Showit vs Squarespace vs Wix vs WordPress…the list goes on. Choosing a website platform is a big (and overwhelming) decision. Your website can make or break your business, so it’s important for your website to look professional. But you also want a website that’s easy to manage and edit on your own, right?
As a web designer and developer with over a decade of experience—who has also worked with just about every website builder there is—I’m sharing an honest review of two popular drag-and-drop website platforms. Let’s compare the pros and cons of Showit vs Squarespace.
Spoiler Alert: I love and exclusively work with Showit. While this post may seem biased, there are instances when Squarespace may be the better choice for your website. Also, I am both a Showit Design Partner and a Squarespace Circle Member, which means I’m well-versed in both platforms. This comparison is based on my professional experience of working with each platform extensively for years.
The Similarities
Showit and Squarespace are two very different website builders, but they do have one similarity. They’re both drag-and-drop website platforms that require zero coding. That means each platform focuses on making it easy for users to launch a website quickly. Aside from that, though, the popular website builders have very little in common when you analyze the nitty-gritty. Let’s dive into the differences of Squarespace vs Showit below.
The Differences
The Website Templates
Squarespace has two current versions–7.0 and 7.1, the latter being the newer version obviously. 7.0 offers a variety of templates to start your website from, while Squarespace 7.1 requires all users to start from the same design. 7.0 is still available but will presumably be phased out eventually. This means Squarespace will only offer one design to begin your website from. Not very ideal, right? There are a few premium Squarespace template shops out there, but these templates usually require users to follow lengthy video tutorials to “set up” or install the template into their own Squarespace account.
On the other hand, Showit offers a variety of easy website templates, or the option to start from a totally blank canvas–similar to WordPress. There’s a handful of Showit website template shops offering premium templates, and customers can install these designs into their own Showit account by simply copying and pasting a code provided by the designer.
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Customization Possibilities
Squarespace focuses on making it incredibly easy to build a website, and it is easy. However, they achieve this with limited customization options so users don’t get overwhelmed. You can create a somewhat more complex website in Squarespace, but you’ll need to use a lot of code. Most “custom-looking” Squarespace sites also utilize graphics made in Canva or Photoshop. Gallery options are limited, font styles are limited, color options are limited…you get the idea. The biggest downfall (in my opinion) is that Squarespace may be a drag-and-drop platform, but it’s incredibly restrictive. It’s set up like a grid, using columns and rows, so you can’t freely drag-and-drop design elements wherever you want. Unfortunately this is very misleading.
Showit also focuses on making it incredibly easy to build a website and is very intuitive. The biggest difference in terms of customization, though, is that the design possibilities with Showit are essentially unlimited. It is a true drag-and-drop website builder. You can alter your website’s layout as much as you want without a single line of code. You also don’t need to use fancy software to create graphics for a custom look.
Mobile Design/Responsiveness
Depending on your personal preference, this topic can be a pro or con for either platform. Squarespace automatically creates a mobile version of your website, which makes it easy and quick for users. However, this also means you have no control over your mobile site. This may not sound like a downfall, but it often leads to weird overlaps or elements being out of order on mobile devices.
Meanwhile, Showit has a side-by-side desktop and mobile editor, giving you full control over your mobile website. This is a huge bonus, but it’s also a little tedious and time-consuming. Changes made on the desktop version of your site will also need to be made on the mobile version. However, all Showit website templates come with a desktop and matching mobile version, so unless you’re building a website from scratch this usually isn’t a setback.
Blogging
Squarespace offers a built-in blogging interface, which is great. It’s simple and relatively easy to use once you get the hang of it. However, because of its simplicity, it isn’t overloaded with features or design options. Therefore, if you’re primarily a content creator–or if it’s important to have an interactive blog you can use to scale your business–Squarespace is not the right platform for you.
Showit actually uses WordPress as a blogging platform. This gives you access to the best blogging platform in the world without any of the headaches associated with it. With Showit, you get unlimited design possibilities, paired with unlimited blogging possibilities.
Search Engine Optimization
For starters, I’d like to say I would never decide on a website platform based on its SEO capabilities. This is because I’ve seen websites rank on the first page of search engines regardless of their website platform. The website builder you choose really has such little bearing on your SEO that I would never tell a client or customer that they need to take SEO capabilities into consideration when making this decision.
When comparing Showit vs Squarespace, either platform would be acceptable. Both offer simple search engine optimization features to help you rank on search engines. However, Showit wins this race when you have a blog simply because WordPress offers the ability to integrate various SEO plugins to help you maximize your optimization efforts.
E-Commerce
Squarespace offers a built-in e-commerce interface, which gives it a leg-up over Showit. However, be careful to pay attention to drawbacks like the lack of ability to automatically calculate sales tax.
If your focus is e-commerce, when comparing Squarespace vs Showit, I’d pick neither (unless you’re tech-savvy). I honestly would recommend going with Shopify if you’ll have a large shop, a shop with constantly changing products, or a website whose sole purpose is to sell products.
If you only sell a few products, though, Showit can be great for your e-commerce needs by integrating a third party like Shopify Lite or Thrivecart—which is what I use for my shop of Showit website templates and highly, highly recommend. It’s simple to integrate third party apps to transform your Showit website into a money-making machine. I just wouldn’t recommend it for someone looking for an incredibly robust option for an e-commerce based business.
Support
When it comes to Showit vs Squarespace’s tech support, I’d say both are good options and you can’t go wrong here. With either platform, you’ll receive helpful support. You’ll also find countless tutorials and articles to help you if you run into problems.
However, I’d pick Showit because they have a small team. Whenever you chat with them, you’ll recognize the team members, which makes you feel comfortable, important, and valued. On top of that, each of the team members is incredibly friendly, responsive, and helpful. As a little bonus, you’ll likely receive light-hearted gifs and emojis in your support chats.
More importantly, the Showit team really strives to make your website building experience an easy one. They handle your blog migration for you and guide you step-by-step through an incredibly simple launch process.
With Squarespace, on the other hand, you’re just kind of on your own when it comes to launching. You’ll need to handle your blog transfer and figure out how to connect your domain by yourself. That’s a pretty big bummer for most looking for an easy website builder.
Pricing
Squarespace offers 4 subscription tiers, ranging from $12 to $40 per month on an annual plan.
Showit offers 3 subscription tiers, ranging from $19 to $34 per month on an annual plan. Get 10% off your Showit subscription with our exclusive code below, or try before you buy with our free Showit demo.
Showit vs Squarespace: The Verdict
Unless you’re looking for a website with a robust, built-in e-commerce platform, Showit is the best website builder hands-down. Although Showit may initially sound more complicated than Squarespace since it offers many more features, it’s actually much more user-friendly and more intuitive.
Considering switching to Showit? Share any questions you have in the comments below, browse Showit website templates, see how it works, or try a demo before making the switch. I promise you’ll never look back.
