Squarespace VS Square Online (VERY DIFFERENT SERVICES)

by Jeremiah Svaren | Last Updated: January 30, 2022 •  4 min read

Articles » Comparisons

You may be wondering if Square and Squarespace are the same company or maybe you are thinking that Squarespace is owned by Square. But the truth is that Squarespace and Square (now called Block Inc) are two separate companies and always have been.

So now you might be thinking, “OK that’s great that Squarespace and Square are different companies, but which platform should I use to build my website?”

Never fear!

In this article, you’ll learn the key differences between Squarespace and Square Online. Along with some suggestions for different businesses based on our client work. By the end of this article, you should have a good understanding of Squarespace VS. Square Online.

Both Squarespace and Square Online offer a great website-building platform, both of which have an easy-to-use eCommerce functionality.

This can be a major point of confusion due to the names along with how they can be used together (more on that later).

Let’s first get our definitions for both of these website building tools so that we can move on to the MAJOR & minor differences so that you can decide which platform is best for your business!

If you would rather watch us explain the differences between the two, and see some examples of both then check out the video below. Otherwise, keep on reading!

Major Pros For Squarespace

• Super Clean Designs
• Easy To Use
• Large Community of Users
• Ton of Extra Features
• Hard to Screw Up
• Can be customized

Major Pros For Square Online

• Intgrete with Existing Square POS inventory
• Free to get started
• Curb Side Pickup option built-in
• Delivery option built-in
• Integrate with 3rd delivery service
• Optimized for restaraunt ordering

Who should use Squarespace?

Squarespace is a great website builder for a variety of businesses. Here are a few that are a good fit for the modern platform.

• Service based businesses
• Startups
• Artists
• Aspiring bloggers
• Non-profits
• Event based businesses

Who should use Square Online

Square Online is designed and targeted towards restaurants primarily. So if you serve food and want to offer pickup, delivery, and self serve ordering, then you’ll want to try out Square Online!

• Restaurants & Bars
• Food Trucks
• Coffee Shops

We use both!

Squarespace and Square Online are just two of the many tools that we use for our clients to create a great user experience. Both have different strengths and weaknesses, which leads to them being great complementary tools for some of our clients.

We still use WordPress for clients that have a large amount of content and looking to rank higher in Google for competitive keywords. Whereas Shopify for clients that have a large variety of products to be shipped.

How to use both

For some clients, we design their main website on Squarespace, and then we put their online ordering on a subdomain with Square Online. This allows us to utilize the best of Squarespace‘s design practices, along with the functionality that Square Online offers for restaurants! See an example of both Squarespace and Square Online working together.

Conclusion

We recommend Squarespace for most, but if you require Online Ordering that is going to be picked up or delivered (in-house or 3rd party) then you will certainly want to build your shop/online ordering page on Square Online!

If you would like help with your website, book a free 20-minute session to see if we can help you!

Jeremiah Svaren wears just about all the hats at Svaren Web Studio. He started getting into web design and development back in 2013. First starting to learn on his own with books and tutorials, then in 2014 he attended The Tech Academy in Portland, Oregon. He learned all about software engineering and decided to start freelancing. Now when he isn't helping clients, he makes helpful content here and on his YouTube channel Svaren.