Wix vs Squarespace — Which Is Better for Small Business in 2026?
Want a site that looks great today, or one you can tweak forever?
Wix vs Squarespace: both build a professional website without code, but they suit very different businesses. We break down every difference, including pricing, so you can choose.
Wix wins for most small businesses — more flexible, more apps, better SEO tools, and a free plan to start. Squarespace wins for design-focused businesses — photographers, creatives, and premium brands that need a stunning site above all else.
How this guide was reviewed: We researched these two website builders from the vendors' own websites and published user reviews. These weren't tested hands-on; verify pricing on each vendor's site.
Disclosure: Kit SEO earns money from affiliate partnerships. Affiliate links are labelled and never change our rankings. Affiliate disclaimer.
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Read the free SEO guide →01 Wix vs Squarespace — the honest verdict
Wix and Squarespace are the two most popular website builders for small businesses, and it's a close contest.
Both are polished, both have strong free trials and both make a professional site without coding. It comes down to what you value most.
Choose Squarespace if: you want the best-looking templates, you sell products online, you run a service business with bookings, or you care about your website looking as professional as possible out of the box.
Choose Wix if: you want maximum design freedom, you need a free plan with real functionality, or you want the most flexibility to build exactly what you picture without template constraints.
02 Design and templates
- 800+ templates — most variety available
- True drag-and-drop — place anything anywhere
- ADI (AI design) builds a site from prompts
- Inconsistent quality across templates
- Cannot switch templates after publishing
- Templates can feel cluttered if not edited carefully
- Fewer templates (~100) but consistently high quality
- All templates designed to look professional
- Fluid Engine editor — flexible but structured
- Less drag-and-drop freedom than Wix
- Template switching can require rebuilding
- More opinionated layout — harder to break convention
💡 Design verdict
Squarespace wins on templates — its designs look consistently more polished. Wix wins on flexibility — you can build almost any layout.
Spending under 2 hours on your site? Squarespace is safer. Love to tinker? Wix gives you more control.
03 Ecommerce — selling online
- Sell on Core plan (about $29/mo+)
- Good product management
- Dropshipping integrations available
- Transaction fees on lower plans
- Less polished checkout than Squarespace
- More polished product pages and checkout
- Abandoned cart recovery on higher-tier plans
- Subscriptions and digital products built in
- 0% transaction fees on Core and higher (2% on Basic)
- Selling starts at $19/mo (Basic, 2% fee) or $29/mo (Core, 0% fee)
- Fewer app integrations than Shopify
04 Pricing comparison 2026
| Plan | Wix | Squarespace | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | ✓ Wix branding | ✗ Trial only | Wix wins — actual free plan |
| Basic website | About $17/mo | $19/mo | Wix slightly cheaper |
| With ecommerce | About $29/mo (Core) | $29/mo (Core) | About the same |
| Transaction fees | 0% on Core+ | 0% on Core+ (2% on Basic) | Tie |
| Free domain | ✓ 1 year | ✓ 1 year | Tie |
05 Wix vs Squarespace for Canadian businesses
Both platforms work fully in Canada — CAD currency, Canadian payment processing via Stripe and PayPal, and all Canadian provinces for tax configuration. Key differences for Canadian businesses:
- Wix: Google My Business integration helps Canadian local businesses appear in Google Maps. Wix ADI can generate bilingual (English/French) sites for Quebec businesses.
- Squarespace: Squarespace Scheduling (Acuity integration) is popular with Canadian service businesses for appointment booking. More polished for professional services like lawyers, accountants, and consultants.
- Both support CAD, GST/HST/PST configuration on product prices, and Stripe Canada with Interac.
06 Which to choose — by business type
How we review software — and why you can trust this guide
We're a small, independent site. Here's how we put this Wix vs Squarespace guide together.
🔍 What we look at
- Total cost of each option, including renewals and per-user fees
- Features small businesses actually use
- Ease of setup and day-to-day use
- Whether it handles CAD, GST/HST and Canadian compliance
- Verified user feedback on support and reliability
🧪 Hands-on vs researched
Only tools Alex has used are described as hands-on. Other picks are researched from vendor sites and verified reviews.
🤝 How we stay independent
Some links on Kit SEO earn us a commission at no cost to you. Commissions never decide a ranking — picks are based on the criteria here and real experience, and sponsored placements are always labelled. How we make money →
Alex has spent 4+ years doing SEO for Alberta small businesses and runs live sites on WordPress, WooCommerce and Shopify. Alex wrote and updates this Wix vs Squarespace guide. About us · All guides by Alex
📅 Last updated: October 2026. We update this page whenever a vendor changes its plans. Notice something off? Get in touch.
07 Frequently asked questions
Describe your business and it builds a first version of your site that you can then edit. Note: it is not part of this comparison, and Alex has not tested it hands-on.
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