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Squarespace vs Weebly: Which Is Better in 2024? (Hands-On)

Website builders are popular because of their simplicity. Namely, you get everything you need to create and run a website, and you don’t have to be particularly skillful to get a good result. In this Squarespace vs Weebly comparison, we are going to analyze two of the most popular such solutions that are out there.

We are going to take a look at their features, ease of use, prices, and suggest the best solution for your needs.

Squarespace vs Weebly

Squarespace vs Weebly: Basic introductions

These two platforms are some of the most popular solutions on the market. But they have different approaches. Namely, Squarespace relies on its classy appearance and aggressive marketing to expand its user base (the flashy Super Bowl commercial starring Zendaya comes to mind).

On the other hand, Weebly goes by the old expression that still waters run deep – it relies on the good name it made for itself and its 40-million-large user base.

Squarespace was founded in 2003 and has its HQ in New York, while the four years younger Weebly is based in San Francisco. Is this an east coast vs west coast battle? Well, we can’t say that, but we can verify if it’s a battle of different visions and attitudes.

So, which one should you choose? It depends on if your needs are in line with what these website builders offer. And we are going to tell you more about that in the following sections.

Squarespace vs Weebly: What kind of websites can you build with each one?

Type of website Squarespace Weebly
Small business website
Portfolio website
Blog
Online store
Membership website
Online course *
Directory website * *
Booking website
Social community * *
Forum *
Wiki/knowledge base * *
Multilingual website
Podcast website

*There are ways to create these types of sites by embedding third-party services.

Squarespace vs Weebly: How to set them up?

The first steps are quite straightforward and effortless with both website builders. You will start working on your website three or four clicks after signing up. Let’s demonstrate the procedure for creating websites in Squarespace vs Weebly:

Squarespace

Here’s what it’s like to set up Squarespace…

Basic setup

To begin, you can click the Get Started buttons anywhere on the Squarespace site.

Squarespace vs Weebly - Getting started with Squarespace

Then, you choose the type of website you want to create.

Squarespace onboarding 1

Squarespace will ask you about your goals:

Squarespace onboarding 2

You will be asked where you are in the process:

Squarespace onboarding 3

Squarespace will use your answers to present styles, options, and tools most suitable for your business. After hitting the Finish button, you can start creating your website.

Squarespace - creating website

You will then be presented with an extensive list of beautiful and functional templates.

Squarespace vs Weebly: Squarespace choosing template page

If you don’t find anything that suits your needs (which is not very likely), you can create your own template:

Squarespace vs Weebly: Squarespace build your own template page

We’ve chosen a slick and modern template called Ventura. The main reason is that the products are elegantly displayed, and the pages don’t look overcrowded like in many other online stores out there. Of course, you can choose other templates, but the website creation process will be the same. So, let’s begin:

Squarespace - Creating Website 3

You can go through the intro instructional video or start creating immediately. If you turn the help box with the video off by accident, don’t worry – the videos are available in the Help section on the bottom left side of the screen or the question mark on the bottom right.

Creating pages

Let’s start creating pages.

Squarespace vs Weebly: Squarespace platform - creating page

You are probably tempted to create the Shop page and start earning ASAP, but we advise you to take it slowly and begin with the Home, About, and Contact pages.

If you take our advice and start editing the About page, you will see a screen like this:

Squarespace - creating page 2

The screen is divided into sections and blocks, and you can customize each one individually. You can even add different sections, such as people, products, services, events, etc.

Squarespace - add sections

The number of variations and customization possibilities is enormous, and you will definitely find something that suits your needs.

However, you should note that Squarespace’s editor is not totally free-form like some other tools. Instead, it relies on this section-based approach.

The advantage of using sections is that it’s a lot easier to create a good-looking design. However, the downside is that you don’t get complete flexibility like you’d get with a truly free-form website builder.

Creating a shop

Once you are finished presenting your business, you can start working on presenting your offer. Let’s start creating a shop.

The first thing you need to do is choose what you want to sell:

Squarespace vs Weebly: Squarespace platform - creating shop

If you choose physical products, the page will look like this:

Squarespace - creating shop 1

Adding new products is easy:

Squarespace - adding products

After this step, you will be asked to add more detailed information about the product.

Squarespace - adding products 2

You can also import products in bulk:

Squarespace - importing products

In order to make money, you have to get paid, and you can choose ways of payment on the next page:

Squarespace - selecting payment processor

After hitting the Publish button, your page will be live, and you can start selling. If you want to know more, just go to our detailed Squarespace tutorial.

Weebly

Now, let’s look at what it’s like to create a website with Weebly…

Basic setup

The signup process is straightforward:

Squarespace vs Weebly - Weebly sign up

After signing up, you’ll be directed to this page:

Squarespace vs Weebly: Weebly setup

After selecting one of the options, a screen with themes to choose from will appear, and you can start creating your website.

