◦ Comprehensive security
◦ 24/7 support
WordPress Guide → Vs → Wix Vs Squarespace
Wix vs Squarespace vs WordPress: The ultimate showdown
Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress are three of the most popular website-building platforms—but they take very different approaches. Whether you’re launching a blog, selling products, or building a business site, choosing the right platform is key to saving time, money, and headaches later on.
Let’s walk through the features, strengths, and weaknesses of each to help you choose the right one for your website.
Key differences at a glance
| Feature | Wix | Squarespace | WordPress.org |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform type | Hosted | Hosted | Self-hosted |
| Ease of use | Beginner-friendly | Streamlined and polished | Flexible but technical |
| Design freedom | High | Medium | Unlimited |
| Plugins & extensions | Moderate | Limited | Extensive |
| SEO control | Good | Basic | Excellent |
| Ecommerce | Basic to intermediate | Intermediate | Advanced (via WooCommerce) |
| Price | $16–$59/month | $16–$49/month | $5–$50+/month (hosting, extras) |
What is each platform?
Wix
Wix is a fully hosted website builder known for its drag-and-drop editor. You don’t need to worry about web hosting, security, or maintenance—Wix handles everything.
It’s especially popular with beginners because it’s easy to use and offers hundreds of pre-made templates. You can build anything from a personal blog to a business site or simple online store.
Squarespace
Squarespace is also a hosted platform, but with a design-first approach. All templates are beautifully crafted and optimized for mobile, making it a favorite among photographers, artists, and boutique brands.
It has fewer customization options than Wix, but the result is often a more polished, consistent look with less effort.
WordPress
WordPress.org is open-source software that powers over 40% of websites. It’s not hosted—so you’ll need to get separate web hosting—but it gives you full control over every part of your site.
You can use thousands of plugins and themes to add just about any feature or look you want. It has a steeper learning curve but offers the most power and flexibility.
1. Ease of use: Which is more beginner-friendly?
Wix is the easiest for complete beginners. Its drag-and-drop builder lets you move elements anywhere on the page, and the AI-powered Wix ADI tool can even generate a site for you based on a few questions. Everything happens in a visual editor, and you never have to touch code.
Squarespace is also beginner-friendly but more structured. You edit within set layout areas, so you can’t just drop content anywhere. This makes the site look cleaner but gives you less control over placement. It has fewer customization options than Wix but feels more polished.
WordPress isn’t as intuitive out of the box. You’ll need to install a theme, add plugins for extra features, and often do some trial and error. Page builders like Elementor make the process more visual, but there’s a bigger learning curve than with Wix or Squarespace.
2. Design and customization
Wix offers unmatched freedom within its editor. You can place elements exactly where you want, adjust styles easily, and choose from over 900 templates. However, too much freedom can lead to messy designs if you’re not careful.
Squarespace limits where you can place things, but that keeps your design sleek and mobile-friendly. It offers about 100 templates, all professionally designed. You can customize fonts, colors, and layout sections, but deep changes often require custom CSS.
WordPress offers unlimited design freedom. You can pick from thousands of themes—both free and premium—or build a completely custom design using a builder like Elementor or Gutenberg. With full access to code, you can customize every detail. You’ll need to manage mobile responsiveness and performance yourself or through plugins.
3. Features and functionality
Wix includes many built-in features like a blog, contact forms, appointment bookings, and ecommerce tools. It also has an app market where you can add extra tools like live chat or marketing pop-ups, though the app selection is smaller than WordPress.
Squarespace focuses on built-in functionality. It has tools for blogging, image galleries, ecommerce, email marketing, and more—all included in your plan. It doesn’t rely on third-party apps as much, so everything works smoothly together but is less customizable.
WordPress has the largest plugin ecosystem—over 60,000 plugins. You can add features for SEO, security, ecommerce, learning management, membership sites, and more. It requires more setup and maintenance, but you can build anything you want.
4. Ecommerce capabilities
Wix offers ecommerce plans with features like product pages, coupons, digital downloads, and inventory management. It’s great for small online stores but not as scalable for large or complex stores.
Squarespace includes stylish product pages and built-in tools for managing orders, shipping, and inventory. It supports services, digital and physical products, and integrates with Stripe and PayPal. It’s a strong choice for small to medium-sized stores.
WordPress uses WooCommerce, the most customizable ecommerce platform available. It supports everything from simple shops to large stores with thousands of products, multiple currencies, subscriptions, and more. You’ll need to manage hosting and install extensions, but it scales with your business.
