WordPress vs Squarespace 2023: Which is Better for your Business (Comparison & Alternative)

Regardless of your website's purpose, choosing a reputable website builder and host is essential for achieving good rankings, especially for business websites. Building a website with reliable hosting and robust features helps attract traffic from diverse sources. Even for novices of digital marketing and website building, creating a website is easy with the right resources. Platforms like WordPress and Squarespace are valuable tools for crafting the perfect website.

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However, selecting the right one can be challenging with the abundance of website builders available. Undoubtedly, WordPress and Squarespace are among the leading choices. But how do you decide between them? Factors such as features, ease of use, flexibility, customisations, customer care, design elements, storage, upgrades, and more contribute to the best choice. WordPress has enjoyed immense popularity since its inception, powering 35,871,158 active websites worldwide. 

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Squarespace is also renowned, particularly for E-commerce websites, with 2,927,610 active websites worldwide. We have compiled a tried and tested analysis based on these factors to help you choose the ideal platform for your work. Read on to discover the best fit for you. In addition to these platforms, you'll come across many competitive choices like the Fynd Platform, which has adopted the UI and UX of these classic options. Drawing inspiration from such platforms, they have developed high-quality features to outperform these popular choices.

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What Is WordPress?

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WordPress is an open-source, free platform for creating content. It is a famous website builder known for simplicity and modernity. Being the easiest and most powerful website builder on the market, WordPress is flexible for companies, portfolios, and E-commerce. Its usability and customisation options suit both big and small websites.

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Since its inception as a blogging tool in 2003, WordPress has evolved into a versatile content management system used by big corporations like NBC, Time, Disney, Airbnb, Spotify, TechCrunch, etc. The platform's user-friendly nature eliminates the need for coding expertise, making it beginner-friendly. With plugins and themes, WordPress enhances functionality and design possibilities. It stores and organises all data in a database, making it quick and effective for Internet publishing.

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What is Squarespace?

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Squarespace is a renowned website builder that facilitates the creation of unique websites. It is a beginner-friendly platform requiring no technical expertise to swiftly and securely design attractive pages, including E-commerce features. Primarily known for its professional and modern templates, easy section-based editor, and robust E-commerce tools, Squarespace makes the website-building process quick and straightforward. Initially starting as a blog hosting service in 2003, Squarespace became a comprehensive web builder.

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Users appreciate its ease of implementation, with four pricing plans: Personal, Business, Basic Commerce & Advanced Commerce. Squarespace is a flexible website builder catering to bloggers, E-commerce site owners, and creatives. Its cost-effective pricing, and comprehensive plans make it a top choice for many website owners. This powerful platform is suitable for all types of businesses, creating sites for blogs, portfolios, businesses, and online shops. Premium customers of Squarespace include big corporations like Accenture, HBO, and Avocode.

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Basic differences between Squarespace and WordPress (600)

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Though both are leading website builders available today, the platform has some basic differences. This is why choosing after determining your requirement and business vision is essential. The following table has a concise differentiation between both platforms to help you choose the more suitable option easily:

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Which Is More Suitable For You?

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Squarespace and WordPress rank among the most popular website builders in the industry, catering to blogs and E-commerce sites. But which is more suitable for you? Let's start with the basics. Website builders like Squarespace offer all-in-one solutions, including hosting, templates, and design, without the need for coding knowledge. It's a beginner-friendly platform. 

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On the other hand, WordPress is a content management system (CMS) with more advanced software, ideal for larger websites that require customisation and coding expertise. You'll also need to find a hosting provider but gain more scalability and storage. Squarespace is an excellent choice for beginners, offering ease of use, security, and good customer service. However, budget, purpose, and goals affect your decision. 

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For small to medium businesses looking to sell through a website, Squarespace is viable without requiring technical knowledge. WordPress is the go-to platform for more extensions, content management, and customisation flexibility. It offers absolute control over your website and powerful blogging tools. Multi-channel selling tools with a single dashboard would be wise if you aim to sell through the website. Consider your purpose and budget to find the best fit among the many available website builders and CMS options.

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Features Of WordPress

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The top highlights that make this platform famous among its users are listed below:

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1. Flexibility and Simplicity: 

WordPress allows users to create any website, from personal blogs to business platforms, travel blogs to portfolio platforms. Users can choose from multiple themes to make their websites attractive. Additionally, the platform supports integration with numerous plugins based on specific needs. WordPress is beginner-friendly, ensuring efficient and quick operations. Users can create and publish webpages anytime and access a dashboard to track activities. As an online website builder, it allows users to log in from any internet device and browse the site from anywhere.

