Squarespace if you want somebody else to keep it running and you are fine renting. WordPress if you want to own the thing customers find you through. On pure cost over three years, Squarespace wins, and I build WordPress sites, so let me put that first rather than last.
If the prior question is still open, do you need a website for your small business comes first. If you only want the money, what Squarespace costs per year has the arithmetic without the comparison.
Question 1 of 6
What is the real difference between them?
Not features. Every small business site needs the same handful of things and both do them. The difference is who is responsible for what.
| Squarespace | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| Who hosts it | the platform | you choose, and pay, a host |
| Who updates the software | the platform, forever | you, or somebody you pay |
| Who can break it | almost nobody | you, a plugin, or a bad update |
| If you stop paying | the site goes offline | it stays up while hosting is paid |
| If you move | you rebuild, design does not export | files and database come with you |
| Who sets next year’s price | the platform | the hosting market, and you can switch |
| Cost of entry | $19 a month | hosting, plus building it or paying someone |
Everything else in this article follows from row two and row five.
Question 2 of 6
Which is cheaper?
Squarespace, for years, and the gap is wider than most comparisons admit because most comparisons are written by someone selling the other one.
| Over three years | Cost |
|---|---|
| Squarespace Basic, $19 a month annual | $724 |
| Squarespace Core, $29 a month annual | $1,084 |
| A WordPress site I build, EUR 1,190 once, plus hosting and domain | $1,430 to $2,208 |
The WordPress range covers exchange rates from 1.00 to 1.20 dollars per euro and hosting between $60 and $240 a year. Those are working assumptions, stated as such, not a survey of US hosts. The Squarespace plan prices were recorded from a US connection on August 30, 2026; the $20 a year domain renewal inside those three-year totals is an assumption, since Squarespace publishes no domain price list. A discount code was live that day: it applies to the first payment only, so it would make the subscription’s first year cheaper still.
The year the WordPress site becomes the cheaper of the two:
| Against | Crossover |
|---|---|
| Basic, $19 | year 8 to 14, and never inside thirty years on the priciest hosting |
| Core, $29 | year 5 to 7, or year 12 to 14 on the priciest hosting |
| Plus, $49 | year 3 to 5 |
| Advanced, $99 | year 2 |
If money over three to five years is your only criterion, the answer is Squarespace and there is no argument to make. WordPress catches up on cash only if you would have been on a $49 plan or higher anyway, or if you keep the same site for the better part of a decade.
Question 3 of 6
Then why would anyone choose WordPress?
Three reasons, and only the second one is really about money.
1. You own it. Files, database, content, domain. Nobody can suspend it, reprice it, or change the terms under you. On a platform you are a tenant with a good landlord, which is fine until it is not.
2. Leaving does not mean rebuilding. A design does not export from a hosted builder. If you move off one in year four, you pay to have the site built a second time, and that second bill belongs in the comparison above, so here it is: at my own price it is EUR 1,190 again. On anything but the most expensive hosting, that second build is larger than the entire three-year gap between the two columns. The subscription is cheaper only for as long as you never leave.
3. Nothing is off limits. No plan tier gates a feature, no percentage is taken from your sales, no capability sits behind an upgrade.
Question 4 of 6
And where does WordPress actually lose?
Four places, and I have a commercial reason to skip this section, which is exactly why it is here.
It needs updating, and I do not do it for you. WordPress and its plugins update continuously. On the packages where I build the site, you get six months of questions by email. That is answering questions, not maintaining the site. Nobody is running your updates unless you arrange it. Squarespace does that part for you, permanently, and it is a real service you are giving up.
It can break. A bad plugin or a skipped update can take a site down. On a hosted platform that essentially does not happen.
Setup is on somebody. Hosting, domain, the install. Either you learn it or you pay for it.
You would be paying me in euros. The dollar amount moves with the exchange rate, and your card may add a foreign transaction fee. A US supplier does not do that to you, and it is a fair reason to prefer one.
Question 5 of 6
Which should you pick?
| If this is you | Pick |
|---|---|
| Testing whether the business works | Squarespace. Do not buy an asset for something unproven |
| Nobody will ever handle a software update | Squarespace, or budget somebody to do it |
| You expect to keep the site under five years | Squarespace, on the arithmetic above |
| You are already on a $49 plan or higher | WordPress, the crossover is close |
| You want the site to be an asset you own | WordPress |
| You want it done, not learned | either, but pay somebody |
| You have your text and photos and enjoy tinkering | Squarespace, and keep the money |
Notice how many rows say Squarespace. That is what the numbers support, and writing it otherwise would make everything else on this site less believable.
Question 6 of 6
What I do, in case it is the right fit
I build WordPress sites, and online stores on Shopify or on WordPress with WooCommerce, set up with your own details.
EUR 1,190, paid once, from your text and your photos. EUR 357 on order, EUR 833 when it goes live, and live within 15 business days of the start date I confirm once the deposit has cleared and your content is complete (counted on the French working calendar). Two rounds of changes, to be requested within 14 days of launch. Six months of questions by email.
The domain and hosting are opened in your name, on your accounts. I never hold them. The first year of the domain is included if it costs EUR 10 or less. If you leave, everything is handed over within 5 business days and there is no exit fee: on WordPress you leave with the site, the files and the database.
There is also a package at EUR 490 (coming soon) where you build it yourself guided by filmed videos, and a custom one from EUR 3,000.
Frequently asked questions
Is WordPress hard for a non-technical person?
Day to day, no. Changing a photo, editing text or updating your hours are ordinary tasks anyone can learn in ten minutes, and that is exactly what to ask a builder to demonstrate before you hire them. What is genuinely harder than a hosted platform is the maintenance underneath: knowing when something needs updating and what to do if an update goes wrong. That is the part to have a plan for.
Can I move from Squarespace to WordPress later?
You can move the content, not the site. Text, images and product data export in some form on most platforms, but the design does not, so moving means rebuilding. Budget it as a project rather than a transfer, and keep your domain registered in your own name so the address at least travels with you.
Which is better for local search?
Neither, and this is where a lot of marketing is misleading. Both platforms produce sites Google can read perfectly well. What actually decides whether a local business gets found is a complete and verified Google Business Profile, consistent contact details, and real reviews, none of which is a platform feature. [Why a website does not show up on Google](/blog/why-is-my-website-not-showing-up-on-google/) covers the causes that actually apply.