Website strategy and web design services for authors

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WordPress vs Squarespace for Authors: Which is best in 2024?

Pauline Wiles

• This article contains affiliate links • Refreshed and updated: January 2024

Many of my clients come to me because they’re trying to weigh up WordPress vs Squarespace for their author website, and I love to help them understand these options. Often, I include a lesser-known tool called Carrd in our decision making, too.

As a website designer, I aim to help you understand:

  1. You have great choices available, when picking your website technology.

  2. There is no single "best" solution: the right choice for you depends on your needs, personality, tech comfort, income streams, potential investment return, and enthusiasm for ongoing maintenance.

  3. Too many of the people giving you advice on how to approach your website are pushing one solution because they make affiliate income from your purchase, especially WordPress hosting.

So I'm aiming here to give you an easy-to-navigate overview of why you might choose self-hosted WordPress, Squarespace, or Carrd.co for your website platform.

I’ve checked and refreshed this article so that the information and prices mentioned are correct for 2024. The video was made in 2021.

Watch as  a video, if you prefer, here (19 minutes)

My experience working with WordPress, Squarespace, and Carrd:

  • I have built multiple websites using all 3 of these, for myself and for clients. I don't feel qualified to give you an in-depth opinion on other options, although I did do a quick test drive of these other popular website tools.

  • My own website was on WordPress for many years, before I moved to Squarespace. When you’re taking advice on WordPress vs Squarespace, I encourage you to listen to someone who’s used both.

  • I'm a proud affiliate for both Carrd and Squarespace. My reward for referring you to Carrd is equivalent to a coffee + cookie at Starbucks. For Squarespace, it's usually more. But my overriding priority is that you get the best tool for you.

1. WordPress: high customization if you’re technical

Why WordPress might be a good choice for you

  • In a nutshell, WordPress is fantastically widely used. There is a massive community of developers (= help available), and an impressive array of additional functionality you can install. Apparently, 60 million websites run WordPress.

  • If your business is blogging, and/or you want to publish articles and blog posts frequently, WordPress was "born" for that purpose and is a compelling choice.

  • If your existing website uses WordPress, and you kinda-sorta know your way around it, then it might be worth sticking with what you know.

  • If you don't love maintaining your website yourself, but you have a great relationship with someone who does it for you and you're willing to keep them on retainer, then you are hopefully in good hands.

  • If you find a good deal for hosting and don't need to pay for additional help, it should be possible to run your WordPress website for less than $100 per year. Realistically, you’ll probably want to pay for a professional theme, and this will add to your WordPress cost.

  • If you ever need to, you can download the files that make up your WordPress site, and move them somewhere else.

Why WordPress may not be right for you

  • If you're building your website yourself and you're not especially technical, WordPress can be enormously confusing. You'll face an array of choices as you select hosting, a theme, widgets, and plugins. This is because it's so versatile, and a worldwide community contributes to its functionality.

  • Although the WordPress technology that you'll use is free, you'll need to choose and budget for hosting so that your website has somewhere online to "live". (This is often where lucrative affiliate commissions are made from your purchase.) Hosting is a key difference between WordPress and Squarespace: the latter includes file space in your monthly subscription, and you don’t need to do anything to set it up.

  • Because it's so widely used with so many disparate pieces, I assert that WordPress is an attractive target for security breaches and hacking attempts. My own WordPress site was hacked when I updated a plugin that contained (freshly inserted) malicious code.

  • If you plan to maintain your website yourself, WordPress needs regular hands on care. If you neglect this, things will break, and you run the risk of being hacked. When something goes wrong, there is no central support team for you to contact, and you may spend hours trying to figure out a solution on your own.

  • If you don't fancy spending the time to keep your website and plugins updated, hiring someone to do it for you can be expensive. Care plan fees of $60 - $120 per month are typical.

  • Depending on your tech provider, you might need additional steps to configure a security certificate (SSL) for your website. Without this, your site won't show as secure with https and many browsers will now refuse to display your website to visitors. Some providers charge extra for SSL although in my opinion, they shouldn’t. Learn more about SSL from Let’s Encrypt.

  • You may need to invest in a separate plug-in to get all the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) options you desire.

Related:

Good examples of WordPress websites

2. Squarespace: beautiful, intuitive, and supported

Why Squarespace might be a good choice for you

  • Squarespace is an all-in-one website technology, meaning you pay one price that combines your rights to use the "clever parts" and also the hosting (= online space) that your website needs.

  • Squarespace facilitates beautiful, modern, professional website pages. That said, if you build it on your own, it's still possible to create an ugly Squarespace website, and you do need to keep an eye on mobile view.

  • There is not as much functionality available as in WordPress (with all of its plugins), but Squarespace is easier to learn and to use.

  • Most of my clients choose Squarespace for their author website because they want to be comfortable making simple updates themselves.

