LightCMS (discontinued) vs. Square Online

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
LightCMS (discontinued)
Score 6.1 out of 10
N/A
LightCMS, from NetSuite, was a cloud-based content management system for building websites and eCommerce storefronts. It is designed to be used by individuals, non-profits, and small to medium-sized businesses. The product has been discontinued.N/A
Square Online
Score 7.8 out of 10
N/A
Square Online (formerly Weebly) is a basic content management system with blogging and eCommerce features. It can be utilized for building standard websites or specialized webpages for online stores.
$6
per month
Pricing
LightCMS (discontinued)Square Online
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Personal
$9.00
per month
Professional
$16.00
per month
Performance
$29.00
per month
Free
Free
Free
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
LightCMS (discontinued)Square Online
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsPricing decreases when paid annually: Personal - $6/Month Professional$12/Month Performance - $26/Month
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
LightCMS (discontinued)Square Online
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
LightCMS (discontinued)Square Online
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
LightCMS (discontinued)
8.0
1 Ratings
0% below category average
Square Online
7.0
28 Ratings
14% below category average
Role-based user permissions8.01 Ratings7.028 Ratings
Web Content Creation
Comparison of Web Content Creation features of Product A and Product B
LightCMS (discontinued)
9.1
1 Ratings
18% above category average
Square Online
7.1
40 Ratings
7% below category average
WYSIWYG editor10.01 Ratings9.033 Ratings
Code quality / cleanliness9.01 Ratings9.036 Ratings
Admin section9.01 Ratings9.736 Ratings
Page templates10.01 Ratings2.040 Ratings
Library of website themes10.01 Ratings2.040 Ratings
Mobile optimization / responsive design10.01 Ratings9.039 Ratings
Publishing workflow8.01 Ratings7.032 Ratings
Form generator7.01 Ratings9.033 Ratings
Web Content Management
Comparison of Web Content Management features of Product A and Product B
LightCMS (discontinued)
7.3
1 Ratings
0% below category average
Square Online
6.6
37 Ratings
10% below category average
Content taxonomy4.01 Ratings7.123 Ratings
SEO support7.01 Ratings4.033 Ratings
Bulk management8.01 Ratings4.018 Ratings
Community / comment management10.01 Ratings9.027 Ratings
Availability / breadth of extensions00 Ratings9.030 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
LightCMS (discontinued)
-
Ratings
Square Online
7.9
19 Ratings
3% above category average
API00 Ratings6.014 Ratings
Internationalization / multi-language00 Ratings9.915 Ratings
Best Alternatives
LightCMS (discontinued)Square Online
Small Businesses
Divi
Divi
Score 9.8 out of 10
Divi
Divi
Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Image Relay
Image Relay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Image Relay
Image Relay
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Tridion
Tridion
Score 9.0 out of 10
Tridion
Tridion
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
LightCMS (discontinued)Square Online
Likelihood to Recommend
10.0
(1 ratings)
9.0
(41 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
LightCMS (discontinued)Square Online
Likelihood to Recommend
NetSuite
LightCMS is perfect for 90% of websites out there. It has all the basic modules like calendars, photo galleries, news/blog, or forms building built in. Small businesses to mid-sized businesses are perfect for LightCMS. We use other solutions when the requierments for the website include a lot of third party integrations or custom modules. As a hosted CMS it has the same limitations as others with server-side development.
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Block, Inc (Square)
If you are having students create websites or information pages about something they are studying in class, this is a great option. The fact that students can spend less time getting situated and learning the app and get right to work researching and creating their pages is great. For middle to high school, this is a fantastic app to use. However, if you want more nuanced analytics or want students to focus on blogging more than webpage building, this is limited.
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Pros
NetSuite
  • LightCMS provides all the major functionality 90% of sites need. It keeps out of its own way by making these solutions intuitive and simple and not trying to solve every problem for everyone which would over-complicate the tool-set.
