Wix vs Squarespace 2026: My Brutally Honest Take – Top Tool Guides

Quick Verdict

If you just need a pretty brochure site and you hate touching code, get Squarespace. If you want actual control (or you’re building something that needs e‑commerce beyond a few t‑shirts), Wix wins, even though its editor still makes you want to throw your laptop out a window sometimes.

Wix ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5) — flexible but messy
Squarespace ⭐⭐½ (2.5/5) — beautiful box, but good luck thinking outside it

I was sitting in my kitchen at 11pm on a Tuesday, eating cold leftover pizza, trying to decide which website builder to use for my friend’s new bakery. She wanted something that looked like a real bakery – warm, a little rustic, not like a template from 2018. I had that moment of dread where you realise you’ve spent forty minutes scrolling through templates and still haven’t clicked “start trial” on either one. So I just… started both. Terrible idea, but here we are.

Wix: The chaos you can actually fix

I went in expecting Wix to be that clunky drag‑and‑drop nightmare everyone warned me about. And yeah, the first ten minutes were rough – the interface feels like it was designed by twelve different people who never spoke to each other. But once I figured out the “strips” system? I could put a picture of a croissant exactly where I wanted it. No fighting with invisible grid lines. That was the good surprise.

The bad surprise? Loading times. I built a four‑page site with a gallery and a blog, and it felt like dial‑up. Wix is heavy. It’s like driving a minivan that’s been stuffed with furniture – it’ll get you there, but you’ll be gripping the wheel the whole time. And don’t get me started on the ads Wix shoves on your free plan. I accidentally emailed a client a preview link that still had “This site was made with Wix” in the footer. Real professional.

Squarespace: It looks amazing until you need to move a button

Squarespace’s templates are genuinely gorgeous. Out of the box, the bakery site looked like it belonged in a design magazine. My friend’s mom would say “Ooh, that’s fancy.” And the backend? Clean. Minimal. You feel like a real business owner logging in.

But then I tried to move the “About” section below the menu. Suddenly I was in some sort of layout purgatory – you can drag stuff, but only within invisible zones. I spent twenty minutes trying to add a simple “Follow us on Instagram” link at the bottom of every page, and eventually just gave up and put it in the footer. Squarespace’s editor is like that friend who insists on organising your bookshelf by colour. It looks great, but you can never find the book you need. Also, their e‑commerce is weirdly limited – no subscriptions, no recurring payments unless you use a third‑party app. For a bakery that wanted cookie deliveries every month? Dead end.

The parts nobody talks about

Hidden fees. Oh, the hidden fees. Wix will charge you extra to remove their branding, extra for a custom domain, extra for – I’m not kidding – priority customer support. I paid $12 for “VIP support” once and still waited three days. Squarespace’s pricing is more transparent, but they hit you with “add‑on” costs for things like video storage and email campaigns. And both of them charge you if you want to use Google Analytics instead of their built‑in stats. That’s just insulting.

Support experiences? I had to call Squarespace support because my site kept breaking on mobile. The agent asked me to clear my cache three times, then told me it was “a known issue” and hung up. Wix’s support chat was faster, but the guy used so many emojis I couldn’t tell if he was being helpful or passive‑aggressive.

Also, both platforms are terrible at migration. I tried to move a blog from Wix to Squarespace once, and the date stamps all got reset to January 1, 1970. My entire archive looked like it was written by time travellers.

What I Actually Use Now

I ended up building the bakery site on Wix. It’s not pretty. The editor is a mess. But the site actually does what my friend needs – online orders, a booking calendar, a blog that doesn’t look like a ransom note. Squarespace’s templates were prettier, but I couldn’t get the menu to show prices in a way that made sense for a bakery. Wix let me just… put the price next to the item. Simple.

If you’re building a portfolio or a wedding site and you want it to look stunning with zero effort, Squarespace. For anything else – especially e‑commerce, custom layout, or any kind of non‑templated weirdness – you’ll spend three days fighting Squarespace and then switch to Wix anyway. So skip the fight.

Pros & Cons

Wix

Surprisingly flexible drag‑and‑drop – you can put stuff anywhere
App market has decent options for bookings, memberships, etc.
Free plan is usable for testing (just ignore the huge Wix banner)

Loading times are terrible – your site feels like it’s running on dial‑up
Editor gets laggy once you have more than a few pages
Their support chat uses so many emojis you’ll want to scream

Squarespace

Gorgeous templates right out of the box
Clean, modern backend that makes you feel legit
Good built‑in analytics (but you’ll still want GA4)

Editing is like solving a puzzle – you can only move things where they “allow” you
E‑commerce is basic – no subscriptions, no flexible shipping rules
Mobile preview often lies; your site looks different on actual phones

Pricing at a Glance

FAQ

Q: Which is better for a beginner – Wix or Squarespace?
A: If you’re the kind of person who gets frustrated when you can’t move a button exactly where you want, go with Wix. It’s ugly but forgiving. If you’re patient and want a pretty site without thinking, Squarespace.

Q: Can I use my own domain with both?
Q: Yes, both let you connect a custom domain. Wix charges extra for the first year if you’re on a low plan. Squarespace includes it with yearly billing. Typical.

Q: Which one handles e‑commerce better?
A: Wix, hands down. You get subscriptions, more payment gateways, and you can actually customise the cart page. Squarespace is fine for selling a few prints, but don’t try to build a real store there.

Q: Is one faster than the other?
A: Squarespace is generally faster out of the box. Wix is bloated and slow. But you can speed up Wix with some optimisation (compress images, use a CDN). Or just accept the 3‑second load time and move on.