  • Blogging, an email list, an online store, and integrated appointment scheduling are all available. Note that there is an additional charge to run your email list. But you might love having all these tools in one place. Squarespace tends to work well for my author clients who would rather be writing than grappling with tech.

  • There is centralized support, so if you run into a problem, you can reach out to someone. The Squarespace team also handles security updates and patches on your behalf.

  • Your SSL certificate (for security, shown as https) is automatic and included in every price plan.

  • Squarespace guides you through all the important SEO considerations with this SEO checklist, and the features you need are included in your package.

  • There is plenty of choice of professionals to hire, either to create your website, or help you keep it fresh.

  • Get 20% off your first year when you work with me for a custom Squarespace design. 

  • Or, for your DIY website, save 10% off your first subscription with code PAULINE10

Related:

Why Squarespace may not be right for you

  • If blogging is your raison d'être, Squarespace may be clunky for the number of posts you'll create, and how you'll manage them on an ongoing basis. In the WordPress vs Squarespace debate, this is an area where WordPress is stronger.

  • If your business is an extensive online store (as opposed to service-based, or linking to book retailer sites) the Squarespace shop feature may not be sophisticated enough. Investigate Shopify, instead.

  • If you love tinkering with technology and editing html code (even just a little), you might be frustrated by Squarespace's efforts to protect you from yourself. There are some design tweaks that require a knowledge of CSS (code) to implement.

  • Squarespace websites start from $16 per month, but some features cost more. Examples include promotional pop-ups on your site, integrating with other tools, and running your email list using Squarespace.

Good examples of Squarespace websites for authors

I designed all of these sites, and you can see more in my portfolio.

WordPress vs Squarespace for authors and writers

For the authors and writers I talk to every week, Squarespace is often the best choice. Here’s how to use Squarespace for your author website.

In summary:

  • WordPress could suit you if you want lots of features, have time available to tinker, and you’ve got reasonable technical skills. Or, you’re willing to pay regularly for help. Equally, if you’re already on WordPress and love it, no need to rock the boat.

  • Squarespace is for you if you’re nervous around technology and fancy an all-in-one solution with free help available. You’ll save yourself stress and inevitable cost when something has you stumped. Too much advice about WordPress vs Squarespace pricing indicates that WordPress is cheaper. In fact, if you’re not techie enough to manipulate your own WordPress theme, update your own plugins, and troubleshoot glitches, be wary. With WordPress, sooner or later, you’ll end up paying in dollars and anxiety.

If you’re considering creating your author website using one of these, I’m happy to answer your questions about whether WordPress or Squarespace is better for you.

Related:

3. Carrd.co: minimal, affordable alternative

Why Carrd might be a good choice for you

  • If you want a simple website, with a clean layout and only a few pages, Carrd is a strong contender.

  • You'll start from a template, although you're not then tied to that choice; everything can be configured later. Carrd makes it easy to achieve a sleek, modern design.

  • Because it's a simple platform, the annual cost of Carrd is low. The free plan is excellent, but I typically recommend the plan costing US$19 per year so you can add a few more features and use your own domain name.

  • For its size, Carrd is surprisingly flexible with plenty of useful features and integrations. Many items, like buttons and icons, can be configured in a way that Squarespace, for example, doesn't offer without coding.

  • There is central support available. Carrd is a small company, yet I've found the help is fast and addresses my question well.

  • Your SSL security certificate comes as standard, and it’s automatic.

Related:

Why Carrd may not be right for you

  • Carrd markets itself as a one-page site builder and, although you can use sections to make your website show up with different pages, it really isn't suitable for creating more than about 5-6 web pages.

  • Carrd does not offer a blogging feature. There's nothing to stop you posting news snippets and linking to articles you've published elsewhere, but don't choose Carrd if your heart is set on blogging on your own website.

  • There are no drop-down menus available (because you're not supposed to create a complex site structure). You'll create buttons to help your visitors navigate.

  • There are some options for SEO configuration, but they're limited compared to WordPress and Squarespace. Your chances of getting good search rankings are lower.

  • Your ability to analyze website traffic is more restricted, essentially because your site exists behind-the-scenes as just one page.

  • There are professional designers available to help you, but by no means as many as work with WordPress or Squarespace.

Good examples of Carrd websites for authors

Still not sure? Book a chat

Don't let anyone tell you their website platform recommendation is "best" until they've asked you about your needs, budget, and appetite for technology. These are all important factors. In many conversations I have with writers, we’ll know quickly if the simplicity of Carrd might be right for you. However, when it comes to WordPress vs Squarespace, tech comfort and your willingness to pay a retainer is especially key in making a good decision.

If you're considering hiring me to create a custom website for you using either Carrd or Squarespace, I'm pleased to offer a free consultation to chat about your project.

See this gallery in the original post