TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Medium

    Score10 out of 10
    N/AMedium is a blogging and web publishing platform from the company of the same name in San Francisco, California.

    $5

    per month

    Squarespace

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/ASquarespace 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
    MediumSquarespace
    Editions & Modules
    Medium Member - monthly
    $5
    per month
    Friend of Medium - monthly
    $15
    per month
    Medium Member - annually
    $60
    per year
    Friend of Medium - annually
    $150
    per year
    Basic
    $25
    per month
    Core
    $36
    per month
    Plus
    $56
    per month
    Advanced
    $139
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    MediumSquarespace
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—28% to 36% discount available for annual pricing.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    MediumSquarespace
    Considered Both Products
    Medium.com
    Chose Medium
    There are a handful of other blogging platforms available. The biggest difference between Medium and others is how streamlined it is. It's straight to the point and is excellent at showing related content, be it your own or another users. There's no new design to navigate …
    Incentivized
    Squarespace
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    97%
    Would buy again
    35 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    35 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    94%
    Happy with the feature set
    34 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    31 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    33 Answers
    Features
    MediumSquarespace
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of Medium and Squarespace
    Feature
    Medium
    -
    Ratings
    Squarespace
    8.4
    67 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Role-based user permissions00 Ratings8.467 Ratings
    Platform & Infrastructure
    Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Medium and Squarespace
    Feature
    Medium
    -
    Ratings
    Squarespace
    6.5
    58 Ratings
    18% below category average
    API00 Ratings6.951 Ratings
    Internationalization / multi-language00 Ratings6.137 Ratings
    Web Content Creation
    Comparison of Web Content Creation features of Medium and Squarespace
    Feature
    Medium
    -
    Ratings
    Squarespace
    7.5
    99 Ratings
    4% below category average
    WYSIWYG editor00 Ratings9.284 Ratings
    Code quality / cleanliness00 Ratings6.678 Ratings
    Admin section00 Ratings7.398 Ratings
    Page templates00 Ratings6.999 Ratings
    Library of website themes00 Ratings7.196 Ratings
    Mobile optimization / responsive design00 Ratings8.195 Ratings
    Publishing workflow00 Ratings8.386 Ratings
    Form generator00 Ratings6.580 Ratings
    Web Content Management
    Comparison of Web Content Management features of Medium and Squarespace
    Feature
    Medium
    -
    Ratings
    Squarespace
    6.1
    89 Ratings
    21% below category average
    Content taxonomy00 Ratings7.376 Ratings
    SEO support00 Ratings6.380 Ratings
    Bulk management00 Ratings5.851 Ratings
    Availability / breadth of extensions00 Ratings5.565 Ratings
    Community / comment management00 Ratings5.467 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    MediumSquarespace
    Small Businesses
    Quora Blogs / Spaces (discontinued)
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Umbraco CMS
    Score7 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Blogger
    Score10 out of 10
    Square Online
    Score7.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Quora Blogs / Spaces (discontinued)
    Score8.7 out of 10
    RWS Tridion Sites
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    MediumSquarespace
    Likelihood to Recommend
    10.0
    (8 ratings)
    8.6
    (100 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    Usability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.5
    (14 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.5
    (3 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    MediumSquarespace
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Medium.com
    If you are vanity publishing and just want to see your stuff on the web, it is very, VERY easy to get involved with. Of course, your writing is not likely to stand out if you don't have a clear plan. The more I use it, the more I like it. The user interface is extremely well-done. I kinda wish my WordPress-based blogs had editors that were that easy to use.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Squarespace
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Medium.com
    • Content categorization and grouping.
    • The option to make some money from sharing your passion and teaching.
    • Moderating content manually to not promote AI-generated content and boosting very authentic and impactful posts.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Squarespace
    • 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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Medium.com
    • The payment wall can be confusing.
    • Hard to get traction if you're trying to go viral with an article.
    • Sometimes content gets buried too easily.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Squarespace
    • Customizing the sites can be highly UN intuitive
    • Navigation for editing the sites can be difficult and frustrating
    • Squarespace has different versions and it's hard to know which version you're on. You can't switch after you start making a site with one version.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Medium.com
    No answers on this topic
    Squarespace
    Unless our website requires significantly more functionality in the future, I can't see us terminating our contract
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Medium.com
    By comparison, most online editors are clunky. The Medium editor is amazingly powerful and still easy to use.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Squarespace
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Medium.com
    Medium is supported across android, iOS and the web. While it may not have all the languages supported, English is certainly an option and with a pricing model that ranges from free to $5 for a subscription, you can't go wrong whether you're a small or large business. Everything is hosted in the cloud so it is very accessible
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Squarespace
    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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Medium.com
    Medium is dirt easy to use. The hard part is figuring out if it is worth the effort to include it as part of our content-marketing strategy.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Squarespace
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Medium.com
    There are a handful of other blogging platforms available. The biggest difference between Medium and others is how streamlined it is. It's straight to the point and is excellent at showing related content, be it your own or another users. There's no new design to navigate between posts, everything is where you expect it to be letting you focus on the post.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Squarespace
    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).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Medium.com
    • Good way to raise awareness of our content with @mentioned influencers
    • Good way to link back to your original content
    • Aside from publishing your own content Medium is a great news site in its own right. If you're looking for relevant industry news or other content, check in daily to see what's going on with others in your industry.
    Read full review
    Squarespace
    • 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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots