The Real Reason I Keep Recommending Squarespace to My Clients
If you've been trying to figure out the best website platform for your business, you've probably already fallen into the rabbit hole. WordPress vs. Squarespace. Squarespace vs. Showit. Showit vs. Wix. Kajabi for everything? GoHighLevel? Webflow?
The platform debate is endless, and honestly, a little exhausting.
After years of building websites professionally for creatives, wellness practitioners, and conscious entrepreneurs, I've formed a real opinion. And it's not the hot take you might expect from a web designer: for the majority of entrepreneurs, Squarespace is the right choice. Not because it's trendy or because I sell templates on it (though I do), but because it genuinely solves the right problems for the people I work with most.
In this post I'm going to walk you through exactly why I keep coming back to Squarespace, who it's a perfect fit for, and the situations where I'd actually point you somewhere else. Because a real recommendation includes both sides.
What Makes a Website Platform "The Best"?
Before we get into the specifics, let's define what I'm even measuring - because my criteria might be different from what you'd find on a generic platform comparison blog.
When I choose a platform for a client, my number one goal is that they can actually run their own site after we're done working together. That means no developer dependency for basic updates, no tech knowledge required to make edit pages, and no platform that slowly becomes impossible to use because it's too complicated to maintain.
So the framework I use looks like this:
Gets you online with a polished, professional result
Is easy to edit yourself without breaking anything
Doesn't require ongoing technical maintenance you didn't sign up for
Scales with your business without becoming a second job
Stays within a reasonable budget
Client independence isn't a nice-to-have for me - it's a design requirement. The best website is one you can actually use.
With that in mind, here's why Squarespace consistently wins for most of the entrepreneurs I work with.
6 Reasons Squarespace Works for Most Entrepreneurs
1. You Don't Need a Tech Background to Use It
This might sound like a low bar, but it's actually one of the most meaningful things I can say about a platform. Squarespace was designed for people who are brilliant at their work but not interested in learning web development. The interface is clean, the drag-and-drop builder is intuitive, and you can make meaningful edits to your own site without breaking anything or calling in a developer every time you want to update your homepage headline.
But here's what makes it even better: you don't actually have to maintain it. At all. Squarespace is a hosted, fully managed platform, which means the hosting, security, updates, and backend infrastructure are all running quietly in the background without any input from you. You pay your subscription, and it works. That's the whole deal.
No plugin updates to run. No hosting renewals to track. No server issues to troubleshoot. You log in, make your edits, log out, and go back to actually running your business.
I've seen what happens when business owners are handed a WordPress site they don't know how to maintain. It sits untouched for two years, goes stale, and eventually becomes a source of embarrassment instead of a sales tool. Squarespace removes that friction entirely.
For a coach who wants to update her services page before a launch, or a wellness practitioner adding a new offering mid-season, that ease of use is worth everything.
2. It's a Genuine All-in-One Platform
One of the invisible costs of building a website is the web of third-party tools required to make it actually function. Email marketing. Analytics. Ecommerce. Scheduling. SEO plugins. Blog tools. These things add up fast, both financially and in terms of mental overhead.
Squarespace bundles a solid core of this into a single subscription:
Built-in SEO settings for every page
Native analytics dashboard
Ecommerce functionality (including digital products)
Blogging with tags, categories, and custom layouts
Scheduling through Acuity (which Squarespace owns)
A free custom domain for your first year
Now, I'll be honest with you - I don't always recommend every native Squarespace tool to my clients. Some of them are functional but not exceptional. For email marketing, for example, I almost always recommend Flodesk over Squarespace's built-in Campaigns. It's just a better experience for the kind of entrepreneurs I work with.
But here's the thing: that's totally fine, because Squarespace connects cleanly with most of the third-party tools you'd actually want to use. Flodesk, Dubsado, Google Analytics, Zapier, Calendly—the integrations are straightforward to set up and they don't randomly break the way some platforms' connections do. You get the stability of an all-in-one foundation with the flexibility to plug in the best tools for your specific business.
