Squarespace Pricing Explained: Every Plan, What's Included, and What It Actually Costs (2026)
If you've gone looking for a straight answer on Squarespace pricing, you might be finding: most of the information out there is either outdated, vague, unclear to you.
I build Squarespace websites for service businesses for a living. I've been a Squarespace Circle member for years. I’m an expert with the platform itself, the plans, the add-ons, the things they don't advertise, and what actually matters for a service-based business trying to show up professionally online.
Here's the full, current breakdown for 2026. (last updated April 2026)
This post contains affiliate links. If you sign up for Squarespace through my link, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I actually use and build with every day.
Quick Answer: How Much Does Squarespace Cost?
Squarespace pricing in 2026 ranges from $16/month to $99/month billed annually. There are four plans: Basic, Core, Plus, and Advanced.
For most service businesses — coaches, consultants, wellness professionals, lawyers, designers, photographers — the Core plan at $23/month is the right choice. It gives you custom code access, premium integrations, and everything you need to run a professional site.
But the plan price is just part of the picture. The full cost of a Squarespace website depends on what else you add, and whether you're building it yourself or working with a designer. More on both of those below.
First: Squarespace Just Changed Their Plan Names
(Last Updated April 2026) If you've had a Squarespace site for a while or you're finding older information online, you'll see references to Personal, Business, Commerce Basic, and Commerce Advanced plans. Those are the old names.
In late 2025, Squarespace rolled out a new four-tier structure for US users. The new plan names are Basic, Core, Plus, and Advanced. If you're on a legacy plan you can stay there, but all new signups and most existing accounts are now on the new structure.
This guide uses the current 2026 plans (as of April 2026) names throughout.
The Four Squarespace Plans: What's Actually Included
Basic - $16/month billed annually
or $25/month billed monthly
Best for: Personal sites, portfolios, blogs, simple brochure sites
Unlimited bandwidth and storage
Access to all Squarespace templates (195+)
Mobile-optimized design, auto-responsive
Free custom domain for first year (annual plans)
Unlimited product listings (with 2% transaction fee)
Courses, memberships, and video content
Customer accounts and gift cards
14-day free trial before committing
Up to 2 contributors only (you and one other person)
No custom CSS or code injection
No premium integrations (Mailchimp, Zapier, etc.)
2% transaction fee + 2.9% + $0.30 processing fee on sales
Important:
Basic does not include custom code access. If your designer needs to customize anything beyond what the editor allows — fonts, layout tweaks, CSS fixes — they can't do it on Basic. This is the most common plan mistake I see.
Core - $23/month billed annually
or $36/month billed monthly
Best for: Small businesses, service providers, growing brands
★ Recommended for most service businesses
Everything in Basic, plus:
Custom CSS and JavaScript (code injection enabled)
Unlimited contributors
Premium integrations: Mailchimp, Zapier, OpenTable, and more
Full ecommerce analytics suite
0% transaction fees on physical products
Free Google Workspace account for first year (1 user)
Pop-ups and announcement bars for marketing
5% transaction fee on digital products
Core is where I build most of my clients' websites. The custom code access alone is worth the extra $7/month, it's what lets a designer make a Squarespace site look custom rather than template-y. Without it, you're limited to what the visual editor can do.
Plus - $39/month billed annually
or $56/month billed monthly
Best for: Growing e-commerce stores, high-volume sellers
Everything in Core, plus:
Lower transaction fees: 2.7% + $0.30 (vs 2.9% + $0.30 on Core)
Lower digital product fees: 0% (vs 5% on Core)
50 hours of video storage (vs 5 hours on Core)
Advanced marketing tools
For service businesses that aren't selling high volumes of digital products, Plus is usually not worth the extra $16/month over Core. The fee savings only make sense if you're doing significant sales volume. If you're primarily service-based and just need a professional website, stick with Core.
