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Squarespace vs Wix vs WordPress for New Zealand businesses.
I build on Squarespace, so read this knowing that. There are still jobs where I'll tell you to use WordPress instead. Here's how the three compare, with the prices a New Zealand business actually pays.
The short answer
Best for service businesses, trades, cafes, studios, clinics and small online stores. Looks professional with very little upkeep, and you can edit it yourself.
Most small businessesBest if you want to build it yourself and like having lots of apps to add. The editor is the most free-form of the three, which also makes it the easiest to make messy.
Keen DIYersBest when you need something the builders can't do: large content sites, complex memberships, big catalogues, custom integrations. It needs someone to look after it.
Bigger or unusual sitesWhat each one costs in New Zealand
Platform costs only. Design work is on top of all three. Prices checked on 14 October 2026.
Billed in NZ dollars. Basic NZ$19, Core NZ$31, Plus NZ$49 and Advanced NZ$109 a month on yearly billing, or NZ$26 to NZ$149 paid monthly. Hosting, SSL, security updates and backups are included.
NZ$19–109 / monthShown to New Zealand visitors in Australian dollars. Light AU$21, Core AU$42, Business AU$55 and Business Elite AU$199 a month on yearly billing, often with a first-year discount. The Light plan can't take payments.
AU$21–199 / monthThe software is free. Hosting from an NZ provider runs from around NZ$9 a month for basic shared hosting to NZ$25–200 for managed WordPress hosting, plus GST. Premium themes, plugins and someone to keep it updated are usually extra.
NZ$9–200+ / monthOn price alone they're closer than people expect. A small business site on Squarespace Core costs about NZ$372 a year. A cheap WordPress host costs less than that, until you add a premium theme, a backup plugin, a security plugin and an hour a month of someone's time to run updates.
Upkeep and security
This is the biggest real difference, and the one most comparisons skip.
Squarespace and Wix run the software for you. You never update anything, and a plugin can't break your site overnight. WordPress sites are made of a core, a theme and a dozen or more plugins, each written by someone different and each needing updates. Out-of-date plugins are the most common way small business WordPress sites get hacked. Keeping them current is a job someone has to do every month.
If you choose WordPress, budget for monthly updates and backups, and make sure someone is actually doing them.
Which is best for SEO?
All three can rank on page one in New Zealand. The platform matters far less than what's on the pages, how fast they load, and whether your Google Business Profile is set up properly.
Squarespace handles the basics well: clean URLs, automatic sitemaps, SSL, editable page titles and descriptions, and mobile layouts. Wix has improved a lot and covers the same ground. WordPress gives you the most control, which helps on large sites with hundreds of pages, and does nothing for a seven-page local business site.
Where sites actually lose rankings is a badly handled move between platforms. If you change platforms, every old URL needs a redirect to its new home. That's the step that gets skipped.
Leaving later
Worth thinking about before you start. A WordPress site can be moved to any host. Squarespace can export your pages and blog posts in a format WordPress can import, though the design stays behind. Wix has no full export, so leaving means a rebuild.
With Squarespace, the account and domain sit in your name, so you can take the site over yourself at any point.
Common questions
Is Squarespace better than Wix?
For most service businesses, yes. The templates are better designed, it's harder to make a mess of, and New Zealand customers pay in NZ dollars. Wix wins if you want a specific app that only exists in its marketplace.
Is WordPress cheaper than Squarespace?
The hosting can be. Once you count premium plugins, updates and fixing things when an update breaks something, it usually works out about the same or more.
Can I move my Wix or WordPress site to Squarespace?
Yes. The design gets rebuilt, the content comes across, and each old page is redirected to its new address so you keep your Google rankings. I do this as part of a normal build.
Do you build WordPress sites?
Yes. I build new WordPress sites when that's the right platform, and I look after existing ones: updates, backups, speed and security. If your WordPress site is slow, out of date or has been hacked, I can take it over.
When would you use something other than Squarespace?
WordPress when the site needs complex memberships, a large catalogue with unusual filtering, or hundreds of pages. Payload CMS for web apps, booking systems and anything with custom logic. And if your organisation already runs on Silverstripe, I upgrade and support Silverstripe sites too. I'll say which one fits in the quote. See also when I'll tell you not to use Squarespace.