Squarespace vs Wix UK 2026: Which Website Builder Is Right for Your Small Business?

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Introduction

Squarespace and Wix are the two biggest names in website building, and if you’re a UK small business owner trying to get a site online, you’ve almost certainly narrowed it down to these two. They’re both excellent — but they’re built on different philosophies, and the right one for you depends on what you actually value.

The catch is that both restructured their plans recently, so a lot of the comparisons online are out of date. This guide gives you a current, honest answer for 2026: how they compare on real UK pricing, design, ease of use, eCommerce, and free options — so you can choose confidently. No fluff.

Quick Verdict

• Choose Squarespace if design quality is your priority — it produces more polished, professional sites with less effort, and lets you switch templates later.
• Choose Wix if you want maximum flexibility, the lowest entry price, or a genuinely free plan to start with.

Now let’s get into the detail.

Pricing: Wix vs Squarespace in the UK (2026)

Both builders show native pricing in pounds. Here are the current plans on annual billing (paying monthly costs more on both). Wix’s prices exclude VAT on the page; Squarespace’s are shown inclusive of VAT.

Wix	Price/mo	Squarespace	Price/mo
Free	£0	(no free plan)	—
Light	£9	Basic	£12
Core	£16	Core	£17
Business	£25	Plus	£29
Business Elite	£119	Advanced	£79

A few things jump out:

• Wix has a free plan; Squarespace doesn’t. Wix’s free tier is limited (Wix ads, a subdomain, no eCommerce), but it exists. Squarespace only offers a 14-day free trial — you must pay to keep your site live.
• Wix is cheaper at entry. Wix Light (£9) undercuts Squarespace Basic (£12) for a simple, non-selling site.
• eCommerce entry is nearly identical. To sell online with no platform transaction fee, you’re looking at Wix Core (£16) or Squarespace Core (£17) — practically the same price.
• Squarespace is cheaper at the top. Its Advanced plan (£79) is far less than Wix’s Business Elite (£119).

A note on selling and fees

There’s an important difference in how each handles selling:

• Wix: You can’t sell on the Free or Light plans — you need Core (£16) or above. Wix Payments charges 2.1% + 20p per transaction (card processing), with no extra platform fee on top.
• Squarespace: You can sell on any plan, including Basic — but Basic carries a 2% Squarespace transaction fee on store sales, on top of card-processing fees. From Core upwards, that platform fee drops to 0%. (Digital products carry their own fees on the lower tiers.)

So the cheapest genuinely fee-free way to sell online is roughly level: Wix Core (£16) or Squarespace Core (£17).

Design and Templates

This is Squarespace’s biggest advantage. Its templates are widely regarded as the best in the industry — clean, modern, and professionally designed. If visual presentation matters to your brand (photographers, restaurants, designers, boutique shops), Squarespace tends to produce a more polished result straight out of the box.

Wix has hundreds of templates too, and they’re perfectly good, but they don’t quite match Squarespace’s design pedigree — and crucially, Wix won’t let you switch templates after your site is live. You’d have to rebuild. Squarespace lets you change templates whenever you like.

Winner: Squarespace, comfortably, on design quality and template flexibility.

Ease of Use and Flexibility

Here the two diverge in philosophy:

• Wix gives you a true drag-and-drop editor — you can place almost any element anywhere on the page. That’s enormously flexible, but it also means you can create a cluttered, inconsistent site if you’re not careful.
• Squarespace guides you more. You have somewhat less freedom, but the guardrails produce a cleaner, more professional result with less effort.

If you enjoy tinkering and want total creative control, Wix wins. If you’d rather be steered towards a good-looking result without fiddling, Squarespace wins. For most non-designers, Squarespace’s approach produces a better outcome; for those who want to get hands-on, Wix is more satisfying.

Winner: a tie — it depends on whether you value flexibility or guided simplicity.

eCommerce

Both platforms handle small-business eCommerce well, and both look good doing it. The differences:

• Squarespace has beautifully designed store pages and 0% transaction fees from the Core plan, but limited payment gateways (Squarespace Payments, Stripe, PayPal) and no true multi-currency checkout.
• Wix offers more eCommerce flexibility as you move up its plans — multi-currency and subscription selling on Business, dropshipping, and a larger app market for adding store functionality.

