The downsides of Squarespace in 2026

These are the US prices as of November 2026. Heya is the builder publishing this guide; it's included here as another option, though it doesn't have a built-in store.

Squarespace gives you a 14-day free trial without a credit card. That's a trial, not a free plan.

Yearly plans include a free custom domain for the first year. Keep the "first year" part in mind when comparing plans, rather than treating the domain as permanently free.

If you're a student, Student Beans offers 50% off your first yearly Squarespace plan. You can't combine that discount with other codes.

Store fees aren't the whole bill

Selling through Squarespace means looking at more than the subscription price. Store transaction fees, card processing and digital product fees are separate entries to check.

Basic has a 2% store transaction fee. Core, Plus and Advanced have a 0% store transaction fee, but that doesn't remove card processing charges.

For US card processing, Basic and Core charge 2.9% + $0.30. Plus charges 2.7%, and Advanced charges 2.5%.

Digital products have their own fees: 7% on Basic, 5% on Core, 1% on Plus and 0% on Advanced. If digital products are what you're planning to sell, don't stop at the table's store-fee column.

Which plan should you compare? Start with what you're selling, then read the subscription price alongside the fees for that kind of sale. A 0% store fee isn't a promise of no payment fees.

Basic leaves out code injection

Code injection is available on Core, Plus and Advanced, not Basic. If that's part of your plans for the site, Basic doesn't cover it.

This is worth checking during the trial, along with the pages you want to build and whatever code you intend to add, rather than leaving it until you've chosen a paid plan.

Don't assume it's included. The lowest-priced Squarespace plan and the plans with code injection are different choices.

Squarespace also has free Bio Sites at biosites.com, with up to 10 per account. Those are link in bio pages, not a free Squarespace website plan (the distinction matters when you're looking for a free starting point).

Leaving means more than exporting

Squarespace exports only to a WordPress-format XML file. It isn't a download of your whole site.

Product pages and store pages aren't included. Neither are portfolio pages, album and index pages, custom CSS or style settings. Before signing up, look at that list against the site you're planning, especially if a store or portfolio is a large part of it.

And there's another restriction: you can't import that export into another Squarespace site. Moving between Squarespace sites isn't a use for the export either.

Want a downloadable copy you can keep? Check the export format as closely as you'd check the editor. With Squarespace, the XML file leaves out those page types and design settings; don't treat it as a complete copy of everything you've built.

Where Heya fits, and where it doesn't

Heya is a no-code website builder at heya.page. You sign in with Google to publish.

Heya Free costs $0, with no credit card and no time limit. It includes 3 sites, up to 5 pages per site, all 68 templates and a free yourname.heya.bio address with HTTPS. There's a small Made with Heya badge.

Heya Pro Lite is $3 a month. It allows 3 sites with up to 20 pages per site, removes the badge and stops marking links nofollow.

For a custom domain, Heya Pro Standard is $6 a month. It includes 5 sites and 1 custom domain per account with HTTPS. Heya doesn't sell domains, so you bring yours from a registrar.

Heya Pro Plus is $15 a month. It includes 25 sites, up to 10 custom domains and the option to download your site as a ZIP of HTML files.

But Heya has limits too. Pages can have 40 sections, with 60 blocks per section, and there are 10 block types. Images can be up to 20 MB. Its 6 embed types are YouTube, Vimeo, Spotify, SoundCloud, Calendly and Google Maps.

For SEO, you can set a title of up to 120 characters, a description of up to 300 characters, a favicon and a share image.

There's no built-in store, checkout or form builder. You link a button to your checkout or store page, use a Google Form or a Tally form, and use the Calendly embed for bookings.

Related guides: Is Squarespace worth it?, Squarespace pricing, Squarespace alternatives and Squarespace 50% off.

More from Heya: All guides, Templates and Pricing.