Squarespace price increase: how to move without losing your rankings.
The 2026 Squarespace price increase raised its Basic, Core and Plus plans, though not by the same amount for every customer. If the renewal email has you thinking about leaving, the move itself is straightforward. Keeping your Google rankings through it is the part that needs care.
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The short answer
Squarespace raised prices on its Basic, Core and Plus website plans in mid-2026. On annual billing, its pricing page now lists them at 19, 29 and 49 dollars a month, with Advanced at 99. It was a dated change that did not land the same way on every customer: what you pay depends on your plan, your billing cycle and when you signed up. If your site is doing its job, staying can be the right call.
If you leave, the move keeps your Google rankings when three things happen: every page keeps its address or redirects permanently to its new one, the words that rank come across, and the domain and email stay exactly where they are.
What the Squarespace price increase changed
Treat this as a dated change, not one number for everyone. Squarespace raised prices on its Basic, Core and Plus plans in mid-2026, and how much any one bill went up depends on the plan, annual or monthly billing, any promotion you signed up on and when your renewal falls. The prices to trust are the ones on Squarespace’s pricing page and in your own account. As of October 2026 the pricing page lists, per month:
- Basic: 19 dollars on annual billing, 25 dollars month to month
- Core: 29 dollars on annual billing, 39 dollars month to month
- Plus: 49 dollars on annual billing, 65 dollars month to month
- Advanced: 99 dollars on annual billing, 139 dollars month to month
Basic also charges a 2 percent fee on online store sales.
Check the billing page in your account for the number you will actually pay at renewal. Add the domain, email and any extensions billed separately to see the full yearly cost.
Should you leave Squarespace? Three honest questions
A price increase is a good moment to look at your website. On its own it is a weak reason to rebuild one that works. Ask yourself:
- Is the site doing its job? If it brings in calls and you can update it yourself, a few more dollars a month may still be your cheapest option.
- What is the full cost over three years? Compare the plan, domain, email and add-ons against a self-hosted site’s hosting, ongoing care and the one-time move. A hosting cost breakdown helps with the second half.
- Is there something it will not do? Online booking, a sync with your register, a custom form, speed on phones, or owning the site outright. If the answer is yes, the price increase is only the nudge.
If the site is fine and the price is the only problem, a smaller plan may be the cheapest fix. Check what you would lose before you switch.
Squarespace alternatives worth considering
WordPress, on hosting you choose
You own the site and can move it to any host or developer. Any feature can be added later, from bookings to a full store. It needs care, meaning updates, backups and security, so budget for that or for someone to do it. It is the platform I build on most, and moving to WordPress explains how the move works.
Wix or another website builder
The same monthly model with similar limits. Moving from one rented builder to another changes the bill and keeps the walls, and Wix’s own help center says a Wix site has to stay hosted on Wix’s servers, so there is no real export if you want to leave later. WordPress vs Wix compares the two.
Shopify, if the store is the business
A strong option when selling online is most of what the site does. It is also a subscription with its own fees, so run the numbers with a store fee calculator first.
A smaller Squarespace plan
If you mainly need pages and a contact form, Basic may cover it. Remember the 2 percent fee if you sell anything.
For the main choice side by side, see WordPress vs Squarespace.
What comes out of Squarespace, and what has to be rebuilt
Squarespace can export a site in a format WordPress imports. According to Squarespace’s export help page, the export includes:
- Layout pages, with their text and image blocks
- One blog page, with its posts and comments
- Gallery pages, on sites built on Squarespace version 7.0
It leaves out store pages, album, portfolio and calendar pages, any second blog, audio, video and product blocks, drafts, style settings and custom CSS.
So the export gives the move a head start on words and posts. The design, forms, galleries and anything you sell are rebuilt properly in WordPress. Download every image and upload it to the new site, so nothing still loads from Squarespace after you cancel.
How to move without losing your Google rankings
Google ranks pages, and pages live at addresses. Keep the addresses working and the content that earned them, and Google follows the move. The full checklist is in what happens to your rankings in a redesign. Here is how it applies to leaving Squarespace.
- List every address. Squarespace publishes a sitemap at yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml. Add the pages Search Console shows bringing in clicks, and note which ones matter most.
- Keep addresses where you can. WordPress can match most Squarespace paths, including a /blog/ path for posts. The best redirect is the one you never need.
- Redirect every address that changes. Each old address goes to its closest new page with a permanent 301 redirect. Never send everything to the home page.
- Carry the words across. Page text, headings, titles, meta descriptions and image alt text that rank should arrive intact or better.
- Keep the domain, and leave email alone. If Squarespace is also your domain registrar, you do not have to transfer the domain to move the website. Point it at the new host. Your email runs on mail records in the domain’s DNS, so copy every one of them before anything changes and check them again after.
- Launch, then watch. Submit the new sitemap in Search Console and watch the Pages and Performance reports for the next few weeks. A missed redirect shows up there as a new 404, and it is cheapest to fix early.
Time the move around your renewal
Look up your renewal date first. Starting several weeks ahead means the new site can be built privately, reviewed and launched while the old one keeps running, with no rush at the end. How long a new website takes walks through what sets the pace.
Do not cancel Squarespace the day the new site goes live. Keep it until the new site has been live for a few weeks, every redirect has been checked and you have saved anything you might want later.
Whatever you do with the website plan, make sure the domain itself stays registered and set to renew. A lapsed domain takes the website and the email down together, and it is the one mistake a careful move cannot afford. Here is what happens when a domain expires.
Frequently asked questions
How much did Squarespace raise prices in 2026?
It depends on the plan, the billing cycle and when you signed up, so compare your renewal notice or account billing page with last year’s bill. As of October 2026, Squarespace’s pricing page lists Basic at 19 dollars a month, Core at 29, Plus at 49 and Advanced at 99 on annual billing.
Will I lose my Google rankings if I leave Squarespace?
Not if every address keeps working. Keep the addresses you can, redirect the rest permanently to their closest new page, carry over the text and titles, and watch Search Console after launch.
Can I keep my domain and email?
Yes. The domain stays yours and simply points at the new site. Email runs on separate mail records, which keep working as long as they are copied correctly before anything changes.
Can I export my Squarespace site to WordPress?
Partly. Squarespace exports layout pages, one blog with its posts and, on version 7.0 sites, gallery pages in a format WordPress imports. Store pages, most other page types, styles and custom code are rebuilt.
What is the best Squarespace alternative for a small business?
For a business that wants to own its site and add features over time, WordPress. For a store that is mostly about selling, Shopify is worth comparing. Another builder like Wix changes the price more than the limits.
When should I cancel Squarespace?
After the new site has been live for a few weeks and every redirect has been checked. Keep the domain registered and renewing the whole time.
A whole site changed. Every address and ranking stayed.
Cardinal Wings Aviation’s redesign kept every address and every ranking while the whole site changed around them. The process is the same whether the old site is Squarespace, Wix or WordPress: map it, rebuild it, redirect it, verify it.
Checking matters more than promising. When I rebuilt the Lucas Play store, every one of the 1,486 addresses in the new sitemap was crawled before launch, and every one answered.
Thinking about leaving Squarespace?
Send me your address and what the site needs to do. I will tell you honestly whether a move is worth it, what comes across, and how your rankings stay where they are.
