Free Squarespace vs WordPress Cost Calculator

Last updated: October 29, 2026

Quick answer: Squarespace and WordPress look like a $29-against-$45 comparison — until maintenance changes the answer: Squarespace Core costs a flat $29 a month on annual billing, while a WordPress site is a stack — hosting plus plugins plus maintenance plus a theme — and the stack's price depends entirely on who maintains it. With DIY maintenance ($0), WordPress costs $46.64 a month against Squarespace Core at $29; with $100-a-month maintenance, WordPress costs $146.64. This free Squarespace vs WordPress cost calculator prices both on your Squarespace plan, your hosting, plugins, maintenance and theme over year 1 and 3 years. On the defaults (Squarespace Core $29, WordPress hosting $20, plugins $25, maintenance $0, theme $59), Squarespace costs $29 a month, $348 in year 1 while WordPress costs $46.64 a month, $599 in year 1 — a $17.64 monthly gap; 3-year totals $1,044 against $1,679. Squarespace repriced during 2026, so its plans are shown from the September 2026 published table — verify at checkout. Everything runs in your browser; your site costs stay private.

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How to Use the Squarespace vs WordPress Cost Calculator

1. Pick your Squarespace plan. Core ($29) is the everyday business comparison; Basic ($19) is the brochure-site comparison; Plus ($49) and Advanced ($99) are the commerce comparisons, and Advanced is the only tier with the lowest transaction fees.
2. Enter your WordPress hosting per month — shared hosting runs $3–$15, managed WordPress hosting $20–$50, and a busy store can exceed $100. The slider default ($20) is a managed-hosting midpoint, not a promise.
3. Enter your plugins per month (premium SEO, forms, security, backups, page builder licences added together) and your maintenance per month — $0 if you update, back up and fix things yourself, $50–$200 if an agency or care plan does it. Maintenance is the line that flips this comparison, so price it honestly.
4. Enter your theme one-time cost ($59 default, a typical premium theme) and any migration / setup. The theme is spread over 36 months in the monthly figure and charged in full in year 1.
5. Press Compare total cost. Read the monthly gap first, then the 3-year totals — and re-run with maintenance at your real number before deciding, because DIY at $0 and agency care at $100 are different purchases.

Why Use Our Squarespace vs WordPress Cost Calculator?

• The stack is itemised, not averaged — hosting, plugins, maintenance and theme are separate lines, so you can see which line makes WordPress cost $46.64 or $146.64. A comparison that quotes one WordPress number without the lines hides the maintenance decision inside it.
• Maintenance is the verdict — at $0 DIY maintenance, WordPress costs $46.64 against Squarespace Core at $29 (a $17.64 gap); at $100 maintenance, WordPress costs $146.64 (a $117.64 gap). Nobody buys 'WordPress' — they buy WordPress plus whoever maintains it, and the calculator prices both versions.
• The theme is amortised honestly — a $59 theme is $1.64 a month over 36 months in the monthly figure, but the full $59 lands in year 1 and in the 3-year total ($1,679 = $45 × 36 + $59). Monthly figures that omit one-time costs understate year 1; this one does not.
• Squarespace's 2026 repricing disclosed — Squarespace changed prices during 2026, so the calculator uses the September 2026 published table (Basic $19, Core $29, Plus $49, Advanced $99) and tells you to verify at checkout, instead of silently quoting a stale tier.
• What's excluded is named — transaction fees (Squarespace charges vary by tier; WordPress depends on your payment gateway), email marketing, and custom development are not in either column. A store comparing on subscription alone and forgetting transaction fees will misprice the year.

Common Use Cases

• A brochure site, DIY maintenance: Squarespace Core $29 against WordPress $46.64 a month; 3 years $1,044 against $1,679. Squarespace wins by $635 and includes support — the brochure-site buyer pays more on WordPress for control they may never use.
• A brochure site with an agency care plan: WordPress at $100 maintenance costs $146.64 a month — $117.64 above Squarespace Core, $4,235 over 3 years. The care plan, not the software, is the purchase; if the agency's updates, backups and fixes are worth $100 a month, WordPress is a service buy, not a software buy.
• A small store comparing commerce tiers: Squarespace Advanced $99 against a WordPress stack with WooCommerce hosting ($40), plugins ($40) and DIY maintenance: $81.64 a month — WordPress undercuts Advanced by $17.36 before transaction fees. But gateway fees and the store's plugin count decide the real year, so price both before committing.

Squarespace vs WordPress Cost Calculator vs Alternatives

• Subscription model: Squarespace: one flat plan. WordPress: a stack of hosting + plugins + maintenance + theme.
• Default monthly: Squarespace Core $29 against WordPress $46.64 (DIY maintenance).
• With $100 maintenance: Squarespace Core $29 against WordPress $146.64.
• 3-year total: Squarespace $1,044 against WordPress $1,679 (defaults).
• Control: WordPress: full code, data and plugin freedom. Squarespace: templates, hosting and support in one bill, less extensibility.

The honest summary: Squarespace wins on subscription price at every maintenance level in this comparison, and the gap grows with the care plan. WordPress wins on control — custom functionality, data ownership and plugin freedom that Squarespace cannot match. Buy WordPress for what it can do, not for what it costs, because on subscription alone it costs more.

Frequently Asked Questions