CMS comparison Adobe Experience Manager vs Squarespace

Adobe Experience Manager vs Squarespace

Adobe Experience Manager is a closed-source enterprise DXP that runs on the vendor's cloud. Squarespace is a closed-source site builder that runs on the vendor's cloud. The table below sets them side by side on 28 features. They get a different status on 20.

Book a call

Adobe Experience Manager Enterprise DXP · Closed source · 25 of 28 built in
Squarespace Site builder · Closed source · 9 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Adobe Experience Manager on 29 Sept 2026, Squarespace on 29 Sept 2026. Plans and releases can change after those dates.

WAYF is an official Payload partner and top contributor. Every platform in the table is classified by the same published definitions, and each answer lists the vendor page it came from.

Feature comparison

Built inPaid tierPlugin or add-onLimitedNot available

Adobe Experience Manager vs Squarespace feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Adobe Experience Manager Enterprise DXP	Squarespace Site builder
Overview
What it is	Adobe's enterprise CMS for websites and headless content, run by Adobe as a cloud service with page, fragment and document-based authoring.	Hosted website builder with templates, a visual editor, blogging and commerce. Squarespace runs the hosting.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes.	Adobe Experience Manager Sites as a Cloud Service Version 2026.9.0, released 24 Sept 2026	Squarespace website plans on version 7.1 SaaS, continuously updated
Vendor	Adobe business.adobe.com	Squarespace, Inc. squarespace.com
Licence	Closed source Proprietary	Closed source Proprietary
Hosting	No self-hosting Vendor cloud Cloud Service runs only on Adobe's cloud. AEM 6.5 LTS is the separate self-hosted edition.	No self-hosting Vendor cloud
Built with	Java, Apache Sling, OSGi, HTL	Hosted SaaS, custom CSS and JavaScript on Core and higher plans
Database	Apache Jackrabbit Oak repository, managed by Adobe	Managed by Squarespace
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere.	No free option Pricing on request.	No free option Basic $19, Core $29, Plus $49, Advanced $99 per month billed annually in the US. 14-day free trial.
Content modelling
Content model in code You define content types in files in your repository, review them like any other code and apply them from there. Imperative migration scripts alone count as limited.	Built in Components, dialogs and Universal Editor models live in the project repository. 2	Limited Custom post types in template.conf, only with Developer Mode on version 7.0. 2 3
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code.	Built in Content Fragment Model editor. 3	Not available Fixed page and collection types. No custom fields in the editor. 2
Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them.	Built in 2 9	Built in Editors add and reorder sections and blocks.
Localization Editors translate content per locale inside the CMS, by field or by entry, without a separate site for each language.	Built in Language copies with translation projects and connectors. 4	Plugin or add-on Weglot extension. Without it, editors duplicate pages per language. 4 5
Image transformations The CMS resizes, crops or converts images on request, through URL parameters or generated sizes, with no external service.	Built in Web-optimized image delivery resizes, crops and converts DAM images to WebP. 5	Built in Squarespace serves uploaded images in generated sizes.
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content.	Built in Content Fragment Delivery with OpenAPI. 6	Limited Commerce APIs for products, orders and inventory on Core and up. No API for pages. 1 6
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content.	Built in GraphQL for Content Fragments. 6	Not available
Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published.	Built in AEM Eventing delivers events through Adobe I/O Events. 7	Limited Commerce events only, through the Webhook Subscriptions API. 7
Renders the website The CMS itself renders and serves the public pages through themes or templates. Headless-only products answer no.	Built in HTL page rendering or Edge Delivery Services. 10	Built in
Editorial workflow
Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then.	Built in Edits stay on the author tier until published. 11	Paid tier Page drafts need a Premium or Enterprise plan. Blog posts can be drafts on any plan. 8
Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish.	Built in Publish later and unpublish later. 11	Limited Blog posts only. 9
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them.	Built in	Not available Undo and redo within an editing session only. 10
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing.	Built in Separate preview tier.	Built in Editing happens on the rendered page.
Visual editing Editors can click on the rendered page and edit content in place or in a side panel next to it.	Built in Universal Editor and Page Editor. 9	Built in
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage.	Built in	Limited Enterprise Draft editor role drafts pages for an admin to publish. No custom stages. 8 11
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release.	Built in Launches group changes across pages and promote them together. 8	Not available
Real-time co-editing Two or more editors can work on the same entry at once and see each other's changes live.	Limited Only with document authoring in Word or Google Docs. The Universal Editor has no co-editing. 10	Not available
Access and governance
Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set.	Built in AEM groups with repository permissions. 12	Not available Fixed contributor permission types. 11
Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries.	Limited Repository ACL restrictions can target named properties. No per-field setting in the editors. 12	Not available
Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider.	Built in SAML or OIDC federation through Adobe Admin Console. 13	Paid tier Premium and Enterprise plans. OpenID Connect through Entra ID, SAML through Google. 17 18
Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log.	Built in Page, replication and DAM audit logs. 14	Not available
Platform and extensibility
Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users.	Built in Multi Site Manager with live copies. 15	Limited Each site needs its own plan. Enterprise teams manage several sites from one account. 11
Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface.	Built in UI extensions built with App Builder. 16	Not available
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions.	Built in Extension Manager catalogue of Adobe and partner extensions. 16	Built in Squarespace Extensions, a directory of third-party tools. 12
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code.	Built in Core Components form container emails, posts or stores submissions. 17	Built in Form blocks store submissions. 13
Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors.	Limited Publish-tier login via SAML or OIDC. Sign-up flows need custom code and user sync. 18 13	Built in Customer accounts on all plans. Member sites for gated content. 1 14
AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content.	Built in Generate Variations needs AEM Cloud Service with Edge Delivery entitlement. Licence includes an action allowance; extra actions cost more. 19	Built in Squarespace AI writer. Monthly AI credits vary by plan. 1 15
Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content.	Built in AEM MCP Server for pages, fragments and assets. 20	Not available The official MCP server covers domain search only. It can't reach site content. 16

