Running a Squarespace site in the UK costs from £12 a month on the Basic plan paid annually, or £17 a month on Core if you sell anything. The design is the bigger number. In my studio, a single page starts at £995 and a four to five page site at £1,500, so a small designed site comes to about £1,645 in its first year. Brand work is quoted separately.
What are you actually paying for?
A Squarespace website has a running cost and a build cost. The running cost is the plan, the domain, your email and any card fees. It is predictable and mostly fixed. The build cost is the design, the layout, the content going in and the setup. It varies with the size of the job, and it is where most of the budget goes.
Keep the two separate when you plan. It stops a low monthly price making the whole project look cheaper than it is, and it stops a design quote looking like it includes things it does not.
How much is a Squarespace plan in 2026?
Squarespace has four website plans in the UK. Paying annually saves roughly a quarter on every plan.
| Plan | Per month, billed yearly | Per month, billed monthly | Fee on product sales | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | £12 | £16 | 2% | A site that mostly shows your work and takes enquiries |
| Core | £17 | £24 | 0% | Selling products or services without handing over a cut |
| Plus | £29 | £36 | 0% | Courses, downloads or memberships (1% fee on digital sales) |
| Advanced | £79 | £89 | 0% | Larger shops and subscriptions (0% on digital sales) |
Source: Squarespace pricing. Prices change, so check the page before you commit. Card processing fees from your payment provider come on top of these, and vary by plan; Squarespace lists them on its transaction fees page.
For most service businesses, studios and consultancies, Basic or Core is enough. If you sell physical products in any volume, the 2% on Basic adds up quickly, and Core usually pays for itself.
What else do you pay for each month?
- Your domain. The first year is free on an annual plan. After that you pay the renewal price, which depends on the ending (.co.uk, .com and so on).
- Email on your domain. Squarespace does not host email itself. Google Workspace is a common choice, starting at £5.90 per user a month on monthly billing, less on an annual commitment (Google Workspace pricing).
- Extensions. Booking systems, shipping tools and email marketing can each carry their own subscription. None are required, but budget for the ones your business actually runs on.
How much does a designer charge for a Squarespace site?
This is the number people are really asking about. It depends on the size of the job, so here are my own starting prices, with the timelines that go with them:
| The job | Design and build | Usually takes | Year one, with the Basic plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| A single page: launch, landing or sales page | From £995 | 1 to 2 weeks | From about £1,140 |
| A four to five page site | From £1,500 | 2 to 3 weeks | From about £1,645 |
| A site made alongside a new brand | Quoted as a brand package plus the website | 6 to 8 weeks or more | Depends on the brand package |
Year one adds £144 for the Basic plan billed yearly, with the domain free for the first year. Email and card fees come on top. A site made alongside a new brand has no single figure, because brand projects vary too much: it is quoted once you know which brand package fits.
These are starting points, not a menu. The final figure comes as a fixed quote before anything starts.
Whatever the size, a few things move a quote more than anything else:
- How many different page layouts there are. Ten pages built from two layouts is a smaller job than five pages that each need their own design.
- Whether the content is ready. Finished copy and good photography make a site faster to build. Waiting on words is the most common reason projects run late.
- Selling. A shop adds product pages, shipping, tax settings and testing. If selling is the main job, it is worth reading Squarespace or Shopify before you choose.
- The brand. A site for a business with a clear identity is a web project. A site for a business without one is a brand project first.
A low monthly price can make the whole project look cheaper than it is.
What does a quote often leave out?
None of these are hidden costs if you ask about them up front. They only hurt when they turn up halfway through.
- Copywriting, if you are not writing the words yourself
- Photography, or licences for stock images
- Extra rounds of changes beyond the ones agreed
- Ongoing edits after launch, once the site is handed over
- Moving content across from an old site, page by page
A good quote says what is included in writing before anything starts. Mine does, and nothing starts until the price is agreed.
How do you get an accurate quote?
You will get a faster, firmer number if you send a designer these five things with your first message:
- A rough list of the pages you think you need
- Where the words and photos are coming from
- Two or three sites you like, and one line on why
- Your deadline, and whether it is fixed
- Who will update the site once it is live
A budget range helps too. It is not a trap. It tells the designer whether to propose the full version or the version that fits.
From the workClara PintoA mobile-first, editorial Squarespace store for an independent London fashion label making hand-felted, made-to-order wool pieces.
Questions people also ask
Is there a free Squarespace plan?
No. Every Squarespace site starts with a 14-day free trial, and you need a paid plan to publish. Annual plans include the first year of a domain for free.
Can I start on the Basic plan and upgrade later?
Yes. You can change plan at any point, so starting on Basic and moving to Core when you start selling is a sensible route. Basic takes a 2% fee on product sales, which is the main reason to move up.
Do I own my Squarespace website?
You own your content and your domain. The design itself cannot be moved to another platform. Squarespace can export some content, such as pages and one blog, as a file WordPress can import, but store pages, products and the design stay behind. See Squarespace’s export guide.
Why do designers’ quotes vary so much?
Because they are often quoting different jobs. Check what each quote includes: how many page designs, whether copy and photography are part of it, how many rounds of changes, and whether you will be shown how to update the site yourself.
Sophie is an independent designer based in the UK and the founder of S Evans Design, working across brand, web and product for founders and brand teams. Her career work includes projects for Arsenal, DreamWorks, BBC, Sky, Channel 4, Barclays and the NHS, and she is a Squarespace Circle Gold partner. More about Sophie.
