Kirby vs Squarespace
Kirby is a closed-source traditional CMS that you host yourself. 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 15.
- Kirby Traditional · Closed source · 11 of 28 built in
- Squarespace Site builder · Closed source · 9 of 28 built in
Sources checked: Kirby 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
| Platform |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| What it is | File-based PHP CMS with a configurable editing Panel. Content lives in text files on your own server, under a paid per-site licence. | Hosted website builder with templates, a visual editor, blogging and commerce. Squarespace runs the hosting. |
| Edition compared The product and release each column describes. | Kirby 5. Kirby 6 is in alpha. Version 5.6.0, released 16 Sept 2026 | Squarespace website plans on version 7.1 SaaS, continuously updated |
| Vendor | Content Folder GmbH & Co. KG getkirby.com | Squarespace, Inc. squarespace.com |
| Licence | Closed source Proprietary, source available | Closed source Proprietary |
| Hosting | Self-hosting No vendor cloud | No self-hosting Vendor cloud |
| Built with | PHP, Vue for the Panel | Hosted SaaS, custom CSS and JavaScript on Core and higher plans |
| Database | Flat files, no database required | Managed by Squarespace |
| Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere. | No free option Basic €99 per site if revenue is under €1M. Enterprise €349 per site. Both include 3 years of updates. | 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 Blueprints are YAML files in site/blueprints. 5 | Limited Custom post types in template.conf, only with Developer Mode on version 7.0. 23 |
| Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code. | Not available You edit blueprints as files. The Panel has no schema editor. 5 | 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 Blocks and Layout fields. 6 | 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 Multi-language content is built in. 7 | Plugin or add-on Weglot extension. Without it, editors duplicate pages per language. 45 |
| Image transformations The CMS resizes, crops or converts images on request, through URL parameters or generated sizes, with no external service. | Built in Thumbs with resize, crop and format conversion. 8 | 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 Authenticated REST API. The official KQL plugin serves headless queries. 910 | Limited Commerce APIs for products, orders and inventory on Core and up. No API for pages. 16 |
| 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 PHP hooks only. No webhook settings. | 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 PHP templates and snippets. | Built in |
| Editorial workflow | ||
| Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then. | Built in Page drafts. Kirby 5 stores unsaved changes apart from the live version. 4 | 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 | Limited Blog posts only. 9 |
| Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them. | Not available Kirby 5 keeps the live version and one set of changes. No revision history. 4 | 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 Preview view renders unsaved changes, with shareable links. 4 | 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. | Not available Preview view compares versions. No click-to-edit. 4 | Built in |
| Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage. | Not available Fixed page statuses: draft, unlisted, listed. 11 | Limited Enterprise Draft editor role drafts pages for an admin to publish. No custom stages. 811 |
| Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release. | Not available | 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 Content locking stops two editors changing one page at once. 320 | Not available |
| Access and governance | ||
| Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set. | Built in Roles are user blueprints with 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. | Not available Only by loading different blueprints per role in custom code. 13 | Not available |
| Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider. | Not available No first-party SSO. Community OAuth plugins exist. | Paid tier Premium and Enterprise plans. OpenID Connect through Entra ID, SAML through Google. 1718 |
| Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log. | Not available | Not available |
| Platform and extensibility | ||
| Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users. | Not available One site per installation. | 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 Panel plugins add fields, sections, views and areas. 15 | Not available |
| Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. | Built in Official plugin directory at plugins.getkirby.com. 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. | Plugin or add-on Paid DreamForm plugin by tobimori. 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 Frontend login is built in. Sign-up needs custom code. 14 | Built in Customer accounts on all plans. Member sites for gated content. 114 |
| AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content. | Not available No first-party AI. Kirby Copilot is a paid third-party plugin. 18 | Built in Squarespace AI writer. Monthly AI credits vary by plan. 115 |
| Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content. | Not available Third-party Kirby MCP plugin by Bruno Meilick. 19 | Not available The official MCP server covers domain search only. It can't reach site content. 16 |
Kirby sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Kirby 5. Kirby 6 is in alpha..
