billing, which typically offers better monthly rates.

Pricing Comparison (Annual Billing)

Final Verdict: Wix vs. Squarespace – Which Should You Choose for Your Online Store?

After a detailed comparison, it’s clear both platforms offer powerful tools, but with distinct strengths. The right choice depends on your goals, your experience level, and the kind of business you’re running.

Key Takeaways:

• Wix is best if you value design flexibility, wide template variety, and customization freedom.

• Squarespace is ideal if you prefer a clean, visual-first aesthetic and a guided user experience.

• For larger online stores, Wix provides more integrated payment features, no transaction fees, and scalable infrastructure.

• If your site is content or visually focused, Squarespace offers better blogging and visual content tools, especially for design, photography, art, or fashion.

• Squarespace is more affordable for small personal projects, while Wix justifies its higher price with more advanced native features.

Ultimately, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. The best platform is the one that matches your needs, budget, and long-term goals.

Either way, choose a platform that lets you focus on what really matters, growing your online business.