Which is better for a small business, WordPress or Squarespace?

It depends on who is doing the work. Squarespace is the easier home: one bill, no updates to run, fewer ways to break things. WordPress is the more capable home: it can be shaped into almost anything, but somebody has to host it, update it and fix it. If nobody in the business wants that job, Squarespace or a managed service will serve you better than WordPress will.

Is WordPress cheaper than Squarespace?

In year one, usually - introductory hosting deals make WordPress look very cheap. From year two the gap closes: one common UK entry plan renews at about £201 a year with VAT for hosting alone, before a theme, plugins or anyone's time, while Squarespace's Core plan is £244.80 a year with VAT and Basic is £172.80. Over a few years they are closer than the adverts suggest.

Do WordPress and Squarespace prices include VAT?

Generally not on the page. Squarespace shows prices before VAT and adds twenty per cent at the checkout for customers who are not VAT-registered, and most UK WordPress hosts do the same. Whatever price you are quoted, check whether the tax is in it before you compare.

Can I move from WordPress or Squarespace to something else later?

Yes. Your web address is yours wherever the site lives, and a well-done move keeps your pages, addresses and titles intact. Bernard moves simple sites from either platform, with the move included in the £200 yearly price, and will say plainly beforehand if a site is one he cannot lift.

Report · 24 July 2026

WordPress vs Squarespace in 2026 - an honest comparison for a small business

WordPress or Squarespace is the small-business website question, and most comparisons answer it with a winner. Here is a fairer answer: they are different tools for different owners, the honest costs are closer than the adverts suggest, and the right choice depends less on the platforms than on who is going to do the work.

Bernard moves sites off both, so he has seen where each one shines and where each one hurts. Both verdicts follow.

What each one is

WordPress - the self-hosted kind, WordPress.org - is free software you put on hosting you rent. It runs a large share of the web for good reason: it can be shaped into almost anything, there is a plugin for everything, and nobody can take it away from you. The price of that freedom is that you are the landlord. Hosting, updates, security, backups and breakages are yours to manage, or yours to pay someone to manage.

Squarespace is the opposite deal. One company hosts it, builds the tools, applies the updates and answers the phone. Everything works together, and very little can be broken from the inside. The price of that tidiness is the walls: you decorate within what Squarespace offers, and the bill continues for as long as the site exists.

Neither of these is a trick. They are two honest trades - control with responsibility, or ease within limits.

What they really cost

The advertised numbers are not the paid numbers, on either side. Both are usually shown before VAT, and for a UK buyer who is not VAT-registered, the twenty per cent goes on at the checkout.

Squarespace's Basic plan is £144 a year paid yearly, which becomes £172.80 with VAT. Core, the plan most businesses land on, is £204, which becomes £244.80. Pay month by month instead and Core reaches £345.60 a year. The full working is in Squarespace 2026 pricing, explained - what your renewal will actually cost.

WordPress starts cheaper and climbs. The software is free; the hosting is where the money goes. UK hosts advertise introductory prices that renew three to six times higher: one common entry plan bought at £1.99 a month - about £29 for year one with VAT - renews at £13.99 a month, about £201 a year with VAT, for the hosting alone. A theme, plugin licences and either your hours or a maintenance bill sit on top. The full working is in WordPress 2026 pricing, explained - free to start, then the price climbs.

So the honest picture over a few years: Squarespace costs what it says, forever, and WordPress costs little at first and roughly the same later - plus the upkeep, which is the cost nobody advertises.

Who should pick WordPress

Pick WordPress if the site needs to become something particular - an unusual feature, a specific integration, full control of every file - and somebody in the business genuinely wants to run it. Enjoy the tinkering and WordPress rewards it; there is nothing it cannot be persuaded to do. It is also the right answer when you refuse, on principle, to rent your walls: with WordPress you can pack up your files and move host whenever you please.

Who should pick Squarespace

Pick Squarespace if the site is a shop window rather than a project, and nobody wants a second job maintaining it. It is well-made, hard to break and genuinely easier. For a straightforward site - who you are, what you do, how to reach you - the walls rarely pinch, and the extra cost over bare hosting buys back real time.

The third answer

There is a quieter option between doing it all yourself and renting a builder's walls: have someone move the site onto fast, well-built hosting and look after it for you.

That is what Bernard does. He moves simple sites - from WordPress, Squarespace or elsewhere - rebuilds them clean and light so they load fast and read clearly to people and to the search and AI tools that now read the web, and then keeps them: updates, security and backups are his job, not yours. The price is £200 a year, the move included, and £200 is the number you pay - he is not big enough to be charging VAT yet, so nothing goes on at the checkout. Your web address and email stay in your own name, exactly as they should.

That sits a little more than Squarespace Basic, a little less than Core, and about what WordPress hosting alone renews at - with the upkeep, the part that usually costs your Sundays or a maintenance invoice, part of the price. And he is honest about his limits: heavy machinery - a membership area, a forum, a complicated shop - he will decline at the measuring-up, before any money changes hands.

Paste your current address and Bernard will measure up, free, and show you the new place before you decide anything.

Questions people ask

Which is better for a small business, WordPress or Squarespace?: It depends on who is doing the work. Squarespace is the easier home: one bill, no updates to run, fewer ways to break things. WordPress is the more capable home: it can be shaped into almost anything, but somebody has to host it, update it and fix it. If nobody in the business wants that job, Squarespace or a managed service will serve you better than WordPress will.
Is WordPress cheaper than Squarespace?: In year one, usually - introductory hosting deals make WordPress look very cheap. From year two the gap closes: one common UK entry plan renews at about £201 a year with VAT for hosting alone, before a theme, plugins or anyone's time, while Squarespace's Core plan is £244.80 a year with VAT and Basic is £172.80. Over a few years they are closer than the adverts suggest.
Do WordPress and Squarespace prices include VAT?: Generally not on the page. Squarespace shows prices before VAT and adds twenty per cent at the checkout for customers who are not VAT-registered, and most UK WordPress hosts do the same. Whatever price you are quoted, check whether the tax is in it before you compare.
Can I move from WordPress or Squarespace to something else later?: Yes. Your web address is yours wherever the site lives, and a well-done move keeps your pages, addresses and titles intact. Bernard moves simple sites from either platform, with the move included in the £200 yearly price, and will say plainly beforehand if a site is one he cannot lift.