CMS comparison DatoCMS vs Squarespace

DatoCMS vs Squarespace

DatoCMS is a closed-source headless CMS 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 19.

Book a call

DatoCMS Headless · Closed source · 16 of 28 built in
Squarespace Site builder · Closed source · 9 of 28 built in

Sources checked: DatoCMS 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

DatoCMS vs Squarespace feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	DatoCMS Headless	Squarespace Site builder
Overview
What it is	Hosted headless CMS run by DatoCMS. It delivers content over a GraphQL API, with a REST API for content management.	Hosted website builder with templates, a visual editor, blogging and commerce. Squarespace runs the hosting.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes.	DatoCMS SaaS, Free, Professional and Enterprise plans SaaS, continuously updated	Squarespace website plans on version 7.1 SaaS, continuously updated
Vendor	DatoCMS datocms.com	Squarespace, Inc. squarespace.com
Licence	Closed source Proprietary	Closed source Proprietary
Hosting	No self-hosting Vendor cloud	No self-hosting Vendor cloud
Built with	Hosted SaaS with GraphQL delivery and REST management APIs, TypeScript client	Hosted SaaS, custom CSS and JavaScript on Core and higher plans
Database	Managed by DatoCMS	Managed by Squarespace
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere.	Free to start Free plan. Professional €149 per month billed annually, or €199 monthly. Enterprise 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.	Limited Migration scripts run by the DatoCMS CLI, auto-generated from environment diffs. 1 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 1	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 Block library used in modular content and Structured Text fields. 1	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 Field-level locales, 5 included and up to 10 with paid add-ons. 1	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 Images API with imgix URL parameters. 3	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 REST Content Management API reads records. Delivery is GraphQL. 1 11	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 1	Not available
Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published.	Built in 1	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.	Not available	Built in
Editorial workflow
Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then.	Built in 1	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 1	Limited Blog posts only. 9
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them.	Limited History kept 3 days on Free, 60 days on Professional. 1	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 1 7	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 Click-to-edit overlays on the site in draft mode. 1 7	Built in
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage.	Paid tier Editorial workflows with stage permissions on Enterprise. 1 6	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.	Limited Publishing a record can also publish its linked records. No standalone releases. 1	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.	Not available Presence and live updates, but a record locks while one editor edits it. 4	Not available
Access and governance
Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set.	Built in Projects include Admin and Editor roles and can create additional roles. The Free plan is limited to 2 editor seats. 1 5	Not available Fixed contributor permission types. 11
Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries.	Not available Rules apply per model, creator, locale and workflow stage. Locale rules need Enterprise. 5	Not available
Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider.	Paid tier Enterprise, with SCIM provisioning. 1	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.	Paid tier Enterprise. 1	Not available
Platform and extensibility
Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users.	Built in Separate projects per site. 3 on Free, extra projects €39 a month on Professional. 1	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 Plugin SDK for field editors, sidebars and custom pages. 1	Not available
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions.	Built in DatoCMS Marketplace. 1 9	Built in Squarespace Extensions, a directory of third-party tools. 12
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code.	Not available	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.	Not available	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.	Plugin or add-on Official AI Translations plugin with your own OpenAI, Gemini, Claude or DeepL key. 8 9	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 Remote MCP server at mcp.datocms.com. 10	Not available The official MCP server covers domain search only. It can't reach site content. 16

DatoCMS sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. DatoCMS SaaS, Free, Professional and Enterprise plans.

Squarespace sources

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

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

Where they differ

DatoCMS and Squarespace get a different status on 19 of the 28 features and the same status on 9. DatoCMS has 16 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.

Free option: DatoCMS has a free option. Squarespace has no free option.

Built in on DatoCMS, a different answer on Squarespace 11

Content model in the UI DatoCMS: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.
Localization DatoCMS: Built in. Squarespace: Plugin or add-on.
REST API DatoCMS: Built in. Squarespace: Limited.
GraphQL API DatoCMS: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.
Webhooks DatoCMS: Built in. Squarespace: Limited.
Drafts DatoCMS: Built in. Squarespace: Paid tier.
Scheduled publishing DatoCMS: Built in. Squarespace: Limited.
Custom roles DatoCMS: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.
Multiple sites DatoCMS: Built in. Squarespace: Limited.
Extensible admin UI DatoCMS: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.
Official MCP server DatoCMS: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.

Built in on Squarespace, a different answer on DatoCMS 4

Renders the website DatoCMS: Not available. Squarespace: Built in.
Form builder DatoCMS: Not available. Squarespace: Built in.
Site member accounts DatoCMS: Not available. Squarespace: Built in.
AI writing assistant DatoCMS: Plugin or add-on. Squarespace: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 4

Version history DatoCMS: Limited. Squarespace: Not available.
Approval workflows DatoCMS: Paid tier. Squarespace: Limited.
Content releases DatoCMS: Limited. Squarespace: Not available.
Audit log DatoCMS: Paid tier. Squarespace: Not available.

More comparisons

Full write-ups with worked examples and costs: DatoCMS vs Payload.

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