My podcast is pretty young, but I'm now looking at getting a website for the podcast instead of routing people to Anchor which is my current host, as my "website". I've heard people recommend Wordpress, to Squarespace, to Wix. What makes one better than the other? I've seen a few people choose Wordpress which is what, $100 a year? Whereas Squarespace is $5/month=$60 a year. Haven't looked into Wix and these are just off the top of my head numbers.

What are the advantages to using one site over the other? How easy is it to maintain? If the site goes down, how do they tell you? Are there any analytics to traffic? Any advice would be super helpful

Question for all you web design pros: I’ve figured enough out about Wordpress to build a decent site for my writing/editing biz. A friend is now asking me to re-do her content-heavy site (which doesn't sell anything) to be easier for her to operate and also more customizable. She's really not up for learning web fundamentals, like how to resize an image / format headings, etc. She wants it to "just work" when she writes a blog post, etc.

Assuming I want to create a site that looks something like this, teach her to use it, and help her handle issues that arise, would you recommend I create a simple one with Wordpress or sway her towards something more newbie-friendly like Wix or Squarespace?

Starting a service based business and need a website. I am not very tech savvy and both Wix and Squarespace have been suggested to me by people. I’d like to know which one might be better. I’m concerned with having a pro festival looking website so I can be taken seriously, hate bad websites—like restaurants that make you hunt for their address.

I’ll be working with families and doing in-person consultations, virtual consultations, and teaching workshops, both in person and virtually.

My website needs:

1. A calendar so clients can book online (many hairstylists have this)

2. A way to handle payments

3. Workshop listings and a way to accept payments for workshops

4. The usual info like bio, FAQ etc.

Located in the US and business is a sole proprietorship (technically LLC). So which service would you recommend and why? Also open to hear any website pitfalls, tools to avoid, things to do etc. basically any advice for a small business owner is welcome.

What is the best way to explain to a customer why Wordpress is a more professional CMS than Wix or others like it?

I understand it comes down to personal preference but when it comes to Wix and Squarespace I feel they can't offer what Wordpress offers, and sometimes clients or anyone for that matter when they hear you work with Wordpress, are always going to suggest something 'fast, cheap or even free, and easy' like Wix.

What is a nice way to explain that Wordpress is more capable and professional ?

I’m not good with the technical stuff. I plan on buying a template and input all the book info/purchase links into the default blocks.

I tried the free Wordpress and something about it just frustrates me lol. Maybe I’m that inept when it comes to tech things.

I only want an author website to keep my books, update/ add to it when a new book is released, and I don’t wanna worry about security and system updates if it can be avoided.

I feel squarespace best fits what I’m looking for. But I want to see what y’all have in mind.

If you’re okay with it, can you share what you’re using and your thoughts about it?

Thanks!

Havn't the time nor desire to learn how to make a website properly. Was thinking to make a site with wix or squarespace or something where a dumb guy can do it. Is either of these worth a hoot? what say you?

Looking to stand up a very simple webpage. I want perhaps 1-3 landing pages, a contact collection form, an 'About Us' page, and maybe some Case Studies.

My primary concern is price. I would even consider hosting the site on AWS if that's certainly cheaper.

For those who have experience with each, what are the pros and cons? Has anyone migrated off of one and onto another? How 'locked-in' are you after making the choice?

Hi All,

I've decided to start (hopefully) monetizing a hobby of mine- reviewing products in a particular niche. I would like to use a website builder that can easily provide a template for me to create posts comparing items. I am not selling anything on the site, but rather discussing the items and providing commissionable links to buy on other websites (Amazon, etc.).

I have looked at both Wix and Squarespace and they seem to have similar functionality and can be connected to a domain that I already own. Does anyone have any experience to share about them and if one may be more easy to use/deliver a more professional result than the other? This will not replace my day job, and I'm not a graphic designer, so I want the platform to be easy to manipulate yet professional.

Thanks!

I have been researching different website development tools and I have come to the conclusion that Squarespace and Wordpress are some of the better options out there. I want to make a few websites for some small business I am involved in, but I am not sure which would be best. I know Squarespace is pretty straight forward while Wordpress takes time, but is more customizable and flexible. I also heard that Wordpress comes with a lot of security issues. Any opinions on this and which would be best for me in the long term?

I’ve been helping a few local businesses run Meta (FB/IG) ad campaigns this summer—free design and setup, they just cover the ad spend—and I’ve noticed the landing page experience can make or break results.

I try to keep things lean for my clients, so I’m curious:

For small biz owners—which site builder have you found most cost-effective for building clean, conversion-optimized pages on?

I’ve heard Wix struggles with load speed, Squarespace limit layout flexibility, and WordPress has steep learning curves (I'm concerned clients will have trouble making their own edits).

Would love to hear what’s working for others; especially if you’ve run paid traffic before.

I'm speaking to a class full of fellow students who consider Wordpress to be a mangled blog platform repurposed for websites by people who cannot get with the program.

They also believe "SEO" is a scam propagated to their spambox and can't see why they'd want a self-organizing content management system over "drag and drop convenience." (Personally, I can't be arsed; let the platform deal with it.)

