Network Solutions website builder delivers a no-frills approach to creating business websites. While it may not compete with the best website builders of 2025, it works for small businesses looking for simplicity. The platform clearly prioritizes ease of use over advanced functionality.

Techradar reviewers have spent thousands of hours testing 140+ website builders. We've found that while Network Solutions meets basic needs, it falls short of modern expectations. For users who need more robust features, Wix remains our pick for the best website builder in 2025.

Still, Network Solutions' website building tool works well for straightforward business sites. You won't find cutting-edge design tools here. But you will get reliable hosting, AI tools, decent performance, and 150+ user-friendly templates.

Network Solutions: 2-minute review

Network Solutions website builder targets small businesses wanting quick online presence. The platform delivers on its core promise: simple website creation without coding knowledge. However, it lacks the sophisticated features found in competitors like Wix or Squarespace.

Founded in 1979 as a technology consulting company, Network Solutions was the world's first domain registrar. The company expanded into website building to serve its small business customer base. Today, it competes in a crowded market with feature-rich no-code platforms like Wix, Webflow, and Bubble. Network Solutions holds its ground through simplicity and reliability, but it struggles to match its competitors' innovation.

What is Network Solutions?

Network Solutions started as a tech consultancy in 1979. The company became famous for managing internet domain names before opening to competition. Today, they offer web hosting, domain registration, and website building services.

Web.com acquired Network Solutions in 2011. More recently, they've decided to combine both website building products into a single solution. Their new website builder targets beginners who need simple sites. You get basic tools without overwhelming options. The platform suits small businesses, personal sites, and anyone wanting quick results without technical complexity.

Features

Network Solutions provides essential website building features without unnecessary complexity. The platform includes over 150 templates, drag-and-drop editing, and mobile responsiveness. You'll find basic SEO tools, SSL certificates, and integrated hosting. These features target small businesses needing professional-looking sites quickly.

The feature set works best for straightforward business websites. Restaurant owners, consultants, and service providers will find adequate tools. However, advanced users seeking sophisticated design options or extensive e-commerce capabilities may feel limited. The platform lacks advanced animations, complex layouts, or detailed customization options.

Network Solutions now also includes AI-powered tools like content writing and logo creation. These features help beginners overcome common obstacles. The AI writer generates website copy, while the logo builder creates basic brand graphics. These additions make the platform more accessible to complete novices.

The pricing justifies the feature set for budget-conscious users. Starting at $1.99 for the first month, it offers good value for basic needs. However, competitors provide more features at similar price points. You're paying for simplicity rather than comprehensive functionality.

Tools

Network Solutions provides essential website building tools designed for simplicity. It focuses on core functionality rather than extensive options. Each tool serves specific business needs but does not overwhelm beginners.

Drag-and-drop editor

Their visual editor lets you place elements anywhere on your pages. You can add text, images, videos, and forms without coding. The interface uses a section-based approach rather than true drag-and-drop. This keeps things simple but restricts design flexibility.

Template library

150+ professionally designed templates cover various industries. They provide starting points for different business types. All templates include mobile responsiveness, so they can adapt to any screen size automatically. However, switching templates requires rebuilding your entire site from scratch.

AI content creation

There's an AI writer that creates website copy based on your business details. Meanwhile an AI logo builder produces basic graphics using your brand preferences. These tools help overcome creative block for beginners.

SEO and marketing tools

Built-in SEO features include title tags, meta descriptions, and XML sitemaps. The platform also offers social media integration and email marketing capabilities. Additional marketing tools include paid ads management and link-in-bio creation for driving traffic to key pages.

E-commerce features

Basic online store functionality allows product sales through your website. You get shopping cart features and secure payment processing. However, the e-commerce tools remain limited compared to specialized platforms. This works for simple product catalogs but not complex online stores.

Ease of use

Network Solutions excels in simplicity. The drag-and-drop interface welcomes beginners without overwhelming them. You get 150+ templates sorted by industry, making it easy to find relevant designs.

Their builder uses a section-based approach rather than true drag-and-drop. This keeps things simple but limits design flexibility. We also found the AI tools quite helpful for newcomers. The AI Content Writer creates website copy based on your business details. And the AI Domain Generator suggests relevant domain names using your keywords.

