Squarespace has earned its reputation. Beautiful templates, drag-and-drop editing, and you can have a site live by tonight. For certain businesses, it's exactly the right choice.
But it's not the right choice for everyone. Here's how to know which camp you're in.
Where Squarespace Shines
Speed to Launch
You can build a legitimately good-looking Squarespace site in a weekend. Pick a template, swap in your content, connect your domain, done. No developers, no waiting, no back-and-forth.
For a new business testing an idea or a freelancer who needs a web presence yesterday, this speed is genuinely valuable.
Beautiful Templates
Squarespace templates are designed by actual designers. They're tasteful, modern, and photograph well. You won't end up with something embarrassing.
Compare this to WordPress themes, where quality varies wildly, and you can see why Squarespace has such loyal fans.
All-in-One Simplicity
Hosting, SSL, domains, email marketing, basic e-commerce, scheduling — it's all in one dashboard. One login, one bill, one support team. For non-technical founders, this simplicity is worth paying for.
Predictable Pricing
$16-49/month depending on plan. No surprise hosting bills, no plugin subscriptions adding up, no developer invoices. You know exactly what you're paying.
Where Squarespace Falls Short
Performance Ceiling
Squarespace sites typically score 40-65 on Google PageSpeed. That's... fine. Not great. The templates load a lot of code you don't need, and you can't optimize it away.
For a portfolio site, this doesn't matter much. For an e-commerce site where every second of load time costs conversions, it adds up.
Design Constraints
Templates are a double-edged sword. Yes, they look good — but they look like Squarespace templates. Visit enough small business sites and you start recognizing them.
More importantly, you're limited to what the template allows. Want a specific animation? A unique scroll interaction? A layout that doesn't fit the grid? You're either hacking around limitations or accepting you can't have it.
SEO Limitations
Squarespace covers the basics — meta titles, descriptions, alt tags. But you can't control:
- Page speed optimization
- Advanced schema markup
- Custom URL structures
- Server response times
- Core Web Vitals at a granular level
For competitive keywords, these limitations matter.
Scalability
Squarespace works until it doesn't. Common breaking points:
- E-commerce beyond ~100 products gets unwieldy
- Complex filtering or search isn't possible
- User accounts and memberships are basic
- Integrations beyond their app marketplace require workarounds
- Multi-language sites are clunky
You might not need these features today. But if you're planning to grow, you're building on a foundation that can't grow with you.
You Don't Own It
Your Squarespace site lives on Squarespace's servers, in their proprietary system. If you want to leave, you're starting over. You can export some content, but your design, your templates, your customizations — none of that comes with you.
When Squarespace Is the Right Choice
Squarespace genuinely makes sense when:
- You're validating a business idea and need something live fast
- Your budget is under $3,000 total
- You want to manage content yourself without any technical knowledge
- Your site is primarily a brochure — a few pages explaining what you do
- You don't depend on organic search traffic for leads
- Your competitors' websites aren't a competitive advantage for them
There's no shame in this. Not every business needs a custom website. Some businesses need to conserve capital for other things.
When You've Outgrown Squarespace
It's time to consider custom development when:
- Your website is a primary source of leads or revenue
- You're competing in a market where first impressions matter
- You need functionality Squarespace can't provide
- Page speed is affecting your conversions or rankings
- You want your site to feel different, not like a template
- You're planning to scale and don't want to rebuild later
The question isn't "is Squarespace bad?" It's "has your business outgrown what Squarespace can do?"
The Cost Reality
Squarespace: True 3-Year Cost
- Annual plan: ~$200-400/year = $600-1,200
- Premium integrations/apps: $0-500
- Your time building and maintaining: 20-40 hours
Total: $600-1,700 + your time
Custom Next.js: True 3-Year Cost
- Initial build: $15,000-25,000
- Hosting (Vercel): $0-720
- Maintenance: Near zero
Total: $15,000-26,000
Yes, custom is more expensive. Significantly more. The question is whether that investment generates returns through better conversions, higher trust, improved SEO, or competitive differentiation.
For some businesses, it's an obvious yes. For others, Squarespace is the smarter bet. There's no universal answer.
The Honest Take
We don't build Squarespace sites. We build custom Next.js sites for businesses where the website is a competitive advantage.
But we'd rather you use Squarespace and succeed than overspend on custom development you don't need yet. If you're early-stage, capital-constrained, or your website just needs to exist rather than perform — start with Squarespace.
When your business grows to the point where your website is holding you back, that's when we should talk.