The first step to having a valuable, functioning website is to find a tool to create a website with. Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress are in the top three most well known website building tools world wide. These are the three most viable options for designing a high impact website for your business, but it can be tough deciding which one is best for you. These three great website building platforms do have a few differences that can factor into why you may or may not want to use it. This article will point out the similarities and differences between Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress to help you make the right choice for you and your business.
Now, we could simply get technical and compare Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress off of their market shares:
Market share yearly trends for content management systems
This report shows the market share trends for content management systems since January 2010.
| 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
| Jan 1 | Jan 1 | Jan 1 | Jan 1 | Jan 1 | Jan 1 | Jan 1 | Jan 1 | Jan 1 | Jan 1 | Jan 1 | Jan 1 | |
| WordPress | 51.0% | 55.3% | 54.3% | 54.8% | 59.8% | 60.7% | 58.8% | 58.5% | 60.0% | 59.7% | 62.1% | 64.1% |
| Squarespace | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.3% | 0.5% | 0.8% | 1.1% | 1.5% | 2.6% | 2.7% | 2.3% | |
| Wix | <0.1% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.6% | 0.9% | 1.8% | 2.3% | 2.4% |
But this would not be a fair comparison of each platform since these statistics above account for everyone around the world that builds websites (includes DIY business owners, hobbyists, web designers, developers and agencies, ect…). In order to fairly compare the three platforms, we are going to look at their ease of use, features, Search Engine Optimization, customer support, website management and cost.
EASE OF USE
 Wix is known for being very beginner friendly. If you are a person without much knowledge on website building, wix tries to make it as easy as possible for you to navigate. It takes a few minutes to set up and their drag and drop builder allows you to start customizing content straight away.
Squarespace is not a difficult platform to figure out as they offer their users a step by step guide as soon as they enter their site which is nice. This platform does require a bit more effort then Wix in the sense that rather than simply moving your images exactly where you want them, Squarespace requires you to create columns on their grid layout.
WordPress is a powerful content management system mostly used by serious business owners. Their content is hugely customizable using their built in WordPress editing tools. They have a lot going on in their platform and it is more complex to use which can be overwhelming for any beginner jumping into website building.
FEATURES
Wix has lots of highly customizable modern templates. They have a great range of designs (over 300 free themes), but would need to be adjusted to work well on smartphones and tablets. Wix also has a huge number of additional apps, add ons and extra features that can enhance your site, but not all of them are available for free.
Squarespace has modern templates (around 100 templates) that are already responsive for mobile phones, but are a bit more complex to use. Moving elements on their platform are more rigid because you are on a grid, which can be good or bad depending on how much freedom you want.
WordPress basic structure can be easily modified, customized, and extended with their thousands of free WordPress themes and special features. Their platform has free and open source softwares that can be installed on any hosting provider. Their management tools give anyone the ability to create a site with WordPress, and for more advanced users, uniqifying your website is possible with WordPress source code.
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO)
Wix is now a bit more reputable for their search engine optimization compared to their past issues. They have caught up to platforms like Squarespace and WordPress by incorporating features such as not needing coding for Wix SEO, having built in SEO plugins and widgets, and integrating google features.
Squarespace has decent SEO features and functionality. This includes auto-generated sitemaps and customizable page titles and meta descriptions. Unfortunately their closed ecosystem restricts SEO plugins such as yoast SEO from extending beyond one page. Squarespace is also limited in the sense that you are required to host with them directly.
WordPress is very good at implementing good SEO practices. Although they have a lot of built in SEO features, you will need to add in plugins like Yoast or Rankmath for more customizable options when creating your website. You can add in any free, paid, or custom plugin that you want to maximize your website’s potential using WordPress.
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
Both Wix and Squarespace offer great customer support forums, articles, tutorials, including videos and step by step guides. Wix also offers 24/7 live supports and VIP members get priority support. Squarespace on the other hand offers 24/7 support via email and twitter and has live chats throughout the weekdays that you can join.
WordPress has a very active support forum where you are able to pretty much find answers to any questions or issues you have. The members in the forum are also very active to offer help and answers.
WEBSITE MANAGEMENT
When it comes to website management, Wix and Squarespace have your technical issues dealt with. Wix handles hosting, security and can even help you register a domain. Squarespace handles the hosting, domain, and the emailing side of your website.
WordPress, on the other hand, is not a ‘hosted’ site builder like Wix and Squarespace which means it is up to you to get your own web hosting account and domain. Although this may seem like more work, you are also given more freedom to do as you choose with your website, but you have to learn how to manage your content or hire someone to help you keep your website speedy and secured.
COST
Quick breakdown of wix most important plans:
| Wix plans | Monthly | Yearly | Key Feature |
| Free | $0 | $0 | It’s free |
| Combo | $14 US/month | $10 US/month | No adverts and use of your own domain. More information. |
| Unlimited | $16 US/month | $14 US/month | Good for larger projects: no bandwidth limits and a generous 10GB storage |
| Business Basic | $25 US/month | $20 US/month | You can sell online and get business apps like Wix Hotels or Wix Bookings. More information. |
There are four pricing tiers for Squarespace:Â
Squarespace’s prices start at $12 US/month (paid yearly) for the Personal plan. It’s ad-free and includes a free domain name for 1 year.
The Business plan costs $18 US/month and adds marketing features.
The Online Stores Basic ($26 US/month) and Advanced tier ($40 US/month) add ecommerce features.
Squarespace only offers a 14-day free trial. They do not offer a free plan.
With WordPress, because you will need a hosting to store your files, the cost is initially around $3 – $10US/month, and as your website grows, your hosting price will rise as well but you would be in a more stable position to cover the costs. The cost of your WordPress website will also be dependent on the type of business you are trying to build, the premium plans you add on, and the plugins you install. With WordPress, it is all up to you on how much you would like to spend on your website.
In conclusions, these three fresh sleek and stylish website building tools are all amazing in their own ways, but with WordPress, you can build and design your website the way you want with nothing to hold you back. WordPress allows you more options and more opportunities that will bring your website to another level. So if you are looking to develop a website through WordPress today, we can help you out here at Caiden Media. Contact us today for more information.