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2. Convenient handling: 

The installation process is user-friendly and takes less time to set up the site. It does not require any prerequisite technical expertise. The installation can happen with a single click, and upgrades are quick and easy. Creating and managing content is a simple task on WordPress. Content can be made public or private, and payment and content can be secured through this platform. In case of catastrophic failures, managed website hosting services automate daily and bare metal backups to prevent data loss.

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3. Powerful SEO tools: 

WordPress sites have specific codes that make them suitable for Google listings, providing a range of features to improve the website's search rankings.

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4. Easy media management:

Uploading preferred images and videos is a simple process in WordPress. Users can drag media content from their computer and drop it into the uploader. Audio, video, images, and documents can be uploaded, filtered, and ordered. The media manager can be plugged in to organise the media library quickly and efficiently. WordPress also offers a wide array of themes to give the website a personalised and unique appeal. Additionally, users can create a new theme and upload it within a few seconds. 

5. Multiple languages: 

WordPress supports over seventy languages, allowing users to create websites in various languages. Users can select the user interface language option to enable multiple languages, making it helpful for global operations.

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6. Better User Management: 

This platform enables easy overall user management on the website. Various roles can be assigned, such as administrators having full rights to pages, writers, editors, etc., while users, editors, and subscribers may have different permissions.

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7. Inbuild feedback system: 

Feedback is crucial to understand the usefulness of anything in the market. WordPress allows followers to provide valuable comments on the page's content, improving website quality and encouraging audience engagement. It also has a forum for conducting and moderating discussions.

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8. Social media and third-party Integration:  

WordPress allows integration with social media handles and other third-party applications, providing an added advantage to the website. Third-party plugins are reviewed and tested to minimise security risks and performance impacts.

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9. Flexible Scheduling: 

Users can generate material in advance and schedule it for publication by setting specified days and times. They can also save posts/pages as drafts until they are ready to publish. The built-in version control tools help quickly recover deleted page content and even revert to earlier versions of the page text.

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10. Easy Portability: 

WordPress guarantees the website can be easily relocated to a compatible environment using its open-source platform. Unlike most other website builders, the portability of the website is not a concern when it comes to WordPress.

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11. Enhanced Security: 

Every business wants assurance that their data and customer data will be safe, given the prevalence of data breaches. WordPress is a secure content management platform, especially if users keep plugins updated and passwords secret. The platform provides several security features for the website, such as two-factor authentication and logging off inactive users.

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Features of Squarespace

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The major highlights of this platform are listed below:

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1. Restore deleted content and Flexible Scheduling: 

Squarespace has built-in safeguards to keep the site safe if something goes wrong. If anything has been inadvertently deleted, it can be recovered for up to 30 days. The website will automatically be backed up by Squarespace and stored on primary and backup servers. The website files can also be stored on offline storage disks. There is complete freedom to generate material in advance and schedule it for publication by setting posts to appear on specified days and times. Calendar syncing, automated mail reminders, etc., are added advantages of this platform.

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2. Secure Platform:

Registering the domain name with this platform is very easy. The domain should be to be added to the cart. Squarespace offers this domain name for free, and the jackpot for a user is getting an SSL certificate for free. An SSL certificate indicates that a layer of security is added to the website. This certificate encrypts the information, which is crucial for accessing payment processing sites. Apart from these, Squarespace offers DDoS protection and other necessary tools to prevent the website from getting hacked or falling prey to prudery. It is a safe platform if one keeps updated plugins and passwords secret.

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3. Customer Support:

Though this platform doesn't require technical expertise, there will be hiccups where external support might be needed. Squarespace has a robust customer support system to help users operate the site better. They offer email support, social media support, community forums, and live chat facilities. They also have a few tutorial videos for the user to review to get a better grip on the platform. One of the highlights of Squarespace is providing a knowledge base packed with articles, guides, and much more, making it one of the most efficient platforms.

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4. Multiple Integrations: 

Squarespace enables integration with social media handles like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. This integration allows users to push their content to these handles, enhancing visibility. It lets users integrate with various third-party applications for payment, marketing, shipping, etc. These plugins are reviewed to minimise security risks and performance impact on the site. 

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5. Powerful SEO: 

A website is useless if it doesn't reach the right audience. Squarespace enables multiple integrations with marketing tools to improve the conversion rate. Squarespace also ensures that powerful SEO strategies are built into the back end, which enables the website to appear in Google listings. All the pages that are created will follow SEO best practices. The added benefit is that Squarespace sites load quickly, one of the major criteria Google adores.