The platform takes an all-in-one approach. You get hosting, domain, SSL, and professional email bundled together. This eliminates the need to juggle multiple services. However, switching templates requires rebuilding your entire site from scratch.

Pricing

Network Solutions offers competitive introductory pricing. The basic Website plan starts at just $1.99 monthly for the first year. This includes hosting, a free domain, SSL certificate, and professional email for three months. The Website + Marketing plan adds appointment scheduling, social media tools, and AI copywriting for $3.99 monthly.

The pricing jumps significantly at renewal. Your $1.99 plan becomes $16.99 monthly in year two. This represents a substantial increase that may surprise budget-conscious users. However, even renewal rates remain competitive compared to premium builders like Wix, which starts at $17/month.

Security

Network Solutions provides basic security features but charges for advanced protection. All plans include free SSL certificates, which encrypt data between your site and visitors. You also get Perfect Privacy to hide your personal information from WHOIS databases.

The company offers SiteLock Premium as an additional security service. This includes daily malware scans, automatic malware removal, and basic web application firewall protection. It also provides blacklist monitoring and a Content Delivery Network to speed up your site. However, these security features cost extra, unlike competitors who include comprehensive security in their base plans.

Support

Network Solutions provides multiple support channels with mixed results. You get 24/7 phone support and live chat, plus a comprehensive knowledge base. Phone support runs from 7 AM to midnight ET, seven days a week. Live chat operates Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 11 PM.

The quality varies significantly between support agents. Some users report helpful, patient staff who explain solutions clearly. Others encounter abrupt agents who seem reluctant to assist. This inconsistency makes support a gamble. The knowledge base offers hundreds of well-written articles with helpful screenshots. You can usually find answers quickly without contacting support.

Network Solutions includes one hour of expert design support with the basic plan. This helps beginners get started without struggling alone. The company also offers professional design services separately if you prefer hands-off website creation.

Alternatives

Network Solutions targets small businesses seeking simplicity over sophistication. It competes in the budget-friendly segment alongside Hostinger ($2.99/month) and Weebly. The platform works best for basic business sites, restaurants, and service providers who need quick online presence.

The main competitors include Wix, Squarespace, and GoDaddy. Wix offers more design flexibility and advanced features starting at $17 monthly. Squarespace provides premium templates and better design tools for creatives at $16 monthly. Shopify dominates e-commerce with specialized tools starting at $29 monthly. Network Solutions fits between basic builders and feature-rich platforms, offering reliability without complexity.

Network Solutions website builder: Summary

Network Solutions website builder delivers on its core promise: simple website creation for small businesses. You get reliable hosting, decent templates, and helpful AI tools at competitive introductory prices. The all-in-one approach eliminates service juggling, while customer support provides mixed but generally adequate assistance.

However, significant renewal price increases, limited design flexibility, and basic security features may disappoint users seeking advanced functionality. It's ideal for beginners wanting straightforward business sites without technical complexity.

FAQs

This Jimdo review examines an AI website builder that's designed specifically for people who've never built a site before. The Hamburg-based company has been helping users create websites since 2007, focusing on simplicity over advanced features. While our best website builders guide features more powerful options, Jimdo carves out its own niche in the beginner market.

TechRadar reviewers have spent thousands of hours testing 140+ website builders, giving us deep insight into what works and what doesn't. Jimdo stands out to our team for its straightforward approach, though it can't match the versatility of our top pick Wix, which offers far more templates and advanced features. Jimdo's new AI-driven setup process makes it incredibly accessible, but this simplicity comes with trade-offs in customization and scalability.

Our testing reveals that Jimdo works best for solo entrepreneurs and very small businesses who need something online fast. The platform's "paint-by-numbers" approach keeps things simple but may frustrate users as their needs grow.

Jimdo: 2-minute review

Jimdo earns a solid 3.5 out of 5 rating as a beginner-focused website builder that prioritizes ease of use over advanced functionality. The platform's standout feature is its AI-powered setup process, which can build a basic website by asking you a few simple questions about your business or personal needs. This makes it incredibly accessible for first-time website creators who might feel overwhelmed by more complex builders.

