Squarespace vs a Web Designer

By James Folk, principal software engineer and founder of NJLIGames Ltd (building software on Long Island since 2015). Squarespace prices below were read directly from squarespace.com/pricing on October 12, 2026, and what exports from a Squarespace site comes from Squarespace's own help article on exporting, read the same day. Both are re-checked quarterly. Our own prices are published in full on our pricing page.

What Squarespace actually costs in 2026

Squarespace lists four website plans. The cheaper figure is the annual-billing rate, so paying month to month costs more than the number in the big type.

Two things in the fine print matter for a business site. Basic allows 2 contributors and charges a 2% fee on online store sales, while Core and above allow unlimited contributors and charge 0%. Advanced code blocks and code injection are included from Core up and not on Basic. Squarespace also gives a free custom domain for the first year on annual plans. I did not check what the domain costs after that, so look at the renewal price before you count it as free.

Those numbers buy you the platform. They do not buy you a website. You still choose the template, write every word, source every photo, build every page, and maintain it from then on. Squarespace's templates are well designed, which makes that easier than it is on most builders, but the work is still yours.

What hiring a designer costs

There is no single answer, because Long Island has three different markets pretending to be one.

The three-year math

Comparing a monthly platform fee to a one-time build is where most comparisons go wrong. Here is the same three years, both ways, using the prices above.

So Squarespace Core billed annually is roughly $3,700 to $5,300 cheaper in cash over three years. That is the honest headline, and we are not going to bury it. Paying Squarespace month to month instead of annually costs $360 more on Core over the same three years, so if you do use it, pay annually.

If building the site takes you 40 hours and another 2 hours a month keeping it current, that is 112 hours over three years. Whether that is a bargain or a disaster depends entirely on what an hour of your attention earns inside your business.

Who should stay on Squarespace, honestly

We would rather tell you this up front than take a deposit and disappoint you.

• Your site is a brochure: services, hours, location, a few photos, a contact form.
• You like the templates and enjoy arranging pages.
• You mostly sell a few products or services, and Core covers the checkout.
• Your budget is better spent on inventory, equipment, or ads right now.
• You want something live this weekend and can edit it yourself afterward.

If more than two of those describe you, use Squarespace. That is not a sales trick. A site you actually launch beats an expensive one you keep putting off.

When hiring someone is the right call

• The site has a job. Booking, logins, member portals, quoting tools, anything with logic behind it.
• You have already tried. There is a half-finished Squarespace trial in your account and it has been three months.
• You want it to be yours. Only part of a Squarespace site leaves with you (see the next section).
• You want exactly the page you have in your head. Templates are a starting point. Past a certain point you are working around the template instead of with it.
• Your hours are the scarce thing. This is the common one. Most owners we work with did not lack the ability. They lacked the evenings.

What leaves with you if you go

Squarespace's own help article says you can export certain content as an XML file in a WordPress format. Style settings and custom CSS do not export. Layout pages do, but other page types such as portfolio, info and store pages do not, and product blocks and store pages stay behind. Only one blog page and its posts export. In practice, your words and many of your images can move. The design, the store and most of the structure get rebuilt.

A custom-coded site is plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript. It runs on any host, and we hand over the source code. That difference does not matter on day one. It matters the day you decide to leave.

The part nobody puts in a pricing table

With a builder, you are the designer, the copywriter, the person who figures out why the mobile layout looks wrong, and the person who remembers to update the holiday hours. Those roles do not disappear because the software is inexpensive. They move onto your calendar.

When you hire us, you work directly with the engineer who writes the code. There is no sales team, no account manager, and no handoff to someone who was not in the first conversation. That is a consequence of being small, and it is the main thing we would ask you to weigh against the price difference above.

Common questions

Is Squarespace cheaper than hiring a web designer?

In cash, yes. Squarespace plans run $19 to $99 per month billed annually, or $25 to $139 per month billed monthly, as listed on squarespace.com on October 12, 2026. A done-for-you custom site from NJLIGames is $175 per month with nothing down. Over three years, Squarespace Core billed annually costs $1,044 and ours costs $6,300, or $4,700 if you buy the site outright. The gap narrows once you count your own hours.

Is Squarespace enough for a small business website?

For a brochure site with hours, services, photos and a contact form, yes, and on the Core plan it also handles selling products and taking payments. Stay on it if you enjoy the work and the site does not need custom logic. Hire someone when the site has to do a specific job, or when your hours are worth more inside the business.

Can I take my Squarespace site with me if I leave?

Only part of it. Squarespace lets you export certain content as an XML file in a WordPress format. Style settings and custom CSS do not export, and some page types and store pages do not either. Plan on rebuilding the design wherever you go next. A custom-coded site is plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript and moves to any host, and we hand over the source code.

Does the monthly or annual Squarespace price matter?

Yes. Squarespace Core is $29 per month billed annually and $39 per month billed monthly. Over three years that is $1,044 against $1,404, so paying month to month costs $360 more.

What does $175 per month actually include?

Custom design, custom-coded development of up to five pages, hosting, unlimited content edits, direct support from the engineer who built it, and lifetime updates. Nothing down, and after the 12 month minimum it runs month to month. Extra pages are a one-time $100 each. If you would rather own it outright, the same site is $3,800 once, plus $25 per month for hosting.

Related reading: Wix versus hiring a web designer, the same question against a different builder, what a website actually costs on Long Island, and our affordable web design plans.