Squarespace Pricing In 2026: Plans, Real Fees, VAT, Add-Ons, And How To Choose The Best One
Squarespace pricing depends on the plan you choose, how you pay, and whether you add selling tools like e-commerce and email. Pay annually, and the monthly equivalent is usually lower; pay monthly, and you keep flexibility but spend more over a year.
Your true total can also include VAT, payment processing, and optional add-ons such as domains, Google Workspace, Email Campaigns, and Scheduling.
Squarespace pricing is what you pay for a plan that keeps your site live, secure, and easy to manage in one place. Plans scale from simple sites to full ecommerce, and annual billing often reduces the effective monthly price.
Your final total may also include VAT, domain renewals, professional email, and payment processing fees if you sell online.
What is Squarespace?
Squarespace is an all-in-one website platform that lets you build and run a site without hiring a developer. It gives you templates, a drag-and-drop style editor, hosting, security, and built-in tools for pages, blogs, forms, and basic analytics.
You can also add features like online selling, appointments, and email marketing, depending on the plan you choose.
Squarespace pricing in 2026
Squarespace pricing is split into tiers, and you can pay monthly or annually depending on what suits your budget. Every plan includes core foundations like hosting, SSL, templates, and the editor. Higher tiers add stronger commerce tools, more marketing capability, and better selling economics.
A quick view of Squarespace pricing for most people
Most buyers end up comparing two decisions: annual vs monthly billing, then Core vs Plus, depending on whether selling is central.
The clearest way to estimate Squarespace pricing is to separate the plan, any add-ons, and the fees that come with taking payments. That framing prevents surprise renewals and “hidden cost” frustration later.
The cost detail most people overlook
A website plan is not the whole running cost of a website. It’s easy to start on the lowest tier, then find your monthly spend rises once you add a domain renewal, branded email, or booking and newsletter tools.
Monthly vs annual Squarespace pricing
Squarespace displays different prices depending on whether you pay monthly or annually, and prices can change over time. Annual billing usually offers a lower monthly equivalent, while monthly billing spreads the cost across the year.
How annual billing works in real terms?
Annual billing is a one-off payment for 12 months of service. The “per month” figure is just the yearly price divided by 12.
When reviewing plan choices, the deciding factor is rarely the plan price alone. It’s whether the plan supports your workflow without upgrades in the next 90 days.
Squarespace plan comparison at a glance
| Plan tier | Best for | What you usually get | What often triggers an upgrade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | Portfolio and brochure sites | Hosting, SSL, templates, pages, basic analytics | Selling tools, deeper reporting, and advanced marketing |
| Core | Small business sites | Stronger analytics, more business features, smoother scaling | Heavier ecommerce needs, more selling efficiency |
| Plus | Growing ecommerce | Better commerce toolkit and store operations | Higher-volume selling, advanced workflows |
| Advanced | High-volume ecommerce | Most complete selling features and optimisation | Often unnecessary unless sales volume justifies it |
Example: A wedding photographer launched on Basic for galleries and enquiry forms. Once they added paid mini-sessions and wanted smoother checkout and reporting, they moved to Core without rebuilding the site.
Free trial vs free plan
Squarespace typically offers a time-limited free trial rather than a permanent free plan. You can build and preview your site during the trial, but publishing on a custom domain usually requires a paid subscription.
What to check during your free trial?
Use the trial to test the things that create the most “I picked the wrong plan” regret later:
- Template behaviour on mobile
- Forms and email capture
- Checkout flow if you plan to sell
- Integrations you rely on, such as Stripe, PayPal, Google Workspace, or a CRM
In practice, the trial is best used to check that key tasks feel smooth, especially on mobile and at checkout.
Choosing the right Squarespace plan
Choose a plan by matching it to what you need your site to do in the next three months, not what you might do “someday”.
A simple rule for picking a plan
If you are not selling and you do not need advanced business tools, Basic can be enough. If you are a business and care about tracking results, Core is often the sensible baseline.
If selling is core to the business, Plus is often the value tier. Advanced is best reserved for stores where selling volume and workflow complexity justify it.
Squarespace pricing for small business websites
For most small businesses, Core is the common starting point because it reduces the likelihood of needing a fast upgrade when marketing and measurement become important.
How to choose a plan quickly?