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6. Modern and attractive templates: 

Squarespace offers a limited number of themes, unlike its competitors. However, the quality of these templates is far better than that of the competitors. Every template is custom-designed to meet the highest standards. All the templates enhance the performance of the site. The platform also allows the user to customise the look and feel of the site. It is not a complete drag-and-drop concept; however, reformatting, addition, deletion, etc., can be incorporated. Squarespace also offers a logo designing application that can be useful for creating an inexpensive logo for the site. Another highlight of Squarespace is the excellently designed cover pages that add value to the site. The images can be easily organised effectively on the website through the drag-and-drop system.

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7. Easy set up:

The installation process is user-friendly and takes less time to set up the site. The process does not require any prerequisite technical expertise to undertake. The creation and management of content are easy jobs on Squarespace. They even offer a mobile application through which website editing becomes quite easy.

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8. E-Commerce features:

Squarespace offers various services and is a complete solution for creating an E-commerce website. Squarespace allows adding product variants without the hassle and lets you sell unlimited products through the platform. It aids in inventory management and the selling of digital products. The platform can be integrated with Square, allowing one to accept card payments and sell things offline, utilising Square's Point of Sale System. Squarespace has a provision to make it ad-free unless one wants to make money by placing ads.

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9. Blogging features: 

It is the go-to site for any blogger, offering a simple design and management process. It offers unlimited storage and unmetered bandwidth, which attracts bloggers. It also offers a solid blogging suite, a suitable start for beginners.

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10. Detailed Analytics: 

Squarespace offers detailed analytics that helps track traffic, popular content, leads, sales, and more. They have a powerful dashboard that displays the status.

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11. User Management: 

This platform enables the overall management of users with the help of the website easily. Numerous roles can be assigned through this site. For example, administrators, Website Editors, Billing Managers, Analytics Managers, Scheduling Editors, Reporting Managers, Email Campaigns Editors, Comment Moderators, Viewers, etc., are a few roles with specific rights.

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Comparing WordPress Vs. Squarespace- Which Is Better?

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Choosing between WordPress and Squarespace means deliberating on several features and functions. Both website builders come with unique and useful sets of features. They both simplify the website-building process, even for a newbie. However, determining which is better requires a lot of careful consideration. Are you looking for a promotional platform or just a website to share information and contact details for your brand? Are you aiming to establish an online store? Is customisation and design flexibility important to you? These are a few questions that determine the right platform for you. Here, we have listed 15 such features to make a detailed comparison between both platforms. This will give you enough insight to choose the better one that suits your requirements.

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1. Ease Of Use

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The ease of using a platform is an essential feature, though often not appreciated enough by experts. But what if you are a beginner? This is where this factor becomes crucial. Ease of use refers to the platform's learning curve and overall simplicity so anyone can use it.

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Squarespace is a clear winner in this segment. It is designed to help novice and non-technical users easily build a website from scratch. You can create a basic website on this platform in a few minutes. It is user-friendly and intuitive, requiring no coding skills from the user. You can easily preview the changes in real-time. Moreover, the drag-and-drop template editor lets you make changes in minutes. This means you can easily select different elements like text boxes and images and drag them to move and customise the overall look. 

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However, on the downside, the editor allows limited customisation and is not flexible enough. Moreover, the website builder handles any maintenance and updates required, so you need not worry about it. Colour palettes, fonts, page configuration, images, and text boxes can all be added, moved, and deleted with minimum effort in Squarespace. The limited flexibility need not be a drawback, though. It ensures that you never make a mistake with the positioning of the elements. Thus, the website will look presentable on the front end, no matter what.

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WordPress allows more customisation but is also more difficult to use. Coding and third-party plugin knowledge are essential to managing a highly customised website after a certain point. Moreover, the editing is done from the backend; thus, you cannot see the final result in real-time. The lack of real-time viewing can confuse non-technical users, who will likely make mistakes from going back and forth from the backend to the front end.

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WordPress is more suitable for experienced users or someone with minimum coding knowledge. The learning curve is steep, and you need time to figure out how everything works. Designing and making your website live after that can take a few hours and effort. It is an open-source platform that depends on custom coding. As a result, it can be tricky to master. WordPress also has a regular update cycle. But you must take responsibility for upgrading your WordPress website to the latest bug-free version. However, a plugin called Elementor can simplify the editor and make it more like Squarespace. If you choose WordPress, you can eventually customise the website to a completely different level and need not be confined to the premade template.

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2. The Editor

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The editor is essential to simplify the design of your website. The easier the editor is to work with, the faster you can create the website.