Advanced - $99/month billed annually
or $139/month billed monthly
Best for: High-volume e-commerce, larger businesses scaling fast
Everything in Plus, plus:
Lowest processing fees: 2.5% + $0.30
0% fees on all digital products and memberships
Unlimited video storage
Abandoned cart recovery
Real-time carrier shipping rates
Advanced subscriptions and API access
Advanced is built for serious e-commerce operations. If you're running a service business, even a busy one, you almost certainly don't need this plan. The fee reductions only pay for themselves at very high monthly sales volumes.
The Real Total Cost of a Squarespace Website
Additional costs to factor into your Squarespace budget:
Custom domain (after year 1) - $10–$20/year. Free for the first year on annual plans. Specialty extensions like .studio or .design can run $30–$70+/year.
Google Workspace email - ~$6–$7/user/month after year 1. Free for the first year on Core, Plus, and Advanced annual plans. This is your business email through Google.
Squarespace Scheduling (Acuity) - $16–$49/month. The add-on for appointment booking. Not included in any base plan — required if you take client bookings online.
Squarespace Email Campaigns - $7–$68/month. Squarespace's own email marketing tool. Separate add-on, not included in any base plan.
Premium extensions and integrations - $5–$75/month. Third-party tools that connect to Squarespace. Varies widely depending on what you need.
Professional website design - $2,500–$8,000+. If you hire a Squarespace designer. One-time project cost, not a recurring subscription.
The most commonly forgotten costs: domain renewal after year one, booking software if you take appointments, and professional email after the free Google Workspace year expires. Budget for these from the start.
Thinking about having someone build your Squarespace site for you? I cover exactly what you're paying for, and when it's worth it, in a separate post: Why People Pay Someone to Build Their Squarespace Website
Annual vs. Monthly Billing: Which Should You Choose?
Annual billing saves you 28–36% compared to paying month-to-month. For most businesses with a long-term website, annual is the obvious choice.
The tradeoff: Squarespace only offers refunds on annual plans within the first 14 days. After that, you're committed for the year. If you're still deciding whether Squarespace is the right platform, use the 14-day free trial first, you don't need a credit card to start.
One practical note: the free custom domain for year one only applies to annual plans. If you're on monthly billing, you'll pay for your domain separately from day one.
Which Squarespace Plan Is Right for a Service Business?
For the vast majority of service-based businesses, coaches, consultants, wellness professionals, lawyers, designers, photographers, med spas, interior designers, the answer is Core.
Here's the decision tree:
You need a professional website with no e-commerce or minimal selling→ Core
You want to take client bookings online→ Core + Squarespace Scheduling add-on
You're selling digital products or courses at scale→ Plus (better digital product fees)
You're running a high-volume product store→ Plus or Advanced
You just need something basic live fast with no customization→ Basic (but note the limitations)
The one situation where Basic makes sense for a service business: you're in the very early stages, you just need something live, and you're not working with a designer who needs code access. Once you're ready to invest in professional design, upgrade to Core.
Is Squarespace Worth It for a Service Business?
I've been building Squarespace websites professionally for over six years. I've worked with other platforms. And for service businesses, especially ones that want a professional, custom-looking site they can manage themselves after launch, Squarespace is consistently the right call.
Here's why:
No plugins to update. Unlike WordPress, Squarespace handles everything in-house. No security patches, no plugin conflicts, no maintenance overhead.
Everything is built in. Hosting, SSL, templates, SEO tools, basic e-commerce, blogging is all included. You're not piecing together a stack.
You can manage it yourself after launch. After I hand off a site, clients can update copy, swap images, add blog posts, and manage their services without touching code.
It looks good. The design quality ceiling on Squarespace is genuinely high when it's built well. It's the platform I trust to deliver the aesthetic my clients are paying for.
The downsides are real too, it's less flexible than WordPress for very complex builds, the e-commerce tools aren't as robust as Shopify at scale, and the pricing can add up when you factor in add-ons. But for a service business that needs a clean, professional, manageable website? The Core plan at $23/month is some of the best money you'll spend.
Ready to Get Started with Squarespace?
You can start a free 14-day trial, no credit card required, and build out your site before you commit to a plan.
And if you'd rather hand this off to someone who builds Squarespace sites every day — strategy-first, designed to convert, optimized for SEO — that's exactly what I do.
