Most answers to this question give you one number: either the Squarespace plan or what a designer charges. Neither is the full cost. A business website has a platform fee, a few small bills that start in year two, a one-off build cost if you hire help, and an optional cost for looking after it.
This guide adds those up. The Squarespace prices were checked on 2 October 2026, market ranges are cited, and where we use our own prices we say so. We build Squarespace sites for a living, so we’ve also included a section on when you shouldn’t hire anyone.
How much does Squarespace cost per month?
Squarespace has four plans: Basic, Core, Plus and Advanced. There is no free plan, but every site starts with a 14-day free trial and no card is needed. Paying annually is cheaper than paying monthly, and only annual plans include a free domain for the first year.
| Plan | UK, billed yearly | UK, billed monthly | US, billed yearly | US, billed monthly |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | £12/month£144 a year | £16/month | $19/month$228 a year | $25/month |
| Core | £17/month£204 a year | £24/month | $29/month$348 a year | $39/month |
| Plus | £29/month£348 a year | £36/month | $49/month$588 a year | $65/month |
| Advanced | £79/month£948 a year | £89/month | $99/month$1,188 a year | $139/month |
Checked on 2 October 2026. UK prices from squarespace.com/pricing; US prices from the US version of the same page (captured 29 September 2026). All prices exclude VAT and sales tax. Squarespace changes its prices from time to time, so confirm at checkout.
Most service businesses need Core. Basic is fine for a simple portfolio, but Core adds what a business site usually needs: unlimited contributors, advanced analytics, code injection for booking and tracking tools, pop-ups, and a free year of Google Workspace email. Plus and Advanced are for selling online. Their lower card and membership fees only pay off once you take regular payments.
VAT and sales tax are extra. Squarespace’s UK prices exclude VAT. If you’re not VAT-registered, 20% is added at checkout, which takes Core from £204 to £244.80 a year. VAT-registered businesses can enter their VAT number and pay the ex-VAT price. In the US, any sales tax that applies is added at checkout.
What else do you pay for besides the Squarespace plan?
The plan covers hosting, security certificates, templates, software updates and 24/7 support. These are the costs that sit outside it.
- Your domain, from year two. The first year is free on an annual plan. After that, Squarespace Domains charges £8 a year for a .co.uk or £16 for a .com in the UK, and $20 a year for a .com in the US.
- Business email, from year two. Core and higher plans include one Google Workspace account free for a year. After that, the Starter plan costs £70.80 a year per person in the UK, or $84 in the US. Three people means three accounts.
- Payment fees, if you take payments. Squarespace Payments charges from 2.0% + 25p per card payment in the UK (2.9% + 30¢ in the US) on Basic and Core, falling to 1.5% + 25p (2.5% + 30¢) on Advanced. Basic also takes a 2% fee on online store sales; Core and above don’t.
- Booking software. If clients book appointments online, Acuity Scheduling (owned by Squarespace) is a separate subscription, from $16 a month on its Starter plan billed annually.
- A premium template, if you want one. Squarespace’s own templates are free. Third-party premium templates are a one-off purchase; ours cost £299.
- Email marketing and extensions. Squarespace Email Campaigns and third-party extensions each have their own subscriptions. Many service sites need neither.
- Your time. Writing pages, finding photos and keeping things up to date. It never appears on an invoice, but it is usually the largest cost of a site you build yourself.
For a typical service business on Core, the domain and one email account add about £87 a year from year two in the UK (£16 + £70.80), or $104 in the US.
How much does it cost to have a Squarespace website built?
The design fee is the number that varies most. It depends on who builds the site and how much of the thinking they do for you. These are the five usual routes, with typical costs for a small business site of around five pages.
| Route | Typical UK cost | Typical US cost | Timeline | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself | £0plus the plan | $0plus the plan | Your own time | New businesses testing an idea, simple portfolios, and owners who enjoy the editor |
| Premium template plus setup help | Under £7503 | Under $1,0003 | 1–2 weeks | Owners who want a polished look and are happy to write their own pages |
| Freelance designer | £1,500–£3,0001 | $800–$4,0002 | 2–6 weeks | Small businesses with a clear offer that need a credible, well-built site |
| Specialist Squarespace studio | £1,500–£6,0003 | $1,900–$7,5003 | 2–6 weeks | Service businesses that need the site to bring in enquiries, with structure, copy and SEO handled |
| Agency | £3,000–£15,0001 | $2,000–$10,000+2 | 6–12 weeks | Larger sites, several decision-makers, or a brand identity built alongside the website |
Estimates for a small service business site, excluding the Squarespace plan. 1 Whito, UK website design costs (Q1 2026 pricing data, updated July 2026): £1,500–£3,000 for a five-page freelance site; £3,000–£5,000 from an agency, and £5,000–£15,000 for 15 pages or more. 2 ProjectCostEstimator (600+ project quotes, updated July 2026). 3 SQSP estimate, based on published package prices and our own projects. Timelines are SQSP estimates.
Two other sources point the same way. Squarespace educator Paige Brunton’s research into designer pricing found newer UK Squarespace designers charging about £2,000 for a five or six page site, and US and Canadian designers about $4,000. Squarespace’s own guide puts a professional web designer at anywhere from $500 to a couple of thousand dollars. Our read of the market, in our guide to what a Squarespace designer costs, lands in the same place: most service business sites worth hiring for sit between £1,500 and £6,000.
One real data point: SQSP’s published prices
- Essential · £1,495 flat · up to 5 pages · about 2 weeks
- Signature · from £2,250 · up to 8 pages · about 3 weeks
- Growth · from £4,950 · up to 12 pages · about 6 weeks
Included so you can set a range against a real published price, not as a claim that a specialist studio is right for everyone.