Using the Weebly editor

Weebly - creating page

The editor is simple drag&drop, so you won’t have any problem finding your way around. What’s evident is that it is not as pretty as the one you get with Squarespace, and it is a bit slower.

However, it gives you a more free-form design experience, letting you build your complete page using different content widgets. This is in contrast to Squarespace’s section-based editor approach.

Setting up a shop

You can create an online store by choosing one of these two elements and dragging them to the place you want them to be:

Squarespace vs Weebly comparison: Weebly - adding products 1

You will be asked to add products:

Weebly - adding products 3

Adding product is fairly simple:

Weebly - adding products

After adding the products, you can set up a payment processor, and you are ready to start selling.

Weebly - payment processing

You can find more instructions about how to create a website in our detailed Weebly review.

Squarespace vs Weebly: Design and templates

Next, let’s take a deeper look at the design and templates in Squarespace vs Weebly.

Website builders are popular because you can start building a website the moment you sign up. You choose a template, and off you go. But what company is better in this department? Let’s find out.

Squarespace

This website builder offers around 100 templates for you to choose from. The number changes periodically as new templates are added, and the less popular ones get deleted. They are all neatly categorized by industry and style, so you won’t have problems finding the right one.

Squarespace vs Weebly - Squarespace templates

The menu looks nice and modern, and the templates offered are stylish. In fact, beautiful templates are often mentioned as Squarespace’s strongest suit. You can see how they would look on a desktop, tablet, or smartphone screen.

Weebly

With Weebly, you get around 55 themes to choose from. There are seven not-very-descriptive categories, so you will have to go through all of the themes to find a suitable one.

Squarespace vs Weebly - Weebly themes

So, who is the winner in this category?

This round goes to Squarespace. It offers 100 templates, while Weebly has only around 55. The numbers change, but we doubt that Weebly will get close to its rival in that department anytime soon.

Furthermore, the templates Squarespace offers are more modern and attractive. Plus, it lets you preview how the templates would look on different devices before you select one, while Weebly offers only a desktop view.

Squarespace vs Weebly: Apps and integrations

You need apps and plugins to customize your website and make it suit your needs, and both website builders perform well in this area. However, there are some differences that might prove important to some users.

Squarespace

This website builder offers numerous apps and extensions for your website, including Mailchimp, Zapier, Dropbox, PayPal, Stripe, Square, Hotjar, and Zendesk. However, they are all third-party products. In general, this doesn’t make them less dependable, but we would still like to see more apps built in-house.

On the bright side, Squarespace lets you customize your website while editing – you can use code injections to add some functionalities like custom email services, chat functions, etc.

Weebly

Weebly App Center has around 360 apps, most of them developed in-house. And the number is growing – the company even encourages people to send their ideas for new apps.

They are all segmented into relevant categories. You can see their ratings, and there are both free and paid solutions available. Some of the apps and integrations are Salesforce, Mailchimp, HubSpot, Zendesk, ClickFunnels, QuickBooks, Insightly, Slack, and Trello.

Who is the winner of this category?

Weebly is the clear winner here. With 360 available apps, you will definitely have no problem tailoring your website to your needs.

Another advantage is that they are mostly developed by Weebly and that it is a part of the Square company. It is one of the biggest payment processors on the market.

While both platforms offer Square integrations, we would suggest going with Weebly, as a Squarespace alternative, if the integration quality is your main concern.

Squarespace vs Weebly: Plans and prices

Next, let’s take a look at the pricing differences between Weebly vs Squarespace…

Squarespace pricing explained

Squarespace has four plans, with the last two oriented toward ecommerce. There is no free plan, but the company offers a 14-day free trial, and you don’t have to give your credit card number.

Personal
$16/mo
Business
$23/mo
Basic Commerce
$27/mo
Advanced Commerce
$49/mo
Custom domain Everything you get with Personal, plus Everything you get with Business, plus Everything you get with Basic Commerce, plus
SSL Premium integrations Point of sale, product reviews
and customer accounts
Abandoned cart recovery
Basic metrics Professional Gmail and
Google Workspace account
Ecommerce analytics Sell subscriptions
30-minute video storage
and Video Studio App
Advanced analytics Merchandizing tools Advance shipping
SEO features Unlimited products Sell products on Instagram Commerce APIs

With Squarespace, you can get a $500 Google Ads credit. However, the offer stands only for the priciest three plans, and you have to spend $500 on Google Ads first to be eligible for the voucher.

For a deeper look, check out our full guide to Squarespace pricing plans.

Weebly pricing explained

One of the most important reasons for Weebly’s popularity is that it has a free plan. Of course, nothing is ever truly free, and the price you pay is having Weebly ads on your website and a .weebly attachment in your URL.