- Kirby pricing
- Kirby releases
- Kirby 5 release overview
- Kirby 5: Preview your changes
- Kirby docs: Blueprints
- Kirby docs: Blocks field
- Kirby docs: Languages
- Kirby docs: $file->thumb()
- Kirby docs: REST API
- Kirby Query Language (KQL) plugin
- Kirby docs: Publishing workflow
- Kirby docs: Permissions
- Kirby cookbook: Extending permissions
- Kirby docs: Frontend login
- Kirby docs: Plugin extensions
- Kirby plugin directory
- DreamForm plugin
- Kirby Copilot plugin
- Kirby MCP plugin by Bruno Meilick
- Kirby docs: Content options (locking)
Squarespace sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Squarespace website plans on version 7.1.
- Squarespace pricing
- Squarespace Developer Platform: Custom Post Types
- Squarespace Developer Platform FAQ
- Manually creating a multilingual site
- Creating a multilingual site with Weglot
- Squarespace Commerce APIs overview
- Squarespace webhooks overview
- Drafting pages (Premium and Enterprise)
- Scheduling blog posts
- Using undo and redo in Squarespace
- Contributor roles and permissions
- Squarespace Extensions
- Form blocks
- Member Sites
- Using Squarespace AI
- Overview of the Squarespace MCP server
- Logging in with single sign-on through Microsoft Entra ID (Premium & Enterprise)
- Logging in with single sign-on through Google (Premium & Enterprise)
Considering more platforms? Compare Kirby and Squarespace with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.
Where they differ
Kirby and Squarespace get a different status on 15 of the 28 features and the same status on 13. Kirby has 11 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.
- Self-hosting
- Kirby can be self-hosted. Squarespace cannot be self-hosted.
- Vendor cloud
- Kirby has no vendor-run cloud. Squarespace has a vendor-run cloud.
Built in on Kirby, a different answer on Squarespace 6
- Content model in code Kirby: Built in. Squarespace: Limited.
- Localization Kirby: Built in. Squarespace: Plugin or add-on.
- REST API Kirby: Built in. Squarespace: Limited.
- Drafts Kirby: Built in. Squarespace: Paid tier.
- Custom roles Kirby: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.
- Extensible admin UI Kirby: Built in. Squarespace: Not available.
Built in on Squarespace, a different answer on Kirby 4
- Visual editing Kirby: Not available. Squarespace: Built in.
- Form builder Kirby: Plugin or add-on. Squarespace: Built in.
- Site member accounts Kirby: Limited. Squarespace: Built in.
- AI writing assistant Kirby: Not available. Squarespace: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 5
- Webhooks Kirby: Not available. Squarespace: Limited.
- Scheduled publishing Kirby: Not available. Squarespace: Limited.
- Approval workflows Kirby: Not available. Squarespace: Limited.
- Single sign-on Kirby: Not available. Squarespace: Paid tier.
- Multiple sites Kirby: Not available. Squarespace: Limited.
More comparisons
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Squarespace against other platforms
- Adobe Experience Manager vs Squarespace
- Contentful vs Squarespace
- Contentstack vs Squarespace
- CoreMedia Content Cloud vs Squarespace
- Craft CMS vs Squarespace
- DatoCMS vs Squarespace
- Decap CMS vs Squarespace
- Directus vs Squarespace
- Drupal vs Squarespace
- EmDash vs Squarespace
- FirstSpirit vs Squarespace
- Framer vs Squarespace
- Ghost vs Squarespace
- HubSpot CMS vs Squarespace
- Hygraph vs Squarespace
- Instatic vs Squarespace
- Joomla vs Squarespace
- Keystone vs Squarespace
- Liferay DXP vs Squarespace
- Optimizely CMS vs Squarespace
- Squarespace vs Payload
- Prismic vs Squarespace
- Progress Sitefinity vs Squarespace
- Sanity vs Squarespace
- Sitecore vs Squarespace
- Squarespace vs Statamic
- Squarespace vs Storyblok
- Squarespace vs Strapi
- Squarespace vs TYPO3
- Squarespace vs Umbraco
- Squarespace vs Wagtail
- Squarespace vs Webflow
- Squarespace vs Wix
- Squarespace vs WordPress
- Xperience by Kentico vs Squarespace
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