ebflow and Squarespace are our main website builders! These two advanced tools provide provide variety in both budget and services.
Don’t worry we will help you choose which option works best for your company during our discovery call. But just in case - here is a website builder comparison if you want to get more informed before chatting!
Overview
Webflow and Squarespace are website builders that are used in creating and hosting websites. Although both have a similar function they provide very different services and target different audiences. We recommend Webflow for those who run larger businesses and would like a lot of customization within their design. While Squarespace, is for smaller businesses that need a simple solution to being online.
Building a website
Webflow is basically the photoshop of the website builder world. It allows complete customization and is a little intimidating for those who have never programmed before. But worry not, after we build out your website there is a Design editor specifically created for those who aren’t tech savvy. This would allow you to change images, text and add more blog posts without changing the structure of the website itself.
Squarespace on the other hand is cleaner and less intimidating. It is simpler to use and avoids any technical speak - so it is great for beginners. It will allow you to change text, images and add blog posts or services with ease and will also allow you to change the theme in the future easily.
With either website builder you wont need to worry about if you’ll be able to manage your site. After we hand off the website we will provide a mini tutorial to take you through either of the programs that will allow you to change the website yourself in the future.
Design Elements
With Webflow we could create any design and interaction imaginable as we can start from a blank page or a template. With absolute creative freedom anything is possible.
With Squarespace you would select a template and we will be able to customize it to your brand by adding our own code. One thing to note is to have more impressive interactions and customizations you will need to obtain a business account.
Tools and Features
Both of these website builders have tonnes of their own add-ons.
Webflow has a lot more advanced features that could be integrated and has infinite plugins and widgets that can be added. For example, Webflow can integrate with Zapier, MailChimp, ShipStation, Quickbooks and more.
Squarespace doesn’t have it’s own app market, but it does have all the basics that you would need as well as the option of purchasing 3rd party plugins. It has integrated eCommerce tools for cafes and restaurants, social media, adding Acuity as well as tracking website statistics.
eCommerce
We take our hats off for Webflow. They have a wonderful ecommerce engine. You would be able to design, scale and sell your online storefront regardless of size and complexity. With its ability to integrate with a variety of add ons and it’s tools to track inventory, set shipping, payment, tax details, SEO-friendliness and infinit animations - Webflow is pretty insane.
Squarespace is incredibly easy to get started in and create a shop. You can sell both physical and digital products, adjust shipping/payment details, upload up to 100 SKUs/product variations, integrate with ShipStation and Stripe, PayPal, etc. It is also possible to add on confirmation e-mails for a bit extra, create coupons, export data, etc. For those not just selling products but selling a service special attention should be given to Squarespace’s Acuity Scheduling Platform integration. This online appointment system simplifies the process of sales completion, effective client interaction, sales volume growth etc. For a small or medium sized business- Squarespace is a great place to start out.
Pricing
We feel that both services are reasonably priced depending on what you are looking for. Especially since you won’t need to hire a developer to change your site every time you need to - although you can and we are here for you. On either platforms you could run a basic website, a CMS blog space or an e-commerce site.
Webflow
- Basic - $12 USD a month and work great for simple websites that don’t require the use of CMS. You can connect your Domain, have 500 form submissions, CDN availability, free SSL certificate connection, etc.
- CMS - $16 USD a month this is a great choice for blogs and other content driven projects - 1000 form submission, limited CMS API, 3 content editors (different people can edit the project at the same time), 2000 CMS items, site search, etc.
- Business - $36 USD a month this works well for high traffic marketing projects or a full-feature blog. unlimited form submissions, full CMS API, advanced global CDN, 10 content editors etc.
eCommerce plans, in their turn, include:
- Standard – $29 USD (great for new businesses that have to be promoted on the web) – all features of the CMS plan plus custom checkout and shopping cart, email customization, integrated CMS for blogs, 2% transaction fee.
- Plus – $74 USD (works well for larger businesses that require extra features) – all features of the Business plan plus unbranded emails, zero transaction fee, 10 staff accounts.
- Advanced – $212 USD (perfect solution for users, who intend to scale and reach new heights for their online businesses) – all features of the Business plan plus 15 staff accounts, unlimited yearly sales volumes and more.
Squarespace
Squarespace has separate subscriptions for Standard websites and for web stores. This is one of the major factors that should have impact upon your final choice of a plan. To make the final decision, have a look at the list of Squarespace plans now:
- Personal - $12 per month – 20 web pages, free custom domain name, 3% sales transaction fee;
- Business - $18 per month – unlimited web pages, 2% sales transaction fee, AdWords credit;
- Basic - $26 per month – unlimited number of products to sell, unlimited amount of storage and bandwidth, integrated accounting options;
- Advanced - $40 per month – real time carrier shipping, label printing, abandoned checkout auto-recovery.
All the plans the website builder offers come with free integrated hosting and domain connection. If you already have a domain name purchased from the third-party provider, the system lets you transfer it to the platform with a few easy steps.
Conclusion
It all depends on your needs and we are here to help you decide what is best for your company. We recommend Webflow for slightly larger businesses and creative services with their unlimited customization. We recommend Squarespace to start out with - for small to medium sized businesses that need to start accumulating their social presence online.
