I rebuild Squarespace sites for a living. You'd expect me to tell you Squarespace is bad. It isn't. For specific businesses at specific stages, it's the right choice and I'll tell them so on the first call. The trick is knowing which side of the line you're on.
This post is the framework I use to figure that out.
Squarespace, Wix, and Shopify themes are right for you if:
- You're under 18 months in business and still figuring out what your offering actually is.
- Your monthly site traffic is under a few thousand visits.
- Your website needs to do three things: list what you offer, build basic trust, and capture leads or sales. Nothing exotic.
- You're comfortable editing pages yourself and you'd rather do that than pay someone.
- Your budget for the site is under $1,500 total, including the year of hosting.
If most of these are true, stop reading and go sign up for Squarespace. Pick the cleanest template you can find. Replace every default photo with your own (this is the single biggest reason Squarespace sites look like Squarespace sites). Buy your domain through your registrar, not Squarespace, so you keep ownership if you ever leave. You'll be live in a weekend for under $300.
A custom build wins if:
- You've been in business 3+ years and you know exactly who buys from you and why.
- You're spending money on ads or you depend on organic search traffic to find clients.
- You're trying to look meaningfully more credible than your competitors, who are all on Squarespace.
- Your site needs to integrate with something specific: a booking system, a CRM, a custom inventory format, an API.
- Page speed actually matters to your conversions (e-commerce, paid traffic, high LTV services).
- You'd rather pay once for something built right than rent something forever.
If most of these are true, hire someone who codes from scratch. Not someone who customizes templates. Not an "agency" that's going to install WordPress with 14 plugins. Someone who writes the HTML.
The dollar math.
The thing people miss when comparing options is the total cost of ownership over three years. Sticker price on a Squarespace site is much lower. The TCO is closer than you think.
Squarespace path, 3 years:
- Plan: $216/year (Business plan) × 3 = $648
- Domain: $20/year × 3 = $60
- A designer/freelancer to set it up properly: $500 to $1,500 (you can DIY, but most owners' time is worth more)
- Probably another $500 in plugins, integrations, redesign tweaks over 3 years
- Total: $1,200 to $2,700
Custom build path, 3 years:
- Build: $3,500 to $8,000 depending on scope
- Hosting on Vercel/Netlify free tier or $20/month = $0 to $720
- Domain: $20/year × 3 = $60
- Occasional changes from the developer: $200 to $800/year
- Total: $4,100 to $11,180
So custom is roughly 2 to 4 times more over 3 years. The question is whether the upside (faster site, full ownership, better SEO foundation, distinctive design, no monthly rent) is worth that delta for your business.
Three rules of thumb.
Rule 1: If your site brings in zero leads currently, switching to a custom build won't fix that. The leak is elsewhere. Probably your messaging, your Google Business Profile, your call handling, or your pricing. Fix the leak first.
Rule 2: If you're already getting leads from your Squarespace site, the upgrade math gets much better. A 20% improvement in conversion rate on a site that brings you 30 leads a month is significant. The faster, more distinctive site pays for itself in 6 to 12 months.
Rule 3: Never let the platform pick the design. The default Squarespace template is the same default Squarespace template every other small business in your city is using. If you do go that route, spend the extra weekend making it look like yours: real photos, your fonts, your colours, your words. The template is the foundation, not the building.
What about Wix? Shopify? WordPress?
Same framework, with three notes:
Wix: Cheaper than Squarespace, more flexible visually, slower to load. Best for businesses where SEO doesn't matter much (referral-driven, walk-in-driven). Worse for paid ads where site speed kills conversion.
Shopify: The right call for any e-commerce store doing under $1M/year. The themes are excellent and the checkout is best-in-class. Custom Shopify development gets expensive fast, but the default themes are good enough for most stores. Don't move off Shopify until you have a specific reason.
WordPress: I'd recommend against unless you have a developer on retainer or you're running content-heavy publications. The "free" platform costs more in plugin licenses, security maintenance, and rebuilds-every-2-years than just doing it custom from the start.
If you've read this and still aren't sure which side of the line you're on, email me your situation: dylan@djdesigns.ca. I'll tell you honestly which path I'd take if it were my business. If Squarespace is the right answer, I'll say so.