Squarespace vs Showit - What Is The Best Website Builder
Two of the most popular website builders out there for business owners right now are Squarespace and Showit.
Both platforms are extremely customizable, easy to use, and have tons of designers and templates to help you get started on a beautiful website.
But which platform is actually the better website builder?
In this blog post, I'm going to compare Squarespace vs. Showit and help you decide which platform works best for you (hint: both of them are actually amazing).
Intro to Squarespace
Let's start out first with Squarespace. Squarespace came out around 2004 as a drag-and-drop block-based website builder. Like many website builders, you're able to drag-and-drop and resize elements on a page, customize things like fonts and colors, and add any sort of images, videos, plugins, etc. The difference between Squarespace and a lot of other website builders is that it has a block-based editor - so it isn't completely free form.
Intro to Showit
Show it came out in 2008 as a strong customizable website builder for creatives. Their biggest audience was photographers, but now they have grown to reach a wider audience of general creatives and entrepreneurs wanting a fully customizable website. Show it is also a drag-and-drop website like Squarespace, but the page layout is completely customizable. Basically, it's like using an advanced Microsoft Paint - you can throw whatever you want, wherever you want on your page.
Website Editor - Squarespace VS Showit
Squarespace
Squarespace’s drag-and-drop editor is extremely easy to use and add elements to. It uses a block structure, which basically means that you have to adhere to a block formatting on your website. This is actually really smart for Squarespace to do because it makes designing a visibly pleasing website very easy for non-designers. It helps you keep to design standards instead of just throwing a bunch of elements onto a page and hoping that they look good.
Although Squarespace drag-and-drop block editor is fantastic for people DIYing their website, it can be limiting as a designer if you want to expand past the normal structure of a block-based website. On Squarespace you aren't able to just stick a random circle in the corner layer elements, Etc without adding in custom code.
Showit
Showit is the ultimate designer if you want to have complete design over exactly what your website looks like. Unlike Squarespace, you don’t have to adhere to any sort of block structure, which is basically the dream for a lot of designers.
Although Showit boasts often about how customizable it is, that can actually be extremely overwhelming for non-designers and new business owners who want to DIY their website. If you don't know anything about design and you're handed a blank canvas, it can be hard to understand what is the best structure of a website page, how to use fonts best, what colors to pick, and pretty much anything there is to know about design. I know lots of people who have started out on Showit and then switched over to Squarespace or something easier just because they weren't ready to completely have control over the entire layout at their website.
Mobile Design - Squarespace VS Showit
Squarespace
Squarespace automatically generates your mobile website for you based on your desktop design - which saves lots of time, but also limits your control on the mobile version of your site. Sometimes the automatic mobile view of your website ends up looking a little strange, so you really have to be careful when designing your website, and ultimately you won't have a lot of control over what the mobile looks like. Mobile is extremely important with your business, so just keep in mind if you're using Squarespace that you want to prioritize what your mobile view looks like.
Showit
Showit has 100% customizable mobile design capability, which is both a pro and a con. It's a pro because you can completely design what your mobile website looks like on every page which is fantastic. But that also means that you have to take the time to customize every single mobile page for your website. This can be time-consuming, so I often don't recommend Showit to someone who's just trying to get a website up quickly.
Blogging - Squarespace VS Showit
Squarespace
There's a big misconception that other website builders don't have as strong of a blogging platform as WordPress, but this is not true. Squarespace’s blog interface is very easy and intuitive to use, and it allows lots of customization for adding SEO to your posts. Personally I use Squarespace and have multiple blog posts that rank on the first page of Google, so I’ve not seen any trouble with SEO and blogging for Squarespace.
Showit
Showit uses WordPress for its customers’ blogs, which is already a strong and established blogging platform. This is great because you know that your blog, if you're integrating SEO correctly, is going to do well on Google. But it does get a little complicated to set up and confusing to lay out on Showit, and it also means that you're working on a couple different platforms for a website. It's more of an inconvenience, but it is still an amazing tool for blogging.
Tools and Integrations - Squarespace VS Showit
Squarespace
Squarespace, in my opinion, is one of the most robust and complete website builders out there. Not only can you build a website on Squarespace, but they also have integrated blogging, ecommerce, email marketing, scheduling, customer logins, instagrams feeds, and tons of more features that are automatically added in your Squarespace plan. This is amazing. Most other website builders require you to integrate with 3rd party plugins, which can be hard to rely on and are not always supported.
Showit
Showit, on the other hand, does not offer much on their own platform other than the basic web design. They have a list of 3rd party plugins that you can integrate on your website, some for free and some for an additional cost, to add things like a shop, Instagram feed, and other functionalities to your website.
Pricing - Squarespace VS Showit
Squarespace
Squarespace is extremely affordable. You can start on the personal plan of $12/month (paid annually), which, in my opinion, is what most business owners usually need to start a website. The plans go up gradually depending on your needs (like adding user profiles or a shop to your site) - but compared to other website builders on the market, this is probably the most affordable, especially for what you're getting for the product. There’s also NO limit for storage or number of visitors accessing your site on ANY plans (which is basically unheard of for most website builders).
Showit
Showit is a little bit more expensive than Squarespace. If you're wanting to have a Blog on your website it costs $24/month (paid annually) and that's just for a standard website with a blog. Plus, your cost also depends on the number of users accessing your site a month, and you also will have a limit on the storage for your site.
Overall, I love both Squarespace and Showit. Both are great website builders, and you can't go wrong with either one of them. Here’s my recommendation based on what your business situation might be:
Squarespace is great for you if you…
Want a website up quickly that you can always easily customize later on.
Have a budget but still want an amazing platform that you can work on.
Want your website to do more than just be a website and blog, like having scheduling, member profiles, ecommerce etc.
Showit is great for you if you...
Have the time to really invest in your website, and also have the budget to hire a designer or buy a great template if you don't have a single design bone in your body.
Want complete control over the entire layout of your website, from the menu to the mobile vs. desktop views.
Really don't need much more than a website and possibly a blog for your business.
Like I said, with Squarespace vs Showit, there isn't a clear winner. It really depends on your situation for your business!
If you are looking for a designer for your website, check out my services page! I design on BOTH Squarespace and Showit, and would love to work with you in making a strong online presence that stands out amongst your competitors!
