Wix Studio vs Squarespace for web designers: which suits client work

The short answer

Choose Wix Studio if you sell custom design, care how layouts behave on tablets, work as a team, or want to add code and database-driven pages. Its partner programme also pays you a revenue share on premium sites you buy and publish.

Choose Squarespace if you build a steady stream of brochure, portfolio and small service sites for clients who want something tidy they can update without breaking it. Squarespace Circle is free to join and mainly saves your clients money through discounts and longer trials.

Choose neither if you really want to sell websites as your own product, under your own name and at your own prices. That is a white-label builder's job, covered near the end.

Building your own business site rather than client sites? Our Wix vs Squarespace comparison for small businesses fits you better.

Design control

Wix Studio is Wix's platform for professionals, separate from the standard Wix editor that business owners use. Wix lists grid systems, custom CSS, advanced typography and custom breakpoints for mobile, tablet and desktop, with device-specific tweaks. There are developer tools for custom functionality, a CMS for data-driven pages, an AI code assistant, and AI tools that generate a sitemap and wireframe to start a project.

Squarespace uses Fluid Engine, a grid editor where you drag blocks into place. It is pleasant to use and the templates are strong, but you get only two editable views: desktop and mobile. Below roughly 750 pixels wide, the 24-column desktop grid switches to an 8-column mobile grid. Tablets get the desktop layout, which is where awkward gaps tend to appear, and designers rely on workarounds to fix them.

Code is the other split. Squarespace's CSS editor is on every plan, but JavaScript, the advanced code block and code injection (for scripts such as a tracking pixel or live chat) need Core or higher.

Verdict: for bespoke, pixel-precise work, Wix Studio wins clearly. For a standard five-page site on a deadline, Squarespace is often quicker because there are fewer decisions, and its limits keep the design consistent.

Client handoff and day-to-day editing

Most support headaches start after launch, when the client logs in and moves something. Both platforms handle this, in different ways.

Wix Studio gives you three useful tools:

• Client kits: onboarding packs with brand assets, guidelines and templates that appear in the client's site dashboard. They work on Studio sites only.
• Content mode: the client updates copy and media while layouts and styles stay locked.
• Roles: invite the client as a collaborator with a predefined or custom role. Collaborators edit within their permissions but cannot delete or transfer the site. If the client should own it outright, transfer full ownership instead.

Squarespace keeps it simpler. You invite the client as a contributor and switch on only the permissions they need. To hand the site over fully, the client needs a Squarespace account and must accept your invitation, then you transfer ownership from the Permissions and Ownership panel. You stay on as an administrator until someone removes you. Two catches: billing details do not update automatically after a transfer, so make sure the client adds their own card, and the Basic plan allows only one contributor besides the owner.

Squarespace's simpler editor means fewer calls about a broken mobile layout. Wix Studio's content mode solves the same problem with more control, which matters more on complex sites.

Team workflows

If you work alone, both are fine. With a team, the gap widens.

Wix Studio has a proper workspace. You invite teammates and give them roles for specific sites or for all sites, such as billing manager or domain manager, and one person can hold several roles. Designers can work on the same canvas in real time and leave comments on the page. Wix's help centre says sites in a Studio workspace get five free collaborator seats even before you upgrade, and the top Elite plan allows up to 100.

Squarespace works site by site: each site has one owner and a list of contributors. Core, Plus and Advanced allow unlimited contributors, and trial sites allow up to five. That suits a studio of two or three. For a bigger team juggling dozens of client sites, Wix Studio's structure is easier to manage.

Billing clients and what you earn

This is where the partner programmes differ most. Wix pays you. Squarespace mostly saves your client money.

Wix Studio and the Wix Partner Program. Building in the Studio workspace costs nothing; you pay when a client site goes on a premium plan. You can buy the plan and rebill the client, or, as a Wix Partner, send a payment request so the client pays Wix directly and becomes the site's billing manager. Renewals then go to the client, not your card. Wix advertises a revenue share of 20% or more on every Studio premium site you purchase and publish, and partners can also earn a share of client sales processed through Wix Payments.

There are four levels (Pioneer, Creator, Icon and Legend) based on points. Each premium Studio site you build earns 300 points, and Icon (2,000 points) adds eligibility for the Wix Marketplace, where clients can find you, and access to a partner success team. To stay eligible you need to keep launching new premium sites as first owner, at least one a year.

Squarespace Circle. Circle is free and open to any Squarespace customer. Your tier depends on points earned through subscriptions and community activity:

• Silver: 10% off the client's annual plan, a 3-month free trial, priority support.
• Gold: 20% off, a 6-month trial, urgent priority support.
• Platinum: 25% off, a 12-month trial, dedicated support.

Circle partners can also earn referral commissions on new subscriptions, but you register for that separately and the Circle page does not publish the rate. One detail catches people out: the extended trial applies only when you start the site in your own account and add the client as a contributor, not when the client starts it and invites you.

Neither platform lets you set your own price for the subscription. Your margin comes from your design fee and any monthly care plan you invoice separately.

