Squarespace Demo: How to Test Drive the Platform Before Committing

Looking for a Squarespace demo? Here's the deal: Squarespace doesn't offer a traditional product demo like enterprise software would. Instead, they give you something better—a 14-day free trial with full access to nearly every feature on the platform. No credit card required, no sales calls, no waiting.

This is actually the best way to evaluate whether Squarespace is right for your business. You get to build a real website, test the editor, browse templates, and see exactly how the platform handles your specific needs.

Start your free Squarespace trial →

What You Get During the Squarespace Free Trial

Unlike some platforms that give you a watered-down demo experience, Squarespace's trial is the real thing. You get access to nearly all premium features, which means you can fully design, populate, and test your site's functionality before making any financial decision.

Here's what's included:

• Full Design Capabilities: Access the drag-and-drop website builder to customize any template, change colors, fonts, and page layouts
• Template Library: Browse and test 100+ professionally designed templates across different industries
• Page Builder: Add and arrange elements like images, text blocks, galleries, buttons with full control over layout and styling
• Blogging Tools: Set up a blog and try features like post scheduling, commenting, and social sharing
• SEO Features: Test image optimization, meta title/description control, and internal linking
• Basic Analytics: Track traffic, views, location, and device insights
• 24/7 Customer Support: Full access to Squarespace's support team
• E-commerce Setup: Configure an online store, add products, and set up payment/shipping options (though you can't process live transactions)

What You Can't Do During the Trial

The trial has a few key limitations you should know about:

• Your site stays private: It's not indexed by search engines and remains password-protected until you upgrade
• No live transactions: You can set up a store and add products, but can't accept payments until you're on a paid plan
• No custom domain: You'll use a Squarespace subdomain during the trial
• Limited analytics: Advanced analytics features are restricted

These limitations make sense—they're protecting both you and Squarespace. But they don't prevent you from fully evaluating whether the platform works for your needs.

How to Start Your Squarespace Demo

Getting started takes about 2 minutes:

1. Go to Squarespace.com and click "Get Started" or "Start A Free Trial"
2. Pick a template (don't stress—you can change this later)
3. Sign up with your email address
4. Start building

No credit card required. If you don't subscribe after 14 days, the trial simply expires and you won't be charged anything.

Free Squarespace Webinars (Live Demos)

If you want a guided walkthrough before diving in yourself, Squarespace offers free webinars. A typical live webinar starts with a short product demo followed by a live Q&A where you can ask their product experts questions in real time.

Their webinar topics cover:

• Getting started with Squarespace basics
• Template building with Blueprint AI Builder
• Navigating your site
• Domain and email options
• Preparing site content
• Building a homepage
• Styling colors and fonts

Sessions typically last one hour, and you don't need a Squarespace site or account to sign up. English closed captioning is available for all on-demand webinars and recordings.

Can You Extend the Trial?

Yes. If you need more time, Squarespace can extend your trial by seven days. Just reach out to customer support. Some users report getting even longer extensions by asking nicely.

For web designers who are Squarespace Circle Members (you need to have built or be a contributor on at least three active sites), trials extend to six months—which is obviously much better for testing and client work.

What Happens When the Trial Expires?

Don't panic. Your site doesn't vanish the moment the trial ends. When your trial expires, your site is simply deactivated—it's no longer accessible, but the content, design, and settings you created are all saved and parked, waiting for you to make a decision.

Squarespace will send you an email seven days before deleting the content, giving you a link to upgrade if you want to keep your work. Depending on how much time passes after expiration, you might be able to upgrade to paid service and continue editing the site as you last left it.

Squarespace Pricing After the Demo

When you're ready to commit, here's what you're looking at. Squarespace has rolled out new pricing tiers (Basic, Core, Plus, Advanced) that are replacing the old Personal, Business, and Commerce plans:

All annual plans include a free custom domain for the first year. For most small businesses, the Core plan hits the sweet spot—it removes transaction fees entirely and gives you access to custom code injection, premium integrations, and marketing tools like pop-ups.

Want to dig deeper into what you get at each tier? Check out our Squarespace pricing breakdown.

How to Save Money on Squarespace

A few ways to cut costs:

• Pay annually: Save 25-40% compared to monthly billing
• Use a promo code: 10% off is the standard partner discount you'll find everywhere. Squarespace occasionally runs 20% off promotions
• Student discount: If you have a valid .edu email, you can get 50% off your first year through Student Beans

Check our Squarespace coupon page for current deals.

Is Squarespace Right for You?

Squarespace excels at:

• Beautiful, professional-looking templates
• Easy drag-and-drop editing (even for beginners)
• All-in-one hosting, security, and site management
• Built-in e-commerce, scheduling, and email marketing

Squarespace struggles with:

• Deep customization (it's a "walled garden" approach)
• Very bespoke requirements
• Scaling to enterprise-level e-commerce
• Basic plan limitations (no custom CSS/JavaScript)

If you need maximum flexibility, WordPress might be better. If you're building a serious e-commerce operation, compare Squarespace to Shopify. For a direct comparison with other popular builders, see our Squarespace vs Wix and Squarespace vs WordPress guides.

Bottom Line

There's no traditional Squarespace demo with a sales rep walking you through slides. Instead, you get 14 days to actually build something yourself—which is far more useful.

Start a trial, pick a template, and spend an hour poking around. You'll know within the first session whether the platform clicks for you. The builder is intuitive enough that most people can get a basic site together in an afternoon.

If you want structured learning, sign up for one of their free webinars first. Otherwise, just dive in.

Start your free Squarespace trial →