The chief benefit for me is cost - hosting is a whopping $4.95 a month (Veerotech FTW) and no unpleasant surprises - most add-ons are free, and those that are not are a minor one-time payment versus the $325 a year of a premium Wix account.

But what else am I missing? I haven't looked at Wix in five years; Wordpress is cheap and reliable.

Updating my portfolio and I'm curious to see what others are liking in terms of platforms. I've been messing with both Wix and Squarespace, and plan to connect my personal domain at the end. Wix seems to be more customizable, but to a fault. Squarespace doesn't have as "nice" templates as they seem to advertise but keeps things in order with desktop/mobile variances. Honestly I just want to upload images of work and not think about much else. Any others out there worth looking into?

For a small business to sell physical and printable products - Shopify vs. Wordpress vs. Squarespace vs. Wix? I also may have a long-term blog so lots of writing.

It's very important to me to have my own website shop, not JUST be on marketplaces such as Etsy, Amazon, etc.

I've looked over lots of conversations and articles on this topic but am still unclear.

Is this correct? What I think what I overall hear people saying is:

• Squarepace and Wix are known as easy for anyone to make a website (which REALLY appeals to me). They're an ongoing cost and nickel-and-dime you for many features. They're more learning curve than some may realize. It's debatable how well SEO can do there. I'm unsure if they're good for ecommerce.

• Shopify is easy for anyone to set up and maintain. It's limited in what it can do but that also makes it easier than Wordpress and maybe way less moving parts that can cause problems or complication. It's I guess more expensive than Wordpress - yet if no website developer person is needed then there is not that cost. So in that sense is it way cheaper than Wordpress? It has some limits such as can't sell restricted products but I doubt any of my product ideas are on restricted list (haven't read that list yet). Shopify has been enjoyed and recommended by some seemingly long-term successful shops and artists.

• Wordpress does more customization than the other options ever can. I don't really know specific examples of when this could matter to me cause that is probably stuff I wouldn't realize I want until I dive into setting up a shop. One example I heard was to be able to design checkout page to look different ways. One concern is I heard Shopify isn't great for products with customization. I definitely want custom options for some of my notebooks. Another concern is it sounds not beginner-friendly or easy (and I spent countless hours years ago trying to learn CSS or code or whatever only to then be told I had done it all wrong and in comparison Squarespace ended up seeming EXTREMELY appealing and easy and fun). I heard mixed things even on Elementor and Astra after thinking maybe those are the ticket to Wordpress fun ease. That makes me think if I pick Wordpress I'd need to hire an expensive builder/maintainer. Startup costs being even higher would make life much harder and slow the whole business down. Other concern is when I've heard Wordpress can be full of need for updates, plug-in problems, so many options some find it overwhelming, etc. I don't know if it's easily mobile-friendly which is one thing I love about Squarespace. But yes, some say Woocommerce is better than Shopify. I guess it depends what details the business needs?

-- PLEASE answer this in a super "layman's terns," simple, understandable way, keeping in mind I am absolutely not experienced at website design and am limited in how much time, energy, learning curve I am open to putting in to learning website design. I love graphic design and copywriting and branding but all those are different topics. The actual tools and structure of websites such as codes and plug-ins is what I mean I am barely knowledgeable in and barely open to directing my energy into learning. (There are only so many houes each day so we all must choose what interests/skill-building to focus on.) I love the idea of DIYing it all and not having to find money for expensive web designer and especially don't want to feel chained to years of needing a designer to update for me (though maybe I should reframe this; like I'd far rather always need a mechanic my whole life than learn to completely fix/maintain my own car).

hi all, I’m trying to create a website for my dad’s food business. I’ve no experience in coding and we can pay a moderate amount if needed. will need some basic features on the website, nothing too advanced.

please lemme know, thank you!

Hi everyone, few months ago i purchased a year of Wordpress (+ the domain) and i kinda regret it… its hard to manage and i feel that squarespace looks easier. My question is do you think i should stick to wordpress & not waste my money or just buy the squarespace? Thank you

Hi! There are older threads on this but things are developing rapidly (Wix keeps adding things, even in the last few weeks) so I wanted to get people's updated opinions.

I am an artist (printmaker) and make my income through in-person (art festival, etc) and online sales and design/licensing clients. I'm growing more in the online sales direction, and email marketing has become quite important. I have my website and e-commerce currently built out on Wix, and Mailchimp for emails but about to outgrow the free version and have no interest in continuing with Mailchimp. I maybe want to switch to something that integrates everything but feeling a little lost in the weeds trying to figure out the best (and cost-effective!) option as I grow.

Maybe I don't find something fully integrated if you have a third party marketing platform you highly recommend. All advice welcome! Thanks!

Hi everyone, I’m the director of a youth, non-profit that offers free tutoring services to peers in need. It has rapidly expanded, so we now need an official website.

I’ve been designing it under the Squarespace free trial and I love the layout and ease-of-access. However, how do the premium plans of Wix, WordPress, and others compare? Thank you!

I am starting an export company. I need a very website, just for taking in enquiries, promoting/showcasing the business (no e-commerce or accepting payments etc) I am thinking of using WIX(it is coming out cheapest as of now), but I’ve read so much trash about WIX on reddit that I am all worried now. Could someone please guide?

Thanks a lot 🙏🏻