WordPress is a free, open-source Squarespace alternative for websites and blogs, with thousands of themes and plugins. Squarespace charges a monthly plan with features tied to each tier; self-hosted WordPress has no platform fee.
| App | Good for | Code | Import from Squarespace | Ease of use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 WordPress | Any kind of website, with the widest choice of themes, plugins and people who can help | Code Open source | Import from Squarespace Yes | Easy |
 Ghost | Writers, creators and small publishers who want a blog, newsletter and paid memberships in one place | Code Open source | Import from Squarespace Partly | Some setup |
Squarespace is a hosted website builder known for polished templates, used for portfolios, small business sites, blogs and online shops.
People look for an alternative when the yearly plan becomes a significant cost, when they need features Squarespace does not offer, or when they want a site they can move. Squarespace keeps you on its own hosting, and its export covers only part of a site. Self-hosted WordPress or Ghost has no platform fee, can be extended without limits, and runs on any server you choose.
Build a website, blog or shop with themes and thousands of add-ons.
The usual choice for a full website: pages, a blog, a shop through WooCommerce, forms and bookings through plugins. It takes more setup than Squarespace but has no limits on what you add.
Publish a blog and paid newsletter on a site that you own.
A better fit if your site is mainly a blog or newsletter. Ghost gives you a polished publication with members and paid subscriptions, but it is not a general page builder or a shop.
Squarespace can export blog posts and pages as a WordPress-format file, which WordPress's built-in importer reads; product pages, styling and some blocks do not come across, so check each page and rebuild the shop with WooCommerce. For Ghost, use the Squarespace import in Ghost's migration tools, which brings over blog posts. Keep the same page addresses or add redirects to protect your search rankings.
Start with WordPress. Both are free and open source.
Not automatically. Designs do not transfer, so choose a WordPress or Ghost theme close to your current look and adjust colours and fonts.
Yes. Point your domain at your new site in your domain registrar's settings, or move the domain away from Squarespace if you bought it there.
Yes, the apps are free. To run them you need Cloudgate and a server. Use hosted Cloudgate, which can also provide the server, or install Cloudgate on a server of your own for free. Cloudgate's plans and prices are at cloudgate.octabyte.io/pricing. One server can run several apps.
No. Cloudgate installs the app on your server and gives it a secure web address. You use it in your browser.
