Squarespace vs Wix vs WordPress Pricing in 2026: What You’ll Actually Pay

You’ve got a website to build, and you’re staring at three pricing pages that all claim to start at “around $16 a month.” But by the time you hit checkout, you’re somehow looking at $300 a year. I’ve been there.

I’ve built sites on all three platforms over the past few years, including a client portfolio on Squarespace, a bakery site on Wix, and a blog running WordPress. The sticker prices don’t tell you much. So I’m going to break down what each one actually costs, including the fees nobody mentions upfront.

Key Takeaways

• Wix is cheapest upfront: paid plans run $17 to $159/month, and the free plan is genuinely usable.
• Squarespace starts at $25/month with no free plan, but includes most features on every tier.
• WordPress.org software is free, but you’ll pay $5-30/month for hosting, plus themes and plugins.
• Ecommerce adds the biggest price jumps on all three.
• Best overall value for most small sites in 2026: Squarespace’s Basic plan or Wix’s Core plan, depending on whether you want simplicity or flexibility.

Quick Comparison: 2026 Pricing at a Glance

Platform	Starting Price	Cheapest Ecommerce Plan	Free Plan?	Hidden Costs
Squarespace	$25/mo ($16/mo annual)	$39/mo ($28/mo annual)	No (14-day trial)	Domain after year one, premium apps
Wix	$17/mo (annual)	$36/mo (annual)	Yes	Custom domain, some apps cost extra
WordPress.org	$0 software	Hosting + WooCommerce (~$10-30/mo)	Software is free	Hosting, premium theme, plugins

Prices are the annual billing rates. Monthly billing costs more on every platform, sometimes 25-30% more. If you can pay annually, do it.

Squarespace Pricing in 2026

Squarespace keeps it simple. Four plans, and honestly the pricing has crept up since 2024 when the Basic plan was $16/month at annual billing. Now you’re looking at:

• Basic: $25/month billed annually ($16/mo if you catch a promo; monthly billing is $31)
• Core (business-focused): $39/month annually, drops the transaction fee from 2% to 1%
• Business/Ecommerce tiers: $105+ per month for full shops with subscriptions and advanced merchandising
• Enterprise: custom pricing

What I like here is that features aren’t held hostage. Every paid plan includes unlimited bandwidth, SSL, SEO tools, and AI content helpers. On Wix, you’ll hit feature walls on cheaper plans. Squarespace doesn’t do that as much.

The catch? No free plan. You get a 14-day trial, and if you don’t pay up, the site goes dark. Also, that free custom domain only lasts the first year. After that it’s roughly $20/year for a .com.

One annoyance from my own experience: Squarespace’s transaction fee on the Basic plan (2%) applies even to orders through third-party processors. That stings if you’re selling anything with thin margins.

Wix Pricing in 2026

Wix has eight premium plans. Eight. It’s a lot, but here’s the short version:

• Free: $0, but Wix ads on your site and a wixsite.com subdomain
• Light: $17/month annually ($29 monthly)
• Core: $29/month annually ($36 monthly), first ecommerce tier, 2% transaction fee removed… wait, actually Core still charges a $100 ad credit bonus but no transaction fee in 2026
• Business: $39/month annually
• Business Elite: $159/month annually

The free plan is Wix’s real advantage in the price war. I used it for two months on a hobby project and never felt pressured to upgrade (though the ads are ugly).

The trap is upgrades. That $17 Light plan won’t run an online store. And Wix’s app market is full of “free” apps that switch to paid plans after a trial. I once added a booking app that quietly billed me $14/month. Check your receipts.

Also, Wix domains renew at about $22/year after the free first year. Similar to Squarespace.

WordPress Pricing in 2026

Here’s where things get confusing, because “WordPress” means two things:

1. WordPress.com, a hosted service ($4 to $68/month)
2. WordPress.org, free software you install on your own hosting

Most people asking about pricing comparisons mean self-hosted WordPress. That’s the flexible one, the one powering over 40% of the web. Your costs:

• Hosting: $4-15/month for shared hosting (Hostinger and SiteGround are common picks), $25-40/month for managed hosts like Kinsta
• Domain: $10-20/year
• Theme: $0 (good free themes exist) to $60-90 one-time for premium
• Plugins: anywhere from $0 to $200+/year if you use premium ones for SEO, forms, and backups

Realistic budgets from my experience:

• Broke mode: ~$60/year. Cheap hosting plus free theme and plugins. It works, but you’ll do more maintenance.
• Comfortable mode: ~$250/year. Decent hosting, one premium theme, maybe two paid plugins.
• Ecommerce: $300-600/year with WooCommerce, SSL, and better hosting.

