CMS comparison Squarespace vs Webflow

Squarespace vs Webflow

Squarespace is a closed-source site builder that runs on the vendor's cloud. Webflow 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 17.

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Squarespace Site builder · Closed source · 9 of 28 built in
Webflow Site builder · Closed source · 15 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Squarespace on 29 Sept 2026, Webflow 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

Squarespace vs Webflow feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Squarespace Site builder	Webflow Site builder
Overview
What it is	Hosted website builder with templates, a visual editor, blogging and commerce. Squarespace runs the hosting.	Hosted visual site builder with a built-in CMS, hosting and a Data API. Designers build pages on a canvas. Run by Webflow, Inc.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes.	Squarespace website plans on version 7.1 SaaS, continuously updated	Webflow Site plans, Starter to Enterprise SaaS, continuously updated
Vendor	Squarespace, Inc. squarespace.com	Webflow, Inc. webflow.com
Licence	Closed source Proprietary	Closed source Proprietary
Hosting	No self-hosting Vendor cloud	No self-hosting Vendor cloud Publishing to a custom domain requires a paid Site plan.
Built with	Hosted SaaS, custom CSS and JavaScript on Core and higher plans	Hosted SaaS, Webflow Cloud for app hosting
Database	Managed by Squarespace	Managed by Webflow
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere.	No free option Basic $19, Core $29, Plus $49, Advanced $99 per month billed annually in the US. 14-day free trial.	Free to start Free Starter site. Basic $15, Premium $25 per site per month billed yearly. Team $2,500 per month.
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 Custom post types in template.conf, only with Developer Mode on version 7.0. 2 3	Not available The Data API can create collections and fields. No schema files. 3
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code.	Not available Fixed page and collection types. No custom fields in the editor. 2	Built in
Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them.	Built in Editors add and reorder sections and blocks.	Built in Components with properties. Limited seats build pages from designer-approved blocks. 1
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 Weglot extension. Without it, editors duplicate pages per language. 4 5	Plugin or add-on Webflow Localize add-on from $9 per month. The Team plan includes it. 1
Image transformations The CMS resizes, crops or converts images on request, through URL parameters or generated sizes, with no external service.	Built in Squarespace serves uploaded images in generated sizes.	Built in Generates responsive image sizes automatically. 10
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content.	Limited Commerce APIs for products, orders and inventory on Core and up. No API for pages. 1 6	Built in Data API. 60 requests per minute on Starter, 120 on Premium. 1 11
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.	Limited Commerce events only, through the Webhook Subscriptions API. 7	Built in Data API webhooks for CMS items, forms and site publishes. 4
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.	Paid tier Page drafts need a Premium or Enterprise plan. Blog posts can be drafts on any plan. 8	Built in
Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish.	Limited Blog posts only. 9	Paid tier Scheduled CMS item publishing on the Premium Site plan. 1
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them.	Not available Undo and redo within an editing session only. 10	Limited Whole-site backups. Free Starter sites restore only the two most recent. 5
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing.	Built in Editing happens on the rendered page.	Built in
Visual editing Editors can click on the rendered page and edit content in place or in a side panel next to it.	Built in	Built in
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage.	Limited Enterprise Draft editor role drafts pages for an admin to publish. No custom stages. 8 11	Paid tier Design approvals with designated reviewers on Enterprise. 1
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release.	Not available	Limited A site publish ships all staged changes together. No named release bundles. 1
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	Built in Available on every Workspace and Site plan. 6
Access and governance
Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set.	Not available Fixed contributor permission types. 11	Paid tier Enterprise. 1
Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries.	Not available	Not available Enterprise access controls stop at pages and Collections. 1
Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider.	Paid tier Premium and Enterprise plans. OpenID Connect through Entra ID, SAML through Google. 17 18	Paid tier Enterprise. 1
Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log.	Not available	Paid tier Site activity log on Team, audit logs API on Enterprise. 1
Platform and extensibility
Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users.	Limited Each site needs its own plan. Enterprise teams manage several sites from one account. 11	Built in A Workspace holds many sites with shared seats. Each site needs its own Site plan. 1
Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface.	Not available	Built in Apps can add Designer Extensions to the editor. 12
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions.	Built in Squarespace Extensions, a directory of third-party tools. 12	Built in Webflow Apps marketplace. 9
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code.	Built in Form blocks store submissions. 13	Built in 50 submissions on Starter, unlimited on paid Site plans. 1
Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors.	Built in Customer accounts on all plans. Member sites for gated content. 1 14	Not available Webflow retired User Accounts on 29 January 2026. 8
AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content.	Built in Squarespace AI writer. Monthly AI credits vary by plan. 1 15	Paid tier Copy generation needs a paid Site or Workspace plan and uses AI credits. 1
Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content.	Not available The official MCP server covers domain search only. It can't reach site content. 16	Built in Available on all Site plans, including free Starter. 7

Squarespace sources

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

Webflow sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Webflow Site plans, Starter to Enterprise.

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

Where they differ

Squarespace and Webflow get a different status on 17 of the 28 features and the same status on 11. Squarespace has 9 built in on its baseline edition, Webflow has 15. 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: Squarespace has no free option. Webflow has a free option.

Built in on Squarespace, a different answer on Webflow 2

Site member accounts Squarespace: Built in. Webflow: Not available.
AI writing assistant Squarespace: Built in. Webflow: Paid tier.

Built in on Webflow, a different answer on Squarespace 8

Content model in the UI Squarespace: Not available. Webflow: Built in.
REST API Squarespace: Limited. Webflow: Built in.
Webhooks Squarespace: Limited. Webflow: Built in.
Drafts Squarespace: Paid tier. Webflow: Built in.
Real-time co-editing Squarespace: Not available. Webflow: Built in.
Multiple sites Squarespace: Limited. Webflow: Built in.
Extensible admin UI Squarespace: Not available. Webflow: Built in.
Official MCP server Squarespace: Not available. Webflow: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 7

Content model in code Squarespace: Limited. Webflow: Not available.
Scheduled publishing Squarespace: Limited. Webflow: Paid tier.
Version history Squarespace: Not available. Webflow: Limited.
Approval workflows Squarespace: Limited. Webflow: Paid tier.
Content releases Squarespace: Not available. Webflow: Limited.
Custom roles Squarespace: Not available. Webflow: Paid tier.
Audit log Squarespace: Not available. Webflow: Paid tier.

More comparisons

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

Squarespace against other platforms

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