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Squarespace vs BlueHost Review [current_date format=’Y’]. Which one is superior ?

Satyendra Prasad

February 4, 2023

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Squarespace vs BlueHost? Both are two of the most popular website builders out there. They both offer features like e-commerce, hosting, and domain registration. However, they differ in terms of pricing and ease of use.

BlueHost is a more affordable option for people who want to build their own website but don’t have much technical knowledge. It’s also easy to use – you can just log in and start building your website with one click.

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Squarespace is a more expensive option that provides you with a lot more features than Bluehost does – but it requires some technical knowledge to use it properly.

Winner Snapshot – Here is a summary table to compare Squarespace vs BlueHost

Winner: BlueHost

BlueHost has several essential features users need to hos their websites. The services comes with a free domain, shared hosting plans, cloud hosting, acceptance of any CMS, and much more.

Quick Comparison: Squarespace vs BlueHost

About Squarespace and BlueHost

Squarespace vs BlueHost – A Side-by-Side Comparison

Squarespace is a favored Web host for about 2% of the top 10million websites globally and BlueHost is one of the world’s largest hosting platforms. We’ll need to compare the features of both Web hosts side-by-side to see how they both perform against each other.

1. Hosting Features: Squarespace vs BlueHost

Main Squarespace Features

Squarespace offers comprehensive features to its users. The service has some major features like:

• Flexible payment options
• Beginner-friendly WordPress hosting
• All-inclusive Web hosting
• Drag-and-drop site builder

Flexible payment options

Squarespace provides subscribers two payment options – monthly or annually. With payment options available, users can conveniently select the subscription plan to suit their budget.

Website builders and admins on a budget can take full advantage of such flexibility to get their sites live and avoid downtimes. Squarespace monthly subscriptions might cost more, but users will get greater flexibility to host their websites.

Beginner-friendly WordPress hosting

Squarespace has a simple user interface that allow beginners and experts build and host websites with ease. The platform also comes with several straightforward features to increase ease of use potential for its subscribers.

All-inclusive Web hosting

Squarespace offers lots more than standard Web hosting plans to users. All Squarespace subscribers have access to full website builder features along with a hosting plan. Users can take advantage of several features to create, manage, and host their websites through this platform.

Drag-and-drop site builder

Squarespace provides users with a simple drag-and-drop website builder designed to allow users create professional-looking sites and different themes. Templates on the site builder may come in handy for builders with no concrete knowledge of web design.  

Main BlueHost Features

Some of BlueHost’s major features include:

• Free CDN
• Budget hosting
• Free SSL certificates
• Long money-back guarantee

Free CDN

BlueHost gives users’ access to its Content Delivery Network (CDN) at no extra cost. The service allows subscribers serve their visitors with super-fast uptimes and better site performance overall.

CDN promotes better website performance, promoting quick access to your website content across continents.  

Budget hosting

BlueHost has some of the industry’s cheapest hosting plans overall. Users can get a hosting plan for their website with several essential features for less than $5. Other plans from BlueHost also come with great features at very low prices.

Free SSL certificates

BlueHost comes with free Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificates to allow significant server-browser transmission. This feature ensures users keep their site’s information safe during data transmission throughout backups, updates, and much more.

Long money-back guarantee

All first-time subscriptions to BlueHost plans come with a 30-day money back guarantee. The long money back guarantee ensures users can check all of BlueHost’s major features and get a refund if they want.

2. Site Performance (Speed & Uptime): Squarespace vs BlueHost

We need to assess the speed and uptime of Squarespace vs BlueHost to see how they both perform head-to-head. Web hosts must provide enough support to users keen to get ideal loading speed and consistent uptimes for their websites.

Let’s check how both platforms perform overall.

Squarespace Speed & Uptime

Squarespace is one of the fastest Web hosts out there when you consider site speed with its average <0.5s rating. Subscribers can expect speeds less than 1 second at worst as performance results show.

The service also does a decent job with its uptime offering, as users can expect their site to stay live 99.99% of the time. Squarespace uptime numbers show that users should not experience any more than 0.01% downtimes while hosting their site through its servers.

