Is Squarespace Legit? The Honest Truth About This Website Builder

Short answer: Yes, Squarespace is a legitimate company. It's been around since 2003, has over 4 million subscriptions, went public on the NYSE in 2021, and was acquired by private equity firm Permira for $7.2 billion in 2024. This isn't some fly-by-night operation.

But "legit" doesn't mean "perfect." There are real issues with Squarespace you should know about before handing over your credit card. Let me break down exactly what you're getting into.

Squarespace Company Background

Anthony Casalena founded Squarespace in 2003 while he was a student at the University of Maryland. He built it in his dorm room with a $30,000 investment from his father and ran the company solo until it hit $1 million in revenue in 2006.

Since then, it's grown to over 1,760 employees. The company has raised $591 million in funding and generates over $1 billion in annual revenue. These aren't the numbers of a scam operation-this is a real, substantial business.

For context: Squarespace has celebrity endorsements from the likes of Zendaya, Idris Elba, and Keanu Reeves. They've run Super Bowl ads. They've acquired other legitimate companies like Acuity Scheduling and Tock (a hospitality management platform they bought for $400+ million).

The company's trajectory has been consistently upward. After going public in 2021, Squarespace demonstrated its market position with strong financial performance. The subsequent acquisition by Permira in 2024 at a $7.2 billion valuation further validated the company's worth in the website builder market.

Is Squarespace Secure? Understanding Safety and SSL

One of the most common questions people ask is whether Squarespace is safe to use. The answer is yes-Squarespace takes security seriously and includes several protection measures by default.

Free SSL Certificates for All Sites

All domains connected to Squarespace sites automatically receive free SSL certificates. SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encrypts data transmitted between your website and visitors, protecting sensitive information like passwords, personal data, and payment details from potential hackers.

When you visit a Squarespace site, you'll see "https://" at the beginning of the URL and a padlock icon in your browser. This visual indicator tells visitors their connection is secure. SSL is not optional-it's automatically provided and managed by Squarespace using Let's Encrypt as their certificate authority partner.

The platform uses HSTS (HTTP Strict Transport Security), which enforces HTTPS connections and prevents attackers from downgrading connections to less secure HTTP. This additional layer of protection helps prevent man-in-the-middle attacks and ensures your site always loads securely.

24/7 Security Operations Center

Squarespace operates a Security Operations Center (SOC) that monitors for threats and vulnerabilities around the clock. This dedicated team watches for suspicious activity, potential security breaches, and emerging threats to ensure all hosted websites remain protected.

The platform also employs a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to mitigate common web threats like clickjacking attacks. Regular penetration testing identifies potential vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by bad actors.

PCI-DSS Compliance for Payments

If you're selling products through Squarespace, payment security is critical. All of Squarespace's built-in payment processor integrations comply with PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) requirements.

Importantly, sensitive card data never passes through Squarespace's servers. Payment information goes directly to the payment processor (Stripe, PayPal, or Squarespace Payments), meaning Squarespace itself never has access to customers' credit card details. This separation reduces risk and limits your liability as a merchant.

DNSSEC Protection

When you register a domain through Squarespace, DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) protection is automatically added. This security feature helps prevent DNS hijacking and ensures visitors are directed to your legitimate website rather than a malicious imposter site.

GDPR Compliance

Squarespace is committed to meeting the requirements of global data privacy laws, including GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). The platform provides tools to help you collect, store, and manage customer data responsibly and in compliance with international regulations.

While Squarespace provides robust security foundations, you still need to do your part. Use strong passwords, enable two-factor authentication on your account, carefully manage contributor access levels, and regularly review your security settings.

What Squarespace Actually Does Well

Let's give credit where it's due. Squarespace has some genuine strengths:

Templates That Actually Look Professional

Squarespace offers 180+ templates, and they're legitimately beautiful. Multiple review sites rate Squarespace as having the best-looking templates in the industry. If you're a photographer, artist, designer, or anyone in a visual field, Squarespace templates will make you look good without hiring a designer.

