Webscape

WordPress vs Squarespace vs Wix

An honest, no-nonsense comparison of the three most popular website platforms. We'll help you figure out which one actually makes sense for your business.

The Short Answer

WordPress

Best overall for NZ businesses

WordPress is the best choice for NZ businesses that need flexibility and SEO performance. It powers over 40% of all websites globally for good reason. You own your site, you can customise everything, and it scales as your business grows. It takes a bit more effort to set up, but the long-term payoff is worth it.

Squarespace

Best for simple, beautiful sites

Squarespace is best for simple portfolio sites and small businesses that don't need custom functionality. If you want something that looks great out of the box and you're happy with their templates, it's a solid option. Just know that you're renting, not owning.

Wix

Best for quick and cheap

Wix is fine if you need something up fast and cheap. It's the easiest to use, but it's also the most limiting. Good for a basic online presence, but you'll probably outgrow it if your business takes off.

Quick Comparison

Pricing (NZD)

wordpress: Free software + hosting from ~$10-50/mo
squarespace: From ~$27/mo (Business plan)
wix: From ~$27/mo (Business plan)

Ease of Use

wordpress: Moderate learning curve
squarespace: Very beginner-friendly
wix: Drag-and-drop, very easy

Design Flexibility

wordpress: Unlimited. Full code access
squarespace: Good templates, limited customisation
wix: Drag-and-drop, but messy at scale

SEO Capabilities

wordpress: Excellent. Full control with plugins
squarespace: Decent built-in SEO tools
wix: Basic. Improving but still limited

E-commerce

wordpress: WooCommerce. Powerful and flexible
squarespace: Built-in. Good for small shops
wix: Basic online store features

Scalability

wordpress: Scales to any size
squarespace: Fine for small-medium sites
wix: Limited. Can slow down with content

Ownership & Control

wordpress: You own everything
squarespace: Locked to their platform
wix: Locked to their platform
WP
43% of all websites

WordPress (Self-Hosted)

First, let's be clear. We're talking about WordPress.org (the self-hosted version), not WordPress.com (which is a hosted service with limitations). Self-hosted WordPress gives you a completely open-source platform that you install on your own hosting.

WordPress powers roughly 43% of all websites on the internet. That includes everything from small business sites to major publishers like BBC America, TechCrunch, and The New Yorker. It's popular because it's flexible, well-supported, and has an enormous ecosystem of themes and plugins.

WordPress is the best choice for NZ businesses that need flexibility, strong SEO, and the ability to scale.

Pros

  • You own your site. Your content, your code, your data
  • Unlimited customisation. If you can imagine it, WordPress can do it
  • Best SEO capabilities of any platform
  • Huge plugin ecosystem (over 60,000 free plugins)
  • WooCommerce makes it a powerful e-commerce platform
  • You can move hosts anytime. No vendor lock-in
  • Massive community and support resources

Cons

  • Steeper learning curve than Squarespace or Wix
  • You're responsible for updates, backups, and security
  • Quality varies wildly between themes and plugins
  • Can be slow if you pile on too many plugins
  • You'll probably want a developer for the initial setup
Sq
Beautiful templates

Squarespace

Squarespace is a hosted website builder known for its polished, designer-quality templates. It's an all-in-one platform, so your hosting, domain, SSL certificate, and basic features are all included in your monthly subscription.

It's genuinely good for what it does. If you need a sleek portfolio, a restaurant website, or a simple business site, Squarespace delivers a professional result without much technical knowledge.

Squarespace is best for simple portfolio sites and small businesses that don't need custom functionality.

Pros

  • Beautiful, professionally designed templates
  • Very easy to use. Drag-and-drop editing
  • All-in-one hosting, SSL, and domain management
  • Good for portfolios, restaurants, and simple business sites
  • Reliable uptime and security (they handle it all)
  • Built-in analytics and basic SEO tools

Cons

  • Limited customisation. You're stuck within their system
  • No plugin ecosystem. What they offer is what you get
  • SEO options are decent but not as deep as WordPress
  • E-commerce features are limited compared to WooCommerce
  • You don't own your site. If you leave, you start over
  • Gets expensive if you need advanced features
Wx
Quick and easy

Wix

Wix is probably the easiest website builder out there. It uses a true drag-and-drop editor where you can place elements anywhere on the page. For someone with zero technical skills who just needs something online, it's hard to beat for simplicity.

That said, "easy" comes with tradeoffs. Wix sites tend to be slower, harder to optimise for search engines, and the drag-and-drop freedom can actually work against you. Pages that look fine on desktop can break on mobile if you're not careful.

Wix is fine for very small businesses with basic needs, but most growing businesses will outgrow it.

Pros

  • Easiest to learn. True drag-and-drop editing
  • Hundreds of templates to start from
  • Free plan available (with Wix branding)
  • App market for adding features
  • Good for very simple sites and landing pages
  • AI site builder can generate a basic site quickly

Cons

  • Sites tend to be slower than WordPress or Squarespace
  • SEO capabilities are limited compared to alternatives
  • Can't switch templates once your site is built
  • No way to export your site. Fully locked in
  • Drag-and-drop freedom can lead to messy, inconsistent pages
  • Not great for larger or content-heavy websites
  • E-commerce is basic compared to WooCommerce or Shopify

Which Platform Should You Choose?