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Squarespace Editor has a straightforward interface lets you drag and drop elements and view the results in real time. You can simply find the content or feature you wish to edit and click on it to make the changes. The drag-and-drop editor makes it easier to lay out the content how you want. Moreover, you can easily view how it will look on the front end while editing. You can also drag content and elements from other website pages and add them wherever needed. Squarespace has recently introduced a new version of their drag-and-drop tool called the Fluid Engine. It helps create designs and layouts for your website’s desktop and mobile versions. You can easily position the elements around the page and use “snap to grid” to ensure proper alignment.

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WordPress is easy to set up and edit once you have created the website. But the initial stage of selecting and customising the theme per your preference has a steep learning curve. Without minimal knowledge of coding, it is rather difficult to master. It depends largely on the hosting provider, and the settings vary slightly. But once it has been set up, WordPress CMS is easy to edit on the go. The main drawback of the WordPress editor is that you have to edit the page from the backend. You cannot view how the results look in real time.

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The constant back-and-forth movement to check your page's appearance can be confusing. The only option is to preview or publish the page to see how it fares. It requires time and research to figure out the WordPress editor. As a result, the website, too, needs time to build. The problem can be somewhat solved if you use plugins like Divi that help you get a real-time view of the website. But it has some limitations compared to the in-built drag-and-drop editor of Squarespace. The latest version of the WordPress editor, “Gutenberg,” has a feature to drag and drop content blocks. It is similar to Squarespace but not as flexible as Fluid Engine. 

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3. E-commerce Features

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When you build a website for business, the eventual aim is to gain followers and sell through the platform. You need a website builder or CMS that can support E-commerce features. Both WordPress and Squarespace have basic E-commerce features. However, Squarespace slightly has the edge over WordPress regarding E-commerce functionality.

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WordPress was initially created as a blogging platform and hence lacks E-commerce features. Thus, you will need a specific plugin to sell through a website created in WordPress, and WooCommerce is the official E-commerce plugin for WordPress. Customising the WooCommerce plugin for sales can be tricky for a new user. This is where Squarespace becomes a more viable option. However, to avoid transaction fees, you must get any of their E-commerce plans to sell through Squarespace.

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Squarespace is an all-in-one E-commerce solution if you have a business plan or above. You will need the Squarespace extension marketplace to get more assistance with shipping and tax. With a business plan, small businesses can function easily. A 3% transaction fee is levied for every sale you make. But for more seasoned business owners, the E-commerce plan is the best choice. They have a basic and advanced commerce plan, which costs $27/month and $49/month, respectively. But they require no transaction fees. 

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On the bright side, it includes features like inventory management, orders, coupons, tax, label printing, gift cards, product listing on social media, abandoned cart recovery, advanced web analytics, video storage, subscription selling, and much more. You do not have to install additional plugins or activate or update any features to access these on Squarespace. Here is a detailed comparison based on specific E-commerce features for both platforms:

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Product and inventory management. 

With Squarespace, product and inventory management is a speedy and user-friendly feature that lets you add inventory and products efficiently, creating aesthetically appealing pages. You can set up SKUs and easily sell digital and physical products. Squarespace also allows you to import data from existing Etsy, Shopify, and Big Cartel accounts through CSV files, including customer information and orders. 

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WooCommerce supports digital and physical product sales, as well as services. It also allows you to import product add-ons and variants. The overall navigation is easy; you can easily arrange your product pages and track inventory. If you are creating a large-scale E-commerce platform, WooCommerce is the better choice, and unlike Squarespace, there is no SKU limit.

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Shipping and taxes

Squarespace has three shipping methods: flat rate, weight-based, and carrier-calculated. You can offer any of these three options to your clients. Similarly, WooCommerce offers three shipping methods: flat rate, free shipping, and local pickup. With Squarespace, you can create tax rules based on provinces, locations, and states. Customers will be charged sales tax per the policies when their addresses match any of these locations. In WooCommerce, users have more control over implementing taxes. They can configure tax calculations based on shipping address, billing address, and store location.

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Payment gateway

This is one of the essential parts of an E-commerce business. Users may look for alternative platforms if they are unhappy with the checkout experience. With Squarespace, you get a variety of payment gateways, supporting options like PayPal, Amazon Pay, Stripe, Apple Pay, and more. However, Squarespace does not support a multi-currency payment option, which can be a major drawback if you eventually plan to grow the business internationally. On the other hand, WooCommerce has a better solution for payment gateways. It offers over 100 varieties of payment methods through extensions and has a personal payment processor for WooCommerce stores. This plugin can be downloaded free of charge, and it does not require setup or any monthly fees.

