Squarespace

Squarespace has built a specific reputation: the most beautiful sites you can create without developers. Every template is designed by professional designers, and the platform maintains high aesthetic standards across everything it produces. The price for this level of craft is above average.

Squarespace is an all-in-one website builder that includes hosting, domain, ecommerce tools and blog in a single platform. The main differentiator from Wix is design: Squarespace has a library of professional templates with a recognizable editorial style — clean, elegant, with polished typography — designed for portfolios, restaurants, stores, photographers, artists and brands needing impactful aesthetics. The editor has less freedom than Wix (you can't position every element freely) but guarantees a visually consistent result even for those without design skills. It includes full ecommerce features on all paid plans, with cart, payments, inventory management and shipping. The email marketing builder is integrated. Fluid Engine, the more recent layout engine, has added more flexibility to element positioning. Support is available 24/7 via chat.

For freelancers, artists, photographers, restaurants and small businesses who want a professionally polished website without developers, willing to pay a bit more for design quality.

Squarespace has no free plan but offers a 14-day trial. Plans start with Personal at $16 per month billed annually ($23 monthly) for informational sites; Business at $23 per month annually adds ecommerce with a 3% commission; Commerce Basic ($28) and Advanced ($52) plans remove commissions and add advanced ecommerce features. Note: the 3% commission on the Business plan can be significant for those with high sales volume.