Webflow vs. Squarespace: What’s Best for Your Business
Webflow and Squarespace are two of the most popular no-code website builders. While both options make it easy to create a website, there are some critical differences between the two platforms. You should take the time to understand how your requirements fit theirs to ensure you choose the right solution.
Let's look at these differences to help you decide on the best option for your business.
Start with Your Requirements
Most businesses could use either Webflow or Squarespace to build their websites, but there are some critical differences between the two options. Before diving into each platform, start by taking the time to understand and list your requirements. With these in hand, it will be much easier to decide on the best platform for your business.
Key concerns to consider:
- Do you need eCommerce functionality?
- What third-party plugins do/will you use?
- Do you have specific design requirements?
- How much traffic do you expect?
- How much do you rely on SEO?
- Do you need dynamic data?
Webflow vs. Squarespace at a Glance
Webflow: Best for Customization
You can sum up Webflow's core benefits in one word: Flexibility.
Webflow provides a blank canvas where you can build nearly anything without writing any code. By comparison, Squarespace forces you to start with a template and often requires custom code to implement advanced design requirements. As a result, Webflow is a must-have if you need custom designs or advanced functionality.
In addition to design flexibility, Webflow's CMS makes it easy to manage dynamic content. Webflow enables you to create any kind of structured content, from case studies to eCommerce products, and manipulate them any way you choose. Meanwhile, Squarespace provides molds for specific data structures, like products or blog posts.
But, of course, the trade-off for flexibility is complexity. For example, it's much easier to replace text and imagery on a template than create a design from scratch (although Webflow also provides templates). Similarly, building out a reference field in a CMS is a lot more challenging than a built-for-you "embed products" feature.
Squarespace: Best for Ease-of-Use
You can also sum up Squarespace in one word: Easy.
Squarespace will get your business up and running in record time. After choosing a template, you can simply replace the content with your own messaging and media. The platform's built-in eCommerce functionality makes it quick and easy to push a store live and access many of the features you'd expect, like transactional email templates.
In addition to its ease of use, Squarespace has a much larger plugin ecosystem than Webflow. While Webflow usually requires integration with Zapier or Integromat, Squarespace has many built-in integrations with popular eCommerce, marketing, and analytics tools. These integrations are a lot more robust and reliable.
As you may have guessed, Squarespace trades off flexibility for ease of use. While you can make many design customizations in Squarespace, many require programming knowledge. Squarespace also lacks the same attention to technical detail as Webflow, translating to fewer SEO features and slower performance.
Getting the Best of Both Worlds
Webflow and Squarespace both have their pros and cons, but there are some tools that you can use to bridge the gap between the two—achieving the best of both worlds.
A common problem with Webflow is managing data since the built-in CMS isn’t ideal for collaboration with other tools. As a result, many businesses use Airtable as a data backend for their Webflow websites. Airtable is flexible enough to manage all kinds of data, from blog posts to eCommerce products, and integrates with several other platforms.
While it’s possible to integrate Airtable with Webflow using Zapier or Integromat, many businesses find it challenging to keep the data in sync. For instance, if you delete a blog post in Airtable, you must configure a separate “zap” in Zapier. It can quickly become a pain to manage every edge case that pops up.
PowerImporter automatically keeps Airtable and Webflow in sync without Zapier or Integromat. After matching your Airtable columns with Webflow CMS fields, the platform will automatically keep all data in sync. You don’t have to worry about misfiring “zaps,” editing or deleting data, or other edge cases that can cause problems.
PowerImporter makes it easy to connect Webflow’s beautiful frontend with Airtable’s powerful backend. Source: PowerImporter
In addition to Airtable, PowerImporter can help sync data from CSV files and WordPress. For example, you can write blog posts in WordPress—a familiar blogging platform for almost everyone—and use that as a headless CMS to update your Webflow blog. Or, you can configure a CSV export of product data and easily keep your Webflow eCommerce up to date.
The Bottom Line
Webflow and Squarespace are two of the most popular no-code website builders for a reason. While it's possible to build most websites using either solution, Webflow is best for flexibility, while Squarespace is best for ease of use. Of course, the right choice depends on your specific business requirements, budget, and other factors.
If you’re interested in using Webflow with Airtable, WordPress, or CSV files, try PowerImporter today without a credit card and see how easy it is to keep your data in sync.
