As the need to make an online presence becomes more and more pressing, the web development industry is eager to answer the market?s demand for an easy website design process.
The answer comes in the form of a website builder. It?s a tool that bridges the gap between the desire to create a website and users with limited technical knowledge.
So Many to Choose From
Squarespace?s reputation as one of the best website builder has remained unchanged over the past decade. An abundant selection of premium templates complemented with robust ecommerce features and web hosting services ? what?s not to love?
Despite so, the industry won?t evolve without good competition. While Squarespace manages to accommodate users who want to dabble with practical web development, other website builders take notice of the market?s needs and eagerly rise to the challenge.
The fact that Squarespace leaves a lot of room for improvement is also one of the reasons why competition is healthy for the industry.
As of today, there are a large number of website builders to choose from. For your consideration,
Best Squarespace Alternatives
Here?s a list of the best 8 Squarespace alternatives based on their features and value.
1. Zyro
Prices start from $0 ? $3.49 per month.
A new and fast-growing player in the website builder industry, Zyro has proven it?s capable of standing even with the heavyweights. Having a very affordable price tag, whilst offering premium performance. It?s an intriguing prospect and that is why Zyro is in the number one spot on my list.
Like Squarespace, Zyro offers the ability to get a website up and running in minutes. A feature that is unique, however, is that the website builder is powered by bleeding-edge AI technology. This comes in the form of many features, to name a few: AI Writer, Heatmap and Logo Maker, amongst other tools.
Zyro offers a completely free plan to create a website you will own completely, so there?s no risk of trying it out.
It?s a great alternative to Squarespace, especially if it?s your first time using a website builder as the AI-powered features make creating a website a breeze.
2. Wix
Prices start from $0 ? $24.50 per month.
Thanks to their aggressive marketing campaign over the past few years, Wix has risen to the top of the competition. That?s why it?s number two among my list Squarespace alternatives.
Using similar tactics to Squarespace to make the onboarding process as user-friendly as possible, it?s understandable to see that the market frequently pit these platforms against each other.
Wix?s bold move to throw free plan into the market makes it worth your consideration. With no charge, you?ll get to take advantage of their Artificial Design Intelligence (Wix ADI) to develop a personalized site.
The standard automatic backup feature is a cherry on top of the cake.
If you?re a newbie who hasn?t had any experience whatsoever with the website building process, I?d say Wix?s free plan would be a great option as Squarespace alternative.
3. Weebly
Prices start from $0 ? $25 per month.
Weebly is a well Squarespace known alternative. Similar to Wix, Weebly also offers a free plan that comes with a 500MB storage and access to their extensive collection of web design templates.
Catering to online stores, their commerce tools, and SEO features will undoubtedly benefit your business in the long run.
Weebly?s customization process allows the use of HTML and CSS to complement their drag-and-drop feature, making your website building extra flexible and powerful.
From small businesses to medium-level enterprises, Weebly has all it takes to accommodate your e-commerce needs.
4. WordPress
Prices start from $0 ? $45 per month.
If you find Squarespace?s editing process restrictive due to its inability to use markup and scripting languages, you?re going to have so much fun with WordPress.
As an open-source content management system, WordPress is more than capable of handling almost all types of websites.
While it is widely popular amongst bloggers, WordPress ability to be customized using various markup and scripting languages like HTML/CSS and PHP makes it stand out from the competition.
However, this doesn?t limit users with no technical background whatsoever. On the contrary, everyone has the same opportunity to build a beautiful website thanks to their free website builder tools.
WordPress? wide selection of free themes is also no less impressive compared to the premium ones.
Since WordPress? features don?t include hosting services, you?ll need to find a web hosting provider to do the job for you. You can check out Hostinger for affordable yet powerful hosting service.
5. uKit
Prices start from $4 ? $12 per month.
Despite not having any free plan like their competitors, uKit makes sure what they offer is worth every penny.