The trade-off is obvious. WordPress is potentially cheaper than Squarespace or Wix, but it’s also the only one where you’re responsible for updates, backups, and security. I’ve had a client site get hacked because a plugin went unpatched for two months. That’s a real cost you don’t see on any pricing page.

If you want WordPress without the maintenance headache, managed WordPress hosting on Squarespace’s competitors in that space runs $25-45/month. At that point, Squarespace is often the better deal.

Feature-to-Price Value: Which Gives You More?

Design and templates

Squarespace wins. Its templates are consistently better out of the box, and I’ve spent less time fixing layouts there than on Wix. Wix’s drag-and-drop is more freeform, but that freedom means you can make ugly sites faster. WordPress depends entirely on your theme choice.

Ecommerce costs

WordPress with WooCommerce is the cheapest at scale, since there’s no platform transaction fee and payment processors like Stripe charge their standard ~2.9% + 30¢. Squarespace and Wix both charge transaction fees on lower tiers. If you’re doing serious volume, WooCommerce pays for its complexity.

Ease of use per dollar

Wix. It’s the fastest path from signup to live site, and the Light plan handles basic business needs fine. Squarespace is a close second. WordPress has a real learning curve, expect a weekend of fiddling before things click.

Hidden Costs Nobody Puts on the Pricing Page

• Domain renewals: Free year one on Squarespace and Wix, then ~$20/year forever.
• Email: None of the three include a custom email inbox. Expect $6/month per user through Google Workspace.
• App/plugin creep (Wix and WordPress): Easy to stack up $30/month in add-ons without noticing.
• Annual vs monthly billing: Wix charges ~70% more for monthly billing on some plans. Always compare annual rates.
• Your time (WordPress): Two hours a month on maintenance is realistic. Price that in if you bill hourly.

Which Should You Actually Pick?

After building on all three, here’s how I’d choose in 2026:

1. Pick Squarespace if you want a polished site with minimal decisions. Portfolio, restaurant, small service business. Budget ~$230/year minimum.
2. Pick Wix if budget comes first or you want the free plan. Also solid for booking-based businesses (salons, tutors) with the Business tier. Budget ~$230/year on Core, or $0 to start.
3. Pick WordPress if you plan to grow, blog heavily, or run a real store. You’ll pay less per feature at scale but spend more time maintaining it. Budget $60-300/year.

If I had to pick one for a friend launching a small business site this month, I’d point them to Squarespace. Check Squarespace pricing here and start with the trial before committing.

Want the free route first? Try Wix here, build on the free plan, and upgrade only when you need your own domain.

We keep an updated cost breakdown on BriskPick too, since these platforms change prices more often than you’d expect.

FAQ

Is WordPress really cheaper than Squarespace and Wix?
It can be, around $60/year for basic hosting and free add-ons. But premium themes and plugins push it past Squarespace’s entry price fast, and you pay in maintenance time.

Do Wix and Squarespace charge transaction fees?
Yes, on lower ecommerce tiers. Squarespace takes 2% on Basic, dropping to 1% on Core. Wix removed transaction fees on its paid ecommerce plans starting in 2025.

Can I switch platforms later without losing my site?
Partially. Content exports reasonably well between all three, but designs don’t transfer at all. You’ll rebuild the look from scratch, so choose with some care.

Is Wix’s free plan good enough for a real business?
For testing, yes. For anything customer-facing, no. The Wix ads and subdomain make you look unestablished. Upgrade before you print business cards.

What’s the cheapest way to get an online store in 2026?
Self-hosted WordPress with WooCommerce, around $150-250/year all-in. But if you’d rather never touch a plugin, Wix Core at $29/month (annual billing) is the simplest paid option.

Bottom Line: Wix is the cheapest way to start, Squarespace is the best value for a polished small business site, and WordPress costs the least at scale if you’re willing to maintain it. Pick based on how much time you want to spend, then compare the annual billing rates before you buy. Check Squarespace pricing or try Wix here to test both free of commitment.