5. Blogging and content management
Wix includes basic blogging features, but it lacks the depth needed for long-term blogging or serious publishing. It’s fine for occasional posts but not ideal for content-first websites.
Squarespace offers solid blogging tools with a clean interface and stylish layout options. You can schedule posts, add tags, and include images and video, but the organization tools are more limited than WordPress.
WordPress is built for blogging. It includes advanced tools like categories, tags, custom post types, media libraries, and robust editors. It’s ideal for content-heavy sites or anyone publishing regularly.
6. SEO capabilities
Wix gives you access to basic SEO tools like meta titles, descriptions, alt text, and redirects. It’s good enough for small sites, though some technical SEO features are harder to access.
Squarespace has built-in SEO tools, but fewer customization options. You can edit basic metadata and use clean URLs, but structured data and advanced settings are limited.
WordPress gives you full control. With plugins like Yoast SEO or Rank Math, you can manage sitemaps, breadcrumbs, schema markup, and canonical URLs. It’s the best choice if SEO is a priority.
7. Performance and speed
Wix and Squarespace are hosted platforms, so performance is generally reliable. You don’t need to optimize servers or manage caching—they handle all of that. However, they aren’t the fastest platforms and can lag under heavy traffic.
WordPress performance depends entirely on your hosting. Cheap shared hosts can be slow, but specialized hosting for WordPress—built on premium servers and backed by a good provider—can deliver lightning-fast speeds. You’ll also have control over performance optimizations like caching, image compression, and CDN integration.
8. Support and community
Wix offers 24/7 customer support via phone and chat, plus a large knowledge base and tutorials. It’s easy to get help if something breaks.
Squarespace provides support through live chat and email. Their help guides are well-organized and thorough, and they also offer webinars and video tutorials.
WordPress doesn’t have official support, but it has the largest community of users, developers, and support forums. You can find tutorials for just about anything, and there are thousands of freelancers and agencies that specialize in WordPress support.
9. Pricing comparison
| Platform | Free plan | Paid plans | Ecommerce pricing | Extras |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wix | Yes | $16–$59/mo | Starts at $27/mo | Paid apps, custom domains |
| Squarespace | No | $16–$49/mo | Starts at $23/mo | Transaction fees apply |
| WordPress | Yes (with free host) | $5–$50+/mo for hosting | Free core; extensions cost extra | Domain, theme, plugin costs vary |
WordPress can be the most affordable or the most expensive, depending on how complex your site is.
Who should use each platform?
Wix is ideal for beginners who want to build a small site quickly. If you need an online brochure, portfolio, or simple store, it’s easy to get started and manage.
Squarespace is best for creatives and small business owners who value polished design and want everything to “just work.” It’s great for photographers, designers, and service-based businesses.
WordPress is the right choice if you want to scale, customize every detail, or build a content-rich or feature-heavy site. It’s best for long-term growth and flexibility but requires a bit of tech know-how.
Final verdict: Which one should you choose?
Choose Wix if you want a fast, visual way to build a site and don’t need complex features. It’s best for beginners or small businesses that want to DIY quickly.
Choose Squarespace if you care most about design, branding, and keeping things simple. It’s ideal for portfolios, service businesses, and boutique stores.
Choose WordPress if you want the most control and scalability. It’s the best fit for growing blogs, ecommerce businesses, or any site that might expand over time.
Next steps for choosing between Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress
Your platform decision will affect how much control, flexibility, and work you have down the road. Start by listing your priorities—do you want maximum customization, minimal effort, or something in between?
Match those priorities with the platform that fits your style. You can always switch later, but choosing the right foundation makes life easier.
Ready to upgrade your WordPress experience? Professional hosting improves speeds, security, and reliability for a website and a brand that people find engaging and trustworthy.
Need more time for grading homework? Let our experts deal with server management and maintenance. Our fully managed hosting for WordPress is the best in the industry. Our team are not only server IT experts, but WordPress hosting experts as well. Your server couldn’t be in better hands.
Click through below to explore all of our hosting for WordPress options, or chat with a WordPress expert right now to get answers and advice.
Additional resources
How to build a WordPress site →
A complete beginner’s guide that covers 9 key steps to a successful launch
Google Sites vs WordPress: Which is Better for Your Website? →
Compare Google Sites and WordPress to choose the best platform for building flexible, scalable, and feature-rich websites.
Intro to WordPress caching →
Types of caching, plugins that can help, and more