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4. Pricing

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The Advanced Commerce plan is the best choice for E-commerce as it covers all Squarespace features. The main differences between the plans lie in marketing and E-commerce features, accessibility to custom CSS and scripts, transaction fees, and integration with third-party apps. WooCommerce pricing varies from $3.95 to $11.95 per month. Additional costs include a domain fee of $15/year, hosting fee of $6.95/month, security fees of $10/year and developers' fees of $50 per hour. There are five plans to choose from: Starter, Pro, Business 1, Business 2, and Business 3.

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The cost of additional plugins can go up to $0 - $129/year, depending on the chosen plugin. There may also be a monthly recurring maintenance service cost of $50. Maintaining and managing a WooCommerce website can cost approximately $500 to $3000, significantly higher than Squarespace, with various factors to consider. On the brighter side, a WooCommerce website is more suitable for long-term business expansion goals. You have the flexibility to customise plugins according to your requirements. Hence, deciding which option is cheaper, Squarespace or WooCommerce, can be tricky.

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5. Blogging

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Blogging has been recognised as a versatile marketing tool, effectively informing potential clients about your products and offering insider knowledge of your business. However, choosing the right blogging platform for better exposure is equally important. WordPress was initially built primarily for blogging and offers excellent tools. It provides plugins to create content-heavy and creative blogs as a content management system. One standout feature of the WordPress blogging tool is the ability to restore version history, allowing you to store multiple versions of a page for later use. Plenty of free templates are available, tailored to various blogging genres.

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Another major advantage of WordPress, especially for serious bloggers, is the ability to access HTML directly and customise the appearance of their blog. Commenting on other WordPress bloggers' posts is also possible unless specifically disabled. Moreover, WordPress boasts a large blogging community, covering a third of websites worldwide. Squarespace also offers many excellent blogging tools, considered the best among all website builders. They provide features like markdown support, podcast integration, RSS feeds, Google AMP, and the ability to have multiple contributors.

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On Squarespace, you can easily tag, categorise, and edit blogs on-site, seeing real-time changes as you edit. However, unlike WordPress, direct source code changes are impossible. Squarespace also offers free blogging templates, similar to WordPress. You can set permissions for external contributors and utilise an easy-to-use dashboard for categorising and maintaining your blogs.

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6. Plugins

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Plugins are third-party apps designed to enhance the functionality of a website builder or CMS. Both Squarespace and WordPress offer plugins to simplify the website-building process.  Squarespace provides in-house apps and tools for modifying, editing, and designing the website. These apps cover various needs, such as blogging, note-taking, analytics, and portfolio building. Since they are all developed in-house, they seamlessly integrate with the platform. However, the number of available plugins is limited.

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The Squarespace app market is called Squarespace extensions for more advanced functions on Squarespace. These plugins can fulfil various requirements related to website building. Some popular Squarespace apps include EZ texting, Shippo, and Outfy. Many of these extensions are specifically designed for E-commerce websites. WordPress, on the other hand, is renowned for its extensive range of plugins. It offers over 59,000 free and paid plugins for various website-building tasks. Being an open-source platform, WordPress allows customisation by a vast community of programmers who contribute themes, plugins, and more, often available for free or at nominal charges.

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WordPress plugins cover many functionalities, including contact forms, comment sections, SEO improvement, and more. There are also plugins specifically designed for WooCommerce. Installing WordPress plugins is generally straightforward, but due to the vast selection, it can be challenging to find the most suitable options. Researching forums, reviews, and trialling plugins can help determine their functionality. Some notable WordPress plugins include Elementor, BuddyPress, Yoast SEO, Advanced Custom Fields, and TablePress.It is safe to say that when it comes to plugins and apps, WordPress offers a wider selection. However, Squarespace is known for maintaining consistent quality in its offerings.

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7. Templates

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Templates play a crucial role in the layout and functionality of a website, contributing to its aesthetics and ease of navigation. Squarespace and WordPress offer a variety of templates to choose from, catering to different types of websites. WordPress templates are highly customisable, but extensive coding knowledge is required to use this feature fully. On the other hand, Squarespace provides simpler, beautiful, and mobile-friendly templates that can be customised to a certain extent.

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Squarespace templates are known for their elegant and mobile-optimized designs. They offer a range of pre-designed templates that can be tweaked to match your preferences. You can modify font styles, sizes, and colours, add images and videos, and change backgrounds. A standout feature of Squarespace templates is the availability of three styles for the product page: classic, advanced, and unique. Each style offers distinct features that set them apart. Squarespace templates are ideal if you're seeking a website builder that requires minimal effort.