Still, Jimdo's simplicity comes with significant limitations as your needs grow. With only 16 templates available and no way to preview them before committing, design options feel more restrictive than most competitors. The platform caps e-commerce stores at just 100 products and supports only Stripe and PayPal for payments, making it unsuitable for larger online businesses. Founded in 2007 by three German entrepreneurs, Jimdo has built a reputation for helping over 25 million users get online, but it hasn't kept pace with more feature-rich competitors in the website building space.

What is Jimdo?

Jimdo is a no-code builder that lets you create professional-looking websites without writing code or having technical skills. It comes with pre-made website templates and an easy drag-and-drop system, kind of like how you might arrange furniture in a room with a floor planning app. The platform is known for its acessible AI assistant, which can build a basic website for you by asking simple questions.

This company offers two main ways to build your site: AI-powered generation that does most of the work for you, and a hands-on editor where you can customize things yourself within certain limits. Instead of overwhelming beginners with hundreds of options, Jimdo keeps things simple by giving you fewer choices but making those choices very easy to implement. This works well if you want to get online quickly without fussing over every design detail.

Features

With Jimdo’s professional domain feature, I was able to get my own domain name for my website all in minutes. Having a custom domain name helps build trust with my customers, making them feel more comfortable when they visit my website.

The multiple pages feature of Jimdo let me create a lot pages on my site so that visitors can learn more about the products and services I offer on my test site. This helps me make sure that visitors see all the best parts of my business at once instead of having to search around for various pieces of information. This also means they’re more likely to stay on the page longer and take action - like signing up for a newsletter or buying something from my site. Jimdo makes it easy for me to optimize my website for Google searches so that more people can find me online. It provides step-by-step instructions on how to improve my ranking on Google so that I can drive even more traffic to the site.

Jimdo also offer GDPR-compliant legal pages feature. With this feature, all of my legal pages like imprint, privacy policy, terms & conditions are now covered by trusted shops guarantee - giving me peace of mind knowing everything is taken care of properly.

Tools

Jimdo provides a focused set of tools designed to get beginners online without overwhelming them with options. The platform emphasizes simplicity over comprehensive functionality, making it easy to understand what each tool does.

AI website builder

Jimdo's standout feature is its AI-powered website creation tool that builds sites automatically based on your answers to simple questions. The system asks about your business type, goals, and preferences, then creates a customized website complete with relevant content and design elements. You can even connect your social media profiles to help the AI better understand your brand and populate your site with appropriate content.

Drag-and-drop editor

The platform offers a visual editor that lets you modify your website by dragging elements around the page, though within the constraints of your chosen template. You can add new sections, change colors and fonts, and rearrange content blocks, but you're limited to the structure and elements provided by Jimdo. This "paint-by-numbers" approach prevents design mistakes but restricts creative freedom.

Ecommerce tools

Jimdo includes basic online store functionality that supports up to 100 products with features like product variants and manual stock updates. The platform handles essential e-commerce needs including flat-rate shipping calculations and integrates with Stripe and PayPal for payment processing. However, the limited product capacity and basic shipping tools make it suitable only for very small online stores.

SEO and analytics

The platform provides beginner-friendly SEO tools that help optimize your site for search engines without requiring technical knowledge. Basic analytics features let you track website performance and visitor engagement, while mobile optimization ensures your site works well on all devices. The SEO guidance is straightforward but lacks the advanced features needed for competitive markets.

Ease of use

Jimdo has a very straightforward approach to website building. As we mentioned before, it offers two options: an AI-powered setup that builds your site for you, and a traditional drag-and-drop editor for those who need more hands-on control.

If you opt for the AI assistant, it begins by asking simple questions about your business type, goals, and industry, then automatically generates a website with content and design elements. This takes minutes and eliminates the intimidation factor that often scares beginners away.

But even the drag-and-drop UI maintains this simplicity throughout the editing process. You can smoothly transition between editing specific pages and adjusting overall site design — without getting lost in complex menus. Everything's clean and intuitive, though you're working within the constraints of your chosen template rather than with complete creative freedom.

