Wix vs WordPress vs Squarespace: which is right for your business?
Wix, WordPress, or Squarespace? An honest comparison for small businesses: which is easiest, which is best for SEO and growth, and which to choose.
Choosing the platform your website is built on is the first big decision, and it is easy to get talked in circles by people who only sell one of them. We build websites for businesses across Kent, and WordPress is what we build on. We have also rebuilt plenty of sites for owners who started on Wix or Squarespace and outgrew them, so we have seen all three up close, from the inside. Here is an honest comparison, in plain English, including where Wix and Squarespace genuinely win and when we would tell you not to hire us.
Wix vs WordPress vs Squarespace: which should you choose?
For most established small businesses that want to grow, rank on Google, and own their site, WordPress is the strongest choice. Wix is the easiest to start on by yourself and suits very simple or short-term sites. Squarespace sits in between, with polished templates that are great for portfolios and simple shops. The right answer depends on how much you want the site to do, now and in a few years.
The quick comparison
A side by side look at how the three platforms differ on the things that actually matter to a small business.
| What matters | Wix | Squarespace | WordPress |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Simple DIY sites, testing an idea | Design-led, portfolios, simple shops | Growing businesses that want results |
| Ease of starting | Easiest | Easy | Moderate (or we build it for you) |
| Room to grow | Limited | Limited | Almost unlimited |
| SEO and being found | Basic | Good | Strongest |
| Do you own it? | You rent it | You rent it | You own it |
| Upkeep | Handled for you | Handled for you | Needs updates (or a care plan) |
Wix: easiest to start, hardest to outgrow
Wix is a hosted, drag-and-drop builder. You sign up, pick a template, and move things around the page yourself. For a one-page site, a side project, or testing whether an idea has legs, it is genuinely quick and cheap to get going, and the hosting and updates are handled for you.
The trade-offs show up later. Once you pick a Wix template you cannot easily switch it, and the SEO controls are more limited than WordPress. The big one most owners do not see coming is that you cannot take your site with you. Wix’s own help centre confirms there is no way to export a Wix site and host it elsewhere (Wix Help Center). If you outgrow it, you rebuild from scratch somewhere else. It is a good place to start, but a frustrating place to grow.
Squarespace: smart templates, less room to grow
Squarespace is also hosted and all-in-one, but it leads on design. Its templates look polished out of the box, which makes it a favourite for photographers, creatives, and businesses that want a clean, visual site without much fuss. It handles simple online shops well too.
Like Wix, the simplicity is also the ceiling. You work within Squarespace’s structure, so the deeper customisation and the huge range of add-ons that WordPress has are not there, and again you are renting your presence rather than owning it. For a simple, good-looking brochure site it is a solid choice. For a business that wants to keep adding to the site over the years, it can start to feel boxed in.
WordPress: the most flexible, and what most growing businesses end up on
WordPress is the platform most serious small business sites are built on, and the numbers back that up. It powers around 42% of all websites, and close to 60% of all sites that use a known content management system (W3Techs, June 2026). That scale matters, because it means a huge ecosystem of tools and no shortage of people who can work on your site.
The reasons businesses choose it are practical. It is the most flexible, so the site can do almost anything and grow with you. It has the strongest SEO foundations, with full control over the technical details Google rewards, including page speed through Core Web Vitals. And because WordPress is open-source software, you own your site outright, files, content, and all, and can host it wherever you like (WordPress.org). You are never locked in to one company.
The one honest trade-off is that WordPress needs looking after: updates, backups, and security checks. That is ongoing work, which is why we offer website care plans to handle it for you. You get the power of WordPress without the maintenance landing on your desk.
Which is right for your business?
Forget the brand names for a moment and start with what you need the site to do. If you are not yet sure you need a website at all, start with do I need a website for my business. The honest guide below covers most situations we see.
- Just testing an idea, or a hobby: Wix or Squarespace, built yourself. Cheap, quick, and fine while you find your feet.
- A simple, visual brochure site or portfolio: Squarespace if you want to do it yourself, or WordPress if you want it built properly with room to grow later.