Armed with an easy-to-use website builder and premium-looking templates, the onboarding process can?t get any easier.
What is more, uKit?s ability to integrate with Google Analytics and manage your site?s SEO statistics is certainly useful for building brand awareness and gaining more traffic.
Similar to Squarespace, uKit also pays special attention to the importance of SEO. However, uKit takes a step further by launching their Promotion tool which provides system recommendation on the best possible search engine optimization.
6. Shopify
Prices start from $29 ? $299 per month.
Shopify is labeled as one of the best alternatives to Squarespace for various good reasons. Originally served as an online store platform, over the past decade, Shopify has showcased their superiority in both ecommerce and web development industry.
In terms of ecommerce tools and features, Shopify takes the cake in being one of the best among the rest.
Not only do they offer a user-friendly website building process, but all their sites are equipped with advanced marketing and analytics tools.
Shopify?s Point Of Sale system even makes a name for itself for accommodating online and offline transactions.
One of their most substantial perks is the ability to integrate your site with other online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay.
What is more, compared to Squarespace?s email campaign tool, Shopify?s method will definitely give your brand more exposure in the long run.
7. IM Creator
Prices start from $0 ? $350 per year.
IM Creator prides themselves for excelling in the provision of premium-looking websites. While they cater more to business-oriented and professional portfolio sites, users can take advantage of their free commerce tools and easily turn their site into an online store.
This is a neat feature as you can do it without having to upgrade to the business plan first.
IM Creator?s pre-populated templates are one of their strongest features as they help users in choosing the appropriate look based on the site?s niche. As a result, the onboarding process can be done much faster without restricting your ability to do additional customization.
You?ll also get unlimited hosting, storage, and bandwidth. Pretty neat for a free website builder, huh?
8. Homestead
Prices start from $7.99 ? $62.99 per month.
With 200 industry and niche-based templates available for use, Homestead proves that being the oldest player in the game doesn?t make them outdated.
As the pioneer of the drag-and-drop feature, Homestead?s onboarding process via SiteBuilder is guaranteed to be a walk in the park.
Their easy-to-perform analytics tools remains robust in the face of today?s marketing demands. Your site?s performance will be further enhanced by their marketing tools including WebListings, Paid Search Ads, and SEO tools.
9. Duda
Prices start from $14 ? $74 per month.
Having made a name as a renowned mobile website platform doesn?t limit Duda?s service in accommodating the website building process. On the contrary, this makes Duda the perfect alternative to Squarespace to create your dream websites.
Aside from having an easy-to-use website builder and the functionality to access HTML/CSS, Duda?s Team Integration feature allows you to communicate with other team members during the customization process. If you?re working in a team, I?m sure you?ll appreciate this little feature.
To top it all, Duda also equips their sites with multilanguage website support. Say goodbye to the language barrier and gain more traffic as your site will be accessible for users across the world.
Squarespace Alternatives: Which one to choose?
Sure, Squarespace?s website builder poses as a strong contender in the market. However, more and more Squarespace alternatives and competitors rise to the challenge and offer no less excellent service worth to consider.
Remember to consider what you need and the value you get for the cash spent before deciding what website builder you would like to go with.
Here are my insights regarding each Squarespace alternative specialty and key features:
- Zyro is best if you are looking for affordable website builder
- Wix is great if you want a hassle-free website building process
- Weebly is perfect if you?re going to build an ecommerce website that needs HTML/CSS-based customization
- WordPress is perfect if you have a decent knowledge of markup and scripting languages
- uKit is best if you pay special attention to SEO performance
- Shopify is the perfect choice if you already have a physical store to begin with
- IM Creator is best if you haven?t got a clear picture of what type of website you want to build
- Homestead is ideal if you need simple, easy-to-perform analytics tools
- Duda is excellent if you want to build a responsive website and have a multilingual audience
See anything interesting? Clap and let me know your opinion by leaving a comment below!