Choose WordPress if...

Recommended for most businesses

  • You want full control over your website
  • You care about SEO and want to rank on Google
  • You need custom functionality or integrations
  • You plan to scale your business
  • You want to own your content and data
  • You need a proper e-commerce store
  • You want to add a blog with real SEO value

Choose Squarespace if...

Good for simple sites

  • You want a beautiful site with minimal effort
  • You don't need custom features or integrations
  • You're building a portfolio or creative showcase
  • You don't want to deal with hosting or updates
  • Your site will stay relatively small
  • You're OK with limited customisation options

Choose Wix if...

OK for basic needs

  • You need something online as fast as possible
  • You have a very tight budget
  • Your business is very small with basic needs
  • You're comfortable knowing you can't export later
  • You don't need strong SEO performance
  • Your site won't need to grow much

What About Custom-Built Websites?

WordPress, Squarespace, and Wix aren't your only options. For businesses that need something beyond what any template-based platform can offer, there's custom development.

Custom-built websites using frameworks like Next.js and React give you complete control over performance, design, and functionality. They're faster, more secure, and can be tailored to exactly what your business needs. No plugins to slow things down, no template constraints, just clean code built specifically for you.

The tradeoff? Custom development costs more upfront and takes longer. But for businesses where performance, unique user experiences, or complex integrations matter, it's often the smartest investment.

This site you're reading right now is custom-built with Next.js. If you're curious about whether a custom build makes sense for your business, we're happy to chat.

Learn about custom development
NZ
Local considerations

Things to Consider for NZ Businesses

A few things are worth mentioning if you're running a business in New Zealand.

  • Hosting location matters. If your audience is in NZ, hosting your WordPress site on an Australian or NZ server gives faster load times. Squarespace and Wix host from the US, which can add latency.
  • GST and NZ payment gateways. If you're selling online, make sure your platform supports NZ payment processors like Windcave (formerly Payment Express) and handles GST properly. WordPress with WooCommerce does this well.
  • Local SEO. For businesses targeting local customers, WordPress gives you the most control over local SEO signals like Google Business Profile integration, local schema markup, and location-specific content.
  • NZ support. With Squarespace and Wix, support is US-based and on their timezone. With WordPress, you can work with a local NZ developer who understands your market and is in your timezone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better for small businesses in NZ: WordPress, Squarespace, or Wix?

For most NZ small businesses, WordPress is the best choice because it gives you full ownership of your site, better SEO tools, and the flexibility to grow. Squarespace is a solid pick if you just need a simple portfolio or brochure site and don't want to deal with hosting. Wix works for very basic sites on a tight budget, but you'll likely outgrow it quickly.

Is WordPress harder to use than Squarespace?

WordPress has a steeper learning curve than Squarespace, but it's not as hard as people think. The block editor makes basic content changes straightforward. Where WordPress gets more complex is with themes, plugins, and server management. Most NZ businesses hire a developer to set things up, then handle day-to-day content updates themselves.

Which website platform is best for SEO?

WordPress is the best platform for SEO. It gives you full control over meta tags, URL structure, schema markup, page speed optimisation, and technical SEO settings. Plugins like Yoast SEO or Rank Math make on-page SEO straightforward. Squarespace has decent built-in SEO, but you can't customise as deeply. Wix has improved its SEO, but it still lags behind WordPress for serious search optimisation.

Can I switch from Squarespace to WordPress later?

Yes, but it's not seamless. You can export your content from Squarespace, but your design, custom styles, and some functionality won't transfer. You'll essentially need to rebuild the site on WordPress. It's doable, but it costs time and money. If there's any chance you'll want more flexibility down the track, starting with WordPress saves you the hassle of migrating later.

Do I need a developer for WordPress?

Not necessarily, but it helps. You can set up a basic WordPress site yourself using themes from the WordPress directory. However, for a professional business site, having a developer build a custom theme and configure things properly gives you a much better result. Once it's set up, most business owners can manage content updates, blog posts, and basic changes on their own.

Which platform is cheapest for a business website in NZ?

In terms of monthly costs, Wix and Squarespace both start from around $27 NZD/month for a business plan. WordPress itself is free, but you'll pay for hosting ($10-50 NZD/month), a domain ($20-30 NZD/year), and possibly premium plugins. However, WordPress often works out cheaper long-term because you're not locked into escalating subscription fees, and you own everything outright.

Need help choosing a platform?

We build websites on WordPress and custom frameworks like Next.js. For Christchurch businesses looking for a custom WordPress site, Webscape builds from scratch without templates or page builders.

If you're not sure which platform is right for your business, get in touch. We'll give you an honest recommendation, even if it means we tell you to go with Squarespace.

Get in touch