Squarespace vs hand-coded websites
Squarespace vs hand-coded websites: an honest comparison
Squarespace has polished templates and an easy editor. A hand-coded site trades that editor for full control over speed, structure and features.
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Squarespace is the most polished of the website builders. The templates look professional and the editor is smooth. For photographers, designers and portfolio sites, it works well.
Your site runs on Squarespace's platform and code, so speed, search settings and features are limited to what the platform and its integrations allow.
Key points
A hand-coded website built with a modern framework such as Next.js is shaped entirely around your business. Speed, structure, search markup, integrations and design are all under your control.
For a local business competing on Google, that control matters. A hand-coded site can be built to load in around a second and to score highly on Google PageSpeed, and you can test both before launch.
What this means for you
The trade-off is editing. Squarespace lets you change small things yourself. A hand-coded site needs a developer for changes, which is why it is usually paired with a care plan.
Our view: if your website is a main source of new customers, a custom site is usually worth it. If it is a simple online brochure and Google brings you little work, Squarespace may be enough.
In our clients’ words
What our clients say.
FAQ
Common questions
Squarespace covers the basics. You have limited control over technical settings, schema markup and how heavy each page is, which matters more in a competitive local market.
Within its templates, largely yes. Custom layouts, your own booking or quote systems and deeper integrations usually mean moving off the platform.
If your website is how most new customers find you, usually yes. If it is a simple online brochure, a builder may be all you need.
Keep reading
Read next
Wix vs custom websites
Wix gets a simple site online in a day. A custom site costs more upfront and gives you full control of speed, structure and where the site lives.
How much does a website cost?
Published estimates put most small business websites at £500 to £8,000 to build, and larger agencies well above that. Here is what each option costs in year one, and what you keep paying after.
Why website speed matters
A slow page loses visitors before they read a word. Speed also feeds into how Google judges page experience on mobile.
Find out what your website is costing you.
A free Growth Audit™: a written, prioritised audit of your website, with the three fixes worth making first. You do not need a call to get it, and it is yours to keep.
We take on a limited number of builds at once, so there is usually a short wait before a new one starts. Once yours starts, it is about 14 working days from agreed direction to launch.