Webflow vs Squarespace (2024): A Head to Head Comparison
It’s important that the website you build is fast and easy to use, but also that it looks good.
Sounds shallow? First impressions do count! Thirty-eight percent of people say they’ll stop interacting with a website if they think the layout or design is unappealing.
Two eCommerce platforms that make it easy to create stunning content are Webflow and Squarespace.
Choose a beautiful template, drag and drop your content using the visually based website builder, and you’re one step closer to a gorgeous website your visitors will love.
However, which platform is best? Squarespace vs Webflow, let’s see which one wins out!
Webflow vs Squarespace: 8 key differences
1. Webflow has a free plan
One of the benefits of Webflow is that it has a free plan. You can use this to see if the platform is right for you and try the different features.
The free version does have some restrictions – you can’t implement a custom domain, and you can only have two pages. However this might be enough if you only want a small site.
Squarespace doesn’t have a free plan, but it does have a free trial with all the functionality you need to build your site.
If you opt for a yearly contract, you pay between $16 and $52 on Squarespace and $14 and $39 on Webflow, making Squarespace slightly more expensive. Both platforms also offer enterprise plans for larger customers, priced on demand.
Of course, it’s essential to look at the features available on each tier and each platform to see if it fulfills your needs. Webflow does have limits in place, which we’ll look at later.
2. Squarespace has more free templates to use
Design is at the heart of these platforms, and both Squarespace and Webflow provide an array of gorgeous templates to showcase your content.
Squarespace has over 150 professionally designed templates, all mobile-responsive and free to use. Just implement, and add your own colors, images, and copy.
Webflow has over 2,000 themes. However… only a handful of these are free.
While the cost isn’t prohibitive, it can be frustrating if you’re a startup or only have a small marketing budget.
Both platforms let you use your own bespoke template if you have design experience, and you can also hire a developer to create a theme for you if you prefer.
(Want a premium theme for your Squarespace site? Here are over 100 of our favorites!)
3. Webflow has more design settings
The main advantage of Webflow is that you can create beautiful websites, perfectly tailored to you and your visitor’s needs.
If you’re new to the world of Webflow, it’s a lot like PhotoShop – build your elements on your page, customize them, and move them around until you’re happy with them.
While Squarespace is well-known for its beautiful-looking sites, the design features are slightly more basic.
However, don’t forget that you can transform your Squarespace website with Spark Plugin! With over 100 customizations, you can change the look and feel of your Squarespace site with just a click of a button.
Animate your call-to-action buttons, optimize your dropdown menu, or style your mobile menu… the possibilities are endless.
4. Webflow has limits in place
While Webflow is (slightly) more affordable than Squarespace, it does have caps in place.
You can only create a limited number of pages, have a limited number of items in your content management system, and have a limited amount of bandwidth. By bandwidth, we mean the amount of data people consume when they visit your website.
However, Webflow does offer “Surge protection” on its paid plans. If you go over your bandwidth limit for one month, you are protected from payment increases. However if you exceed it again, you’re moved to the next payment plan.
This gives you a chance to review your bandwidth and see if there’s anything you can do to reduce it.
You also need to pay for eCommerce functionality on Webflow on top of your tariff, which costs between $29 and $212 on the yearly plan.
This functionality is free of charge on the Squarespace Commerce plans, and there aren’t limits on the number of items you can sell.
5. Webflow is better for localization
If you sell internationally, Webflow has a cool localization feature you can take advantage of.
This plugin lets you build localized content, customizing copy, images, alt text, meta titles, page descriptions, and URLs depending on where your customers are in the world.
You can also connect to third-party translation tools to translate content.
You can try out basic localization on your website for free if you’re on a paid plan, and you only pay when you want to publish. Costs start from $9 a month,
Squarespace does offer integrations that help with localization, for example, Weglot for translation. However, it’s not at the same level as Webflow at this point in time.
6. Squarespace is easier to get started on
The beauty of Squarespace is that you can get up and running right away, even if you don’t have any web design experience.
Sign up for an account, choose your template, and add your content. You can have a site that’s ready to go in less than an hour!
Webflow has a more advanced learning curve. While it has a drag-and-drop interface like Squarespace, it can be hard to get to grips with if you’re just getting started or have no prior design knowledge.
While Webflow is trickier to use, there are lots of helpful resources to get you started. Webflow University is free with an account and contains lots of videos to walk you through the design and development process.
7. Webflow is good for complex websites
While Webflow can be challenging to get your head around, it’s worth the effort, especially if you’re building a large, intricate website.
As well as using the localization feature to build websites for different countries, you can use logic to create complicated data flows and content that appears when certain triggers occur.
Squarespace doesn’t have this logic in place, making it a better option for simpler websites.
8. Squarespace has more in-built features
When it comes to marketing your website, Squarespace wins hands-down.
You can add email marketing, appointment scheduling, online courses, and customer communities to your site to provide more functionality.
While you can add integrations to Webflow through third-party apps, they’re not quite the same.
Squarespace vs Webflow: Which is best?
It depends on your level of experience and what you want to get out of your website.
Squarespace is easy to get started on, comes with a range of cool marketing features, and has eCommerce functionality straight out of the box.
However if you want the flexibility to create a fully customizable site, you might find yourself bound.
Webflow has lots of flexibility for creating beautiful sites and has a free version so you can see if it’s right for you before you get started.
However, the learning curve is challenging, and the caps in place may mean you have to move to a higher-priced plan sooner than you think.
Of course we’re big fans of Squarespace at Spark Plugin, but Webflow is a brilliant platform if you want to let your creativity shine!
We always say the best thing to do is to give both platforms a go to see which you prefer. Build a test website, check out the different features, and see which one you get on best with.
Webflow vs Squarespace: Frequently asked questions
Do Webflow and Squarespace offer free trials?
Webflow doesn’t offer a free trial, but it has a free starter plan.
Squarespace has a free 14-day trial, which you can extend for an additional week if you need extra time. You can also get a six-month extended trial if you work with a Squarespace Circle member.
Squarespace vs Webflow: which is best for SEO?
Both platforms are excellent when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO). Squarespace performs well in speed checks and all templates are mobile-responsive, which is a positive ranking factor.
However, Webflow generates clean code. Clean code without bloating or filler loads faster and more efficiently, which is good for SEO.
What other platforms can you build a website on?
Squarespace and Webflow are only two of many cloud-based website platforms out there. You might also be interested in Wix, Shopify, and Square.
We post regular comparison blogs on Spark’s Palette, so keep checking back for more information!