- An established business that wants enquiries, local SEO, and room to add more: WordPress. This is the bulk of the Kent small businesses we work with.
- An online shop: it depends on size. Squarespace suits a small, simple shop, while WordPress (with WooCommerce) suits a shop you want to grow. We cover this on our e-commerce websites page.
What about cost?
Wix and Squarespace look cheaper up front because you pay a small monthly subscription and build it yourself. The real cost is your time, and the limits you hit later. A professionally built WordPress site is an investment, but it is one you own, and it is built to bring in enquiries rather than just exist. We quote one clear fixed price per project, agreed before any work starts, and you can read what a website costs and what decides it.
Do I have to build it myself?
No, and most business owners would rather not. The reason people reach for Wix or Squarespace is to avoid the learning curve, but you can skip that curve another way: we build on WordPress for you, then hand it over with a short, plain-English guide so everyday updates are simple. You get the flexibility and ownership of WordPress without having to learn it from scratch. If that sounds right, take a look at what makes a good website, read how to choose a web designer, or just tell us about your project.
How we put this comparison together
We want to be straight about our angle: we are a web design agency that builds on WordPress, so we are not a neutral referee. What we are is a team that works with all three platforms in practice. We build and maintain WordPress sites for Kent businesses, and we regularly migrate owners off Wix and Squarespace when they hit the ceiling, which is where a lot of the views above come from. The platform facts we quote are linked to their original sources below so you can check them yourself, and we have tried hard to say plainly where Wix and Squarespace are the better answer, because for some businesses they are.
The honest bottom line
There is no single best platform, only the best one for your situation. If you want the cheapest possible start and the site is simple and short-term, Wix or Squarespace will do the job. If you are building something you want to grow, get found, and own for years, WordPress is the stronger foundation, which is why it is what we build for businesses across Kent. The most important thing is to choose with your eyes open, not because someone only sells one option.
Sources
- W3Techs, Usage statistics and market share of WordPress (June 2026): WordPress market share figures.
- Wix Help Center, Exporting or embedding your Wix site elsewhere: confirmation that a Wix site cannot be exported and hosted elsewhere.
- WordPress.org, About: WordPress is free, open-source software you own and can host anywhere.
- Google Search Central, Core Web Vitals: how page experience and speed feed into Google ranking.
Frequently asked questions
For a business that wants to grow, get found on Google, and own its site, yes. WordPress is more flexible, has stronger SEO, and you own it outright. Wix is easier to start by yourself and fine for very simple or short-term sites, but harder to grow with later.
Not by simply exporting it. Wix and Squarespace are closed systems, so moving to WordPress usually means rebuilding the site rather than transferring it. The content and images can be carried over, but the build itself is done fresh. It is very doable, just plan for a rebuild rather than a quick switch.
WordPress has the strongest SEO foundations, with full control over page titles, structure, and the technical details that help you rank. Squarespace is good and Wix is more basic. Whichever you use, being found still depends on good content, consistent details, and reviews, not the platform alone.
Wix and Squarespace look cheapest up front, as a small monthly subscription you set up yourself. The hidden costs are your time and the limits you hit as you grow. A built-for-you WordPress site costs more at the start but you own it. See what a website costs and what decides it.
Not in the way you own a WordPress site. With Wix and Squarespace you are effectively renting space on their platform, and you cannot take the site elsewhere if you leave. With WordPress you own the files and content outright and can host them wherever you like.
It depends on size. Squarespace handles a small, simple shop neatly. For a shop you want to grow, WordPress with WooCommerce gives you far more control over products, payments, and postage. We cover the options on our e-commerce websites page.
Building one from scratch has a learning curve, which is why many people reach for Wix instead. But if we build it for you, we hand it over with a plain-English guide so everyday updates are simple, and our care plans handle the technical upkeep so you never have to.
For most established small businesses in Kent, WordPress, because it grows with you, ranks well, and you own it. We are honest, though: if you only need a simple site and want to do it yourself cheaply, Wix or Squarespace can be the right call. We would rather tell you that than oversell.
