Which Squarespace Plan is Right for You?

Business
Written By Kristine Neil

Updated April 2024

Like most software these days, Squarespace offers several different plans to pick from based on your exact requirements and needs. The SAAS model frustrates some people because they don’t like the idea of paying for something every month (or year) but I think it’s great! It allows much smaller businesses than ever before to have access to the same tools and resources that used to only be available to big power players. All subscriptions come with world-class technical support and Squarespace is incredibly stable and easy to use and maintain. Lots of wins! So which plan is best for you? Let’s quickly work through each option, ruling out ones that won’t work until we have a clear winner! 

 

Plans Overview

Squarespace has four plans, two are called “website” plans and two are called “commerce” plans: 

—— Website Plans ——

Personal

$16/mo (paid annually)
$25/mo (paid monthly)

Business

$23/mo (paid annually)
$36/mo (paid monthly)

—— Commerce Plans ——

Basic Commerce

$28/mo (paid annually)
$40/mo (paid monthly)

Advanced Commerce

$52/mo (paid annually)
$72/mo (paid monthly)

Looking at these options, I’m going to narrow it down really quickly to just a couple of choices for us to examine in depth. 

  • Monthly vs. annual subscription - unless you only plan on being in business for a few months, just pay annually. It saves you up to 31% and it’s just taken care of for the year. 

  • No business has any business being on the personal plan. It’s called personal for a reason. You can’t sell on it. You can’t add any custom code. Analytics are limited. Don’t do it.

  • Do the math on transaction fees. The only thing that’s somewhat misleading about the way the plans are positioned is that you can technically also sell things on the Business plan. BUT on that plan, you’ll have to pay a 3% transaction fee (in addition to your merchant processing fee). When you do the math on that, it means that if you have more than $1700 in annual sales coming in from your website that you should definitely go with one of the Commerce plans. That’s a pretty low number so we’re going to rule it out as not viable. 

Alright, so pretty quickly we’ve ruled out all monthly plans and both of the Website plan options. This leaves us with either the Basic Commerce plan or Advanced Commerce plan - paid annually.

Both of these plans have all the basics in common such as no transaction fees, secure checkout on your own domain, mobile-optimized checkout, eCommerce analytics, customer accounts, and more. So really we just need to look at the features that are only available on the Advanced Commerce plan to see if those are valuable to us. 

Squarespace Features Only Available on the Advanced Commerce Plan: 

  • Subscriptions - can be either products or services that you can set up to bill on a recurring basis

  • Abandoned cart emails - automatically send a branded email when people don’t complete checkout to recoup lost sales

  • Advanced shipping tools - use real-time, carrier-calculated shipping rates from UPS, USPS, or FedEx; set up advanced shipping zones down to the Zip Code (US) or FSA level (Canada)

  • Advanced discounts - set up more flexible discount options including automatic discounts or limit discount usage

  • Commerce APIs - use the Commerce APIs to build custom integrations to connect Squarespace to anything

The Verdict

If you ask me, all of the additional options on the Advanced Commerce plan are super valuable to any serious eCommerce business. Sure, they’ll cost you an additional $14/mo but I could argue that your abandoned cart recovery alone would more than make up for that. But here’s what I would say: 

  • Choose Basic Commerce if you’re just getting started and are in super cost-saving mode. You can switch plans at any time so you can always upgrade later. This plan is probably also sufficient for smaller sellers whose primary income isn’t generated online. 

  • Choose Advanced Commerce if your eCommerce website is the centerpiece of your business. The advanced tools really are what’s going to help you compete most effectively and they come at a pretty reasonable premium over the Basic plan. Just like other plans, you can downgrade later if you find you’re not using the additional features to their full potential but a pro like me would 100% make sure you are!

Bonus: Use code KRISTINE10 for 10% off your Squarespace subscription.

Now that you’ve decided on a plan, finish getting started with this Step-by-Step Guide on How to Launch Your First Online Shop!

Kristine Neil

Fractional Web Partner

I'm Kristine Neil - a communications strategist who has spent 20+ years designing websites, first running a full-scale design and marketing agency, and now leading my own studio. I've been the creative director managing the work, the coder quietly fixing what others couldn't, and the strategist in the room asking why before how. Somewhere between the MBA and the other degrees, I decided web design was just one tool in a much bigger toolbox - the real work is figuring out what you're trying to say, who needs to hear it, and what's getting in the way. A website is just where all of that comes to life.

I build on Squarespace, and after years deep in the platform I know how far it can go and when to push past its limits. These days, I'm especially drawn to working as a fractional partner - getting to know an organization over time and helping with whatever moves them forward, whether that's a full redesign, an ongoing hand with content and strategy, or just being the person who knows their site best. I write here about eCommerce, web strategy, and making the complex feel a little more human.

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