Guide 1 of 5 · 7 min read

The best Squarespace alternative for small businesses

By the ContentMetric team · Checked on 17 October 2026

We make ContentMetric, so we are not neutral. We have tried to be fair: this page says where Squarespace is the better choice. Everything about Squarespace below comes from its own pricing and help pages, checked on 17 October 2026.

The short answer

• You want someone else to design and update the site: ContentMetric Pro.
• You want to try a site before you pay anything, and keep it online: ContentMetric Free, or a free plan from another builder. Squarespace only offers a trial.
• You sell products or memberships and want one tool for it: stay on Squarespace, or use a store platform.
• You want full visual control: see our guides to Framer and Webflow.
• You want the cheapest quick start: see our guide to Durable, B12, 10Web and Mixo.

Why people look for a Squarespace alternative

There is no free plan

Squarespace says plainly that it does not offer a free plan. Every site starts with a 14-day free trial, with no credit card needed. After that you pay. If your site is small and you are not sure it will earn its keep, a plan that stays free is a calmer way to start.

You still do the work

Squarespace gives you templates and built-in AI tools to write content, but you build and update the site yourself. Squarespace also has a Hire an Expert service, which is a separate arrangement. If your problem is that the site goes out of date because you have no time, a template is not the fix.

Fees on small plans

On Squarespace's cheapest plan, Basic, the online store fee is 2%, and the fee on digital content and memberships is 7%. The Core plan removes the store fee. If you sell, read the fee table before you pick a plan.

What Squarespace costs

Squarespace shows prices in your local currency. When we checked from Singapore, it showed these prices per month, with a lower price if you pay yearly:

Your own country's prices will differ, so check Squarespace's pricing page for your price. Squarespace says yearly plans save up to 36%, include a free domain for the first year, and that all plans include hosting.

Squarespace and ContentMetric side by side

Where Squarespace is better: it costs less at the start, its templates are well designed, and it puts commerce, scheduling and email campaigns under one roof. If you run a busy online store, it is the stronger choice.

What ContentMetric costs

• Free, US$0: 30 credits a month, one site, a contentmetric.com address and a small badge. This is not a trial.
• Pro, US$49 a month (US$470 a year): your own domain, 150 credits a month, the badge can be hidden, and a specialist designs your site and handles updates.
• Business, US$98 a month (US$940 a year): three sites, 400 credits a month, and the shop.

A credit is one AI change to your site. A typical edit uses one credit. A site on the free contentmetric.com address is not listed by search engines, so to be found on Google you need Pro and your own domain. See our pricing and what each plan includes.

What you can take with you when you leave

This is the part most people check too late. Squarespace's own help page says:

• You can export some content as an .xml file, but the file is in a WordPress format. Many features rely on Squarespace's own code, so some content does not export.
• It includes layout pages, one blog page with its posts, text blocks and image blocks.
• You cannot export from a trial site, and the site must be public.
• There is no bulk export for images and videos. You download them one at a time from the asset library.
• Products export to a .csv file (physical and service products only).

So you cannot lift a Squarespace design and drop it into another builder. You rebuild the look and move the words and pictures. Keep your own copy of your text and photos before you cancel.

How to move from Squarespace to ContentMetric

1. Start free. Describe your business and see it as a site on ContentMetric. Your Squarespace site stays live meanwhile.
2. Collect your content. Export what Squarespace allows, and download your images.
3. Move to Pro. A design specialist designs your new site using your existing pages and content.
4. Connect your domain. If the domain is registered at Squarespace, check its transfer or DNS settings first. On ContentMetric you add two DNS records, then wait from 5 minutes to 48 hours. See how to connect a domain.
5. Cancel Squarespace only once the new site is live and you are happy with it. If you paid yearly, check the cancellation terms first.

Five questions to ask before you switch

1. Why am I leaving?

Write down the real reason. If it is price, compare the yearly cost of your current plan with the yearly cost of the new one, not the monthly teaser. If it is time, ask who will actually make the changes after the move. A cheaper tool that you never update is not a saving.

2. Do I sell anything?

Selling online is the biggest reason to stay put. Moving a shop means moving products, tax settings, shipping rules and payment accounts. Do it only if the new tool clearly does the job. If selling online is the main purpose of your site, Squarespace or a store platform is the safer pick.

3. Where does my domain live?

Find out who your domain is registered with, and make sure you can log in there. You will need to change its settings so it points at the new site. If you lose access to the domain, you lose your web address and your email with it.

4. Will my Google ranking survive?

Keep your page addresses the same where you can. If an address has to change, set up a redirect from the old one to the new one. Do the move on a quiet week, then watch your search results for a month. Our guide on getting your business on Google covers the basics.

5. Can I undo it?

Do not cancel the old site on the day the new one launches. Leave both running for a few weeks. That is the cheapest insurance you can buy.

Other things to look at

If you are weighing several builders, our comparison of AI website builders covers more. If you are leaving Wix instead, see our Wix alternative page.

Common questions