Wix and Squarespace both let you build a business website without writing code. Both give you templates, hosting and a free domain for the first year on yearly plans. For a small business, the differences that matter are the free plan, which plan lets you take payments, and the fees on each sale.
All facts below come from the Wix plans page and the Squarespace pricing page, as of October 2026. Prices are in US dollars per month. Wix says its US dollar prices are shown for reference and that prices and currency vary by location. Taxes are extra on both.
The short verdict
- Pick Wix if you want to build and test on a free plan first, or want scheduling and services tools in the same plan as your store.
- Pick Squarespace if you want to sell from the cheapest plan, want a lower entry price on yearly billing, and are happy to start with a 14-day trial.
Free plan or free trial
Wix has a free plan that needs no credit card. To connect your own domain and remove Wix branding, you need a paid plan.
Squarespace has no free plan. Every site starts with a 14-day free trial, with no credit card needed.
Prices
Wix, per month, billed yearly:
- Light: $17. 2GB storage, 2 site collaborators.
- Core: $29. 50GB storage, accept payments, basic online store, scheduling and services, 5 collaborators.
- Business: $39. 100GB storage, standard online store, 10 collaborators.
- Business Elite: $159. Unlimited storage, advanced online store, 100 collaborators.
Wix says other billing periods are available. It also offers a 14-day money-back guarantee on your first paid plan.
Squarespace, per month:
- Basic: $12 billed annually, or $19 billed monthly. Up to 2 contributors.
- Core: $17 billed annually, or $27 billed monthly. Unlimited contributors, advanced analytics, custom CSS and JavaScript.
- Advanced: $25 billed annually, or $36 billed monthly. Unlimited contributors and the most commerce tools.
Selling online and transaction fees
This is where the two differ most.
On Squarespace, every plan can sell products and services, send invoices and sell content and memberships. The fees on sales depend on the plan:
- Basic: 2% on online store sales, 7% on digital content and memberships.
- Core: 0% on online store sales, 5% on digital content and memberships.
- Advanced: 0% on both.
Payment processing fees are charged on top, and Squarespace says its payment rates vary by plan.
On Wix, the first plan that can accept payments is Core, at $29 a month billed yearly. Light and the free plan do not list accepting payments.
So for a small shop, compare Squarespace Basic at $12 plus 2% of sales with Wix Core at $29. Work out your expected monthly sales and see where the line falls. For a larger store, also read Shopify vs Etsy.
Free domain
Both include a free custom domain for the first year on yearly plans.
- Wix: most yearly or multi-year paid plans include a 1-year domain voucher. It applies to your first paid plan purchase, must be used within 60 days and works only for a new domain bought from Wix.
- Squarespace: annual plans include one year of free domain registration for a new website. You must register it within a year of starting your plan, and it renews at the normal rate after that.
Teams and access
If several people edit the site, check the limits. Wix allows 2 collaborators on Light, 5 on Core and 10 on Business. Squarespace allows 2 contributors on Basic and unlimited from Core.
How to decide
- Decide if you will sell. If yes, compare the fees on Squarespace with the Core plan on Wix.
- Try before you pay. Use the Wix free plan or the Squarespace 14-day trial to build your home page.
- Count your editors. Check the collaborator limits.
- Plan the words first. A clear home page, an about page and an FAQ page matter more than the template.
Once the site is live, use landing page copy tips for key pages and the basics of SEO for small business to help people find it.