While this "paint-by-numbers" approach prevents mistakes, it also means you can't break free from predetermined layouts and structures. With only about 16 dated templates available, that can be limiting. But the platform does include features like mobile responsiveness built into all templates, free SSL certificates ,and 24/7 backups for enhanced security.

Pricing

Jimdo offers a free plan to get you started. Unsurprisingly, this plan is pretty limited and requires you to use a .jimdosite.com domain. However, this is a great option if you are just creating a hobby website or looking to test some of the Jimdo features before committing to pay.

To get rid of on-site ads and connect a custom domain, you will need to go for the Start plan. This plan is still a little simplistic but does offer you everything you need to create a professional website, so it is ideal for startups, freelancers, and more serious hobbyists.

If you want to really grow your website, the aptly named Grow plan could be for you. You get everything from the Start plan along with tools for Search Engine Optimization (SEO), visitor statistics, and personalized support (within 4 hours).

Online stores have three plans to pick from: Basicm, Business, or VIP. Business gives you all the ecommerce basics such as the ability to add product variants, social media marketing, and social selling tools. VIP takes this one step further, offering unlimited storage and professional design review.

Security

Jimdo takes security seriously with measures that protect both website owners and their visitors. The platform automatically provides SSL certificates for all websites, ensuring data transmission is encrypted using HTTPS protocols. All financial transactions are secured through PCI DSS certification from the international PCI Security Standards Council, guaranteeing that payment processing meets the highest industry standards.

The company hosts its services on AWS Cloud data centers in Ireland that maintain ISO 27001 and SOC2 certifications, with strict access controls requiring multi-factor authentication and encrypted VPN connections for internal system access.

Beyond basic encryption, Jimdo employs multiple layers of protection including AES-256 encryption for data storage and communication, automated DDoS attack mitigation through Cloudflare partnership, and regular penetration testing to identify vulnerabilities.

The platform participates in a Vulnerability Disclosure Program that allows security researchers to safely test and report potential weaknesses. Daily automated backups ensure data recovery capabilities, while malware protection helps prevent security breaches.

Jimdo's professional security team also continuously monitors systems and updates security patches, backed by comprehensive emergency and recovery plans that are tested periodically.

Support

The first method for getting assistance from Jimdo is submitting a ticket. This can be done directly on the website, under the “Help” tab located in the navigation bar at the top right side of every page.

Once you click this tab, you will see an option that says “Submit A Ticket” which allows you to fill out a form with all of your relevant information including your name, e-mail address, type of inquiry (such as technical issue or billing question), and additional comments if needed. Once this form has been completed and submitted, you will be able to track your ticket status online in order to find out when it has been answered.

The second method for getting assistance from Jimdo is accessing its help center which can also be found under the “Help” tab.

In the help center you will find helpful guides on topics such as setting up your website, managing content, design features, SEO optimization, ecommerce features, and much more. The help center also contains frequently asked questions along with step-by-step tutorials in order to make sure that you are getting answers quickly and accurately. It should be noted that only paid plans have access to priority support from Jimdo’s customer service team via email; free plans must rely on submitting tickets or accessing the help center for assistance.

Alternatives

One of the main competitors of Jimdo is Wix. Wix offers a comprehensive set of tools to help you build and manage your website quickly and easily. Its drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to customize your site and add media, while its range of themes allows you to create a professional-looking site without having any coding skills.

Weebly is another popular website builder that is often compared with Jimdo. Weebly has an intuitive drag-and-drop editor and hundreds of templates that make it easy to customize your site. It also offers features like built-in analytics, ecommerce tools, and support for multiple languages.

Squarespace is another great alternative to Jimdo if you want an easy way to build and manage a beautiful website. It has a modern interface with plenty of features designed for businesses who want their sites look professional and polished. Squarespace also offers powerful blogging tools, as well as integrated ecommerce features if you plan on selling products or services online.

Jimdo: Summary

Jimdo is a good choice for businesses looking for an easy-to-use platform with plenty of powerful features at an affordable price point. With its intuitive drag-and-drop interface and comprehensive suite of tools and services, it was the perfect fit for my business - and could be just right for yours too! So if you’re looking for a website platform that will give your business a leg up without breaking the bank, then definitely consider checking out Jimdo.

