Choosing a website platform can be challenging. There are a lot of options out there. In this article we will outline some of the differences, pros and cons of Wix and Squarespace to help you make a decision on which may be a better option for you and your company.
Functionalities of Wix
The Wix Editor allows users to build a website from scratch by using over 500 designer-made templates. By using the drag and drop feature, users can build their website exactly the way that they want to. The website will look amazing whether it is being viewed on computer, tablet, or mobile device. Within the Wix Editor, there is also a media gallery where users can display images, videos, and text all within the gallery layout.
Wix ADI will instantly design a website for users when they answer just a few simple questions. By doing so, ADI can piece together a website with the users needs in mind by using the information that was given in the questions.
Velo is another feature of Wix that is used to build advanced web applications. Velo allows users to maintain their content and present it anywhere by using the integrated databases or their own external data source.
Additional features of the Wix platform include a custom domain name, a professional mailbox, contact management, and free web hosting.
Functionalities of Squarespace
Squarespace offers many of its own features, one of these features being its own website builder. The Squarespace website builder includes customizable templates, pre-built layouts, design tools, and a design panel. Squarespace also allows multiple contributors within one account.
The Commerce feature of Squarespace allows users to sell products, services, subscriptions, and digital content. They can also offer discounts and manage their inventory online.
The Marketing feature of Squarespace can be used to create email campaigns. Users can create profiles, newsletters, banners, promotions, and go over marketing analytics as well. Squarespace scheduling offers multiple calendars, calendar syncing, and both email and text reminders for appointments, meetings, and events. The calendar also allows clients to book appointments right from Instagram and Facebook.
Squarespace also offers a feature called Tock that allows users to manage reservations, events, takeout, and delivery all within one place. Tock block allows guests to book reservations and events through the Squarespace website.
Wix Pricing
Wix offers several monthly subscription options. These include the VIP plan that costs $45 dollars a month, the Pro plan that costs $27 dollars a month, the Unlimited plan that costs $22 a month, and the Combo plan that costs $16 dollars a month. The plan that is most popular and offers the best value is the Pro plan. The Pro plan offers 50 GB of storage space, 2 hours of video content, and all the additional features that a VIP plan would offer, aside from the priority customer care. Pro, Unlimited, and Combo users all receive 24/7 customer support. The VIP plan offers 100 GB of storage space and 5 hours of video content, while the Combo plan only offers 2 GB of storage space and 30 minutes of video content.
Squarespace Pricing
Squarespace offers several monthly subscription options that can be paid either monthly or annually. Users that choose to pay for their subscription yearly will receive a discount of either 25 or 30%. The plan types are Personal, Business, Basic Commerce, and Advanced Commerce, with the most popular plan option being the Business plan which is $23 dollars a month when billed annually and $33 dollars when billed monthly. The Personal plan option costs $14 dollars a month when billed annually and $19 dollars when billed monthly. The Basic Commerce plan option costs $27 dollars a month when billed annually and $36 dollars when billed monthly. The Advanced Commerce plan option costs $49 dollars a month when billed annually and $65 dollars when billed monthly.
The Personal plan offers SSL security, unlimited bandwidth, 30 minutes of video storage, SEO features, templates, 2 contributors, Mobile-Optimized websites, 24/7 customer support, basic website metrics, and Squarespace extensions. The Business, Basic Commerce, and Advanced Commerce plans all offer the same benefits that the Personal plan offers plus a wide range of additional benefits as well. The Advanced Commerce plan also offers additional features that include abandoned cart recovery and advanced discounts and shipping.
Similarities of Wix and Squarespace
While there aren’t many similarities between the two platforms, there are some. These include a variety of different accessible templates, a built-in SEO management tool, a monthly subscription option, and 24/7 customer support.
Differences of Wix and Squarespace
One of the main differences between Wix and Squarespace is the page editor feature. Wix allows users to move any element to any place on the page. The Wix editor is unstructured whereas the Squarespace editor is structured. Squarespace does not allow users to move elements to any place on the page, instead, they allow users to drag elements into rows and columns.
Wix also offers many features through apps. For example, live chat can be used through the Wix Live Chat app and takeout orders can be placed with Wix Restaurant Orders app. With Squarespace, to utilize live chat, users must integrate with a 3rd party.
Ecommerce donations also look differently between both platforms. Squarespace has a fully featured donation system that allows donor specific checkout, donor email receipts, and suggested donation amounts. Wix does not offer this feature. Wix has a donation button that is available, but it will direct visitors to PayPal.
Squarespace also shows both the monthly and annual pricing for each subscription plan level, where Wix only shows the monthly payment amounts on their website. Visitors must read the fine print writing to see the yearly subscription amounts.
Wix or Squarespace?
This question is best answered by the individual user and business. Both platforms offer many unique features that would benefit users and companies, but they offer them in different ways and for different reasons. It is best to look over the website themselves, consider the pros and cons of each, and the pricing of each to then decide.
If you do not feel confident our team of virtual assistants are experts on not only speaking on the best options for designing or redesigning your website, but also execution. Feel free to contact us for pricing options.