Guides / Comparisons

Squarespace vs Wix: Which Website Builder Should You Pick in 2026?

Squarespace vs Wix compared: design, AI builders, selling, pricing and moving your site later. Who each suits, with plans as of September 2026.

Mythex Team · 2026-09-29 · 6 min read

Pick Wix if you want to place elements freely, start on a free plan, and use lots of built-in business tools such as bookings, a CRM and marketing. Pick Squarespace if you want a polished, consistent design with less effort and are happy working within a template. Both have AI site builders, both handle online selling, and neither lets you move your full site to another host later. The difference is mostly about how you like to work.

Squarespace vs Wix at a glance

Prices change, and both vendors show different prices in different places. Check the pricing page in your own country before you commit.

How we compared

We compared the publicly stated features, plans and prices on Squarespace's pricing page and Wix's plans page, plus their help centres, as of September 2026. We did not do hands-on testing, and we left out anything we couldn't confirm on the vendors' own sites. Where a vendor shows location-based prices (Wix in particular), we describe the plans without quoting numbers.

Design and editing

This is the biggest practical difference.

Wix gives you a drag-and-drop editor with a lot of freedom about where things go, plus more than 2,000 templates, according to its plans page. That freedom is great if you have a clear picture in your head. It also means it's easier to end up with a cluttered page, so a little restraint helps.

Squarespace is built around designer templates and sections. You have less freedom to put things anywhere, but the result tends to look consistent without much effort. Squarespace also offers "Design Intelligence" tools that generate designs, images and content in its editor. On Core and above, you can add custom CSS and JavaScript if you need to go further.

A simple rule: if you enjoy tweaking layouts, Wix will feel freeing. If you'd rather pick a good-looking starting point and fill it in, Squarespace will feel calmer.

AI website builders

Both have one, and both are designed to get you to a first draft quickly.

• Wix lets you describe your site and generate it, then continue editing by hand or with Aria, which Wix describes as a personal AI agent that works as a web designer and business helper.
• Squarespace offers Blueprint AI: answer a few questions and it builds a personalised site with tailored content and images. Its AI tools also help write headlines, product descriptions, SEO tags and blog posts.

In both cases the AI gives you a starting point; you'll still edit copy, swap images and check every page on a phone.

Selling online, bookings and marketing

Both platforms go well beyond a brochure site.

Wix, as of September 2026, lists ecommerce, bookings, email marketing, an SEO assistant, analytics and a CRM. Its plans page shows bookings on every paid plan, with ecommerce and marketing tools growing in depth from Light to Business Elite.

Squarespace lists online stores, appointment scheduling, memberships, courses and email campaigns. Its fees depend on the plan: on its pricing page, the Basic plan charges a 2% transaction fee on online store sales, while Core and Advanced charge none on store sales. Fees on memberships and courses are higher on lower plans. Payment processing fees apply on top, as with any platform.

If selling is the main point of your site, both can do it, but a dedicated store platform may fit better as you grow. Our guide on how to build an online store covers the options.

Pricing

Squarespace (as of September 2026, prices shown in US dollars):

• Basic: $12/month billed annually, or $19 month to month. 2 contributors; 2% fee on store sales.
• Core: $17/month billed annually, or $27 month to month. Unlimited contributors, custom code, analytics; no store transaction fee.
• Plus: available in countries where Squarespace Payments is offered, with lower payment processing rates.
• Advanced: $25/month billed annually, or $36 month to month. Lowest fees and extra commerce tools.
• Trial: 14 days free. Annual plans include a free custom domain for the first year.

Wix (as of September 2026):

• Free: $0, on a Wix address, no custom domain.
• Paid plans: Light, Core, Business and Business Elite. Storage grows from 2 GB on Light to unlimited on Business Elite, and collaborators from 2 to 100. Each paid plan includes a free domain for the first year.
• Prices: Wix states that prices and currency vary by location and that displayed prices are for yearly subscriptions, so we don't quote a number here.
• Guarantee: a 14-day money-back guarantee on first paid-plan upgrades.

Squarespace says you can choose from several currencies at checkout, and the plans on offer can differ by country. Wix's pricing depends on where you are. Compare the full yearly cost, including domain renewal and any apps, before choosing.

Moving your site later

This matters more than people expect.

• Wix: its help centre says Wix sites use proprietary technology and must be hosted on Wix's servers, so you can't export a Wix site to another host. You can connect or transfer your domain and export some data, such as a product list.
• Squarespace: you can export some content, such as pages and blog posts, to a WordPress-format file. Squarespace warns that not everything will export, and it recommends importing into WordPress.com so images copy across properly.

Neither gives you a full, portable copy of your site. If owning your code matters, look at Wix alternatives that let you export, or an app builder that gives you the source.

Who each suits

Choose Squarespace if:

• you want a site that looks professionally designed with little effort;
• you're a creative, a service business or a small shop that values consistency;
• you're happy working within a template's structure.

Choose Wix if:

• you want a free plan to start;
• you like placing elements exactly where you want them;
• you want lots of built-in tools, such as bookings, a CRM and marketing, in one dashboard.

Consider neither if your "website" is really an app: a client portal, a booking flow with your own rules, a directory with complex filters or an internal dashboard. Website builders do these only up to a point.

When a custom app is the better fit

If you need logins, your own data model or logic that templates can't express, an AI app builder like Mythex is worth a look. You describe what you want in chat, the AI agent writes the code, and you see it running in a live preview before you publish. It can add a dedicated Postgres database when your app needs one, and on Pro you can edit the code, export the project or sync it to GitHub.

To be fair about the trade-off: Mythex has no drag-and-drop editor, and it doesn't come with ready-made bookings, email marketing or store tools. You ask the AI to build what you need and connect your own providers, such as Stripe. For a straightforward business site you'll edit by clicking, Squarespace or Wix is usually simpler. See how to build a website with AI and the Mythex plans.

Verdict

There's no wrong answer here. Squarespace is the better pick for a polished look with little effort. Wix is the better pick for freedom in the editor, a free starting plan and a broad set of business tools. Decide based on how you like to work, check the price in your country, and remember that switching later means rebuilding. For a short list of what any small business site needs, see how to build a small business website, and for more options, our roundup of the best AI website builders.