- Decide if you will take payments in the next 90 days
- List must-haves such as ecommerce, bookings, memberships, or newsletters
- Estimate monthly sales volume and average order value if selling
- Check which plan features remove workarounds in your workflow
- Add likely extras like a domain renewal and professional email
- Compare selling costs from payment processing and any plan-based commerce fees
- Run a trial test of checkout, forms, mobile layout, and invoices
That sequence usually gets you to a stable plan without overspending.
What each Squarespace plan includes?
Every plan includes the core website foundations, but the business and commerce features increase as you move up tiers.
What you get on every plan?
- Hosting and SSL
- Templates and style editor
- Pages, blogs, and basic SEO settings
- Built-in analytics dashboard
- Customer support access
What changes as you move up plans?
- Depth of commerce tools such as discounts, shipping rules, and inventory workflows
- Business tools like advanced analytics and marketing capabilities
- Selling economics, depending on how Squarespace structures commerce fees for your plan set
A common pattern is to pay attention to a single feature you want while missing the feature that saves you the most time every week, such as inventory handling, product variants, or reporting.
Transaction fees and card fees explained
Squarespace selling costs are easiest to understand when you split them into two buckets: platform transaction fees and payment processing fees.
Squarespace may apply a plan-based commerce transaction fee on certain sales. Separately, your payment provider charges processing fees for handling card payments, wallets, fraud checks, and settlement.
What payment processing covers?
Payment processing is charged by the provider you use, commonly involving entities such as:
- Squarespace Payments
- Stripe
- PayPal
- Apple Pay and Google Pay through supported processors
- Klarna or Clearpay where available
Squarespace transaction fees are plan-dependent platform charges tied to certain selling activity, while payment processing fees are charged by your payment provider for cards and wallets.
Even if a plan has no platform transaction fee, card processing still applies. Always check both fee types before pricing products.
How VAT can affect what you pay?
VAT can appear in different ways depending on how prices are displayed for your region, your billing details, and how your account is set up. The safest method is to treat your invoice as the source of truth.
Where VAT shows up in billing?
Check:
- Your Squarespace billing dashboard
- Your invoice line items
- Your account billing details
This is not tax advice. If you are unsure about reclaiming VAT or how it applies to your business, a qualified accountant can advise based on your situation.
When reviewing invoices, a common pattern is outdated billing details causing confusing totals. Fixing the billing profile usually resolves it.
Extra costs that can raise your total
Most “hidden costs” are not hidden at all; they are optional services that become necessary as your site becomes more professional.
Add-ons that most often change your monthly spend
- Domain renewal after the first year
- Google Workspace for branded email
- Email Campaigns for newsletters and promotions
- Scheduling for appointments and classes
- Extensions and integrations for marketing, accounting, or shipping
- Paid design assets such as fonts and stock photos
As your site starts taking payments and you want cleaner reporting, it’s common to connect your store to bookkeeping tools so revenue, fees, and invoices stay organised.
If you want payouts, fees, and invoices to match up cleanly, the right Small business accounting software can make a noticeable difference once you start selling.
Extras worth budgeting for
| Cost item | What it covers | When it becomes important |
|---|---|---|
| Domain renewal | Keeping your web address active | After year one, or if you manage multiple domains |
| Google Workspace | Branded email, calendar, admin tools | When you want reliable deliverability and a professional inbox |
| Email Campaigns | Newsletter sending, lists, reporting | When you start marketing regularly |
| Scheduling | Bookings, reminders, intake forms | Services, coaching, clinics, classes |
| Extensions | Specialist tools and connectors | When your workflow needs CRM, accounting, or advanced shipping |
Example: A personal trainer launched a site on Core and felt pricing was straightforward. Later they added Scheduling and a branded email inbox, and the monthly “site cost” increased. Once they planned those extras in advance, the budget stopped drifting.
What a realistic monthly budget looks like?
A realistic budget combines plan cost, essential extras, and selling costs if you take payments.
How to work out your true total?
If you do not sell online, your total is often plan plus domain renewal and email. If you do sell, payment processing becomes the variable line that scales with revenue.
In practice, stores with low-margin products feel fees more sharply than service businesses selling higher-value packages.
Three realistic budget examples
| Scenario | Likely plan tier | What typically drives total cost |
|---|---|---|
| Portfolio or freelancer site | Basic or Core | Plan, domain renewal, optional branded email |
| Local service business | Core | Plan, branded email, forms, optional Email Campaigns and Scheduling |
| Ecommerce store | Plus | Plan, payment processing, optional extensions and shipping tools |
Is Squarespace worth it for a small business?
