What will a new Squarespace (or other) website cost you over a year?
As I'm sure you're aware if you ever visited my website. I love Squarespace! I may have commitment issues but when is comes to Sqaurespace that is not an issue! (ha.) Anyways, one of the many reasons I love Squarespace is that it is affordable for business owners. I think the value based on the cost vs. the level of professionalism cannot be beat. Basically what I'm saying is there are cheaper platforms (or free ones) but I do not think that they give your website the same level of professional appeal. That being said, no matter which website platform you choose there is going to be more than one cost associated with your website. Today I'm going to break down those costs for you so you can see for yourself what your total website investment will be.
Costs to consider for your new website:
Platform (CMS) cost
Domain Cost
Hosting Cost
Plugin Cost
Template Cost
Custom Designer cost
Ongoing monthly maintenance/ security costs
Website tweak/update cost
1) Platform (CMS) cost
First off what is a CMS?
A CMS is a "Content Management System" which is "software used to manage the creation and modification of digital content." Basically it is the website builder you use. I often refer to a CMS as a platform for simplicity. Other popular platforms or CMSs are Wix, Wordpress, Shopify, and BigCommerce.
With Squarespace, you pay a single fee that includes the cost to use their CMS, the cost of your Template, and the cost of your website hosting. I’ve heard other people people refer to this monthly cost as too high but in my opinion, everything that is included in that price makes it very reasonable.
Squarespace does offer a personal plan, but there are very few circumstances in which I would recommend it to a business owner. For that reason, I'm going to focus on the other 3 levels of Squarespace sites:
Business plan:
$18 per month (billed annually)
Total: $216
If you work with a designer who is a Squarespace Circle Member you will receive 20% off of the cost of your first year.
Total: $172
Commerce Basic plan:
$26 per month (billed annually)
Total: $312
If you work with a designer who is a Squarespace Circle Member you will receive 20% off of the cost of your first year.
Total: $250
Commerce Advanced plan:
$40 per month (billed annually)
Total: $480
If you work with a designer who is a Squarespace Circle Member you will receive 20% off of the cost of your first year.
Total: $385
Compare at:
Shopify:
Basic Shopify
All the basics for starting a new business
Total: $348 per year
Shopify
Everything you need for a growing business
Total: $948 per year
Advanced Shopify
Advanced features for scaling your business
Total: $3588 per year
2) Domain Cost
All Squarespace sites on an annual billing plan include one free custom domain. This domain is free for the first year.
Total: $0
Compared at:
GoDaddy
Total: $0.99 - $25 for the first-year purchase of a basic domain.
Keep in mind some "premium" domains can cost $100s to $1000s of dollars to purchase.
Make sure before you start work on your new website that you can afford the domain you'd like. Otherwise, you may need to purchase a different domain for your website.
3) Hosting Cost
The cost of hosting a Squarespace website is $0 as it is self-hosted. Squarespace plans include unlimited Bandwidth and Storage.
Compare at:
Bluehost for Wordpress websites:
Basic
50GB website space
Total: $122 per year
Plus
Unmetered website space
Total: $169 per year
Choice Plus (Commerce recommended)
Unmetered website space
Total: $227 per year
4) Plugin Cost
Typically Squarespace does not require paid plugins for your website. There are special cases where a plugin may be required. There are also free resources for plugins as well.
Total: $0
Compared to:
Shopify (apps) and Wordpress plugins. Many Wordpress and Shopify websites require additional plugins depending on what you want your website to be able to do.
Find any Shopify or Wordpress Plugin prices for your website. Additional plugins can range from $0 - hundreds of dollars a month.
5) Template Cost
When you build a Squarespace website, a template is included in the purchase of your website.
Total: $0
Compared to Shopify:
Shopify Templates (themes): $0 - $180
You can choose a free theme for Shopify, but in my experience, you'll probably want to opt for one of the paid themes which is an additional expense you'll want to account for.
6) Custom Designer cost
My websites start at around $3000, which to some seems extravagant. Those are not my ideal clients. There are many people that have no problem paying this fee because of the time and stress it will save them in their business to hire a professional to take care of building and launching their website.
Compared at:
There is no set price for website design. It is an unregulated industry and that means you can pay a small amount all the way up to tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. The cost of a designer usually includes the following factors: the number of years of experience they have, the amount of hours the project will require them to work for, the complexity of the project, and other factors. Typically, you get what you pay for. If you work with the cheapest designer, you can find expect the experience to reflect that. If someone is only charging a few hundred dollars for a website that means they don't have a lot of experience and/or have to take on a lot of clients to make a living at that rate. If this is the case know that is what you are signing up for, it will take a longer time for them to get back to you and potentially take longer for them to launch your website. If that is worth saving money to you that's great but don't expect them to have the time and experience to give you the same level of service as a designer who works with clients one on one and only takes on one project at a time.
7) Ongoing monthly maintenance/security costs
Squarespace is a self-contained platform. This means that you don't need to update plugins or widgets.
Total: $0
Compared to Wordpress:
Often with Wordpress, when there are updates, you need to update the individual plugins and widgets on the website. Missed updates is one of the leading causes of security vulnerabilities on Wordpress websites. This can also lead to plugins not working on your website. This means that in order to keep your Wordpress website functioning properly and secure you often need to pay someone to keep your Wordpress website up to date and secure. The cost of this can range but is usually a monthly or yearly fee that you will continue to pay.
Price: Quoted by your website designer.
8) Website tweak/update cost
Usually after 1 training session (included in the cost of the website design) my clients are empowered to make tweaks on their websites themselves. However, if you are not interested in making your own website changes and updates you can hire myself or another Squarespace designer at an hourly rate to make website updates.
Total: $0+
Compared to Wordpress:
I often find clients get frustrated when trying to make website changes and tweaks on Wordpress. It is not as user-friendly as it should be. I have found in my past experience a client with a Wordpress website is much more likely to have to hire a designer to make website changes and tweaks for them.
Total: $0+
Final thoughts
In this article, I chose different platforms to illustrate the different potential costs that could come up when choosing which platform you are going to work with. Now you can use my sheet to fill in the prices you are finding when you do research and compare the total costs of using different website platforms.
Please note that there are many things that should be considered when creating your new website and price is just one of the factors. Often comparing platforms is not like comparing apples to apples; it's like comparing apples to grapes. They are both fruit, but there are obvious benefits to choosing one over the other depending on your purpose. If you're making pie the apple seems like the obvious choice. If you're making wine, the grapes will usually be the better choice.
At the end of the day, I want you to have a clear idea of what the true costs are of whichever platform you choose to work with. Even if that means you don't choose Squarespace or working with me as a designer! Best of luck with your website creation and if you have any questions for me, please reach out! I love talking websites and business with other online business owners.
Email me at: hi@launch23.com or comment below!