That combination, a reliable core platform plus easy integrations, is genuinely hard to find.
3. You Can Make It Look Like Anything (Really)
There's a misconception that all Squarespace sites look the same. And honestly? That reputation isn't completely unfounded - it just belongs to the old version of the platform.
Squarespace 7.0, the legacy version, had a very specific look. The templates were more rigid, customization was limited, and if you didn't know what you were doing, sites ended up feeling a little cookie-cutter. That's where the stigma comes from.
But the current platform is a different story. With a solid understanding of CSS and JavaScript, a skilled Squarespace developer can transform a Fluid Engine Squarespace website into something that feels completely bespoke with distinctive layouts, custom interactions, animations, and design details that make visitors stop and say "wait, is this Squarespace?" I've had clients tell me their finished sites were mistaken for a fully custom builds. The range this platform has is actually astounding.
Remember, the template is just the scaffold. What gets built on top of it is where the magic happens.
That's exactly why it matters who builds your site. A Squarespace developer like myself, who truly understands the platform (not just the drag-and-drop basics, but the deeper customization layer), can give you a website that's extraordinary on the outside and simple to manage on the inside. You get the gorgeous front end without sacrificing the easy backend you actually need to use day to day.
And if you want a head start that's already a step above Squarespace's base templates, that's exactly what my templates inside the Apothecarywere built for. These are custom-designed templates created specifically for conscious entrepreneurs. They’re not the generic starting points Squarespace gives everyone, they’re actually all rooted in astrology. You get a polished, distinctive foundation you can make your own, as outlined by the stars.
4. Mobile Optimization Comes Standard
More than half of all web traffic happens on mobile devices, and that percentage is even higher for industries like wellness, coaching, and personal brands. Your website needs to look and function beautifully on a phone screen. These days, this is an absolute non-negotiable. Squarespace gets this. The platform has a dedicated mobile editing mode built right into the editor, so you're not guessing how your site will look on a phone - you can see it, adjust it, and refine it alongside your desktop design. Mobile isn't something you bolt on at the end. It's part of the build from the start.
This matters because on a lot of platforms, especially custom WordPress builds stitched together with multiple plugins and page builders, mobile optimization is an afterthought that requires extra work, extra testing, and sometimes a developer to fix what broke. Squarespace makes it straightforward enough that even if you're editing your own site down the line, you can make sure your mobile layout still looks intentional.
A well-built Squarespace site should look considered on every screen. The platform gives you the tools to make that happen without it becoming a project of its own.
5. It Just Works. Always.
Let's talk about the real cost of a website platform - because it's not just the monthly subscription fee.
With WordPress, you're paying less upfront, but you're also taking on a second job you didn't apply for. Plugin updates. Backups. Security patches. Hosting management. And if you forget to back up your site before running that plugin update? You might come back to a broken homepage, a white screen of death, or worse - a site that's been quietly compromised for weeks. Ask anyone who's been through it. It's not fun.
Squarespace costs a little more per month. That's real, and worth acknowledging. But what you're paying for is a platform that is fully managed, fully hosted, and fully maintained on your behalf. SSL certificates are included and auto-renewed. Security updates happen in the background without any action from you. Your site doesn't randomly break because of a compatibility conflict you didn't know existed.
And then there's accessibility, something most business owners don't think about until it becomes a problem. Squarespace's backend is built with semantic HTML structure, which means accessibility best practices are baked into the foundation of every site by default. Proper heading hierarchy, keyboard navigation support, screen reader compatibility - it's all part of how the platform is built, not something you have to bolt on separately or hire someone to audit later.
You pay your subscription, and your website works. Every day, without drama.
For a business owner whose zone of genius is not in tech - and honestly, even for those who are - that reliability is worth far more than the price difference. Your energy belongs in your clients, your work, and your growth. Not in a Sunday afternoon panic because something broke and you don't know why.
6. The SEO Foundation Is Solid (And Getting Better)
Squarespace has a reputation for being "bad at SEO." It's one of the most common objections I hear, and it's also one of the most outdated.
