CMS comparison Framer vs Squarespace

Framer vs Squarespace

Framer is a closed-source site builder 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 12.

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Framer Site builder · Closed source · 14 of 28 built in
Squarespace Site builder · Closed source · 9 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Framer 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

Framer vs Squarespace feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Framer Site builder	Squarespace Site builder
Overview
What it is	Hosted visual site builder with a CMS, hosting and AI agents. Designers build pages on a canvas. Run by Framer.	Hosted website builder with templates, a visual editor, blogging and commerce. Squarespace runs the hosting.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes.	Framer 3.0 site plans, Free to Enterprise SaaS, continuously updated	Squarespace website plans on version 7.1 SaaS, continuously updated
Vendor	Framer B.V. framer.com	Squarespace, Inc. squarespace.com
Licence	Closed source Proprietary	Closed source Proprietary
Hosting	No self-hosting Vendor cloud A paid plan is required to connect a custom domain.	No self-hosting Vendor cloud
Built with	Hosted SaaS with React code components	Hosted SaaS, custom CSS and JavaScript on Core and higher plans
Database	Managed by Framer	Managed by Squarespace
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere.	Free to start Free plan. Basic $10, Pro $30 per site per month billed yearly. Extra editors $20 per month.	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.	Not available You build collections in the editor or sync them through the Plugin and Server APIs. 3 13	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 13	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 Components with properties that content editors can change on-page. 14	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.	Plugin or add-on Translation locales add-on, $20 per locale per month. One free locale to try. 1 17	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 Generates 512 to 4096 px variants served through srcset. 8	Built in Squarespace serves uploaded images in generated sizes.
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content.	Limited Server API in open beta, through the framer-api package over WebSocket. No plain REST. 2 3	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.	Not available	Not available
Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published.	Not available Webhooks cover form submissions only. 10	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	Built in
Editorial workflow
Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then.	Built in CMS items can stay in draft. 13	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.	Not available No native scheduling. Third-party Marketplace plugins add it. 18	Limited Blog posts only. 9
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them.	Built in Version history and rollback of published versions. 6 7	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	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 Canvas editing and on-page editing of the live site. 14	Built in
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage.	Limited Editors review and merge Pro branches. Only Deploy permission publishes. No stages. 4 5	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.	Paid tier Branching on Pro groups changes and ships them in one merge. 1 5	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.	Built in Free workspaces allow up to three editors. 1	Not available
Access and governance
Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set.	Limited Fixed roles plus Design, Content and Deploy permissions per project. No role builder. 4	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	Not available
Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider.	Paid tier Enterprise. 1 16	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.	Not available Not documented publicly.	Not available
Platform and extensibility
Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users.	Built in A workspace holds many site projects, each on its own plan. 4	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 Plugins add custom panels and tools to the editor. 11	Not available
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions.	Built in Framer Marketplace. 12	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 Native forms. Submissions can also go to a webhook. 10	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.	Built in Agents write, rewrite and translate content. AI credits meter usage. 1 15	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.	Not available No MCP server. External Agents, in preview, link AI tools through a CLI and skills. 9	Not available The official MCP server covers domain search only. It can't reach site content. 16

Framer sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Framer 3.0 site plans, Free to Enterprise.

Squarespace sources

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

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

Where they differ

Framer and Squarespace get a different status on 12 of the 28 features and the same status on 16. Framer has 14 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: Framer has a free option. Squarespace has no free option.

Built in on Framer, a different answer on Squarespace 6

Content model in the UI Framer: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.
Drafts Framer: Built in. Squarespace: Paid tier.
Version history Framer: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.
Real-time co-editing Framer: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.
Multiple sites Framer: Built in. Squarespace: Limited.
Extensible admin UI Framer: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.

Built in on Squarespace, a different answer on Framer 1

Site member accounts Framer: Not available. Squarespace: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 5

Content model in code Framer: Not available. Squarespace: Limited.
Webhooks Framer: Not available. Squarespace: Limited.
Scheduled publishing Framer: Not available. Squarespace: Limited.
Content releases Framer: Paid tier. Squarespace: Not available.
Custom roles Framer: Limited. Squarespace: Not available.

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