All templates are mobile-optimized by default, ensuring your site looks great on smartphones and tablets without extra work. This responsive design isn't just about aesthetics-it's critical for SEO, since Google prioritizes mobile-friendly sites in search rankings.

All-In-One Platform

Everything's included in your subscription: hosting, SSL security, unlimited bandwidth, and unlimited storage. You don't have to piece together hosting, plugins, and a CMS like you would with WordPress.

This all-in-one approach means fewer moving parts to manage and no compatibility issues between different services. Updates happen automatically in the background, so you don't need to worry about keeping plugins current or dealing with security patches.

Solid for Blogging

Squarespace is one of the few website builders that can actually compete with WordPress on blogging features. The platform includes built-in blog functionality with categories, tags, commenting systems, RSS feeds, and scheduling capabilities. If you're starting a content-focused site, it's a legitimate option.

The blogging interface is intuitive, making it easy to format posts with headings, images, galleries, and embedded content. You can also create multiple blog pages on a single site, which is useful if you want to separate different content types or topics.

Decent E-Commerce Capabilities

You can sell products on any plan now (this is new). The platform integrates with Stripe and PayPal, offers customer accounts, gift cards, and abandoned cart recovery on higher-tier plans.

Squarespace supports unlimited product listings even on the Basic plan. You can sell physical products, digital downloads, services, and memberships. The platform includes inventory management, order tracking, and basic shipping options. For small to medium-sized online stores, the ecommerce functionality is quite capable.

Blueprint AI Website Builder

Squarespace's Blueprint AI tool helps you build a stylish website quickly through a collaborative five-step process. The AI analyzes your business type and preferences to suggest layouts, color schemes, and content structures tailored to your needs.

While AI website builders are becoming common, Squarespace's implementation is particularly polished, helping beginners get started without feeling overwhelmed by blank templates.

Built-In SEO Tools

Squarespace includes comprehensive SEO features by default. Every site comes with clean HTML markup, automatic sitemap generation, customizable meta titles and descriptions, image alt text fields, and integration with Google Search Console.

The platform automatically handles technical SEO elements like canonical URLs, structured data markup, and mobile optimization. You don't need plugins to make your site search-engine friendly-it's built in from the start.

Squarespace recently added an AI-powered SEO report tool that scans your site, identifies pages missing metadata or alt text, and provides keyword-optimized suggestions. This makes SEO more accessible for beginners who don't know where to start.

The Real Problems With Squarespace

Here's where things get less rosy. These are the issues that show up consistently across user reviews:

Customer Support Is a Sore Spot

Squarespace has no phone support. Period. You get email and live chat (during limited hours). Live chat is available Monday through Friday, 5:30 AM to 8 PM EST. Messages sent outside these hours receive a response within 12 hours-in theory.

The BBB has logged over 100 complaints against Squarespace in the last three years, and a significant portion are about support issues. Many complaints involve holding periods on funds processed through Squarespace Payments, with merchants reporting that support provides only generic responses and refuses to explain the risk assessment that triggered the hold.

On Trustpilot, Squarespace has a 2.9 out of 5 rating with over 2,000 reviews. Common complaints include:

The BBB gives Squarespace an A+ rating, but they're also not BBB accredited-which means they haven't agreed to BBB's standards or vetting process.

Why no phone support? Squarespace explains that building websites is a visual process that benefits from screenshots, videos, and the ability for support staff to view your site directly. While this reasoning makes some sense, it's frustrating when you have an urgent issue and can't speak to a human immediately.

The Learning Curve Is Real

Multiple reviewers note that Squarespace isn't as intuitive as it looks. The editor can feel slow, requiring too many clicks for simple actions. The Fluid Engine (their drag-and-drop editor) requires you to style desktop and mobile versions separately, which trips up a lot of users.