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WordPress, on the other hand, is a popular choice for those seeking customisable templates. With a wide variety of templates categorised based on style and design, WordPress offers 9,038 collections of themes. However, since it is an open-source platform, many themes are developed by unknown developers, resulting in varying quality. Testing for mobile responsiveness and ensuring compatibility with the latest upgrades is essential. While WordPress has a vast selection of free themes that can be customised, personalising them often requires expertise. In contrast, Squarespace offers a user-friendly customisation experience for all users. WordPress is a great option if you prioritise a wide range of choices. However, if you prefer effortless and aesthetically appealing designs, Squarespace provides numerous inclusive options with all its plans.

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8. Flexibility

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Flexibility refers to a platform's ability to provide tailored solutions for your business, allowing easy modification and customisation to meet your specific requirements. When it comes to flexibility, WordPress emerges as the clear winner. While its steeper learning curve may challenge some, it also grants the platform greater flexibility.  WordPress offers a wide range of features that can be tweaked and customised to suit your needs perfectly. One key advantage of WordPress is its open-source nature, allowing for contributions from the community and a growing variety of plugins. You can access and modify the WordPress codebase to align it with your preferences. 

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WordPress allows the server to adjust according to your preferences, such as working with a specific CDN (Content Delivery Network). Additionally, you can create custom blocks within the WordPress website to customise the layout as desired. The theme customisation options are extensive as long as you thoroughly understand coding. In contrast, Squarespace offers a great real-time editor that allows you to preview changes as you make them. However, the platform lacks the same level of flexibility. Since Squarespace is not an open-source platform, you cannot directly access the source code and make extensive modifications. The platform's features are primarily built in-house and cannot be customised at will.

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9. Customization Options

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Like flexibility, customisation allows you to tailor the platform to meet your requirements, resulting in a unique website that stands apart from prefabricated templates. WordPress is the ideal choice for highly customisable solutions. However, it requires ample coding knowledge or the assistance of a professional. With WordPress, the possibilities are endless. You have direct access to the platform's codebase, allowing you to make any design changes you desire. Furthermore, WordPress offers a vast selection of themes and plugins that can be customised to suit your needs. The level of customisation depends on your coding expertise.

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Although WordPress has a steep learning curve, it can deliver more satisfying results than other platforms, including Squarespace. Squarespace, on the other hand, offers limited customisation options. You can easily modify themes and templates to adjust the background colour, images, text style and size. However, deeper customisation beyond these superficial changes is impossible due to Squarespace's closed-source nature. Therefore, if you seek a high level of personalisation for your website, WordPress is the superior choice. It enables precise customisation of your website's theme to align with your business ideas and goals.

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10. SEO

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SEO is key to making your website stand out and rank highly in search engine results. Both WordPress and Squarespace are renowned for their powerful SEO features. Choosing between the two platforms for SEO purposes can be challenging, as they offer different approaches. WordPress boasts powerful SEO features through various plugins. These plugins provide flexibility in adjusting parameters and optimising your website for search engines. Additionally, WordPress has built-in SEO features, such as customisable meta titles, descriptions, excerpts, featured images, and alt tags.

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Squarespace, on the other hand, offers equally robust built-in SEO features. When you select any of their plans, you gain access to tools like custom meta titles and descriptions, simplified URLs, alt text for images, page redirects, automatic sitemaps, the ability to hide pages from search engines, and control over social media sharing images. These features are seamlessly integrated into the Squarespace platform, eliminating the need for separate installations.

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WordPress relies more on third-party plugins for advanced SEO capabilities. Popular plugins like Yoast SEO, The SEO Framework, WordPress SEO Plugin-Rank Math, and All in One SEO Pack enhance website speed, optimisation, and other SEO functions. These plugins have garnered high ratings and are widely used for their flexibility and excellent features. Yoast SEO, for instance, has extensive guides on SEO best practices and creating high-quality content with the right keywords. It's important to note that WordPress's SEO performance on mobile devices can be affected by factors such as the website's size, number of pages, and media elements like images, videos, and audio. In conclusion, both WordPress and Squarespace offer powerful SEO features, but the approach and tools may differ. Consider your specific SEO requirements and preferences when choosing between the two platforms.

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11. Customer Support

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Customer support is vital to any website builder, regardless of your coding expertise. Access to professional help from the platform provider can be invaluable in resolving issues and ensuring a smooth website operation. In terms of organised customer service, Squarespace has an advantage over WordPress. Squarespace is known for providing 24/7 support through email and Twitter. They offer a comprehensive library of help guides, workshop videos, and a community forum where users can find solutions to various problems. The live chat option is available during weekdays, and they also offer free webinars to address troubleshooting topics. Additionally, Squarespace has a marketplace where you can connect with experts for guidance. Squarespace's support features are well-organized and easily accessible, ensuring prompt resolutions and minimising website downtime. They even assist Facebook Messenger, responding swiftly to user queries.