All these factors add up to make it one of the best small business website builders on the market - although with some more advanced tools, businesses of any size could benefit from using the Jimdo website builder.

FAQs

Squarespace is a designer-friendly no-code platform with great aesthetics that consistently ranks among the best website builder platforms on the market. With its sleek templates and comprehensive feature set, Squarespace positions itself as an all-in-one solution for creating stylish and functional websites with minimal effort.

Over the years, Techradar has spent thousands of hours testing 140+ website builders, making our reviewers the leading experts in what makes a platform exceptional. Squarespace stands out to us for its award-winning templates, which can be modified down to the last pixel thanks to a powerful block-based editor.

Wix remains our top pick for the best website builder of 2025, thanks to a slightly higher number of features at a reduced price point. But, Squarespace's new Blueprint AI and Design Intelligence tools make it a close competitor that gives the former a good run for its money.

Squarespace: 2-minute review

Squarespace is a complete website builder, with everything you would expect from one of the best-known names in the industry. This includes a range of stunning website templates, a full AI website builder, ecommerce features including payment gateway integrations, marketing tools, analytics, and the ability to integrate with select 3rd party services.

The platform was originally built to serve the blogging space but is now capable of hosting practically any type of website from ecommerce stores to freelancer portfolios. Despite the platform's growth, it stays true to its roots by continuing to offer some of the more aesthetically pleasing website templates available.

Squarespace isn’t the cheapest website builder, but it is fairly priced when compared with competitors with similar features, tools, and ease of use. Its entry level plan starts at $16/mo with an annual plan, which is in the same ballpark as Wix ($17/mo) and Hostinger ($11.99/mo). Plus, you can take advantage of a 14-day free trial to test it out, although unlike Wix, it doesn’t offer a forever-free version.

Overall, Squarespace is a safe bet for those looking for an easy to use website builder with all the features most businesses will ever need.

What is Squarespace?

Squarespace is a website builder that helps you create professional websites without coding. It’s like a digital canvas where you can design your online presence. You can use pre-made templates and customize them to fit your vision. Whether you want a blog, portfolio, or online store, Squarespace has all the tools you need.

When you sign up, you can choose from over 180 designer-made templates or use their AI-powered Blueprint tool for a custom design. After that, you can easily add your content, change colors and fonts, and arrange elements with its drag-and-drop editor. Squarespace takes care of technical details like hosting and security, so you don’t have to stress about them.

What’s great about Squarespace for beginners is that everything is in one package. This includes domain registration, cloud hosting, design tools, and a CMS. The all-in-one approach saves you from juggling services from different providers, which can be overwhelming when starting out.

Recent updates

Squarespace 7.1 represents a fundamental shift in the platform's design philosophy, moving away from fixed template families to a highly flexible design system powered by Fluid Engine. This introduces a grid-based editing system that allows users to drag, drop, and layer content blocks with unprecedented freedom, essentially transforming every website into a custom design canvas with zero template limitations.

Design

The Fluid Engine editor enables independent mobile and desktop layout design, giving users granular control over how their content appears across different devices, a significant improvement from the previous version where mobile layouts were automatically generated.

Squarespace 7.1 introduces Auto Layouts that intelligently present content sets, gallery sections for cohesive image displays, and advanced visual effects like Block Pinning for split-scrolling and Text Highlights for emphasizing selected content.

Content management

We found the new page section functionality particularly impressive, as it allows users to divide content into distinct sections with unique design, layout, and styling options. This is a major improvement from 7.0's single content area limitation. They also added Saved Sections functionality in May 2025, enabling users to create reusable design components across multiple pages, speeding up the design workflow for both beginners and professionals.

Ecommerce

For ecommerce users, 7.1 delivers substantial improvements in selling capabilities and product management. The platform now supports up to 10,000 products per page (compared to 200 in version 7.0) and 250 variants per product (up from 100), while introducing nested category navigation and optimized mobile scrolling for longer product descriptions. Product waitlists, previously available only on specific templates, are now accessible across all websites.