For a small UK shop, either is more than capable. For a larger, scaling store, both are outclassed by Shopify, which remains the specialist for serious eCommerce. If you’re weighing up a big online store, compare both against Shopify before committing.

Winner: Wix for eCommerce flexibility; Squarespace for store design.

Free Plans and Trials

• Wix offers a free-forever plan. It’s limited — Wix branding, a Wix subdomain rather than your own domain, and no online store — but it lets you build and explore without paying.
• Squarespace has no free plan, only a 14-day free trial. You get access to most premium features during the trial (including the AI builder and templates), but you’ll need to subscribe to publish.

Winner: Wix, for the genuinely free option.

Apps, Features, and SEO

• Wix has a large App Market for adding functionality (bookings, chat, reviews, marketing), though many apps carry their own monthly fees.
• Squarespace has fewer third-party extensions but strong built-in tools, plus Acuity Scheduling (sometimes a separate cost) and solid email campaign features.
• SEO: Both are capable. Both let you edit meta titles, descriptions, and URLs, and both have improved their SEO reputations considerably. Neither has a decisive edge for a typical small business.

Which Should UK Small Businesses Choose?

Choose Squarespace if:

• Design and presentation are central to your brand
• You want a polished, professional site with minimal effort
• You value being able to switch templates later
• You’re a creative, restaurant, photographer, or boutique business

Choose Wix if:

• You want maximum design flexibility and creative control
• You want a genuinely free plan or the lowest entry price
• You need a specific app or integration from Wix’s larger marketplace
• You’re building a simple site and want to keep costs down

Neither Handles Your Tax — Here’s What You Still Need

Whichever you choose, remember that website builders are not accounting software. Neither Wix nor Squarespace connects to HMRC or handles VAT returns and Making Tax Digital. Even if you run an online store on either, you’ll need separate accounting software — such as QuickBooks, Xero, or FreeAgent — to stay MTD-compliant. Both platforms can export your sales data into your bookkeeping software, but the tax side happens elsewhere.

FAQ

Is Wix or Squarespace cheaper?

At the entry level, Wix is cheaper — its Light plan (£9/month) undercuts Squarespace’s Basic (£12/month), and Wix has a free plan while Squarespace doesn’t. For selling online with no platform fee, the two are nearly level (Wix Core £16 vs Squarespace Core £17). At the top end, Squarespace is cheaper — its Advanced plan (£79) costs far less than Wix’s Business Elite (£119).

Does Wix or Squarespace have better templates?

Squarespace is widely considered to have the best templates of any website builder — polished and design-led. Wix’s are good and more numerous, but don’t quite match Squarespace’s design quality. Squarespace also lets you switch templates after publishing, whereas Wix does not.

Can I sell online on both Wix and Squarespace?

Yes, but with a difference. On Wix, you need at least the Core plan (£16/month) to sell — the Free and Light plans don’t include eCommerce. On Squarespace, you can sell on any plan, but the Basic plan (£12/month) charges a 2% transaction fee, which drops to 0% from the Core plan (£17/month) upwards.

Which is better for a UK small business overall?

It depends on your priority. For design-led businesses that want a beautiful site with minimal effort, Squarespace is the stronger choice. For flexibility, the lowest entry cost, or a free starting point, Wix wins. Both are capable, well-supported platforms — the “right” one comes down to what you value most.

Conclusion

There’s no universal winner here — Squarespace and Wix are both genuinely good, and the best choice depends on what matters to you.

If you want the most professional, design-led result and you’re happy to pay for it, Squarespace is the better pick — and its top-tier pricing is actually more competitive than Wix’s. If you want flexibility, the lowest entry price, or a free plan to get started, Wix is the more practical choice.

Our advice: try both. Wix’s free plan and Squarespace’s 14-day trial let you build a test site on each before spending a penny. Spend an hour in both editors, and you’ll quickly get a feel for which suits how you work. And if you’re planning a serious online store, weigh both up against Shopify first.

Pricing and features correct at time of writing. Plans and capabilities are subject to change — always confirm current details on the provider’s website before purchasing.