TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    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

    Substack

    Score9.2 out of 10
    N/ASubstack is a subscription-based newsletter publishing platform.N/A
    Pricing
    SquarespaceSubstack
    Editions & Modules
    Basic
    $25
    per month
    Core
    $36
    per month
    Plus
    $56
    per month
    Advanced
    $139
    per month
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    SquarespaceSubstack
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details28% to 36% discount available for annual pricing.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    SquarespaceSubstack
    Considered Both Products
    Squarespace
    No answer on this topic
    Substack Inc.
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    97%
    Would buy again
    35 Answers
    83%
    Would buy again
    5 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    35 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    5 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    94%
    Happy with the feature set
    34 Answers
    83%
    Happy with the feature set
    5 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    31 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    5 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    33 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    5 Answers
    Features
    SquarespaceSubstack
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of Squarespace and Substack
    Feature
    Squarespace
    8.4
    67 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Substack
    -
    Ratings
    Role-based user permissions8.467 Ratings00 Ratings
    Platform & Infrastructure
    Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Squarespace and Substack
    Feature
    Squarespace
    6.6
    58 Ratings
    17% below category average
    Substack
    -
    Ratings
    API7.051 Ratings00 Ratings
    Internationalization / multi-language6.237 Ratings00 Ratings
    Web Content Creation
    Comparison of Web Content Creation features of Squarespace and Substack
    Feature
    Squarespace
    7.6
    99 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Substack
    -
    Ratings
    WYSIWYG editor9.284 Ratings00 Ratings
    Code quality / cleanliness6.878 Ratings00 Ratings
    Admin section7.398 Ratings00 Ratings
    Page templates7.099 Ratings00 Ratings
    Library of website themes7.296 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile optimization / responsive design8.195 Ratings00 Ratings
    Publishing workflow8.386 Ratings00 Ratings
    Form generator6.580 Ratings00 Ratings
    Web Content Management
    Comparison of Web Content Management features of Squarespace and Substack
    Feature
    Squarespace
    6.1
    89 Ratings
    21% below category average
    Substack
    -
    Ratings
    Content taxonomy7.376 Ratings00 Ratings
    SEO support6.380 Ratings00 Ratings
    Bulk management5.851 Ratings00 Ratings
    Availability / breadth of extensions5.565 Ratings00 Ratings
    Community / comment management5.567 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    SquarespaceSubstack
    Small Businesses
    Umbraco CMS
    Score7 out of 10
    Quora Blogs / Spaces (discontinued)
    Score8.7 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Square Online
    Score7.7 out of 10
    Blogger
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    RWS Tridion Sites
    Score9 out of 10
    Quora Blogs / Spaces (discontinued)
    Score8.7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    SquarespaceSubstack
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.6
    (100 ratings)
    8.7
    (6 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.5
    (14 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    SquarespaceSubstack
    Likelihood to Recommend
    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
    Substack Inc.
    I think Substack is better for people who want to set up a personal-facing branded website vs people who just want to post random musings every so often. Monetization is better there than any other collective publishing platform as well as organic reach via email. Substack also allows you to build direct relationships with your readers via emails and own them 100% which is great long-term if you use it to pivot to another site or another form of writing/content creation. Substack would be less helpful for someone wanting to write as a part of a group, not individually, or someone who's unwilling to put their personal brand behind their content. It's less optimized for SEO (which other platforms allow you to do) and can be harder to curate content based on your interests (you really have to go in knowing what you want vs finding it on the fly).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    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
    Substack Inc.
    • Because it has a very high Domain Authority ranking relevant backlinks in a published article will help make my store more searchable.
    • Substack is very easy to work in. The toolset they provide may not be as extensive as other platforms but it is certainly enough to create a meaningful, interesting post.
    • Substack is very focused on creating a community of writers that support each other. They run an ongoing email campaign that reinforces their focus on building a community of writers.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    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
    Substack Inc.
    • editor is on the primitive side - it's wysiwyg, but missing some embed options
    • integrate with google analytics
    • percentage cut that Substack takes can become a burden as your revenue grows. Problems scaling.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Squarespace
    Unless our website requires significantly more functionality in the future, I can't see us terminating our contract
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Substack Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    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
    Substack Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    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
    Substack Inc.
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    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
    Substack Inc.
    Medium is not so good for running newsletter. I find the mail that a user gets is very easily readable. Also as a creator it's very easy for me to track the analytics and monetise my blogs unlike Medium. Blogger is a very old technology. The kind of integrations and the support for Markdown / different media is very great in Substack.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    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
    Substack Inc.
    • I haven’t made any money from it
    • Can be disheartening when you realise you’re putting in maximum effort for minimum audience
    Incentivized
    Read full review
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