Framer vs
Squarespace
Framer and Squarespace both help you get online, but which one provides the right mix of flexibility, ease of use, and value for your business needs?
Squarespace
With Squarespace, you can quickly create a website that looks just like many others. It's easy to get started using templates, but fine-tuning isn’t its strong suit, and the interface doesn’t offer much support for detailed customization.
If you need a fast and simple website that doesn’t stand out too much, Squarespace is a good choice. However, if you're after more uniqueness and flexibility, you might want to explore other platforms.
Framer
Framer was initially designed for designers, with an interface similar to popular tools like Figma and Sketch. This means if a designer can use it, anyone can—designers are known for avoiding tools that aren't user-friendly. While some background knowledge enhances the experience, you can still quickly create responsive pages with cool effects without it.
For more complex projects, it's worth investing time in learning, and there’s plenty of high-quality material available. Framer stands out as a top choice for user-friendliness.
Squarespace
Squarespace’s design capabilities are very basic. While it’s easy to create websites using its template-based system, fine-tuning is limited. Global style management covers only the basics, and there’s no component support.
Responsive design is available, but the platform's minimal interface makes creating unique and refined designs a challenge.
Framer
Framer excels in design capabilities, making it easy to create stunning website visuals. The platform offers global style management and component support, ensuring consistent and maintainable design systems. Animations, multimedia, and 3D effects are effortlessly integrated.
Framer also fully supports responsive design, providing a clear and intuitive approach to ensure your site looks great on any device.
Designers love that Figma and Sketch designs can be easily imported into Framer, streamlining the workflow.
Squarespace
Squarespace has fairly limited development capabilities. While you can add custom CSS and JavaScript, deeper development isn’t supported, limiting customization options. Don’t expect miracles—you won’t be validating your startup idea on Squarespace.
Framer
Framer is best suited for content management-based (CMS) websites and doesn’t require coding skills. With developer experience, almost anything is possible by integrating custom HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and even React components for extensive customization. However, it’s not the ideal choice for e-commerce sites and isn’t suitable for user-generated content platforms like forums.
Squarespace
Squarespace provides basic SEO tools, such as managing meta tags, descriptions, and alt text. Performance is acceptable but not outstanding. It lacks flexibility for advanced SEO techniques but works well at a basic level. Load times are decent, though customization is limited.
Framer
Framer offers strong SEO and performance tools. You can easily optimize your site for search engines with built-in tools for meta tags, descriptions, and alt text. Modern technologies like static generation and automatic optimization ensure fast load times, supported by CloudFront CDN.
Squarespace
Squarespace offers built-in hosting, which includes SSL certificates and backups. No external hosting provider is needed, as Squarespace provides a fully integrated solution for site operation and maintenance. The platform ensures fast loading times through its hosting infrastructure.
Framer
Framer provides its own hosting service, built on Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure. The default CDN is CloudFront, ensuring fast and reliable page loading. There’s no need for an external hosting provider, as Framer offers a complete hosting solution.
Squarespace
Squarespace provides regular updates with new features and improvements. These updates often include bug fixes and performance enhancements. The community is active but smaller compared to platforms like Webflow or WordPress, offering basic support through documentation and forums.
Framer
Framer regularly updates its platform, often monthly or more frequently, bringing new features, performance improvements, and bug fixes. The community is growing and supportive, offering access to detailed documentation, tutorials, and videos.
Framer also features advanced AI support for quick responses to user queries, enhancing the overall user experience.
Squarespace
Squarespace doesn't offer a free plan but provides a 14-day trial. Paid plans range from $16 (Personal) to $52 (Commerce) per month. There’s no workspace option.
Squarespace offers a wide range of free templates on their platform, while paid templates typically start at $120.
Framer
Framer offers a free plan if you don't need a custom domain and don’t mind a Framer logo on your site. Paid plans range from $5 (Mini) to $30 (Pro) per month with annual billing. Workspace plans, suitable for teams with multiple editors, are available but optional.
Framer templates are priced between $18 and $150, with a wide range of free templates also available.
Verdict
Getting Started
Design
Development
SEO and Performance
Hosting
Support and Community
Pricing
Squarespace holds up in SEO performance and hosting compared to Framer. Unless you’ve specifically found the perfect template for your blog only on Squarespace, there aren’t many strong arguments for choosing it.
The comparison is based on 2024 Q3 data and personal user experiences.
Framer vs. other platforms
Which platform is right for your website?