How much does a Squarespace website cost in the UK in 2026?

Building a Squarespace website yourself in the UK costs £144 to £948 a year in Squarespace fees, and most small businesses end up on the Core plan at £204 a year when paid annually. Having a designer build it adds a one-off fee on top: ours start at £1,200 for a one-page site. The subscription is the small part of the bill. The big part is either your time or the build fee.

A note before the numbers: we're a Squarespace agency, so we sell the design part of this. The plan prices and fees below come from Squarespace's UK pricing page as of October 2026. Squarespace changes prices and runs offers, so check that page before you sign up.

Squarespace plan prices in the UK (2026)

Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial, and you don't need a card to start it. Paying annually is around a quarter cheaper than paying monthly on Basic and Core, and annual plans include a free domain for the first year. Core and above also include a year of Google Workspace email when you set it up through Squarespace.

Which plan you'll actually need

The plan names don't tell you much. These are the differences that decide it:

• Basic (£12/mo) runs a simple site well, but it has no code injection. That's the setting you need for most tracking scripts, chat widgets and third-party embeds, and Squarespace only offers it from Core up. Basic also adds a 2% fee on store sales and 7% on digital content and memberships.
• Core (£17/mo) is where most service businesses should start. Store transaction fees drop to 0%, code injection is available and the digital content fee falls to 5%.
• Plus (£29/mo) makes sense if you sell courses, memberships or digital products (the fee drops to 1%) or if card fees on a busy shop add up, since the card rate falls to 1.7%.
• Advanced (£79/mo) is for high-volume shops: 0% Squarespace fees on everything and the lowest card rate, 1.5%.

You can change plan later, so start on the plan you need now rather than the one you might need in two years.

The fees on top if you sell online

If you take payments, two charges come out of each sale. Squarespace's own transaction fee depends on your plan, and card processing is charged per transaction.

On a £50 order, Basic takes £1 in transaction fees plus £1.25 in card processing, so you keep £47.75. On Core you keep £48.75. Core costs £60 a year more than Basic when paid annually, so once your shop sells more than £3,000 a year, Core is the cheaper plan overall.

The card rates above are Squarespace's published rates for standard cards. If you connect Stripe or PayPal instead, their own rates apply. Our guide to taking payments on Squarespace covers the options.

The extras people forget to budget for

• Your domain after year one: the first year is free on an annual plan. After that it renews at Squarespace's domain price, or you can keep a domain you already own elsewhere and connect it.
• Email after year one: the Google Workspace offer covers the first year. After that you pay Google's price per user, per month.
• Add-ons: Squarespace Email Campaigns, Scheduling and Member Areas have their own pricing on top of the website plan. Check the price inside your Squarespace account before you build a site around one.
• Other tools: booking software, a CRM, a review widget or a cookie banner tool each carry their own monthly fee.
• Photos and fonts: stock photos are included through Unsplash, and Squarespace's fonts cost nothing extra. Paid stock libraries, a photographer or a licensed brand font are extra.

What a Squarespace designer costs

If you'd rather not build it yourself, the build fee is the biggest number in the budget. Quotes vary a lot between freelancers and agencies, so compare what's included rather than the headline figure: how many pages, who writes and loads the content, whether redirects from your old site are set up, and whether you get training afterwards.

Here's what we charge, so you have a reference point:

Every build includes technical SEO set-up and a training video so you can run the site yourself. Most sites go live three to four weeks after the brief is signed, and we give a fixed quote after a discovery call. The full detail is on our Squarespace web design page.

What pushes a quote up: more pages, writing the copy for you, a shop with lots of products or complex shipping, connecting other tools, and moving from another platform, where every old URL needs a redirect so you don't lose your Google rankings.

Year one totals for three typical set-ups

From year two, the cost is the plan renewal, the domain, email and anything you add on. Some clients book us for changes by the hour after launch. Most don't need to, and we've written about when maintenance is actually worth paying for.

When paying a designer is worth it, and when it isn't

Build it yourself if the site is a few pages, you have the time, and the site isn't the main way customers find you. Squarespace is designed for that, and a tidy DIY site on Core is a perfectly good start.

Paying for a build tends to earn its fee back when:

• the site is where most of your enquiries or sales come from, so a weak page costs you work every month
• you're selling online and need payments, shipping and tax set up properly from the start
• you need other tools connected, such as a CRM, email marketing or booking software
• you're moving from WordPress or Wix and want to keep the Google rankings you already have

If you're still choosing a platform, our Wix vs Squarespace comparison covers how the two compare on price and everything else.

How to keep the cost down

• Pay annually: it's the easiest saving and it includes the domain for a year.
• Pick the plan for what you do now: Core covers most businesses. Upgrade when the fees tell you to.
• Prepare your content first: copy and photos ready before the build saves time whether you build it or we do.
• Build fewer, better pages: five clear pages beat twelve thin ones for visitors and for Google.
• Learn to edit it yourself: small changes are quick on Squarespace, so you shouldn't need to pay someone to update a price or a photo.

A third option: a fully managed site

There's one more route we offer, and for some businesses it works out cheaper than either of the above in the first couple of years. We build the site, host it and make your edits for you, for a lower setup fee and a monthly fee that covers everything. Our build process now uses AI-assisted tools, which is what keeps the setup fee down.

Compare that with having us build on Squarespace and paying for Core yourself: £1,404 in year one for a one-page site and £2,354 for five pages. The managed route stays cheaper for about a year and a half on a one-page site, and for a little over two years on five pages. After that, Squarespace costs less each year, unless you'd otherwise be paying someone to make changes. With the managed site, edits, hosting and support are all part of the monthly fee, so you never touch an editor.

It suits businesses that want a good site without learning to run one: consultants, trades, clinics, local services. It isn't a good fit for selling online. A shop needs product, stock and checkout tools that Squarespace Commerce handles well, so for e-commerce we still build on Squarespace. See how our pay monthly websites work, or ask us which route fits and we'll tell you straight.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Squarespace cost per month in the UK?

Between £12 and £79 a month when you pay annually, or £16 to £89 a month on monthly billing. Most small businesses need the Core plan, which is £17 a month paid annually.

Is there a free version of Squarespace?

No. Squarespace has a 14-day free trial with no card needed, but no free plan. Once the trial ends you need a paid plan to publish the site.

How much does a Squarespace web designer cost in the UK?

It depends on the size of the site and what's included. SpaceWorks builds start at £1,200 for a one-page site, £2,150 for up to five pages and £5,150 for bespoke projects, with a fixed quote after a discovery call.

Do I need Core, or is Basic enough?

Basic is enough for a simple site that doesn't sell much and doesn't need third-party scripts. Choose Core if you need code injection for tracking or widgets, or if your shop sells more than about £3,000 a year, where Core's 0% store fee outweighs its higher price.

Can I change my Squarespace plan later?

Yes. You can upgrade or downgrade from your account settings, so start on the plan that fits what you need now.