One reviewer described it well: "Squarespace can have a learning curve. Occasionally you'll have to discover the 'Squarespace way' of doing something."

Unlike true drag-and-drop builders like Wix, Squarespace uses a grid-based system that limits where you can place elements. This constraint helps maintain design consistency but reduces creative freedom. If you're used to the flexibility of WordPress or other platforms, Squarespace can feel restrictive.

The platform also lacks an autosave feature. If you forget to manually save your work and your browser crashes, you can lose significant progress. This is a surprising omission for a modern website builder.

Limited Third-Party Integrations

Squarespace only offers about 49 "Extensions" (their version of apps/plugins). Compare that to Wix or WordPress, where you have thousands of options. If you need specific marketing tools beyond Mailchimp, or want advanced forum features, you'll hit walls fast.

The available extensions include useful tools like Weglot (for multilingual sites), TinyIMG (for image optimization), and connections to OpenTable, ChowNow, and Zapier. But the selection is limited compared to competing platforms.

This limitation stems from Squarespace's closed ecosystem approach. While this ensures better security and performance, it means you can't install random third-party plugins like you can on WordPress. For some users, this trade-off is acceptable. For others, it's a dealbreaker.

Pricing Gets Expensive Quick

The entry price looks reasonable, but the moment you need more features, costs jump. The Advanced plan runs $99/month (billed annually) or $139/month if you pay monthly. That's not cheap for a website builder.

If you're running a serious ecommerce operation, you'll likely need at least the Plus plan ($39/month) to get lower card processing fees. Otherwise, the 2.9% + 30¢ processing rate on lower plans eats into your profit margins quickly.

Add-ons increase costs further. Acuity Scheduling starts at $14/month. Email Campaigns start at $5/month for up to 500 subscribers. Member Areas start at $8/month. Domain renewals cost $20-70/year after the free first year. These extras add up.

Google Domains Migration Issues

In 2023, Squarespace acquired Google Domains. While this expanded Squarespace's domain registration business, the transition hasn't been smooth for all customers.

Many users who had domains with Google Domains suddenly found themselves dealing with Squarespace, a platform they never chose. Some reported email delivery problems, DNS configuration issues, and difficulties accessing domain management settings. Forum posts and reviews mention frustration with this forced migration and the support challenges that followed.

Current Squarespace Pricing (Detailed Breakdown)

Squarespace rolled out new pricing plans in early 2025. Here's what you're looking at (all prices billed annually):

Basic Plan: $16/Month

The Basic plan is Squarespace's most affordable option, designed for simple websites and portfolios. It includes:

The Basic plan is good for personal sites, portfolios, and blogs where you're not selling much. The 2% transaction fee on sales makes it less ideal for stores, and you don't get access to custom code, which limits advanced customization.

If you pay monthly instead of annually, this plan costs $25/month-a 56% increase.

Core Plan: $23/Month (Recommended)

The Core plan is Squarespace's sweet spot for most small businesses. At only $7 more per month than Basic, you get substantially more features:

The Core plan eliminates transaction fees on commerce, which alone can justify the upgrade if you're selling anything. The ability to add custom code is crucial if you need tracking pixels, analytics scripts, or any advanced integrations.

Card processing fees through Squarespace Payments are 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction, the same as the Basic plan. Monthly billing costs $36/month.

Plus Plan: $39/Month

The Plus plan targets growing online stores that need better payment processing rates and more video storage:

The main benefit here is the reduced processing fee. If you're processing significant transaction volume, that 0.2% savings adds up. For a store doing $10,000/month in sales, you'd save $20/month in processing fees-though that doesn't quite cover the $16/month price increase over Core.

You need to process roughly $80,000 annually for the processing fee savings to offset the higher plan cost. Below that threshold, the Core plan is more economical. Monthly billing costs $56/month.