Such high ratings mean Squarespace is one of the very best if you consider performance alone.

BlueHost Speed & Uptime

BlueHost speed tests show it has an average response time of 361ms, maximum response time of 703 seconds, and minimal response time of 205ms. The speed test recorded six (6) outages overall within a 2-month period.

Further speed test results also show that BlueHost has an average uptime rate of 99.99%, making it one of the top Web hosts for longer site uptimes.

Winner:

BlueHost edges Squarespace in this round with its significantly faster loading speeds. Both platforms are neck in neck when you consider overall uptimes, but Squarespace seems to experience fewer outages. BlueHost seems to be a better option for users to host their websites for fast, always active pages.

3. Pricing & Plans: Squarespace vs BlueHost

Web hosts and site builders have different average costs and unique plans for users. It is vital we compare the pricing and plans available from Squarespace vs BlueHost to see how budget-friendly they are.

Website builders and admins on small budgets are likely to choose plans with lower fees and better features overall. Let’s see how these platforms match up against each other.

Squarespace Prices & Plans

Squarespace has four (4) plans – Personal, Business, Basic Commerce, & Advanced Commerce.

The Squarespace Personal ($16 / month) plan comes with the following features:

• unlimited bandwidth and storage,
• SSL security,
• Squarespace templates,
• SEO for website visibility,
• mobile-friendly websites,
• free custom domain and registration,
• 24/7 customer support,
• Squarespace extensions, etc.

Squarespace Business ($19 / month) has everything in the Personal plan along with features like:

• CSS/JavaScript customization,
• Ecommerce integration,
• Website analytics, etc.

Squarespace Basic Commerce ($26 / month) and Squarespace Advanced Commerce ($40 / month) offer features to increase business reach online with customer accounts, POS, gift cards, shipping, APIs, and much more.

All Squarespace plans are available on monthly or yearly subscription bundles. However, users will save up to 30% in subscription costs if they buy annual plans upfront.

BlueHost Prices & Plans

BlueHost offers four (4) hosting bundles in total – BlueHost Basic, BlueHost Plus, BlueHost Choice Plus, and Blue Host Pro.

BlueHost Basic ($4.95 per month) gives its users 50 GB storage, unmetered bandwidth, free CDN, support for one site, free SSL certificates, and more.

BlueHost Plus ($5.85 per month) offers unmetered storage and bandwidth, free SSL, unlimited websites, and more. The same features and other essential tools are available from BlueHost Choice Plus ($5.95 per month) and BlueHost Pro ($9.95 per month).

BlueHost also offers three other bundles – BlueHost VPS ($19.99 to $59.99 per month), BlueHost Dedicated Server ($79.99 to $119.99 per month), and BlueHost WordPress ($4.95 to $5.95 per month) – to users. These plans have different features to help users gain greater resources for better service and added features.

Winner:

BlueHost wins this round with its massive plans and varying features to offer. Users can get several features to increase their website reach with the support services from BlueHost. Squarespace has decent features too but can’t stack up to what BlueHost provides.

4. Customer Support: Squarespace vs BlueHost

Squarespace Customer Support

Squarespace provides 24/7 customer support to users through live chat, email, and ticket support. The service doesn’t offer additional services like forum support, knowledge base, or video guides.

Squarespace customer service channels are quite decent and response times are negligible. The platform responds better through its chat and email customer support options, especially during business hours.

BlueHost Customer Support

BlueHost customer support are reachable by live chat, email, and ticket support. These services also get added support with video guides and how-to articles for user walkthroughs. However, BlueHost doesn’t have phone support at the moment, limiting the contact options its users can access.

Winner:

BlueHost wins this round, as it offers more customer support options to subscribers. Customer support from BlueHost can be vital to help users get more value on their current plans or access greater features required to scale websites.

Squarespace also does a decent job with its customer service offering, but comes behind BlueHost in this round.

5. Ease of Use: Squarespace vs BlueHost

We compared the features of Squarespace and BlueHost to see their ease of use potential. The ease of use either Web host provides could prove vital to beginners and users looking for simple, user-friendly website design and hosting services.

