Quick answer
In Squarespace vs WordPress, artists and makers who want a finished site with the shop built in suit Squarespace, while bloggers and sellers who want plugins suit WordPress.com. Squarespace Basic costs $19 a month billed annually and takes $2.75 in fees on a $50 sale, including a 2% transaction fee, while WordPress.com Business costs US$25 a month billed yearly and takes $1.75. Example: with both billed yearly, the two cost the same at six $50 sales a month, and from seven WordPress.com Business costs less in total.
Nation, an AI store builder, publishes this page. It is pre-launch, with a waitlist on withnation.ai, so it is not in the comparison or the fee example. See where Nation fits.
How we compared
Squarespace vs WordPress is a choice between two website builders, so on either one every buyer comes from you. This page compares WordPress.com, the hosted service, and both were checked against the same four questions.
- Monthly cost of a plan that can sell The plan you would sell on, billed yearly and billed monthly. Squarespace is shown on Basic, its cheapest plan that sells. WordPress.com is shown on Business, the cheapest plan whose pricing table states its fee on WooCommerce payments.
- Fees on each sale Transaction and card processing fees on one order, read from each company's own pricing and help pages for a US seller.
- Setup and upkeep Whether the shop is built in or added as a plugin you install and set up.
- Free options and limits Free plans, trials and plan rules that decide how you can start and what you can sell.
Squarespace vs WordPress at a glance
Squarespace is shown on Basic and WordPress.com on Business, for the reasons given in the fee example. The source and check date for every number are listed under each platform and at the end of the page.
Fees on one $50 sale on Squarespace and WordPress.com
Fees are easier to compare on one order than as percentages. Example: one $50 ceramic vase, paid online with a standard US card, with free shipping and no sales tax. Squarespace Basic charges a 2% transaction fee plus card processing of 2.9% + $0.30. WordPress.com Business takes 0% on WooCommerce payments, and WooPayments charges 2.90% + $0.30 for the card.
- WordPress.com $1.75 plus Business US$25 a month billed yearly WordPress.com 0% $0, WooPayments 2.9% + $0.30 $1.75
- Squarespace baseline $2.75 plus Basic $19 a month billed annually Transaction 2% $1, Card 2.9% + $0.30 $1.75
Assumes a $50 item, free shipping, no tax, a standard US card paid online through Squarespace Payments or WooPayments, and no currency conversion. WordPress.com is shown on Business because its pricing table lists the 0% fee on WooCommerce payments for Business and Commerce only. Personal, at US$4 a month, billed every 12 months ($48 a year), can also install WooCommerce, but the table states no WooCommerce fee for it.
WordPress.com Business costs more a month than Squarespace Basic but takes less on each sale. The table shows how many $50 sales a month it takes for the fees WordPress.com Business saves to cover its whole plan price. Squarespace Basic also has a plan price, $19 a month, so WordPress.com Business costs less in total long before that count. Example: with both billed yearly, at six $50 sales a month the extra 2% fee on Squarespace Basic equals the gap between the two plan prices, and from seven sales WordPress.com Business costs less.
Billed monthly, the gap in plan price is wider, US$40 a month against $25 a month, so it takes more sales before WordPress.com Business costs less. The count also leaves out setup time: on WordPress.com you install WooCommerce, then set up payments, taxes and shipping yourself.
Squarespace and WordPress.com in detail
Each gets the same five lines: price, fees per sale, what it is strong at, who it is best for and its main limit.
The baseline. A website builder with designer templates and a built-in shop, where fully managed cloud hosting is included in all plans and there is 24/7 customer support on every plan.
- Price
- Basic is $19 a month billed annually or $25 a month billed monthly. Core is $29 a month billed annually or $39 a month billed monthly. There is no free plan; every site starts with a free trial. The trial is free for 14 days.
- Fees per sale
- On Basic, a 2% transaction fee plus card processing of 2.9% + $0.30 through Squarespace Payments. On Core the transaction fee is 0% and the card rate stays the same.
- Strong at
- Everything in one place: templates for showing the work, a shop that is part of the plan, and no limit to the number of products and services you can sell.
- Best for
- Artists, photographers and makers who sell a few items a month and want one finished site for portfolio, story and shop.
- Limit
- Basic adds 2% to every online sale, so its total cost rises faster than WordPress.com Business as orders grow.
Hosted WordPress: you build a site from themes and blocks and add the WooCommerce plugin to sell. Plugins install on Personal, Premium, Business, and Commerce.
- Price
- Personal, the cheapest plan that can install WooCommerce, is US$4 a month, billed every 12 months ($48 a year), or US$9 a month billed monthly. Business, used in the fee example, is US$25 a month billed yearly or US$40 a month billed monthly. The free plan (US$0) cannot install plugins.
- Fees per sale
- On Business and Commerce, WordPress.com takes 0% on WooCommerce payments, and WooPayments charges 2.90% + $0.30 for a US card. The pricing table states no WooCommerce fee for Personal or Premium.
- Strong at
- Content and add-ons: a blog and a shop on one WordPress site, and plugins and WooCommerce extensions that add store features. Upkeep is partly handled: malware removal, a firewall and automated WordPress core updates on every plan, and plugins listed in the WordPress.org repository update automatically.
- Best for
- Bloggers and writers who sell, and sellers who want a feature a plugin can add and are fine setting it up.