Advanced Plan: $99/Month

The Advanced plan is designed for high-volume ecommerce businesses and includes:

At $99/month annually ($139/month if paid monthly), this is Squarespace's premium offering. The features are robust-abandoned cart recovery can genuinely boost sales, subscriptions open new revenue streams, and API access enables custom integrations.

However, the price positions this plan against dedicated ecommerce platforms like Shopify. Shopify's $29/month Basic plan includes many of these features plus more advanced inventory management and international selling tools. If you're running a large operation, compare carefully before committing.

Additional Costs to Watch For

Beyond the monthly plan fee, budget for these potential expenses:

For a deeper dive into what you'll actually pay, check out our Squarespace pricing breakdown and grab a Squarespace coupon while you're at it.

Understanding Squarespace Payment Processing and Transaction Fees

One area that confuses many new users is how payment processing works and what fees apply. Let's break this down clearly.

Payment Processing vs. Transaction Fees

There are two types of fees when selling through Squarespace:

Payment processing fees are charged by the payment processor (Stripe, PayPal, or Squarespace Payments) every time someone uses a credit card. These fees are unavoidable-every merchant pays them regardless of platform.

Transaction fees are additional charges Squarespace takes as the platform host. These vary by plan and what you're selling.

Squarespace Payments vs. Stripe vs. PayPal

Squarespace launched its own integrated payment solution, Squarespace Payments, in 2023. It's built on Stripe's infrastructure but with Squarespace-specific terms of service that are more restrictive than Stripe's standard terms.

With Squarespace Payments, processing fees vary by plan:

The advantage is simplicity-everything stays within your Squarespace dashboard. The disadvantage is vendor lock-in. If you move to another platform, you lose access to historical transaction data (it's only viewable in Squarespace, not in a separate Stripe account).

With Stripe (connected as a third-party processor), you pay a flat 2.9% + 30¢ regardless of plan. But you maintain access to your Stripe account independently. If you run multiple websites or might switch platforms, this flexibility is valuable.

Initial payouts take 7 days with Stripe but 14 days with Squarespace Payments-something to consider for cash flow management.

PayPal can be used alongside either option. Fees vary by location and transaction type. The checkout process redirects customers to PayPal's site, which some users find less seamless than staying on your site.

Transaction Fees by Plan

On the Basic plan, Squarespace charges a 2% transaction fee on all sales (physical products, services, donations) in addition to payment processing fees. This makes Basic less attractive for stores.

On Core, Plus, and Advanced plans, there are no transaction fees on physical products, services, or donations. However, digital products incur a 5% transaction fee on Basic and Core plans. Only the Advanced plan eliminates fees on digital products entirely.

Squarespace SEO: How Good Is It Really?

One persistent concern about website builders is whether they're "good for SEO." With Squarespace, the answer is yes-but with nuance.

What Squarespace Does Automatically

Squarespace handles technical SEO well. Every site includes:

Squarespace was the first website builder to integrate directly with Google Search Console, allowing you to verify your site and monitor search performance directly from your dashboard.

SEO Tools You Control

Squarespace provides fields to customize SEO elements for every page:

The new AI SEO tool scans your site and identifies pages missing metadata or alt text, then suggests keyword-optimized content. While not perfect, it helps beginners implement basic on-page SEO without specialized knowledge.

SEO Limitations

Squarespace does have some SEO constraints compared to platforms like WordPress:

That said, these limitations rarely prevent sites from ranking well. The quality and relevance of your content, backlink profile, and user experience matter far more than platform choice for most businesses.

Is Squarespace Bad for SEO?

No. This is a myth. While Squarespace lacks some advanced customization options that WordPress offers, the platform's clean code, fast hosting, and built-in best practices make it perfectly capable of ranking well in search engines.

Google has confirmed that website builder choice doesn't negatively impact rankings. What matters is mobile-friendliness (Squarespace excels), page speed (generally good), content quality (your responsibility), and technical fundamentals (handled automatically).