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On the other hand, WordPress support can be more challenging to navigate. Due to its open-source nature and many plugins and apps developed by various contributors worldwide, finding organised help can be difficult, especially for new users. WordPress does not offer live chat, email support, or phone calls. However, users can turn to the WordPress forum, where millions contribute to daily troubleshooting discussions. There are also text and video tutorials and guidelines created by expert users and developers. 

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For WordPress users, hiring an expert can help minimise the hassle of managing their website. These experts offer personalised website development, installation, hosting, module development, and site-building solutions. While Squarespace provides organised and readily available customer support, WordPress users rely more on community-driven resources and the assistance of hired experts.

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Want to Start Selling Online with Fynd Platform?

Fynd Platform is our top-rated ecommerce website builder, and for good reason with 30 days free trial!

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12. Design

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The design elements of a website refer to how easy it is to design and set up the website using the chosen platform. The simpler the design process, the quicker you can publish your website. Both Squarespace and WordPress offer excellent website design tools and are user-friendly. However, Squarespace is known for its simplicity, as it allows you to view real-time edits. However, its features are limited and cannot be extensively customised. Users can set up a website on Squarespace in less than 15 minutes after selecting their domain name. Even beginners with no experience in website design will find it user-friendly. The provided templates on Squarespace are clean, elegant, easy to modify, and have a professional appearance.

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You can make superficial changes, such as adjusting the background colour, text style, etc. On the other hand, WordPress can be slightly challenging for new users. You cannot see real-time updates since changes need to be made from the backend. However, plugins like Elementor can help address this issue to some extent. Still, WordPress has a steeper learning curve compared to Squarespace. However, the effort invested in learning WordPress is rewarded by its limitless design possibilities. With WordPress, you can tweak the source code and completely transform the look of your website. This flexibility is one of the main reasons WordPress remains a popular choice, even for beginners in website design.

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13. Mobile Editor

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These days a lot of work related to website designing is done on the go with the help of mobile or tablets. The mobile editor is your best option for managing your website on the go. Many website builders and content management systems have developed exclusive mobile applications to edit and manage the website on the go. The same applies to WordPress and Squarespace. When it comes to mobile editor apps, it is a tie between Squarespace and WordPress. Squarespace has plenty of options for editing on their application. There are four different apps for different purposes with Squarespace. They are for analytics, blog, commerce and the Squarespace app. All these apps work on Android and iOS. 

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You can track the analytics and performance of your website with the analytics app. The blogging app has all the required editing tools for your blog content. You have specific tools in the E-commerce app to manage an E-commerce website. The Squarespace app primarily updates images and pages, writes and edits blogs, and tracks analytics. The Squarespace app combines the primary features of all the other three apps. It is useful to do minor updates and changes all over the website. But if you want to go into the details of specific segments, getting the dedicated apps for the purpose is wiser.

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The WordPress app is much simpler. There is only one app for all the works, and the interface is very simple yet covers all the tools you need. The WordPress app is available for Android, iOS and even Windows devices. You can even download it for a desktop. Editing and writing blog posts, keeping basic tabs on your website analytics, checking notifications and comments and replying to them- all can be done with the WordPress app. You simply need to install the app for free on your system and connect your website with it. Once it is done, you can simply manage the website- all in one place on the go.

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14. Maintenance And Updates

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Maintenance and updates are crucial to keeping your website functional and smooth. The website builder platform goes through these occasionally so that you get the latest interface to enhance your website further. Sometimes you must actively implement these updates on your website to function smoothly. Other times, it is managed internally by the platform and saves you a lot of time and effort. 

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When it comes to maintenance, Squarespace is the better choice. All the updates and maintenance in Squarespace are handled internally for you. They are tested and upgraded to your website automatically. This means you need not worry about implementing these updates manually. Thus, you can focus better on taking care of the design aspect of the website. In WordPress, you must stay alert about the latest updates and ongoing maintenance processes. You need to implement them manually to ensure your website keeps functioning smoothly. Most of the WordPress updates and maintenance are to fix the bugs and improve the website's security features.

