Wix vs Squarespace: which suits an Australian business?

On This Page

1. Wix vs Squarespace at a glance
2. Wix vs Squarespace pricing in Australia
3. Online bookings on Wix and Squarespace
4. Wix vs Squarespace speed
5. Design and editing
6. What you can take with you if you leave
7. Payments and Afterpay
8. Wix vs Squarespace for SEO
9. Privacy and support
10. Wix or Squarespace: which should you choose?
11. Questions I get asked

On paper, Wix and Squarespace look almost the same. In practice they differ in ways the American comparisons don't mention. Squarespace's prices exclude GST and Wix's include it. Squarespace's cheapest plan won't let you embed a booking system. Wix sites load faster on average. And Squarespace lets you take more of your content with you if you leave. For most service businesses I'd lean towards Squarespace Core for looks and Wix for speed and simplicity. This guide is the detail, with prices as both showed them to Australians on 11 October 2026.

I build websites on my own platform, so I compete with both. Neither pays me anything.

Wix vs Squarespace at a glance

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On .au websites, Squarespace is the more common of the two. W3Techs puts it third among .au sites with a known platform, at 7.6%, behind WordPress and Shopify, with Wix below it. Worldwide it's the other way round: Wix runs 4.2% of all websites and Squarespace 2.4%.

Wix vs Squarespace pricing in Australia

Both show Australians prices in Australian dollars, but one includes GST and the other doesn't, which makes the plans look further apart than they are.

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All monthly figures on yearly billing. Squarespace's monthly-billing prices are A$24, A$39, A$69 and A$149 before GST. It says it adds GST "if you reside in Australia" and don't certify that you're registered, and a GST-registered business can enter its ABN at checkout to be exempt. You pay in Australian dollars, but the currency is locked at your first payment.

The plans aren't identical, so the level-by-level match is rough. What matters more is which features each needs for a service business, and that's where the add-ons come in.

Work out your own first three years

With a booking widget from your practice system on the site, Squarespace Core comes out cheaper than Wix Core over three years. Use each platform's own bookings instead and Squarespace needs Acuity on top, and then it costs more than Wix.

Online bookings on Wix and Squarespace

This is the difference that matters most for clinics, tutors and anyone else who takes appointments.

Wix includes its own booking tool, Wix Bookings, on the Core plan and above. No extra subscription.

Squarespace's booking tool is Acuity Scheduling, which Squarespace bought in 2019. It's a separate subscription, priced in US dollars on Acuity's site: from US$16 a month on a yearly plan for one calendar, US$27 for up to six, and US$49 for up to 36, plus tax.

If you already take bookings in your own system, the question is whether you can put its booking widget on your site. On Wix you can. On Squarespace, JavaScript and iframes in a code block need the Core plan or higher. On Basic you can only link to your booking page with a button or text link.

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The same Core requirement applies to Squarespace's code injection, which is how you'd add a Meta Pixel or a live chat tool to every page. That's why I'd treat Core as Squarespace's real starting plan for a business.

Wix vs Squarespace speed

Squarespace sites look heavier, and the data agrees. The HTTP Archive measures how sites on each platform score in Google's Core Web Vitals using real Chrome visits. For August 2026:

The median Squarespace page on mobile weighed 3.53 MB in the same data, against 2.78 MB for Wix. Most of that is usually large images. A careful Squarespace build with compressed photos can pass comfortably. A typical one, built by someone who uploaded photos straight off a camera, often doesn't.

Design and editing

Squarespace's reputation is design, and it's earned. On its current version every site shares the same underlying template, so the design you start with is only a starting layout. You can change the style and layout at any time without losing features. Its editor, Fluid Engine, is a drag-and-drop grid, and you can lay out the mobile version separately.

Wix gives you more freedom to put things anywhere, which suits people who want control and can make a mess for people who don't. One thing to know: Wix now has three editors (the classic Wix Editor, Wix Harmony and Wix Studio for agencies), and Wix says a site can't be moved from one to another. Which one you're on depends on when the site was made.

Both have AI tools that draft a site or its text. Squarespace's own guidance is worth repeating: don't publish anything its AI writes "that you wouldn't have written yourself".

What you can take with you if you leave

Squarespace is more portable for words and images, but neither lets you take the design. Squarespace also warns that if you import into self-hosted WordPress, "the image links stop working after you cancel your Squarespace site", so download your images first.

On domains: Squarespace registers new .au and .com.au names (and the free first-year domain covers them), but it can't take a transfer of a .com.au you already own somewhere else. You connect it instead, which is fine and keeps the domain where it is.

Payments and Afterpay

If you sell anything online, Squarespace's card fees through Squarespace Payments are 1.8% + A$0.30 on Basic and Core, dropping on higher plans, and it charges a 2% transaction fee on store sales on Basic only. Squarespace's own pages disagree about whether Squarespace Payments is available in Australia: its help centre says yes, its pricing page doesn't list Australia. Stripe and PayPal work either way. Afterpay is available in Australia through Stripe, but only for physical products. Squarespace says service products and Acuity bookings can't be paid with Afterpay.

Wix vs Squarespace for SEO

Both handle the basics automatically: sitemaps, clean URLs, secure connections and page titles. Squarespace adds structured data for local businesses, and an SEO Report tool that flags missing image descriptions and page descriptions. Wix has an SEO Setup Checklist that builds a to-do list from your business name, location and the phrases you want to be found for. Google's John Mueller has said "Wix is fine for SEO". Either can rank a local business. The content on the page and your Google Business Profile will matter more than the platform.

Privacy and support

Neither stores data in Australia. Squarespace says it stores data in data centres across the United States, and Australians contract with Squarespace Ireland Limited. Wix stores data in the United States and Ireland. If the Privacy Act covers your business, your privacy policy should say enquiries are stored overseas. My Wix vs WordPress guide goes into what that means.

For help, Squarespace says plainly: "We don't offer phone support". It offers email, chat and social media. Wix offers a 24/7 English callback you request from your account. If you're the kind of owner who wants to talk to a person when something breaks, that's a real point for Wix.

Wix or Squarespace: which should you choose?

Questions I get asked

Is Wix or Squarespace better for a small business?

Squarespace if design matters most and you're on Core or above. Wix if you want bookings included, faster sites on average, a free plan to start and a phone callback for help.

Is Squarespace cheaper than Wix in Australia?

At the small business level, yes. Squarespace Core is A$28 a month plus GST (A$30.80) on a yearly plan, against AU$42 for Wix Core including GST. Add Acuity for bookings and Squarespace costs more.

Does Squarespace charge GST in Australia?

Yes. Its listed prices exclude GST and 10% is added unless you enter an ABN registered for GST. Wix's Australian prices include GST.

Can I embed Cliniko or HotDoc on Squarespace?

On the Core plan or above. On Basic you can only link to your booking page.

Which is faster, Wix or Squarespace?

Wix, on average. In August 2026, 85.9% of Wix sites passed Google's Core Web Vitals for Australian mobile visitors, against 64.7% of Squarespace sites.

Can I move from Squarespace to WordPress?

Partly. Squarespace exports layout pages, one blog, text and images to a WordPress file. Other page types, video and the design don't come with you.

Does Squarespace have phone support?

No. It offers email, chat and social media. Wix offers a 24/7 English phone callback.