CommonSpot is a Web platform that includes a content management system, an application development framework, marketing solutions, and social media features from PaperThin, Inc, a privately held, MA-based company. PaperThin's customers span multiple industries, including: government, healthcare, higher education, and association/non-profit sectors.
N/A
Squarespace
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Squarespace is a CMS platform that allows users to create a DIY blog, eCommerce store, and/or portfolio (visual art or music). Some Squarespace website and shop templates are industry or use case-specific, such as menu builders for restaurant sites.
$25
per month
Pricing
CommonSpot
Squarespace
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Basic
$25
per month
Core
$36
per month
Plus
$56
per month
Advanced
$139
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
CommonSpot
Squarespace
Free Trial
No
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
No
No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
No
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
No setup fee
Additional Details
—
28% to 36% discount available for annual pricing.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
CommonSpot
Squarespace
Features
CommonSpot
Squarespace
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
CommonSpot
7.0
1 Ratings
16% below category average
Squarespace
8.2
67 Ratings
0% below category average
Role-based user permissions
7.01 Ratings
8.267 Ratings
Web Content Creation
Comparison of Web Content Creation features of Product A and Product B
CommonSpot
6.3
2 Ratings
21% below category average
Squarespace
7.7
99 Ratings
1% below category average
Code quality / cleanliness
6.01 Ratings
7.078 Ratings
Admin section
6.52 Ratings
7.498 Ratings
Page templates
7.02 Ratings
7.299 Ratings
Library of website themes
7.01 Ratings
7.496 Ratings
Publishing workflow
7.02 Ratings
8.386 Ratings
Form generator
4.01 Ratings
6.680 Ratings
WYSIWYG editor
00 Ratings
9.284 Ratings
Mobile optimization / responsive design
00 Ratings
8.195 Ratings
Web Content Management
Comparison of Web Content Management features of Product A and Product B
CommonSpot
7.7
2 Ratings
3% above category average
Squarespace
6.2
89 Ratings
19% below category average
Content taxonomy
7.52 Ratings
7.376 Ratings
SEO support
7.02 Ratings
6.480 Ratings
Bulk management
8.01 Ratings
5.851 Ratings
Availability / breadth of extensions
7.01 Ratings
5.565 Ratings
Community / comment management
9.01 Ratings
5.867 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
Squarespace is one of the best solutions out there for building a website or web experience that looks good, has great functionality and is cost-effective, even for smaller businesses. Although most people in marketing will find most of the elements intuitive, if the creator is struggling with any of the functionality, there are many, many support options and other users who can offer assistance.
I think CommonSpot's greatest strength is its ease of use. It's relatively intuitive in it's usage, so it therefore makes it easy to train new people to use it.
Within my usage of it, our options were limited, which again added to it's ease of use.
Stupid simple to use. I know very creative people who cannot code and this is probably the easiest ever platform for them!
Pretty website templates and great functionality with showing off portfolios.
They've already figured out what are the problems that non-coding people have when creating websites and they've figured out a simple solution for all of it.
Commonspot needs to improve on its authoring feature. It is impossible to author on more than one page at a time . (One must always click on "View work on all changes") before switching between pages otherwise, the changes will not be saved.
CommonSpot does not support sharing the definition of any custom element or any template layouts. Therefore, one must recreate these in each site.
In Commonspot, a user who has to manage content in multiple sites will have to log in to each site to see and act on any actions.
I had no previous background in content management, and found it very easy to use. If I could figure it out, I am pretty certain that just about anyone else could as well.
It's simple to use for someone who is really good with computers as well as those who are not. I've been using my personal squarespace for years and have also helped clients build a starting page which they are later able to manage theirselves.
Help is available directly from the back end and uses full sentence searching to find answers to questions others may have asked before. With a ton of articles and support questions documents, it is very likely that your question has been answered. If not each page has the ability to open a direct email to support. Each case has a number and can be followed. Responses are often quick and have links and directions clearly stated
Squarespace was quicker to set up and more accessible to manipulate the theme, pictures, and content. The page layouts are more versatile and fluid. With WordPress, more time-consuming efforts go into making a template work the way you want it to (because of the lack of the drag-and-drop grids that Squarespace has).
I was working in a religious institution and based upon our usage and audience, there was no ROI to speak of. Our usage was more for providing information than having any type of interaction. In that instance, it worked very well.
The cost is reasonably decent. My client says they spent about $20 a month or $240 a year. I asked her if she could add Google AdSense to her blog one day, and they believe they can. They said a custom site would cost them $3000-10,000 depending on who does it. And I agreed, but I found the website they created was on the lower end of that range.