That criticism is rooted in the older version of the platform, when SEO controls were limited and the tech community was quick to dismiss it in favor of WordPress. But Squarespace has evolved significantly, and these days it competes solidly alongside any other website platform for the kinds of businesses I work with.
For a service-based business focused on local SEO, a strong content strategy, and well-optimized pages, Squarespace gives you everything you need:
Customizable title tags and meta descriptions on every page
Clean URL structures
Auto-generated XML sitemaps
Mobile optimization baked in (which Google weighs heavily)
SSL security included as standard
Schema markup for certain content types
And it's only getting stronger. Tools like SEOSpace (a Squarespace-specific SEO plugin) are continuously expanding what's possible on the platform, bringing capabilities that close the gap even further with more SEO-heavy platforms.
The platform won't do the strategy for you. No platform will. But it absolutely will not hold you back. I've helped clients rank on the first page of Google on Squarespace sites. The platform isn't the limiting factor - the strategy is.
Who Is Squarespace the Best Fit For?
To be specific about it, Squarespace tends to work beautifully for:
Service-Based Businesses: coaches, consultants, therapists, nutritionists, designers, photographers, copywriters, and anyone selling their expertise rather than a large catalog of physical products.
Wellness & Healing Practitioners: acupuncturists, yoga teachers, breathwork facilitators, somatic therapists, energy workers, and spiritual entrepreneurs. Squarespace's templates tend to lean toward the clean, natural, and elevated aesthetics that serve this space well.
Creative Entrepreneurs: artists, illustrators, brand designers, and makers who need their site to feel as considered as their work.
Small Ecommerce Shops: businesses selling a focused range of products (think under 50 SKUs) without complex inventory or shipping logic.
Service Providers Launching Their First Professional Site: especially if they need to be able to maintain and update it themselves without ongoing developer support.
When Squarespace Is NOT the Right Choice
This is the part most Squarespace evangelists skip, and I think that's a mistake. Honest guidance means knowing when to recommend something else.
You need Shopify if: You're running a serious ecommerce operation. Hundreds of products, complex inventory management, advanced discount logic, subscription products, or integrations with large wholesale or fulfillment systems. Squarespace's ecommerce is capable for small shops, but it's not built to scale the way Shopify is. It's also worth knowing that Shopify runs on exceptionally clean, high-performance servers - if that matters to your business or your values, it's a meaningful differentiator.
You need WordPress if: You want maximum control over your site's environmental footprint. Because WordPress is self-hosted, you get to choose your hosting provider - which means you can opt for a green hosting company running on renewable energy and build a genuinely lean, lightweight site that reflects your values. You also get the most robust plugin ecosystem and the ability to build almost anything with a development team. The tradeoff is real maintenance responsibility and a higher upfront investment.
You need Webflow if: You want something truly bespoke. Think complex animations, highly unique user experiences, and interaction design that goes well beyond what most website builders can offer. Webflow sits closer to custom development than it does to traditional website builders. It's powerful, but it comes with a steep learning curve and typically requires a specialist to build and maintain.
You need Kajabi or GoHighLevel if: You want one platform to run your entire business - your website, email marketing, funnels, courses, memberships, offers, and CRM all under one roof. These platforms are built for entrepreneurs who want to consolidate everything and don't want to stitch together multiple tools. The tradeoff is a higher monthly cost and less design flexibility.
If you're not sure which category you fall into, honestly? It's probably Squarespace.
The Bottom Line
The best website platform is the one you'll actually use,and keep using. The one that doesn't become a tech headache. The one that lets you show up professionally online without requiring a developer on retainer.
For most entrepreneurs, that platform is Squarespace.
If you're ready to build a site that reflects the quality of your work, I design custom Squarespace websites for creative and conscious entrepreneurs who are done settling for a site that doesn't feel like them. View my services here.
Or if you want a beautiful starting point you can customize yourself, browse the Arcoiris Template Shop for Squarespace templates designed specifically for this community.
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