However, it's worth noting that Squarespace recently implemented Products V2 with a mandatory migration deadline of August 30, 2025, requiring users with custom code targeting product pages to update their implementations to maintain functionality.

Support

Security and support options have been strengthened through Squarespace's dedicated security team implementing enhanced technical and organizational measures updated in January 2025. The platform maintains a risk-based security approach with continuous monitoring, red team exercises, and threat modeling for new system developments, ensuring robust protection for both company and customer assets.

Integration capabilities have also evolved, though 7.1 maintains Squarespace's philosophy of relying primarily on native tools rather than extensive third-party integrations, which some users find limiting compared to competitors but ensures better stability and support.

Partner program

The platform's recent major update arrived in September 2025 with the launch of Squarespace for Pros, unveiled during Circle Day 2025. This professional-grade experience introduces Finish Layer Design Tools with interactive block animations, customizable transforms (opacity, rotation, offset), and the ability to import external fonts for complete brand consistency.

It also includes integrated practice management for project oversight and client collaboration, plus expanded Circle partner program benefits representing Squarespace's most significant investment to date in supporting professional designers and agencies. However, you should be aware that upgrading from classic editor sections to Fluid Engine is irreversible and may break custom CSS implementations.

Note: Upgrading to the 7.1 version of Squarespace is entirely optional for now. While new users get introduced to Squarespace 7.1 by default, existing website owners can choose to keep the legacy version of the website builder, along with all its existing features and support.

Features

Squarespace provides a wide range of features for different website needs. At the heart of the platform is a powerful drag-and-drop editor with a smart grid system. This helps keep your design elements aligned. You’ll also find over 180 professionally designed templates. These templates are great starting points for creating stunning websites. They feature a modern, minimalist design with plenty of white space and room for photos.

If you want to sell online, Squarespace offers strong ecommerce tools in its Business plans. You can sell physical and digital products, offer subscriptions, and create discounts. It even helps with abandoned cart recovery emails and social media sales. The platform supports various payment methods, such as PayPal, Stripe, and Square, and includes automatic tax calculations. However, these ecommerce features come at a higher price compared to some competitors.

In 2023, Squarespace introduced Blueprint AI, which streamlines website creation. This AI system guides users through five simple steps to create a personalized website. It also generates content with its AI text generator. We found this feature helpful for beginners facing the "blank page" anxiety. Still, the AI-generated templates seem basic compared to Squarespace's professionally designed options.

The platform has specialized tools like Acuity Scheduling for booking appointments, available for $16 a month. It also offers portfolio collections for showcasing work and various blocks to enhance user experience, like search and archive functions. While Squarespace includes many built-in features, it mainly relies on its own tools. This limits extensive third-party integrations in most areas. Squarespace’s pricing ranges from $16 to $52 per month (billed annually). Although it's a premium price, the quality of design and features usually justify the investment for users.

Tools

Over the years, Squarespace has stacked on a bunch of different tools and add-ons to make its website builder more lucrative. This includes everything from SEO features to help you optimize your content strategy to AI tools for assistive design suggestions.

Blogging

Squarespace is well known for being one of the best blogging sites around. So, if you’re into blogging, you’ll be glad to hear that Squarespace provides a full set of blogging features such as built-in blog pages, a comment section, and content promotion tools. However, if you’re making a blog as a means of making money, Squarespace shouldn’t be your first choice. First off, to get hold of ecommerce features, you’ll have to purchase the “Business” plan or up, and it will set you back $23 per month (if you subscribe for a year) or $36 for one month.

Ecommerce

The Business plan (and up) will also let you integrate a shopping cart into your website with ease, as well as sell physical products, digital downloads, online services, and subscriptions. However, if we take the 3% transaction fee on sales and the plan’s initial price tag into account, this solution doesn’t seem particularly pocket-friendly.

Also, Squarespace isn’t as strong as some of its competitor (like Shopify) when it comes to shipping and payment options – for instance, manual payments isn’t an option and you can’t sell in multiple currencies.

