These are the two builders a non-technical owner is most likely to shortlist, and both will get a good-looking site live in a day. The differences are in what you pay once you sell or book, how much you can bolt on, and what happens if you ever want to leave. Prices are at the time of verification (2026-09-09); note that Wix displays yearly-only prices with regional tax included, so the figures below are what the page rendered, not necessarily what you will pay.
Pricing and what it actually includes
Wix has a free tier: hosting, the editor and templates, with Wix branding, no custom domain and no payments. Paid plans are displayed on yearly billing. Light is $17 a month with 2 GB of storage, 2 collaborators and a free domain for a year. Core, displayed at $29.77 with a "Save 50%" promotional label and GST included, adds payments and basic ecommerce, 50 GB and 5 collaborators. Business at $39.77 adds the standard ecommerce and marketing suite; Business Elite at $159.77 removes storage limits. Because the displayed prices are region-dependent and tax-inclusive, the real monthly cost is hard to pin down before you are at checkout.
Squarespace has no free plan, only a 14-day trial with no card. Basic is $25 a month ($19 annual) with up to 2 contributors, and selling is allowed with a 2% store transaction fee and a 7% fee on digital content and memberships. Core is $39 ($29 annual) with unlimited contributors, custom CSS and JavaScript, advanced analytics, no store fee and a 5% digital-content fee. Plus is $65 ($49 annual) with lower card rates and a 1% digital fee; Advanced is $139 ($99 annual) with the lowest card rates and no digital fee. Monthly billing runs 30 to 40 percent above annual.
For a site that does not sell, Wix Light at a displayed $17 undercuts Squarespace Basic at $19 annual by a little. For a site that sells, the comparison is Wix Core at a displayed $29.77 against Squarespace Basic at $19 annual plus 2% of store sales, or Core at $29 annual with no fee. At low sales volume Squarespace Basic is cheaper; once the 2% fee matters, Squarespace Core and Wix Core are the same money and the decision moves to features.
Feature depth
Wix's breadth is the app market: stores, bookings, restaurants, events and a blog as first-party apps, an AI site generator to start from, 2,000-plus templates, and Wix Studio for agencies running many sites. The limits are that templates are hard to switch once a site is built, ecommerce is weaker than a dedicated platform at higher volume, and the site cannot be exported to another host.
Squarespace's depth is design consistency: structured templates that stay good-looking as you edit, commerce for products, services and digital content on every plan, built-in scheduling, invoicing and memberships, Squarespace Payments with tiered card rates and Google Workspace email on Core and up. The limits are less layout freedom than Webflow, fewer apps than Wix or Shopify, and the transaction fees on Basic.
Ease of use
Both are built for non-technical owners. Wix's editor lets you drag anything anywhere, which is freeing at first and messy later; the AI generator gets a beginner past the blank page. Squarespace's editor is more structured, which is why its sites look consistent, and why some owners find it restrictive. If you want to fiddle, Wix. If you want it to look right without fiddling, Squarespace.
Exit cost
This is the biggest difference and the least discussed. Wix sites cannot be exported; if you leave, you rebuild. Squarespace exports content in a standard format, though the design does not travel. A business that expects to outgrow its first site, or to hand it to an agency later, should weigh this heavily.
Scenario by scenario
A photographer's portfolio with an inquiry form: Squarespace Basic at $19 annual. The templates do the work.
A hair salon that needs online booking and a small product shelf: Wix Core with Bookings, or Squarespace Core at $29 annual with the built-in scheduling. Decide on the editor, since both do the job; the best website builder for local business guide ranks the wider field.
A restaurant with a menu, reservations and event nights: Wix. The app market covers all three on one site.
A coach selling a digital course and memberships: Squarespace Core to avoid the 7% digital-content fee on Basic, or a dedicated tool; see best funnel builder for coaches.
A store expecting real volume: neither. Start on Shopify, compared in Shopify vs BigCommerce.
What neither does well
Neither gives a designer pixel control or clean code to hand to a developer; that is Webflow, compared in Webflow vs Squarespace. Neither is a serious ecommerce platform past a small catalogue. And neither shows you the true monthly price up front without care: Wix hides it behind yearly, regional, tax-inclusive display, and Squarespace's monthly billing is well above the annual rate everyone quotes.
Profiles at /tool/wix and /tool/squarespace; the wider field at /alternatives/shopify.