  • This is the easiest to use CMS we have ever seen. I tell my client's that if they can make a Facebook post, they can manage their website, and it's true. Their UI is so easy and keeps getting easier to use. Untrained users get it in minutes and are able to manage their sites without our help.
  • LightCMS's code is simple and light-weight. Sites are fast and the CMS doesnt get in the way of performance.
  • You can do almost anything you want (except server-side programming) with LightCMS. So, we can create any design we want and it works great with Light CMS's tokens and editable regions concept (which is also simple to implement.)
  • Constantly upgraded and fixed, the product is 1000x better after 10 years of working with it, but is still simple and not bloated.
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Block, Inc (Square)
  • Drag and drop interface makes it very easy to add all types of content, including images, text, video (and YouTube videos), embeddable applications and more.
  • It's very easy to set up navigation features like cascading menus and sticky navigation (where the menu stays put - may depend on the template chosen though).
  • A technical backend is fairly straight-forward for setting up a fav icon, 301 redirects, SEO, Google Analytics, etc.
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Cons
NetSuite
  • While keeping it simple is LightCMS's thing, some of the elements/modules could use deeper options or control for advanced users.
  • Some content, such as calendars, cannot have data exported/imported easily.
  • Support was amazing 10 years ago. We openly talked about how awesome they were... it isn't as good as it once was, but is still way above almost every support of other CMS systems we have used.
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Block, Inc (Square)
  • Weebly doesn't have a lot of templates to choose from, so if you don't have any experience with CSS or HTML, it's hard to customize your site to an extent.
  • Weebly isn't fully SEO friendly. They don't allow you to add H1 tags to pages out of the box.
  • You can't create folder structures when it comes to web page URLs. You can put web pages under a main menu dropdown, but they don't allow you to put all sub-menu items in a structured folder (like site.com/folder/page-1 and site.com/folder/page-2).
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Likelihood to Renew
NetSuite
No answers on this topic
Block, Inc (Square)
Weebly is consistently adding features that line up with our needs. The ease of use makes it the perfect program for us since we have users of multiple age brackets and knowledge of web design. We love that we can give users access to only the pages they are affiliated with
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Usability
NetSuite
No answers on this topic
Block, Inc (Square)
It is simple to use and offers enough customization to make a website that is personalized. Templates are pretty standard and the help section is laid out well by topic with frequently asked questions. Some design knowledge is helpful, but through trial and error anyone can get a hold of the reins fairly quickly.
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Alternatives Considered
NetSuite
We have looked at hundrends of CMS's and LightCMS is a perfect entry-level system for most of our small to mid sized clients. LightCMS's feature set is less complex than almost every other system and the actual interface is miles ahead of most other CMS systems. It's simply thought out better. It lacks sensibility and an API as well as other advanced features many more expensive or more DIY systems have, but the simplicity makes up for it.
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Block, Inc (Square)
Weebly's designs, plugins, and customization options are a little more advanced in some cases than other similar programs. WordPress requires a different level of expertise and knowledge of code, keywording, and plugins, so I wouldn't even compare them. Wix is a little more user-friendly because you can drag and drop your design, which was very convenient for customizing your site. I didn't personally select Weebly, but it is user-friendly and nearly anyone comfortable with a computer could figure it out. Weebly support is also pretty good.
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Return on Investment
NetSuite
  • While I always think the price could be cheaper, LightCMS is incredibly inexpensive if you consider the costs of hosting, support, and upgrading is all included.
  • As part of their partner program, we are able to control client accounts from our master account, making moving between clients easier and supporting them faster which ultimately makes our labor costs better.
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Block, Inc (Square)
  • Weebly has allowed our business to create a connection with our customers by offering home decor, cooking and styling tips.
  • Weebly gives us the chance to relay information to customers regarding merchandise, current sales and promotions, store hours and locations etc. Which has helped increase business.
  • Weebly has given our not very tech savvy business the opportunity to have a website and stay relevant with our competitors.
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