Wix Studio vs Squarespace at a glance

What your client pays

These are US prices per month on annual billing at the time of writing (October 2026). Both platforms show different prices by country and add local tax, so check from your client's location before you quote.

Two worked examples:

• A consultant's brochure site: Wix Studio Basic and Squarespace Basic both come to $228 a year. If you need code injection or more than one contributor besides the owner, Squarespace moves you up to Core at $348.
• A small shop: Wix Studio Standard is $324 a year. Squarespace Core is $348, or about $313 with a Circle Silver discount and about $278 at Gold.

Domains, paid apps, business email and payment processing fees come on top with both. For the full Wix side, see our guide to Wix Studio pricing for agencies.

What neither gives you: your own brand

Both platforms are built around their own name, and that shapes the client relationship.

Wix Studio's custom branding puts your logo on clients' site dashboards and in the invitation emails you send. It is a nice touch, but the client still logs in to Wix, and Wix's help centre lists fully customising the client dashboard as a feature request. Squarespace has no white-label option at all, as our guide on whether you can white-label Squarespace explains.

That matters in three ways:

• The client meets the platform. Once billing moves to them, the platform bills them, emails them and sells to them directly.
• You resell time, not software. You cannot package the platform as your own product at your own price.
• Leaving means a rebuild. Wix says its sites cannot be exported to another host. Squarespace's export moves blog posts, basic pages and galleries in WordPress format, but not the store, design settings or custom CSS.

For many freelancers none of this is a problem. If you charge for design and move on, whose logo sits on the dashboard hardly matters. It matters when you want recurring revenue from software sold under your own name.

When a white-label builder like WebNewBiz fits better

WebNewBiz is an AI website builder with an online store and an AI CRM on the same platform, plus a white-label programme for agencies and freelancers. It suits studios that want to sell websites, and often a CRM, as their own product.

• Your brand throughout: your name, logo, colours and favicon on a dashboard at your own domain, such as app.youragency.com. The login page, invitations, emails and invoice PDFs carry your brand, and email can go through your own SMTP.
• Client accounts you control: put each client on a plan with limits on websites, team members and features, suspend an account if needed, and either log in as the client to do the work or let them self-serve.
• Your prices, your payments: create your own packages (recurring, one-off or free, weekly to yearly, with an optional setup fee, in several currencies), list them on your own storefront page and take payment through your own Stripe or PayPal account.
• Quick builds: describe the client's business, the AI drafts the site, and you refine it by chat. The store, AI CRM and funnels are available depending on the plan you sell. If CRM resale appeals, see our guide to white-label CRM for agencies.

Now the honest limits. WebNewBiz is a young platform with a much smaller app ecosystem and community than Wix or Squarespace, and its agency programme is younger and smaller than those of Duda, GoHighLevel or Webflow. The AI first draft still needs your edits, real photos and facts. Agency pricing is not published, so you have to ask. As with Wix and Squarespace, content and domains move if a client leaves, but the layout is rebuilt. And if your studio's value is hand-built design with custom breakpoints and code, Wix Studio remains the better canvas. For a wider look at the options, read our guide to the white-label website builder for agencies.

A checklist before you choose

1. Look at your last ten projects. If most were standard brochure sites, Squarespace's speed counts for more than Wix Studio's control.
2. Open your two most complex past designs on a tablet. If that view matters to your clients, choose Wix Studio.
3. Decide who owns and pays for each site after launch, and put it in your contract.
4. Count everyone who needs access, including client staff, against the plan's contributor limit.
5. Work out what you earn per site: design fee, care plan, plus Wix revenue share or Circle referrals.
6. Decide whether you want to be a Wix or Squarespace designer, or sell under your own brand. That points to a partner programme or a white-label platform.

Quick answers

Is Wix Studio better than Squarespace for web designers?

For custom design, team work and code, yes: it has editable tablet layouts, a shared workspace and a partner programme that shares revenue. For quick, tidy sites that clients edit themselves, Squarespace is often the easier choice.

Can I white-label Wix Studio or Squarespace?

Not fully. Wix Studio puts your logo on client dashboards and invitation emails, but clients still log in to Wix. Squarespace has no white-label option.

Does Squarespace Circle pay designers?

Circle is free and mainly gives your clients 10-25% off annual plans plus extended trials. Partners can also earn referral commissions on new subscriptions after registering separately; the rate is not published on the Circle page.

Who pays for a Wix Studio site plan?

Either you, rebilling the client, or the client directly through a payment request, which needs Wix Partner status. With a payment request the client pays Wix and handles renewals.

Which is cheaper for my client?

At US prices in October 2026, both start at $19 a month on annual billing. For a small shop, Wix Studio Standard at $27 is slightly cheaper than Squarespace Core at $29 unless a Circle discount applies.

Can I move a client site off Wix Studio or Squarespace later?

Content can move, but the design cannot. Wix does not export sites to other hosts, and Squarespace exports only some content in WordPress format, so plan for a rebuild.

Where to go from here

If you are happy to build as a Wix or Squarespace designer, either platform will serve you well, and the checklist above should settle which. If you would rather sell websites and a CRM under your own brand at your own prices, talk to us about white-label and we will explain how it works and what it costs for a studio your size.

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