- Limit
- The store is a plugin you add and configure yourself: install WooCommerce, then set up payments, taxes and shipping. Monthly plans do not include a free domain.
Which one fits you
You are an artist, photographer or maker and sell a few pieces a month.
Squarespace Basic
Basic costs $19 a month billed annually against US$25 a month billed yearly for WordPress.com Business, and the shop and payments are built in. Example: below six $50 sales a month it also costs less in total.
You write a blog and want to sell from it.
WordPress.com
The blog and a WooCommerce store run on the same WordPress site, and a store can start on Personal at US$4 a month, billed every 12 months ($48 a year), below Squarespace Basic's $19 a month.
You sell a steady number of orders of about $50 each month.
WordPress.com Business
Its lower fee per sale, $1.75 against $2.75 on Squarespace Basic, makes up for the higher plan price as orders add up. Example: with both plans billed yearly, from seven $50 sales a month WordPress.com Business costs less in total (see the break-even section).
You want Squarespace's templates and your monthly orders keep growing.
Squarespace Core
Core costs $29 a month billed annually and has a 0% transaction fee, so a sale costs $1.75 in fees, as on WordPress.com Business. Example: at ten $50 sales a month, the fees Core saves equal its extra plan price over Basic.
You want to add store features from plugins and extensions.
WordPress.com
Plugins install on Personal, Premium, Business, and Commerce, and paid WooCommerce extensions cost $29 – $299/year per extension, bought one at a time.
You do not want to install and set up a store plugin.
Squarespace
The shop and payments are built in and fully managed cloud hosting is included in all plans, so there is no store plugin to install or configure.
Where Nation fits
Nation
Category: an AI store builder
Nation says one description of what you make builds the store, then agents handle orders, customers and delivery and run ads, content and social posts, with you approving the work. Because pricing is not announced yet, it is not compared on fees here.
Limits today
- Status: pre-launch, with a waitlist on withnation.ai.
- Pricing and fees: not announced yet.
- Shopper marketplace: no shopper marketplace has been announced.
- Track record: no independent reviews or public stores yet.
Nation publishes this page. Nation is not ranked here and will not be added to the comparison or the fee example until signup is public and pricing is published.
Describe what you makeDisclosure and method
Nation, an AI store builder, publishes this page. Nation is not ranked here and will not be added to the comparison until signup is public and pricing is published.
The page compares Squarespace and WordPress.com, the hosted service, for a US seller of physical products: Squarespace on Basic and WordPress.com on Business, with Squarespace Core and WordPress.com Personal noted where they change the answer. Self-hosted WordPress from WordPress.org is a different setup and is covered only in the FAQ. Neither company paid to be included, and none of the links are affiliate links.
Every fee and price was read on the company's own pricing or help page on 2 Oct 2026 or later. Each platform's section names its source, and the full list is below.
Questions about Squarespace vs WordPress
Is Squarespace or WordPress cheaper for selling online?
Squarespace or WordPress can be cheaper depending on the plan and how much you sell. WordPress.com Personal has the lowest plan price that can run WooCommerce. Squarespace Basic costs less a month than WordPress.com Business but takes $2.75 on a $50 sale against $1.75. Example: billed yearly, the two cost the same at six such sales a month, and from seven Business costs less.
Does Squarespace charge transaction fees?
Squarespace charges a 2% transaction fee on online sales on its Basic plan, on top of card processing of 2.9% + $0.30 through Squarespace Payments. On a $50 card sale the two come to $2.75. On Core, which costs $29 a month billed annually, the transaction fee is 0% and only card processing remains.
Does WordPress.com charge transaction fees on store sales?
WordPress.com lists a 0% fee on WooCommerce payments on Business and Commerce, so you pay only the processor, such as WooPayments at 2.90% + $0.30 for a US card. The pricing table states no WooCommerce fee for Personal or Premium. The separate Payments block, offered to new sites on Premium, Business, and Commerce, charges Free 10% / Personal 8% / Premium 4% / Business 2% / Commerce 0% plus Stripe's fee.
Can I sell on Squarespace or WordPress.com for free?
You cannot run a store on Squarespace or WordPress.com for free. The free WordPress.com plan cannot install plugins such as WooCommerce, which work on Personal, Premium, Business, and Commerce. Squarespace has no free plan; every site starts with a free trial. That trial is free for 14 days, and selling starts on Basic at $19 a month billed annually.
Is Squarespace or WordPress better for artists?
Squarespace often suits artists better than WordPress when they want one finished site, because designer templates, the shop and payments are built in and there is no plugin to set up. WordPress.com suits artists who also write a blog or need a feature a plugin adds, and a WooCommerce store there can start on the Personal plan.
Is WordPress.com the same as WordPress.org?
WordPress.com is not the same as self-hosted WordPress from WordPress.org. WordPress.com is a hosted service with free and paid plans, and it is the one this page compares. Self-hosted WordPress runs on a host you pick, with WooCommerce as the store. WooCommerce lists a $0 platform fee and puts hosting at $25 – $350/month for most stores.
Is Nation an alternative to Squarespace and WordPress?
Nation is not an alternative to Squarespace and WordPress that you can compare today. It is an AI store builder, pre-launch, with a waitlist on withnation.ai, and its pricing is not announced yet. Because no shopper marketplace has been announced, buyers would come from you, as they do on Squarespace and WordPress.com. Nation will be added to this comparison once signup is public and pricing is published.