CMS comparison Squarespace vs Wix

Squarespace vs Wix

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

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Squarespace Site builder · Closed source · 9 of 28 built in
Wix Site builder · Closed source · 21 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Squarespace on 29 Sept 2026, Wix 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 Wix feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Squarespace Site builder	Wix Site builder
Overview
What it is	Hosted website builder with templates, a visual editor, blogging and commerce. Squarespace runs the hosting.	Hosted website builder with a CMS, business apps and hosting, run by Wix.com Ltd. Wix Studio adds an editor and workspace for agencies.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes.	Squarespace website plans on version 7.1 SaaS, continuously updated	Wix website builder with Wix CMS, in Wix Editor and Wix Studio SaaS, continuously updated
Vendor	Squarespace, Inc. squarespace.com	Wix.com Ltd. wix.com
Licence	Closed source Proprietary	Closed source Proprietary
Hosting	No self-hosting Vendor cloud	No self-hosting Vendor cloud Wix Headless serves the same content to a frontend you host.
Built with	Hosted SaaS, custom CSS and JavaScript on Core and higher plans	Hosted SaaS, JavaScript through the Wix IDE, CLI and SDK
Database	Managed by Squarespace	Wix CMS collections, managed by Wix
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 plan. Light $17, Core $29, Business $39, Business Elite $159 per month billed yearly in the US.
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	Limited Only Wix CLI apps and headless projects define collections in TypeScript files. 13
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 20
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 Editors add and reorder sections and saved components on the canvas.
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	Built in Wix Multilingual, with manual or automatic translation. 14
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 Resize and crop through image URL parameters. 15
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 Items REST API. 3
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content.	Not available	Built in GraphQL endpoint over the same data as the REST API. 4
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 App webhooks, or an HTTP request step in Wix Automations. 16
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 Draft status on CMS items, on by default for new collections. 11
Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish.	Limited Blog posts only. 9	Built in Scheduled status changes on CMS items. 11
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 CMS keeps weekly and manual collection backups. Restores replace whole collections. 9
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 Approvals for site changes in the Wix Studio enterprise solution. 8
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release.	Not available	Limited Release Manager publishes whole site versions and test sites. No grouped item releases. 12
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 Built into the Studio Editor. 7
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	Built in Not every permission is available to custom roles. 6 19
Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries.	Not available	Not available CMS permissions apply per collection. 20
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 OpenID Connect only, with the Wix Studio enterprise solution. 10
Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log.	Not available	Not available Not documented publicly.
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 One account or Studio workspace manages many sites, each on its own plan.
Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface.	Not available	Built in Dashboard extensions add custom pages and widgets. 17
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 Wix App Market.
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code.	Built in Form blocks store submissions. 13	Built in Wix Forms.
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	Built in Members Area handles sign-up and login.
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	Built in AI text creator in the Wix and Studio editors. 18
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 Wix MCP for docs, code and site API calls. 5

Squarespace sources

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

Wix sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Wix website builder with Wix CMS, in Wix Editor and Wix Studio.

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

Where they differ

Squarespace and Wix get a different status on 15 of the 28 features and the same status on 13. Squarespace has 9 built in on its baseline edition, Wix has 21. 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. Wix has a free option.

Built in on Wix, a different answer on Squarespace 12

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

Built in on neither, with different answers 3

Version history Squarespace: Not available. Wix: Limited.
Approval workflows Squarespace: Limited. Wix: Paid tier.
Content releases Squarespace: Not available. Wix: Limited.

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