Short answer: Squarespace includes hosting in every plan and runs your site on its own platform. WordPress is open source software that you install with a host of your choice or use on WordPress.com. Squarespace can export part of your content in a WordPress format, so a move to WordPress is possible, though not everything comes along.
Full disclosure: our team builds sites on WordPress. The comparison below sticks to what Squarespace and WordPress publish in their own help pages.
How Squarespace and WordPress work
Squarespace says all its plans include bandwidth and hosting for your site and its content. It doesn’t host content built on other platforms, so a Squarespace site lives on Squarespace. You can try it with a 14-day free website trial before you subscribe.
WordPress is open source software, and WordPress.org calls it the platform of choice for millions of sites. On WordPress.com, hosting is managed for you. On WordPress.org you pick a host and look after it, and WordPress.com notes that you pay that host yearly fees for hosting and your domain.
| Squarespace | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Included in every plan | Managed on WordPress.com, or any host you pick |
| Trying it | A 14-day free website trial | A free plan on WordPress.com, and free software to download |
| Leaving | Part of your content exports as a WordPress file | Your content moves with you to another host |
Our summary of each platform’s help pages, read November 5, 2026.
Your domain
Squarespace hosts Squarespace domains. If your domain comes from another provider, you can transfer it to Squarespace, or leave it registered and hosted where it is and connect it to your site. Either way, our domain ownership guide shows how to confirm that the account holding it belongs to your business.
What you can take with you
Squarespace lets you export certain content into an .xml file, and that file only comes in a WordPress format. Squarespace explains that many features rely on its own JavaScript and CSS, so some content doesn’t export. You can’t export from a trial site.
The export includes layout pages, text and image blocks, gallery pages and one blog page, with its posts and up to 1,000 comments per post. Other page types, such as store, portfolio and calendar pages, stay behind. So do audio, video and product blocks, drafts, style settings and custom CSS.
Moving from Squarespace to WordPress
WordPress.com’s import guide asks you to keep your Squarespace site public throughout the move, and says anything that doesn’t import can be added by hand in WordPress afterwards.
Images need a check. Squarespace warns that with the WordPress Importer plugin on a self-hosted site, your images might not migrate, and suggests importing into WordPress.com, which copies them to its servers. WordPress.com adds that images created from external links might not all come through.
To keep your blog post addresses, WordPress lets you set its permalinks so each post URL matches the one you had on Squarespace. Our URL slug guide explains the last part of those addresses. When one does change, a 301 redirect sends visitors and Google to the new page. The steps of a full move are in our website migration guide.
Which suits your business
Squarespace suits a business that wants hosting bundled with the site, the domain and the plan. WordPress suits one that wants to decide where the site runs and keep every page if it moves. If you are on Squarespace now, the export makes a move to WordPress possible, but plan for the pages and blocks that stay behind.
How to choose between Squarespace and WordPress
- List the pages your site needs, such as services, a blog, a gallery or a store.
- Try Squarespace with its free trial, or WordPress.com with its free plan.
- Decide who will run updates and backups if you host WordPress yourself.
- Check where your domain is registered and whether it is in your name.
- If you are leaving Squarespace, export the content and see what the file holds.
- Match your blog post addresses in WordPress, or redirect the old ones.
- After a move, check every page for missing images before you cancel the old plan.
Before you commit
- You know which page types your site needs.
- You tried the platform before paying for it.
- You can sign in to the account that holds your domain.
- You know what Squarespace’s export leaves behind.
- Your old blog addresses still work after a move.
- Every image shows on the new site before you cancel the old one.
RememberSquarespace keeps hosting and your plan in one place, and its export takes part of your content in a WordPress format. With WordPress you pick the host and keep all your content, in exchange for more work from whoever looks after the site.
We build on WordPress through our web design service; if Squarespace suits you better, the checks above still apply. You can reach us on WhatsApp or through the form.
Quick answers about Squarespace and WordPress
Can a Squarespace site be moved to WordPress?
Yes, in part. Squarespace exports certain content as an .xml file in a WordPress format, including layout pages, text and image blocks and one blog page. Store, portfolio and calendar pages, style settings and custom CSS don’t export.
Does Squarespace include hosting?
Yes. Squarespace says every plan includes bandwidth and hosting for your site and its content. It doesn’t host content built on other platforms, so a site made elsewhere has to be rebuilt with its templates and tools.
Can I try Squarespace for free?
Squarespace offers a 14-day free website trial so you can get to know its features before you subscribe. You can’t export content from a trial site, though, so a site you may move later has to be published first.
Will my images move from Squarespace to WordPress?
Not always. Squarespace warns that on a self-hosted WordPress site the WordPress Importer plugin might not migrate your images, and suggests WordPress.com, which copies them to its servers. Check every page before you cancel your Squarespace site.
Can I keep my blog post URLs?
Yes. WordPress.com’s import guide shows how to set WordPress permalinks so each blog post URL matches the one you had on Squarespace. If an address has to change, a 301 redirect sends people from the old address to the new one.
Sources
All read on November 5, 2026. Squarespace Help Center: Is hosting included? Export your site content. WordPress.com Support: Import from Squarespace to WordPress. WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org: What’s the difference? WordPress.org: About.