What is the difference between Squarespace and Ghost?

Squarespace is best for Creatives and small businesses wanting polished sites, while Ghost is best for Bloggers and publishers who want a clean CMS. Squarespace starts at $16/mo and Ghost starts at $9/mo.

Is Squarespace or Ghost cheaper?

Squarespace starts at $16/mo. Ghost starts at $9/mo and is free.

Squarespace vs Ghost

Squarespace is all-in-one website builder with designer templates, e-commerce, and built-in analytics, while Ghost is open-source publishing platform focused on professional blogging with membership and newsletter features. The biggest difference up front: Ghost is free, while Squarespace starts at $16/mo. Squarespace is built for creatives and small businesses wanting polished sites, whereas Ghost targets bloggers and publishers who want a clean cms.

At a glance

	Squarespace	Ghost
Best for	Creatives and small businesses wanting polished sites	Bloggers and publishers who want a clean CMS
Starting price	$16/mo	$9/mo
Free tier	—	✓
Open source	—	✓
Free tier available	—	✓
Open source	—	✓
Analytics	✓	—
Domains	✓	—
E-commerce	✓	—
Memberships	—	✓
Newsletters	—	✓
Publishing	—	✓
SEO	—	✓
Templates	✓	—

Squarespace

Strengths

Huge template library covers social media, presentations, marketing materials, and more
Includes E-commerce as a core feature, purpose-built for website builder workflows
Pricing starts at $16/mo, which includes the full website builder feature set
Established product with 22+ years on the market and a mature ecosystem

Weaknesses

Starts at $16/mo — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Performance and SEO control is limited compared to custom-coded sites
Limited team/admin features if your organization eventually scales up

Try Squarespace → Full review

Ghost

Strengths

Open source and transparent
Includes Publishing as a core feature, purpose-built for website builder workflows
Fully open-source — you can self-host, audit the code, and avoid vendor lock-in
The core product is free with no paywalled essentials

Weaknesses

May lack some advanced features
Self-hosting is free but requires server maintenance and DevOps knowledge
Fewer built-in features means you may need additional tools to cover gaps
Performance and SEO control is limited compared to custom-coded sites

Try Ghost → Full review

The bottom line

Pricing: Ghost is completely free, which makes it the obvious pick if budget is the top concern. Squarespace starts at $16/mo. That cost buys you a more polished or feature-rich experience, so it comes down to whether the extras justify the spend.

Feature gaps: Squarespace offers Analytics, Domains and E-commerce that Ghost lacks. Ghost brings Memberships, Newsletters and Publishing that Squarespace does not have.

Team fit: Both tools target individuals teams, so the decision hinges on features and workflow fit rather than scale.

Open source: Ghost is open source, meaning you can self-host, audit the code, and avoid vendor lock-in. Squarespace is proprietary — you are trusting the vendor with your data and uptime.

Where each tool shines: Squarespace's biggest strengths are: huge template library covers social media, presentations, marketing materials, and more. includes e-commerce as a core feature, purpose-built for website builder workflows. Ghost's biggest strengths are: open source and transparent. includes publishing as a core feature, purpose-built for website builder workflows.

Watch out for: With Squarespace, users commonly note that starts at $16/mo — on the expensive side, especially for small teams or solo users. With Ghost, the main complaint is that may lack some advanced features.

Choose Squarespace if...

You need a tool built for creatives and small businesses wanting polished sites
You specifically need Analytics and Domains
You care about includes e-commerce as a core feature, purpose-built for website builder workflows

Choose Ghost if...

You need a tool built for bloggers and publishers who want a clean cms
Budget is a hard constraint — Ghost is free, Squarespace is not
You need self-hosting, data sovereignty, or the ability to audit source code
You specifically need Memberships and Newsletters
You care about includes publishing as a core feature, purpose-built for website builder workflows