SEO and marketing

Squarespace also offers superb Search Engine Optimization (SEO) features, which will help you get your site in front of your core audience. There are multiple options for social media marketing, email marketing, and custom post designs. Not only are these tools powerful, but they are easy to use - this makes it one of the best small business website builders on the market.

AI tools

Although Squarespace’s AI offering isn’t quite as advanced as some competitors such as Wix and Hostinger, it does offer a host of helpful AI-powered tools that will make creating your website a breeze.

The list starts with the option to use AI to get your initial website set up. If you select this option Squarespace will ask you a few questions such as the name of your site, which sections and pages you want on your website, which colors and fonts you want to use, and then use your answers to build your site.

Like with most AI website builders, the results are a little generic and will need some editing. Luckily, Squarespace also offers some AI tools to help you do this. For example, you can use an AI copywriter to help you complete your site's written content. A similar tool can be used to create product descriptions, which can be a lifesaver for large online stores.

Finally, Squarespace also offers AI-powered branding and email marketing tools, helping you make the right impression and getting you in front of the right people.

Integrations

Squarespace doesn’t take too kindly to third-party tools – while there’s a decent variety of versatile tools it’s not up to scratch – so, you might feel like you’re stuck with Squarespace's ecosystem.

Website editor

We should also talk about Squarespace’s up-to-date, drag-and-drop editor called Fluid Engine, a superior version to their old editor. As soon as you add an element or change something on the template you’re using, it will become visible straight away. It also offers a decent level of customization choices, so you can adjust your template to suit your needs and desires.

The only major drawback is that you can’t place elements (such as images or text) wherever you want them to be - you can position them in pre-built places bounded by grid lines. Also, while you’ll be prompted to save your site after each change, you won’t enjoy the convince of the autosave functionality.

Ease of use

Of all the website builders we have tested, Squarespace ranks as one of the easiest to use. Its drag-and-drop editor balances simplicity and functionality. This makes it great for beginners but still offers depth for experienced users. The clean, minimalist interface removes clutter. It shows only the tools you need, like the option to add a new section, which appears when you hover over an existing section.

Getting started with Squarespace is easy. During onboarding, you answer a few questions about your website's purpose and goals. This helps the platform tailor its recommendations to your needs. The 14-day free trial lets you explore without rushing into a paid plan. We liked that no credit card is needed to start the trial, allowing risk-free experimentation.

Squarespace emphasizes user experience (UX) principles, evident in how the platform works and the sites it creates. The editor uses a smart grid system to align elements. This helps beginners create visually balanced pages. Real-time previews show how your changes affect your site, making the design process dynamic. However, some users notice lag or unresponsiveness with larger, content-heavy websites.

The platform includes accessibility features through its All in One Accessibility Widget. This makes your website more usable for people with various disabilities, including visual, hearing, motor, and cognitive impairments. Yet while customization is simple, Squarespace has limits. Once you pick a template, you can't switch to another without rebuilding your site. And some advanced customizations need CSS or JavaScript knowledge, which is only available on higher-tier plans.

Pricing

The site builder’s price tag is on par with similar all-in-one solutions on the market and it provides plenty of bang for the buck. However, if you only wanted a pocket-friendly site builder without other components of Squarespace, we’re sorry to say you won’t find this here.

If you’re in for an all-in-one solution, you can choose between four plans ranging from $16 to $52 per month, if you opt for an annual billing option, that is. If you choose a one-month-only option, the price will spike significantly.

While Squarespace doesn’t offer a forever-free edition of its site builder, there is a 14-day free trial with all four plans and no credit card details are required. It is also worth mentioning that you can often save on your subscription by using Squarespace promo codes and/or signing up for a longer period of time.

As for payment methods, Squarespace accepts all major credit/debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, and American Express included), JCB, Diners Club (in USD only), and SEPA direct debit (in EUR only). As you already suspect, you can’t pay via PayPal or Bitcoin (BTC).

For a more detailed review the plans available on Squarespace you can read our full Squarespace pricing guide.

Integrations

Squarespace takes a curated approach to integrations, offering built-in connectivity to carefully selected platforms rather than an open marketplace of third-party apps. The platform provides what it calls "Connected Services," which are seamlessly integrated into the core Squarespace experience.

