Webflow vs Squarespace: Which is a Better Website Builder?

Webflow offers more customization options which can lead to more satisfying results while Squarespace is a good basic tool and pretty easy to learn and use.
Webflow vs Squarespace: Which is a Better Website Builder in 2022?

There are many website builders in the market today. However, Webflow and Squarespace stand out as powerful, design-oriented tools. So, which of them is the better website builder?

Webflow has a wider variety of customization options than Squarespace. It also gives you over 200 predesigned templates, while Squarespace gives you around 100.

On the other hand, Squarespace is easier to learn and use. Its personal package also offers more features than Webflow’s basic package.

This post focuses on the differences between Webflow and Squarespace. Keep reading to find out which one works best for you.

What is Webflow?

Webflow is one of the most popular no-code web-builders, but unlike most alternatives, it goes beyond giving a few templates and grants you absolute control over your layout. With Webflow, you can essentially build and design your website to your taste.

The website builder allows you to work with the three main web development languages (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) without understanding them. Instead, your focus remains on the front end (visual side of the website.)

Additionally, Webflow gives you all the resources you need to get started on building websites. While it’s not like learning how to code, there’s a small learning curve for beginners.

Webflow allows you to create websites without coding experience
Image: Webflow allows you to create websites without coding experience

What is Squarespace?

Just like Webflow, Squarespace is a no-code web design tool. While anyone can use Squarespace to build beautiful websites, it was designed with designers, photographers, artists, and others in the creative space in mind.

To build a website with Squarespace, all you need to do is create an account, choose a template for your website and start customizing it.

Squarespace also has many handy tools that allow you to make anything from a blog to a fully-fledged eCommerce shop without coding experience.

Squarespace is an easy to use no-code web design tool
Image: Squarespace is an easy to use no-code web design tool

Similarities Between Webflow and Squarespace

The comparison between Webflow and Squarespace is difficult because the two platforms are quite similar. Here are some of the biggest similarities between Squarespace and Webflow.

Both Tools Allow You to Design Websites Without Coding

Squarespace and Webflow allow you to design fully functioning websites without typing a single line of code. This means that anyone and everyone can use them to make websites.

You can use both tools to create anything from a personal blog to an online store without outsourcing the services to a programmer. This saves you vital capital and let’s gives you full creative control over your website.

Both Offer Predesigned Templates

Apart from letting you create beautiful sites without coding, both platforms give you many predesigned templates. These are great for novices who don’t know where to start. They are also convenient for people who need to build a simple site in a short time.

You can also customize the templates to fit your desired style. This allows you to have your complete your custom website much faster than if you designed it from the ground up.

Both Have Good Performance

One of the most important things to consider when choosing a website builder is how the websites perform. Both Squarespace and Webflow sites perform impressively across all platforms.

The sites integrate well with both desktop and mobile browsers. This gives your visitors a good user experience which improves your conversion rates.

Differences Between Webflow and Squarespace

While there are many similarities between Webflow and Squarespace, there are also several differences. Below are some of the most notable ones.

Main Features

Webflow and Squarespace offer a wide range of main features out of the box. However, some of these features are implemented in one platform better than the other.

  • Website editor: Squarespace offers a great website editor where you can configure your website’s colors, fonts, page configurations, and more. However, it doesn’t offer a drag-and-drop feature, which is available on Webflow. This feature allows you to drag elements exactly where you want down to a pixel-perfect standard.
  • Image editor: One of Squarespace’s best-implemented core features is its image editor. It is quite responsive and quickly resizes images to fit their intended devices. From there, you can crop, rotate, resize or adjust the brightness and contrast of the image.

Templates

Templates are a vital feature for no-code web builders because most users are new to web design and need as much of a headstart as they can get. Both Squarespace and Webflow offer a wide collection of templates to their users.

The only difference is that all Squarespace templates are free, while most Webflow templates need to be purchased. That said, you’ll have more opportunities to customize Webflow’s templates than Squarespace.

Squarespace gives you access to all its templates for free
Image: Squarespace gives you access to all its templates for free

Ease of Use and Learning Curve

As no-code website builders, both Squarespace and Webflow are pretty easy to use, even for beginners. Squarespace is particularly straightforward, and you can design your first website after a short tutorial’.

While Webflow is also easy to use, it has a slight learning curve that beginners must deal with before maximizing its potential. There are so many customization options that it might take some time to familiarize yourself with them.

However, experienced users familiar with similar tools like Figma or Sketch are greatly advantaged. Webflow has many design tools that can produce excellent results in the right hands.

User Interface

Webflow has many customization features. Unfortunately, that also comes with a complicated user interface that new users might struggle with.

Squarespace, however, has a straightforward interface that anyone can explore and learn independently.

Webflow’s user interface
Image: Webflow’s user interface (source)
Squarespace user interface
Image: Squarespace user interface (source)

Pricing and Plans

Squarespace and Webflow break down pricing differently. Below are the plans and what they offer.

Webflow Plans

Webflow offers three types of plans: site, workspace, and eCommerce plans.

