WordPress vs Wix vs Squarespace.

In short: Wix and Squarespace are all-in-one website builders: you pay a monthly fee, pick a template and build the site yourself, and they handle the hosting. WordPress is free software that gives you far more control and room to grow, but it needs hosting and regular care, either from you or from someone you hire. For a very simple site you’ll build yourself, a builder can be enough. For a business that wants to grow, show up on Google for many services and towns, and own its site outright, WordPress is usually the stronger choice.

What’s the difference between WordPress, Wix and Squarespace?

Wix and Squarespace are website builders. Everything comes in one package: the design tools, the hosting and the support. You drag and drop pieces onto a page, and the company runs the technical side. The trade-off is that your site lives on their platform and works within their rules.

WordPress is free, open-source software that runs a very large share of the world’s websites. You install it on hosting you choose, and you can change almost anything about how the site looks and works. The trade-off is that someone has to keep it updated, secure and backed up.

One note on names: WordPress.org is the free software you put on your own hosting. WordPress.com is a separate hosted service that works more like a builder. In this guide, WordPress means the free software on your own hosting.

Wix vs Squarespace vs WordPress at a glance

• Ease of starting. Wix and Squarespace are the easiest to start on your own. WordPress takes more setup, or someone who knows it.
• Design freedom. Squarespace is known for polished templates. Wix gives a lot of drag-and-drop freedom. WordPress can be designed to look like almost anything.
• Features. The builders offer the features their app stores provide. WordPress has tens of thousands of plugins, and custom features can be built when nothing fits.
• Growing the site. Builders suit smaller sites. WordPress handles large sites with many service and location pages well.
• Upkeep. The builders handle hosting and updates for you. With WordPress, you or your web company handle them.
• Moving the site later. Moving off Wix or Squarespace usually means rebuilding. A WordPress site can be moved to any hosting company.

Which is better for SEO?

All three can be found on Google. Each one lets you set page titles and descriptions, make clean page addresses and build sites that work on phones. A well-built site on any of them can do well, and a poorly built site on any of them will struggle.

The difference shows up as a business grows. WordPress gives more control over the details that matter for SEO: site speed, page structure, structured data that helps Google understand your business, and building many pages for different services and towns without fighting the platform. Tools like Yoast SEO make that work easier. Builders keep things simpler, which also means less room to fine-tune.

For a local business, the platform matters less than what’s on it: clear pages for each service and area, a fast site, accurate business details and a complete Google Business Profile.

Which costs more?

Wix and Squarespace charge a monthly or yearly subscription that includes hosting. Some features, like online booking or selling, can cost more or need a higher plan.

The WordPress software is free, but you pay for hosting, a domain name, and sometimes premium themes or plugins. If you hire someone to build and look after it, that’s part of the cost too. Our guide on how much a website costs explains what affects the price.

The cheapest option on paper isn’t always the cheapest in practice. A builder that saves money but takes many hours of your own time, or a site that never brings in calls, can cost more in the end.

Who owns your website?

With Wix or Squarespace, your content is yours, but the site itself only runs on their platform. If you leave, you usually take your words and photos, not the working site.

With WordPress, you can take the whole site, including the design, pages and settings, to any hosting company. That freedom is one of the main reasons businesses choose it. Whatever you pick, make sure your domain name is registered to your business.

When a website builder makes sense

• You want to build the site yourself and enjoy doing it.
• You only need a few pages, like a home page, services and contact.
• You don’t plan to add many pages or features later.
• You’re comfortable working within the platform’s limits.

When WordPress makes sense

• You want pages for many services or the towns you serve.
• SEO is a big part of how you plan to find customers.
• You need features a builder can’t easily handle, now or later.
• You want to own the whole site and be free to move it.
• You’d rather have someone else build and look after it.

Want WordPress without the upkeep?

WordPress gives a business the most room to grow, but someone has to set it up properly, keep it updated, secure it and back it up. Skip those and a site can slow down, break or get hacked. That’s the part we handle, so you get the strengths of WordPress without having to look after it.

• Built on WordPress, built for Google. A fast site with a clear page for each service and each area you serve, written for your customers.
• Hosted and managed by us. Every site runs on our managed servers, and we handle the updates, security and backups.
• Ready for Athena. Our sites work with Athena, AI software from our partner company, Athena SEO AI LLC, which checks where your business shows up on Google, Bing and AI tools like ChatGPT.
• Still yours. A WordPress site can move to any hosting company. If we register your domain name for you and you’d like it transferred to you, we transfer it at no cost.
• A real person, anytime. Call or text us at (786) 383-0616. If you’d like to make changes yourself, we’ll show you how.
• No lock-in. Month-to-month plans, no hidden fees, and you can cancel any time with 30 days’ notice.

Read more about our website design and care and hosting.

Frequently asked questions

Is Wix or Squarespace easier to use?

Both are built for beginners. Wix lets you place things freely on the page. Squarespace uses more structured templates that keep the design tidy. Which feels easier comes down to how you like to work.

Is WordPress hard to use?

Adding pages, photos and posts is fairly simple once the site is set up. The harder part is the setup, design and upkeep, which is why many businesses have a web company handle those.

Can I switch from Wix or Squarespace to WordPress?

Yes. Your words and photos can be brought over, though the site itself is usually rebuilt on WordPress. It’s a good moment to improve the structure and SEO, and to make sure your old page addresses point to the new ones.

Is WordPress secure?

WordPress is widely used and actively maintained. Most problems come from sites that aren’t kept up to date. Regular updates, good hosting, backups and security monitoring keep the risk low.

Which is best for a small business?

It depends on your goals. A builder can suit a very simple site you’ll run yourself. If you want room to grow, more control over SEO and a site you fully own, WordPress is usually the better fit.

Not sure which is right for you? Tell us what you need below, or call or text (786) 383-0616. A real person on our team reads every request and gets back to you.