# Squarespace review for Canadian small businesses (2026) > An honest Squarespace review for Canadian businesses: CAD billing, polished templates and built-in selling, against no free plan, Basic's 2% fee and lock-in. Canonical: https://canadianwebmaster.ca/reviews/squarespace Last updated: 2026-10-22 Squarespace is the polished, all-in-one choice: good-looking templates, hosting included and prices in Canadian dollars. The trade-off is control. Here is what it does well, where it bites, and who should pick it. Prices and facts checked October 22, 2026 ยท by Shane Heyworth. About: Squarespace. > How this review works: every claim links to the platform's own pricing page or help centre, checked on the date above. There are no star ratings, because we haven't collected reviews from users; a score would be made up. We build websites for a living, mostly on WordPress and Shopify, so we have a bias. We've tried to say plainly where each platform beats paying someone like us. ## The short version Squarespace suits a business owner who wants a professional-looking site they can update themselves, with no server to look after, and who expects to stay on Squarespace. It suits less well anyone who needs specific third-party features, wants to own a portable copy of their site, or is running a store with complex rules. **Good** - Billed in Canadian dollars, from $21 a month on an annual plan ([pricing](https://www.squarespace.com/pricing)). - Hosting, the security certificate and platform updates are included. Nothing to patch. - Built-in selling on every plan, with no Squarespace store fee from Core ($32/month) up. - 14-day free trial with no credit card. - 24/7 customer support on every plan, per its pricing page. **Watch out for** - No free plan, and Basic adds a 2% fee on store sales. - Code injection and advanced code blocks need Core or higher. - Export is partial: one blog, basic pages, text and images. Store, album, portfolio and index pages stay behind ([help centre](https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/206566687-Exporting-your-site)). - You can't export one Squarespace site and import it into another, per the same help page. - No plugin marketplace on the scale of WordPress's; you work within its blocks and extensions. ## What it costs Basic is $21 a month on an annual plan ($252 a year) or $30 month to month. Core, the plan most selling businesses end up on, is $32 or $45. Card processing through Squarespace Payments is 2.9% + $0.30 on Basic and Core. The full breakdown, including the break-even where Core becomes cheaper than Basic (about $6,600 a year in online sales), is on our [Squarespace pricing page](https://canadianwebmaster.ca/pricing/squarespace). ## Design and editing Squarespace's strength is that a non-designer can end up with a site that looks deliberate. Templates are coherent, the editor keeps layouts within sensible limits, and mobile versions are handled for you. The flip side is that the limits are real: if you want something the blocks don't do, your options are custom code (Core and up) or living without it. ## Selling and bookings Every plan can sell products and services, send invoices and take donations. Core and up remove Squarespace's store fee and add discounts, shipping labels, carrier-calculated shipping and Google Shopping listings. Digital content and memberships carry their own fee (7% on Basic down to 0% on Advanced). For a small shop or a service business taking deposits, it's enough. For a large catalogue or wholesale pricing, look at Shopify instead. ## Leaving Squarespace This is the part to understand before you start. Squarespace exports a WordPress-format XML file covering layout pages, one blog, text and images. Products export separately as a CSV, up to 10,000, without reviews or variant images ([help centre](https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000694948-Export-products-to-a-csv)). Your design, styles and custom CSS don't export. Moving means rebuilding; our [guide to moving off Squarespace](https://canadianwebmaster.ca/switch-from/squarespace) walks through it. ## Who should pick Squarespace - **Pick it** if you want to build and edit the site yourself, care how it looks, sell a modest range of products or services, and are happy to stay put. - **Skip it** if you need a particular plugin or integration, want to own a portable site, need detailed bilingual (English/French) handling, or don't want to rebuild if you ever leave. Still deciding? Compare it with [Wix](https://canadianwebmaster.ca/vs/wix-vs-squarespace) and [WordPress](https://canadianwebmaster.ca/vs/squarespace-vs-wordpress), or see the [Wix review](https://canadianwebmaster.ca/reviews/wix) and [WordPress review](https://canadianwebmaster.ca/reviews/wordpress). ## Sources Each checked October 22, 2026. Platforms change prices often; their own page is the final word. - [Squarespace: Pricing plans and features (CAD)](https://www.squarespace.com/pricing) - [Squarespace Help: Export your site content](https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/206566687-Exporting-your-site) - [Squarespace Help: Export products to a .csv](https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000694948-Export-products-to-a-csv) ## Keep comparing - [Pricing: Squarespace pricing](https://canadianwebmaster.ca/pricing/squarespace) - [Comparison: Wix vs Squarespace](https://canadianwebmaster.ca/vs/wix-vs-squarespace) - [Comparison: Squarespace vs WordPress](https://canadianwebmaster.ca/vs/squarespace-vs-wordpress) - [Comparison: Shopify vs Squarespace](https://canadianwebmaster.ca/vs/shopify-vs-squarespace) - [Switching: Moving off Squarespace](https://canadianwebmaster.ca/switch-from/squarespace) - [All platform pricing, reviews and comparisons](https://canadianwebmaster.ca/compare)