Squarespace Ease of Use

Squarespace offers its users a simple interface to help beginners and experts build professional sites after few clicks. The built-in website designer has a drag-and-drop feature and several templates to support website creation.

BlueHost Ease of Use

All BlueHost plans come with a website builder and is accessible to users immediately after sign-up and domain registration. Users can easily get their websites built and online within minutes, as BlueHost is WordPress-ready.

BlueHost also offers unmetered bandwidth to allow subscribers receive unrestricted traffic on their website.

Winner:

Squarespace slightly edges BlueHost in this round with its simple interface and straightforward features. BlueHost also provides several essential elements to help users achieve ease of use, but Squarespace seems to offer superior features in this round.

6. Scalability: Squarespace vs BlueHost

Website owners typically want to grow their online presence, attract more traffic, and offer added services to users. A Web host must encourage scalability by providing the options users need to grow their online presence.

Let’s see how Squarespace vs BlueHost compare to each other when we talk about scalability.

Squarespace Scalability

Plans from Squarespace could prove vital to help businesses scale online and offer more features overall. Some of Squarespace’s most essential services across its plans target customization ease for its users.

The platform also comes with a WordPress directory to allow users add any feature they want to their websites. The directory feature and unlimited bandwidth are two of several vital elements from Squarespace to help users scale their websites.  

BlueHost Scalability

BlueHost provides its users several plans with vital features businesses need to scale their presence online. The Web host comes with small to commercial-sized plans designed to help individuals and businesses offer newer features or accommodate increasing site traffic.

Several features like unlimited storage and bandwidth, one-click app installers, and more are vital to help users grow their presence online.

Winner:

BlueHost is the better option overall when you consider its scaling ability to Squarespace. The platform offers its users several plans along with secure options to promote website growth for users. Most BlueHost plans offer easy and free migration to allow users accommodate greater traffic, offer new features, and much more.  

7. Security: Squarespace vs BlueHost

Security is a crucial feature all Web hosts must have or risk exposing their users to significant threats. We compared the security features of Squarespace and BlueHost side-by-side to see how they both work to secure their subscribers’ websites.

Squarespace Security

Squarespace offers users dedicated security support with its in-house team. The Squarespace security team provide assistance to help users create and manage their websites. Also, users get access to a Catastrophe Recovery format to recover all site data from saved files if a breach occurs.

Squarespace also provides Web Application Firewall (WAF) Technology to improve site protection for subscribers. The platform also features SSL certificates to allow smooth browser-server transmission for all website admins it serves.

BlueHost Security

BlueHost offers several security features with its basic and advanced plans to protect users’ websites. The service features general anti-spamming tools like Spam Experts, Apache SpamAssassin, and Spam Hammer to protect users.

All users also have access to other tools like free SSL certificates and additional protective software on higher plans.

Winner:

It would be safe to call this round a tie, even though we slightly call it in favor of Squarespace.

The Squarespace platform has most features BlueHost offers and goes one better with its WAF inclusion. BlueHost does well overall in comparison to Squarespace and offers secure login to promote account security.

Both platforms have several great security features, but Squarespace looks like the better option, even if the margin is slim.

8. Server Location: Squarespace vs BlueHost

Where a Web host locates its servers can affect the site performance its users should expect. Poor server location could cause drops in uptime rates and trigger slowdowns leading to higher page loading speeds.

We need to see how both Web hosts station their servers to know which offers superior options to users.

Squarespace Server Location

All Squarespace servers are in North America, even if there’s little information about their actual sites online. Squarespace servers run the sites of all its users and provides access to its features with embedded security options.

BlueHost Server Location

Mumbai, Utah, Orem, London (UK, Europe) and China (Shanghai, Hong Kong)

Winner: BlueHost

Squarespace vs BlueHost: Final Recommendations

We’ve seen eight (8) different vital elements of both Web hosts and compared their overall performance side-by-side. Now, here’s what we think based on all the results:

When to Choose Squarespace

Squarespace could be an excellent Web host if you want:

User-friendly hosting

Squarespace has an easy-to-use interface to help newbies and experienced builders design and host sites. The company offers these features to make Web development comfortably for anyone, even if they’ve never been a website admin.