If your site isn't ranking, it's likely due to competitive keywords, lack of backlinks, thin content, or other factors-not the platform itself.

Who Should Actually Use Squarespace

Squarespace makes sense for:

Squarespace is NOT ideal for:

Squarespace vs. Alternatives

If you're still on the fence, here's how Squarespace stacks up:

Squarespace vs. Wix

Wix offers more flexibility and a free plan, but Squarespace has better templates and a more polished aesthetic. Wix provides hundreds more apps and integrations, while Squarespace focuses on a curated, cohesive experience.

Wix's drag-and-drop editor is more intuitive for absolute beginners, but some users find it creates less professional-looking results. Squarespace's templates are more design-focused and sophisticated out of the box.

Pricing is similar on comparable plans. Wix's app marketplace can lead to subscription fatigue as you add features, while Squarespace bundles more functionality into base plans.

See our Squarespace vs. Wix comparison for a deeper analysis.

Squarespace vs. WordPress

WordPress offers unlimited customization through thousands of plugins and themes, but requires more technical knowledge and ongoing maintenance. You'll need to handle hosting, security, updates, backups, and troubleshooting plugin conflicts yourself (or hire someone).

Squarespace is all-in-one with automatic updates and security handled for you. The trade-off is less flexibility and control.

WordPress.com (the hosted version) splits the difference but still doesn't match Squarespace's design quality or ease of use. Self-hosted WordPress.org gives you total freedom but maximum responsibility.

For non-technical users who prioritize design and simplicity, Squarespace wins. For developers or users with unique requirements, WordPress remains unmatched.

See our Squarespace vs. WordPress comparison.

Squarespace vs. Shopify

Shopify is purpose-built for e-commerce with superior inventory management, fulfillment integrations, and scaling capabilities. If your primary goal is selling products-especially in high volume-Shopify is the better choice.

Squarespace excels at content-focused sites that also sell. If your site is primarily about your portfolio, blog, or services with products as a secondary feature, Squarespace's design focus makes more sense.

Shopify starts at $29/month with robust e-commerce features from the start. Squarespace requires higher-tier plans for comparable commerce capabilities.

See our Squarespace vs. Shopify comparison.

Squarespace vs. Webflow

Webflow offers more design control for developers who want to code visually without writing from scratch. It's more powerful and flexible than Squarespace but has a steeper learning curve.

Webflow appeals to designers who want precise control over every element. Squarespace appeals to non-designers who want professional results without specialized skills.

Webflow's CMS is more customizable, while Squarespace's is simpler. For agencies building client sites, Webflow offers better control. For business owners building their own sites, Squarespace is more approachable.

See our Squarespace vs. Webflow comparison.

Looking for other options entirely? Check out our list of Squarespace alternatives.

Common Squarespace User Experiences (The Good and Bad)

To give you a balanced view, let's look at what actual users report about their Squarespace experience.

What Users Love

On Reddit's r/smallbusiness and other forums, satisfied users frequently mention:

One language tutoring business owner on Reddit noted that Squarespace's templates made it easy to create an aesthetically pleasing site even though their business wasn't particularly visual-focused.

What Users Complain About

The most consistent complaints include:

Several users mentioned that they stuck with Squarespace despite frustrations because migrating to another platform would mean rebuilding their site from scratch. This lock-in effect is a real consideration.

How to Get Started With Squarespace (If It's Right for You)

If you've decided Squarespace is worth trying, here's how to start:

Take Advantage of the 14-Day Free Trial

Squarespace offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. You can build your entire site during this period and only need to add payment information when you're ready to publish.

Use this trial period to:

Don't rush the trial. Really explore whether the platform meets your needs before committing.

Choose Your Plan Carefully

Most small businesses should start with the Core plan. It provides full functionality at a reasonable price, with no transaction fees on sales.

Only choose Basic if you're building a simple portfolio or blog with no commerce. The $7 savings isn't worth the limitations for business sites.