This includes essential tools for payment processing (Stripe, PayPal, Square), shipping carriers (FedEx, UPS, USPS), social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Vimeo), and marketing services (Google Analytics, Mailchimp, Facebook Pixel). We find that this approach ensures reliable performance and support, though it may feel limiting compared to platforms that offer thousands of third-party integrations.

But for automation enthusiasts, Squarespace also supports Zapier integration, which opens up connectivity to over 1,000 additional 3rd-party apps and services. Through Zapier, users can create automated workflows (called "Zaps") that trigger when specific events occur on their Squarespace site, such as new form submissions, newsletter signups, or product purchases. Common automation scenarios include adding new form submissions to Google Sheets, creating CRM entries in Salesforce or HubSpot, sending notifications to Slack, or adding contacts to email marketing platforms like ConvertKit.

Finally, Squarespace offers API access for developers looking to build custom integrations, though this requires technical expertise. API key generation is possible through the platform's developer settings. It uses OAuth 2.0 authentication and provides REST endpoints for managing content, products, orders, and inventory.

Developers can access endpoints for site-level configurations, e-commerce functionality, and content management, enabling custom solutions for businesses with specific integration needs. This is useful for connecting Squarespace to enterprise systems like ERPs, CRMs, or custom fulfillment services that aren't available through the standard integrations.

Security

Squarespace websites are all kept on secure with SSL certificates, two-factor authentication (2FA), protection against distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, and a login activity panel. While the activity log won’t protect your site by itself, it’ll help you discover if any logins were made from suspicious or unknown devices.

Squarespace’s security staff is monitoring all Squarespace sites round-the-clock for threats and vulnerabilities to make sure your site is properly protected. Still, if you discover a vulnerability, you can report it to the security staff and they’ll conduct their investigation on it.

Customer support

If you get stuck somewhere during your Squarespace journey, you can seek assistance from their support staff via live chat, email, and X (Twitter). Sadly, phone support isn’t available.

Live chat is available Monday to Friday, 4 AM to 8 PM, ET, and once you contact the staff, someone will get back to you in a matter of minutes. In contrast, email support is available 24/7, but the response time can sometimes be sluggish.

As for self-service, you can visit the Help Center which contains a well-supplied knowledge base, video guides, and an avidly active community forum you can conveniently browse by topics.

Alternatives

As we noted earlier, Wix is an awesome alternative for those who want to build their site on a tight budget or entirely free — it even offers a forever-free edition of its site builder for personal use. Plus, it’s super simple to use, packed with features, and provides automatic backups.

If you’re searching for a cheap yet endlessly customizable site builder, WordPress is the solution of choice. Since it’s an open-sourced software, it has thousands of themes, templates, plugins, how-to guides, and a committed community that can lend you a helping hand. While it’s not as beginner-friendly as Squarespace or Wix, it makes up for it with a fabulous level of flexibility and freedom.

Finally, Shopify is built for ecommerce from the ground up, so if an ecommerce solution is what you’re looking for, it might be the best choice. Squarespace offers all essential ecommerce features, but it’s still better suited for a professional site or a blog.

How we tested Squarespace

To test the Squarespace website builder, we started by setting up an account. We then got hands-on with the tools and features available when building a website on the platform. This included exploring the various available website templates, SEO and marketing tools, and testing the drag-and-drop website editor.

We also reviewed the available plans, comparing their pricing and what they include. Finally, we researched what level of help and support is available to users and how the platform protects users’ websites from security threats.

You can learn more about how we test website builders with our full guide.

Summary

Squarespace is a splendid, simple-to-use site builder with terrific templates and it gets better each time a new version crops up. Hitting high marks in all major areas, Squarespace site builder qualifies as an amazing all-arounder in the market, and it’s also fit for small and mid-sized online stores.

Their website builder comes packed with tools and features such as email marketing, an SSL certificate, and options for mobile responsive templates - giving you everything you need to launch and grow your website in one convenient space.

However, Squarespace keeps its users on a short leash with a low level of customization and the inability to switch between templates without starting from scratch. Also, the lack of auto-save features makes it less convenient than some of its competitors.

Squarespace: FAQs