Let’s take a closer look at the plans:

Free Connect
$10/mo
Pro
$12/mo
Business
$25/mo
Business Plus
$38/mo
Free SSL Free SSL Free SSL Everything you get with Pro, plus Everything you get with Business, plus
500 MB storage 500 MB storage Unlimited storage Inventory management Abandoned cart emails
Domain with Weebly branding Custom domain Shopping cart Tax calculator and coupon codes Real-time shipping
SEO optimization SEO optimization Payments through Square
and third-party vendors
Shipping labels
and shipping discounts
Contact forms and lead capture Advanced ecommerce statistics

Pro, Business, and Business Plus plans are oriented toward ecommerce, and Weebly also gives a free domain and a $100 Google Ads credit with them.

For a deeper look, check out our full guide to Weebly pricing plans.

Who is the winner in this category?

Weebly is the clear winner. Besides offering a free plan, the prices of paid plans are lower.

Squarespace vs Weebly: Customer support

Both companies offer decent customer support if you ever need a helping hand…

Squarespace

The company doesn’t believe in phone support, so don’t expect to get it. However, it makes up for it by providing numerous other channels. For instance, you can ask questions and get answers on Twitter, Facebook Messenger, and via email 24/7. Live chat support is available from 4 am to 8 pm ET.

The area where Squarespace really shines is its Help Center. Namely, it offers an excellent and incredibly comprehensive collection of guides, videos, webinars, and community forums. Furthermore, you can even hire an approved Squarespace expert to help you polish your website.

Weebly

The company offers chat, email, and community forum support for all of its plans (24/7), and the top three plans also get phone support (standard business hours).

Furthermore, if you want to find solutions to your problems on your own, you can visit the Weebly support page. You can find a decent number of helpful articles there, but this can’t really compare to what you get from Squarespace.

Who is the winner in this category?

Squarespace takes the win here because of its huge knowledge base and more support channels.

However, if you specifically want access to phone support, Weebly might be a better option because Squarespace doesn’t offer it.

Squarespace vs Weebly: Which one is easier to use?

While both website builders have intuitive designs, Weebly is generally easier to use. However, it comes with some tradeoffs in the design department – it offers fewer design and customization options.

If you are a beginner, Weebly definitely seems more intuitive, but no one is a beginner forever. Once you get the hang of it, you may find yourself wanting and needing additional options, but they won’t be there (well, unless the website builder goes through some heavy update).

The results

First, let’s break down the results of our Weebly vs Squarespace comparison:

Category Winner
Easier to use Weebly
Design and number of templates Squarespace
Apps and integrations Weebly
Plans and prices Weebly
Support Squarespace

The numbers show that Weebly is the winner here, but that’s not the whole story. While both Weebly and Squarespace offer plenty of features that make them suitable for most websites, there are some differences making them more suitable for certain types of businesses. Namely, every business has its unique characteristics, and this implies that some features are more important than others. For instance, an accounting company will not give much significance to design, but a photographer will.

Squarespace vs Weebly: Which one should you choose for your business?

You should decide on things important to you and your business and choose accordingly. If you value aesthetics and marketing and don’t mind putting in extra effort, Squarespace is a good choice.

On the other hand, if your only goal is online presence (regardless of its quality) and you don’t want to overspend, then Weebly is the obvious choice.

Let’s compare Squarespace vs Weebly for a few different use cases…

Which one is better for ecommerce?

Weebly takes the early lead here simply because it offers all functionalities needed for an online store but at a lower price. You can create an online store even with the free plan (but with limited functionalities and a ten products cap). However, as your store begins to grow and you start expanding your marketing efforts, you will find the marketing tools Squarespace offers quite valuable. So, in the long run, it is a better solution.

We have another reason for making such a recommendation. Namely, since Square bought Weebly, it has been trying hard to push its Square Online platform, which specializes in online stores. Does that mean it will someday change the direction of Weebly away from ecommerce to avoid being its own competition?

You have to remember that website builders are not like WordPress websites. You can’t just migrate your website to another hosting service.

Which one is better for a blog?

Both website builders offer everything you need for a blog. However, with Squarespace, it would be more modern and prettier. In addition, the company also offers Video Studio App and 30-minute video storage. Videos are gaining in popularity, and 92% of marketers say videos are an essential part of their marketing strategy.

However, if you plan to make blogging your focus, WordPress is probably a better option than both Squarespace and Weebly.

Which one is better for marketing?

If you are in the marketing business, you are going to benefit from Squarespace website marketing tools that include social media integrations, email marketing tools with wonderful responsive email templates, analytics tools, and so much more.

Weebly offers Weebly Promote for email marketing campaigns, but the templates simply lack the classy appearance its competition has, and it is an email marketing tool rather than an all-around solution.

Squarespace vs Weebly: The bottom line

If you want a modern appearance and your business relies on aesthetics, Squarespace is the way to go. But, if you are looking to save some money and are not particularly picky about how your business will be represented, choose Weebly. And just to remind you – it is not important what you want, but what your customers want.

If you’re ready to get started, you can check out our Squarespace tutorial or our Weebly tutorial. Also, to get a deeper look at Weebly, you can read our full Weebly review.

Do you still have any questions about Squarespace vs Weebly? Let us know in the comments!

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Damjan Milenkovic
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