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Every time WordPress rolls out a new update, you must implement it at the earliest so that your website stays functional. Regular updates are important to improve and maintain the consistent performance of your website. It also ensures no conflict with the latest versions of the platform. Lastly, it prevents your website from crashing frequently. The key is implementing plugins and applications from reputable developers who usually update their products occasionally. Once their update is available, WordPress sends a notification regarding the same, and you need to implement it on your website.

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15. Security

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Security of the website is of utmost importance to build a reputation for your brand. If your website hosting is insecure, many potential users will likely avoid it. The security features are largely dependent on the platform where you built the website. WordPress and Squarespace have strong security features that ensure your website does not get attached or there is any data loss.

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Squarespace is a hosted solution which takes care of the security for you. The platform is responsible for ensuring that cyber thieves do not breach your website. Hence, they keep backups of all your data. All the domains are protected through an SSL certificate on Squarespace. The platform also has two-factor authentication, ensuring additional protection for all your personal and financial data.

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However, on WordPress, you have plenty of options to amp the security of the website and choose as per your requirement. But the implementation is largely dependent on your team or you.  You must get the SSL certificate and implement the regular WordPress security updates to ensure the website remains functional. There are numerous plugins for security on WordPress. Hence, it is imperative to choose wisely to protect your website. Only go for products from reputed developers on WordPress to enjoy the highest security solution.

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16. Content Ownership

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Licensing and ownership is an essential part of managing a website. But WordPress is slightly better in this segment compared to Squarespace. Since it is an open-source platform, you can control the licensing terms. It is wise to check the platform's content ownership policies before building a website. Depending on the platform the rights to your content may vary depending on the platform you choose. Everything uploaded on a Squarespace website remains your content. However, you do not own the website template; you only have the license for it when you pay. 

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Also, everything you upload on a Squarespace website is licensed to the company. This means you give them the license to store, host, reproduce, modify, and create derivatives from your work. But these are terms similar to those on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. and not too problematic in real life. WordPress being an open-source platform, you modify and redistribute the content you create at will. But it can be a problem since it complicates the platform’s coding. But since you can use it freely, there are no imposing terms related to ownership like that on Squarespace. The only problem with WordPress is that you are responsible for the hosting service. Most of the reputed hosting services come with similar ownership policies to Squarespace. But you can still retain majority control of your content.

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Final Verdict 

Building a website involves many factors which influence the overall quality and accessibility of the platform. Themes, SEO, mobile apps, plugins, storage, and design elements are factors that must be considered when choosing a website builder or CMS. Squarespace and WordPress are popular choices though one is a website builder and the other is a content management system. Both come with several advantages and disadvantages. The key is to choose the one whose features matches your requirement best.

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Squarespace is known particularly for its in-house applications and design features. They have superior features and functions to build a basic E-commerce platform for small and medium businesses. The overall cost is also affordable enough for such businesses. But on the other hand, it is not the best platform for blogging or content-based ventures. WordPress is highly customisable and open-source, making it an attractive choice for users with coding skills. It has a plethora of third-party plugins for every requirement. The best part is WordPress was primarily built for blogging. It has a counterpart specifically designed for an E-commerce website called Woocommerce. However, it can be a little overwhelming to manage for someone new in the business.

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When choosing between WordPress and Squarespace, the key is to clarify your business requirement. This, in turn, will help you find the perfect platform within your budget and easy to control. Squarespace is a good choice if you are a small or medium business looking for a website for digital exposure and selling your products. It will be easier to set up with a minimal learning curve. WordPress is a good choice if you plan to grow the business exponentially and build a strong content front. If you are skilled in coding, it is the perfect option, or you may have to hire a professional. But despite the steep learning curve, it is a better choice in the long run.

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Conclusion 

The choice of the right website builder comes down to the purpose of the website. If you are in a dilemma while choosing between WordPress and Squarespace, the key is to consider the features essential for your purpose. Both platforms have certain key areas of expertise, so setting aside any of them as the best gets difficult. WordPress has an edge for its design elements in terms of blogging and informational website. 

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On the other hand, Squarespace provides more features and perks for commercial websites. However, both are rather expensive and difficult to afford for small businesses. In such a situation, you can consider Fynd Platform, which has all the features of WordPress and Squarespace but at a much lesser cost. Fynd Platform is easy to set up, even for beginners and has a huge follower base. Thus, a website built on this platform will always have an extra edge. The best part is the affordability and value for money. You get access to the most premium features at a much lower cost.

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In short, one can conclude WordPress and Squarespace are undoubtedly prestigious platforms. But if you are looking for quality services, you can also consider newcomers in the market, like the Fynd platform, which is equally good. The platform takes inspiration from such market leaders to develop their UI and UX and their website structure to deliver the best to the customers.