  • Site plans: Let you create and publish your site. There’s a free starter plan which is best for learning how to use Webflow. To get a custom domain, you have to pay $14 a month for the basic plan, $23 a month for the CMS plan, or $39 per month for the business plan.
  • Workspace plans: Focus on collaboration, site permissions, and the number of sites you can control at any given time. There’s a free plan here too, but it’s best suited for learning. You can pay $19 a month for the core plan or $49 a month for the growth plan.
  • Enterprise plans: To get enterprise security, scalability, and support, you need to contact Webflow for a custom quote on your enterprise plan.
Webflow site plans
Image: Webflow site plans

Squarespace Plans

Instead of a free plan, Squarespace offers a 14-day free trial, after which you must choose one of four plans. Prices range from $16 per month for the Personal plan to $49 per month for the Advanced commerce plan.

Squarespace is a better deal because the personal package gives you unlimited bandwidth and access to all Squarespace templates. Webflow’s basic plan, on the other hand, only gives you access to 50 GB of bandwidth and a few templates.

Squarespace pricing
Image: Squarespace pricing

Customer Support and Community

While Squarespace and Webflow are easy to use, you might find yourself needing help, say, with your subscription. While both offer good customer support, Squarespace offers more responsive services.

You can get instant feedback from Squarespace live chat. The platform also offers 24/7 email support. Additionally, you can access the help center directly within the editor.

Webflow, on the other hand, only offers email support. This can sometimes take a day or two, which is not convenient. Fortunately, if you decide to fix the issue yourself, you can use the wide range of resources on Webflow University.

Recommendations Based on Usage

Now let’s look at how both tools compare depending on how you plan to use them.

Blogging and SEO

Webflow offers a complex Content Management System that lets you to create highly customized blog templates. The CMS allows you to organize posts into collections and assign them tags and categories.The CMS also allows you to modify other details like your post’s URL.

Webflow gives you granular control over your SEO markup. This is more advanced than Squarespace and most competitors.

For instance, you can create sitemaps, indexing rules, redirects, and more. You can also edit schema markup, which is more easily understood by search engines, add descriptions and meta titles, image descriptions, and more.

On the other hand, Squarespace has a blogging system that allows you to:

  • Schedule posts to premiere at a certain time.
  • Assign tags and categories to posts.
  • Set posts as drafted, scheduled, or published, or even mark them for review.
  • Save source URL and excerpts.

It also has several built-in SEO features that allow you to edit your meta descriptions, page titles, and more. In addition, you can edit the alt text of your images, create and automatically submit sitemaps and edit URLs.

eCommerce

While Webflow’s eCommerce feature was only introduced a few years ago, it’s still very capable. You can use it to create an online shop for a small to medium size business.

It allows you to sell both digital and physical products and add more fields for additional customer information.

Webflow also lets you add product variants and customize checkout methods for various shipping methods. Further, Webflow offers basic inventory management, allowing you to track orders, keep customer accounts and review the accounts’ order histories.

For many small and medium businesses, Squarespace might be the perfect eCommerce solution.

It offers a wide variety of eCommerce features, including:

  • Limited stock labels (to create a sense of urgency toward buying your products)
  • Quick product reviews.
  • Embeds.
  • Image zooming.
  • Site-wide announcements and promotional content.
  • Discounts and coupons.
  • Product descriptions and reviews.

Squarespace also lets you sell to unlimited customers, and customers can create their own accounts.

With all that said, Squarespace comes with a 3% transaction fee which is lifted in eCommerce-centered plans.

Squarespace lets you add custom labels to your products
Image: Squarespace lets you add custom labels to your products (source)

Building Portfolio Website

Webflow might be the best no-code website builder for creating portfolios. In most cases, you want your portfolio to be as creative and unique as possible.

Webflow offers more customization options while allowing you to build your site from scratch. If you’d rather use a template, Webflow has more templates than Squarespace, although you have to pay for most of them.

Website Customization

As explained above, Webflow has more customization options than Squarespace. While Squarespace appeals to beginners who need a simple experience, Webflow gives you a sea of tools and allows you to unleash your creativity.

Pros and Cons

WebflowSquarespace
ProsConsProsCons
Offers free plansMost templates have to be bought separataelyOffers 14-day free trialNo free plan
Highly customizable templatesPoor customer serviceFree templates on all plansTemplates are not very customizable
Advanced web customization featuresSteep learning curveReliable customer serviceNot recommended for building portfolio websites
Great for eCommerce sitesComplicated user interfaceGreat for blogging and SEO 
Ideal for building portfolios Straightforward User Interface 
Great for blogging and SEO Easy to learn and use 
Doesn’t require coding skills Great customer service 

Final Word

Squarespace and Webflow are great website design tools. However, Webflow offers more customization options which can lead to more satisfying results.

On the other hand, Squarespace is pretty easy to learn and use, and it gives you everything you need in the basic package.

When to Use Webflow

Although Webflow doesn’t require coding skills, it does need some experience with similar tools for the best results. Webflow is ideal for web designers who want to make stunning sites without learning how to code.

It is also great for professional sites like portfolios. For instance, a UX designer’s portfolio design speaks more of their work than its actual contents. Therefore, using Webflow gives them more to work with and stand out.

When to Use Squarespace

Squarespace is ideal for novices who are just getting into web design. It’s straightforward and offers many helpful guides for beginners.

It also gives you everything you need to get started with the basic plan. This allows you to experiment with different templates before you find the right fit for your site.

DISCLOSURE: We’re reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Pttrns

We will be happy to hear your thoughts

Leave a reply

Pttrns
Logo
Enable registration in settings - general