Such ease of use could come in handy if you want comprehensive Web hosting services without hassle.

All-in-one services

Squarespace gives its users all-in-one support to create websites with existing templates and run them without migration. The feature allows subscribers start their websites from scratch and get their content online with comfort.

Squarespace also provides comprehensive site migration to users, allowing them get all its user-friendly features with ease.

Easy-to-use website builder

Squarespace has one of few industry-leading website builders designed to allow users get their sites online without hassle. The comprehensive site builder has a drag-and-drop build to make template selection easy for users.

Many payment options

Squarespace is one of few Web hosts with different payment options for users. Subscribers can choose to pay for Web hosting every month or on an annual plan. Website admins with small budgets could take advantage of this feature to keep their site online month-to-month.

When You Should Pick BlueHost

BlueHost is a top option for countless website admins as it has many features they need to keep their sites online. You can consider BlueHost as a top option if you want:

Decent money back guarantees

Some Web hosts offer no more than a 14-day money back guarantee, but BlueHost does much better. With a 30-day money back guarantee, BlueHost users can try out its features before committing to long-term plans.

Some of BlueHost’s major features are available on its Basic plan, so you should get a glimpse of all it offers in the first month. If you don’t like services you’re getting, you can get your money back, no questions asked within the guarantee period.

Great website performance

Everyone wants great loading speeds and fantastic uptimes for their websites, and that’s what BlueHost claims to provide. Users can rely on BlueHost’s resources to provide users page loading speeds within 0.5 to <2 seconds based on several factors.

Users keen to attract more traffic and serve users worldwide with great site performance will benefit from such metrics BlueHost claims to offer.  

Scalability

Website admins who choose to run their sites through BlueHost can access several features to scale their businesses. The platform provides multiple options for interested users to maximize their site’s reach and accommodate more features. However, scaling your plan under BlueHost will attract higher subscription fees, but you’ll gain more stuff to serve users with greater comfort.

Users looking to grow their website over time will appreciate what BlueHost offers its users.

Budget hosting

BlueHost is one of the industry’s cheapest Web hosts with services available at very budget-friendly prices. Users can expect comprehensive services along with basic security features for few dollars per month. Web builders and admins looking for Web hosts with low rates will fancy what BlueHost has to offer.

Bottom Line: Squarespace vs BlueHost

We’ve seen several vital elements of both Web hosts and it’s clear that they offer similar services and few unique features. Choosing either of these platforms will be great, but you must align your options closely.

Squarespace seems to be a better option for users with website building and editing needs and great Web hosting inclusive. BlueHost could be an ideal choice for users who need simplicity from their Web host along with decent security features.

Both offer superior services in different areas, and the final decision is yours to make. Pick the Web host with settings and support you need to grow your business and offer great features to visitors without hassle.

FAQs: Squarespace vs BlueHost

Does Squarespace Have Free Site Migration?

Squarespace is one of few all-in-one Web hosts to offer free website migration to users.

The service allows users with a domain or fully functional website to transfer their entire settings to Squarespace. However, Squarespace allows users migrate some functions as-is but might require edits to existing settings with Squarespace’s templates and tools.

Does BlueHost Need SiteLock Security?

BlueHost adopts an extensive security framework and doesn’t require SiteLock Security for users to run their websites. The service has a history of crippling cyber-attacks and currently features advanced tools to protect users without SiteLock.

Can I Remove the “.squarespace.com” Tag on My Site URL?

All sites built on Squarespace come with a “.squarespace.com” tag attached to their URL. Users can remove this URL when they request a custom domain from Squarespace. The company has several custom domain name options available without the tag.

Does BlueHost Have Unlimited Storage?

BlueHost provides 50 GB to unlimited storage space for users on different hosting plans. Basic subscribers have access to limited plans but Plus and Pro users have no such restrictions.

Unlimited hosting offers from BlueHost are available separately and can cost up to $10 based on your selection.