Squarespace is often worth it when you value an all-in-one platform that reduces technical overhead. You are paying for an integrated editor, managed hosting, SSL, templates, and a central dashboard that handles content, design, billing, and basic analytics.
When it tends to be good value?
- You want a professional site without managing plugins, updates, and security tools
- You want design quality without hiring a developer immediately
- You prefer fewer moving parts over building a stack from separate vendors
When it may not be the best fit?
- You need highly specialised ecommerce workflows that require many external tools
- You need deep custom development and control over server-side behaviour
- You already have a mature tech stack and want a modular build
A common pattern is that businesses outgrow platforms only after they have clear traction. Until then, simplicity and speed often win.
Squarespace pricing compared with Wix Shopify and WordPress
Price comparisons only help when you line up the same essentials, not just the headline plan cost.
What people often miss in platform comparisons?
- WordPress “cheap” budgets often exclude hosting, backups, security, premium themes, and paid plugins
- Shopify budgets often expand through apps, paid themes, and advanced feature add-ons
- Wix costs can rise through app subscriptions and tier upgrades
When reviewing decisions across platforms, the “real” cost is plan plus the tools you need to run day-to-day operations, not just to publish pages.
What people talk about this online?
Home sick? time to do a comfort spreadsheet.
I did the math so you don’t have to: Etsy vs Squarespace (fanciest membership) pricing. pic.twitter.com/EPKATN6rcv— Good Egg 🐣on🦋 (@corviforms) July 5, 2024
Squarespace pricing plans – high fees for clients
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Final summary
Squarespace pricing is easiest to manage when you budget for three parts: the plan, the add-ons you actually need, and selling fees if you take payments. Basic suits simple sites, Core is a strong baseline for most businesses, Plus is a smart pick for ecommerce growth, and Advanced is best saved for high-volume stores.
Next steps
- Decide monthly vs annual billing based on cashflow
- Pick the lowest tier that supports your next 90 days of work
- Add domain renewal and professional email to your budget
- If selling, factor payment processing into your margins before you set prices
FAQs
How much does Squarespace cost?
Squarespace cost depends on your plan and billing cycle. Annual billing usually lowers the monthly equivalent. Your total can also include VAT, domain renewal, branded email, and payment processing fees if you sell.
Is Squarespace cheaper if you pay annually?
Yes. Annual billing typically reduces the effective monthly price compared with paying month-to-month. The trade-off is paying upfront for the year, so it suits anyone confident they will keep the site live.
What is the cheapest Squarespace plan?
Basic is usually the lowest priced plan tier. It fits portfolio and brochure sites best. If you need business tools or plan to sell soon, Core often becomes the lowest practical option.
Does Squarespace charge transaction fees?
Squarespace may charge plan-based commerce transaction fees on certain sales, depending on your plan set. Separately, payment processing fees from providers like Stripe or PayPal still apply for card and wallet payments.
Do you have to pay extra for a domain on Squarespace?
Domains are often included for the first year on some annual subscriptions, but renewals are typically paid separately. If you already own a domain, you can usually connect it by updating DNS records.
Does Squarespace pricing include email hosting?
Not usually. Professional inboxes are commonly provided through Google Workspace, which is an additional subscription. Many businesses add this for branded email, admin controls, and better deliverability.
Can you change Squarespace plans later?
Yes. You can usually upgrade or downgrade without rebuilding, but features change with the plan. Before downgrading, check you are not relying on tools that will be removed, such as advanced commerce features.
Which Squarespace plan is best for ecommerce?
For most stores, Plus is the common value tier because it supports stronger selling workflows and better economics than lower tiers. Advanced only makes sense when sales volume and complexity justify it.
Is Squarespace worth it for a small business?
Often, yes, if you want an all-in-one platform that reduces technical upkeep. It can be less suitable if you need highly specialised e-commerce operations or deep custom development beyond typical site-building tools.
Author note
Based on hands-on work reviewing small-business website builds, billing dashboards, ecommerce checkout flows, and plan upgrades across real operations. The focus is practical cost forecasting, clear terminology, and avoiding common budget surprises without offering tax or legal advice.