Only upgrade to Plus or Advanced if you're processing significant transaction volume where the reduced processing fees justify the higher monthly cost.

Consider Annual Billing

Paying annually saves 28-36% compared to monthly billing and includes a free custom domain for the first year. If you're committed to the platform, annual billing makes financial sense.

Many users find that the annual commitment helps them actually finish their website rather than procrastinating on a month-to-month basis.

Use Available Discounts

Look for promotional codes before subscribing. Squarespace frequently offers:

These discounts only apply to the first payment of a new subscription, not renewals.

Real Talk: Is Squarespace Worth It?

Here's my honest take after analyzing all the data, reviews, and research.

Squarespace is absolutely legitimate and capable. It's a well-established company with a solid product that serves millions of users successfully. The security, hosting, and design quality are genuinely good.

The platform shines for creative professionals, service businesses, and content-focused sites where visual appeal matters. If you value having a beautiful, professional-looking website without touching code, Squarespace delivers.

However, it's not perfect. Customer support is genuinely problematic-not being able to call someone when your site has issues is frustrating, and the quality of email/chat support is inconsistent. The closed ecosystem means you're committed once you build, because migrating away is painful.

The pricing is fair for what you get, but it's not cheap, especially once you add necessary features. If you're bootstrapping on a tight budget, free website builder options might make more sense initially.

For e-commerce, Squarespace works well for small stores but shows its limitations at scale. Beyond a few hundred products or complex inventory needs, dedicated platforms like Shopify handle growth better.

The lack of integrations can be limiting. If your business relies on specific marketing tools, membership platforms, or specialized software, verify Squarespace supports them before committing. The 49 available extensions won't cover every use case.

Bottom line: Squarespace is worth it if you prioritize design, want simplicity, and don't need extensive customization. It's not worth it if you need deep control, complex functionality, or can't work within its limitations.

Making Your Decision: Squarespace or Something Else?

To help you decide, ask yourself these questions:

Do you need a visually stunning website without learning to code? Squarespace is excellent for this.

Is e-commerce your primary business model? Consider Shopify instead.

Do you need unlimited customization and control? WordPress is better suited.

Is your budget extremely tight? Look at free options or lower-cost alternatives like Wix.

Do you need specific integrations or plugins? Verify they exist for Squarespace first.

Is phone support important to you? Squarespace won't work for you.

Do you want an all-in-one solution with minimal maintenance? Squarespace excels here.

Are you building a portfolio or creative site? Squarespace is arguably the best choice.

If most of your answers point toward Squarespace's strengths, it's likely a good fit. If your needs align with its weaknesses, explore alternatives.

The Bottom Line: Is Squarespace Legit?

Yes, Squarespace is 100% legitimate. It's a real company with a 20+ year track record, billions in valuation, and millions of users. You're not going to get scammed.

But "legit" doesn't mean "right for you." The platform has real weaknesses-especially around customer support, limited integrations, and pricing that escalates quickly. The Google Domains migration has created headaches for many users who didn't choose Squarespace but ended up there anyway.

If you value beautiful design, want an all-in-one solution, and can live without phone support, Squarespace is a solid choice. The security features are robust, the templates are genuinely professional, and the platform handles technical aspects automatically.

Use the 14-day free trial to build your site before committing-no credit card required. Test thoroughly to ensure it meets your needs.

Try Squarespace's 14-day free trial →

Just go in with realistic expectations. The platform isn't perfect, but for its target audience-creatives, small businesses, and service providers who prioritize design and simplicity-it's a legitimate, capable option.

Read our full Squarespace reviews and Squarespace tutorial before you commit. And if you're not ready for a paid plan, explore our guide to free website builder software to see what else is out there.

Want to maximize your business tools beyond just your website? We've tested and reviewed dozens of platforms. Check out Leadpages for landing page optimization, AWeber for email marketing, or Close CRM for sales management to complement your Squarespace site.