Adobe Experience Manager sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Adobe Experience Manager Sites as a Cloud Service.

Squarespace sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Squarespace website plans on version 7.1.

Considering more platforms? Compare Adobe Experience Manager and Squarespace with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.

Where they differ

Adobe Experience Manager and Squarespace get a different status on 20 of the 28 features and the same status on 8. Adobe Experience Manager has 25 built in on its baseline edition, Squarespace has 9. Two matching statuses can still name different paid tiers or limits, so read the notes in the table before treating a row as equal.

Built in on Adobe Experience Manager, a different answer on Squarespace 17

Content model in code Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Squarespace: Limited.
Content model in the UI Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.
Localization Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Squarespace: Plugin or add-on.
REST API Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Squarespace: Limited.
GraphQL API Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.
Webhooks Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Squarespace: Limited.
Drafts Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Squarespace: Paid tier.
Scheduled publishing Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Squarespace: Limited.
Version history Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.
Approval workflows Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Squarespace: Limited.
Content releases Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.
Custom roles Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.
Single sign-on Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Squarespace: Paid tier.
Audit log Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.
Multiple sites Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Squarespace: Limited.
Extensible admin UI Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.
Official MCP server Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.

Built in on Squarespace, a different answer on Adobe Experience Manager 1

Site member accounts Adobe Experience Manager: Limited. Squarespace: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 2

Real-time co-editing Adobe Experience Manager: Limited. Squarespace: Not available.
Field-level permissions Adobe Experience Manager: Limited. Squarespace: Not available.

More comparisons

Full write-ups with worked examples and costs: Adobe Experience Manager vs Payload.

Adobe Experience Manager against other platforms

Squarespace against other platforms

Open the CMS comparison tool to put up to six platforms in one table.

We're booking content platform
engagements for 2026.

Twenty-five minutes to walk through the work and decide if we're the right team for it. Scoping and a fixed price come after.

Book a 25-min call Or email us instead