What a Squarespace website costs in year one and every year after
Here are three common set-ups added up, using the prices above: the Core plan billed annually, a .com domain and one email account. Squarespace costs are shown before VAT or sales tax.
| Set-up | Year one | Each year after |
|---|---|---|
| UK | ||
| Do it yourself on Core | £204 | £291 |
| Designer-built site | £1,704–£3,204£1,500–£3,000 build + plan | £291 |
| Larger build with monthly care | £3,204–£6,204plus care once live | £291plus care |
| US | ||
| Do it yourself on Core | $348 | $452 |
| Designer-built site | $1,148–$4,348$800–$4,000 build + plan | $452 |
| Larger build with monthly care | $4,348–$10,348plus care once live | $452plus care |
Year one includes the free domain and the free year of Google Workspace. “Each year after” is the plan, a .com renewal and one email account. A designer-built site uses the freelance ranges above. A larger build uses £3,000–£6,000, which Whito found is what most UK small businesses pay for a professionally built website, and $4,000–$10,000, Paige Brunton’s figures for newer and experienced US Squarespace designers.
The pattern is the useful part. Once a Squarespace site is built, it is cheap to keep running: under £300 a year in the UK on Core. The decision that matters is the one-off build, and whether you want someone looking after the site each month.
Monthly care is optional, and plans vary a lot in what they include. Ours is £195/month for up to three hours of updates, SEO monitoring and priority fixes. Many small businesses don’t need a plan, and pay for Squarespace support only when something comes up.
What makes a Squarespace website cost more or less?
Two quotes for “a five-page Squarespace site” can differ by thousands. These are the things that usually explain the gap.
- Number of pages and layouts. Ten pages that share two layouts cost less than six pages that each need their own.
- Who writes the words. Writing or rewriting copy is often the biggest hidden part of a project. If yours is ready, the build is faster and cheaper.
- Photography and branding. A logo, brand guidelines or a photo shoot are separate pieces of work.
- Bookings, payments and integrations. Online booking, client forms, memberships or a shop each add setup and testing.
- Moving from another platform. Carrying content over from WordPress or Wix and redirecting old addresses protects your search rankings, and it takes time.
- How far the SEO goes. Basic setup (titles, descriptions, headings, sitemap) is quick. Keyword research, structured data and internal linking take longer.
- Revisions and decision-makers. More rounds and more people signing off means more hours.
What brings the cost down: a clear brief, copy that’s ready, a strong template as the starting point, and fewer pages done well. A premium template can do much of the design work for a fraction of a custom build. If you already have a site that mostly works, a Squarespace redesign often costs less than starting again.
When doing it yourself is the right call
Hiring a designer isn’t always the right decision, and we’d rather say so here than on a sales call. Building it yourself makes sense when:
- you’re testing an idea and don’t yet know what the business needs;
- you need a simple portfolio or a one-page site;
- you enjoy design and have time to learn the editor;
- your budget for the build is under about £750, where a hired site is usually a template with your logo on it.
If that’s you, start with the Core plan and a well-chosen template. Our guide to choosing a Squarespace template covers what to look for. A middle route also works: build it yourself, then pay for a few hours of help to fix the parts that aren’t working.
Hiring pays off when the website has a job to do, such as bringing in enquiries for a service business, where a few extra clients can cover the cost of the build. That’s when structure, copy and search setup matter more than how the site looks.
How to compare Squarespace design quotes
Quotes are hard to compare because they rarely describe the same work. Before choosing on price, check each one for:
- Scope: how many pages, and how many unique layouts.
- Copy: whether they write it, edit it, or expect it from you.
- SEO setup: titles, descriptions, redirects from old pages, Search Console and analytics.
- Revisions: how many rounds, and what counts as one.
- Ownership: the Squarespace account and domain should be in your name.
- After launch: any support period, training, and what later changes cost.
- The plan: whether Squarespace fees are included. They usually aren’t; you pay Squarespace directly.
- Payment terms and timeline: the deposit, any instalments, and a realistic start date.
Our guide to hiring a Squarespace designer has the full list of questions to ask and the red flags to watch for.
What you get with each SQSP package
For reference, this is what our fixed-scope Squarespace website design packages include. Full details are on our pricing page.
- Essential, £1,495 flat. Up to 5 custom-designed pages, mobile refinement, core SEO setup, a contact form and 2 revision rounds. About 2 weeks.
- Signature, from £2,250. Up to 8 pages, full SEO setup with Search Console and GA4, custom graphics, 4 revision rounds and 30 days of post-launch support. About 3 weeks.
- Growth, from £4,950. Up to 12 pages plus lead-magnet pages, keyword research, schema and internal linking, a lead-generation system and 60 days of support. About 6 weeks.
- Care Plan, £195/month. Optional, after launch. Cancel anytime.
Redesigns use the same packages and usually take 1–3 weeks. Payment plans are available on every package, and you own your Squarespace account, domain and content.
Every site is designed and built by Rahim Huda, a Squarespace Circle Gold Partner with 15+ years in web design, creative and advertising. Most clients are service businesses, including therapists, coaches and consultants. Some results: a 10-year partnership with CityLaundryApp (5,030 lifetime conversions), Eddy’s Dry Cleaners (873 enquiries at £12.71 each), and Lily Wash, a site built in 2018 that still earns 464 organic visits a month.
If you’d like a figure for your own site, send it over for a free website review. You’ll get a straight answer on what it needs, even if the answer is “not much”.
