A Squarespace alternative for Canadian businesses that want to own their website
Squarespace makes a good-looking first website possible without hiring anyone, and for some businesses that is exactly right. This page is for the owner who wants more: a site they own outright, custom work when the template runs out, and a team doing the building. Every row about Squarespace below links to the Squarespace help article it came from, so you can check it yourself.
Canadian Web Designs vs Squarespace
Rows marked source quote Squarespace's own help pages. Rows without one make no claim about Squarespace at all.
| Feature | Canadian Web Designs | Squarespace |
|---|---|---|
| Taking your site with you | Our pick You hold the code, the content and the database. Move to any host, hand it to any developer, at any time. | Squarespace's help page says you can export certain content into an .xml file, and that store pages, custom CSS, style settings and several other page types are not included in the export. source: Squarespace Help Center: Exporting your site ↗ |
| Custom code | Our pick Custom code is how we build. Anything your business needs that a template does not do, we write, and we support it after launch. | Squarespace's help page says code injection is available in the Core, Plus, Advanced and some legacy plans, and that custom code modifications fall outside the scope of its support. source: Squarespace Help Center: Using code injection ↗ |
| Custom CSS | Every line of the stylesheet is ours to change, and changing it is part of the job. | Squarespace's help page says the CSS editor is available on all plans, and that adding code to your site is an advanced modification that falls outside the scope of Squarespace support. source: Squarespace Help Center: Add custom code to your site ↗ |
| Handing the site over when you sell the business | The site is an asset like any other: the code, the content and the domain are yours, and you can move the site to another host at any time. | Squarespace's help page says only the current site owner can transfer ownership, and that the new owner must first be invited as a contributor and accept. source: Squarespace Help Center: Change the site owner ↗ |
| Who does the work | We do. Design, build, copy, images, on-page SEO and launch, with you reviewing at each step. | Do-it-yourself in the Squarespace editor, or hire a designer who works in it. |
| Search engine set-up | On-page SEO is built into every site. Google Business Profile set-up, structured data and citations come with a local SEO plan. | Any platform can rank when the SEO work is actually done. The question is who does that work and whether it is included. |
| Price | Custom websites from $299, quoted in full before we start, with no percentage mark-ups. Maintenance plans from $99 a month. | Not listed here. Squarespace's pricing is shown by region on squarespace.com; check there for current pricing in Canadian dollars. |
Canadian Web Designs · our pick
You hold the code, the content and the database. Move to any host, hand it to any developer, at any time.
Squarespace
Squarespace's help page says you can export certain content into an .xml file, and that store pages, custom CSS, style settings and several other page types are not included in the export.
source: Squarespace Help Center: Exporting your site ↗Canadian Web Designs · our pick
Custom code is how we build. Anything your business needs that a template does not do, we write, and we support it after launch.
Squarespace
Squarespace's help page says code injection is available in the Core, Plus, Advanced and some legacy plans, and that custom code modifications fall outside the scope of its support.
source: Squarespace Help Center: Using code injection ↗Canadian Web Designs
Every line of the stylesheet is ours to change, and changing it is part of the job.
Squarespace
Squarespace's help page says the CSS editor is available on all plans, and that adding code to your site is an advanced modification that falls outside the scope of Squarespace support.
source: Squarespace Help Center: Add custom code to your site ↗Canadian Web Designs
The site is an asset like any other: the code, the content and the domain are yours, and you can move the site to another host at any time.
Squarespace
Squarespace's help page says only the current site owner can transfer ownership, and that the new owner must first be invited as a contributor and accept.
source: Squarespace Help Center: Change the site owner ↗Canadian Web Designs
We do. Design, build, copy, images, on-page SEO and launch, with you reviewing at each step.
Squarespace
Do-it-yourself in the Squarespace editor, or hire a designer who works in it.
Canadian Web Designs
On-page SEO is built into every site. Google Business Profile set-up, structured data and citations come with a local SEO plan.
Squarespace
Any platform can rank when the SEO work is actually done. The question is who does that work and whether it is included.
Canadian Web Designs
Custom websites from $299, quoted in full before we start, with no percentage mark-ups. Maintenance plans from $99 a month.
Squarespace
Not listed here. Squarespace's pricing is shown by region on squarespace.com; check there for current pricing in Canadian dollars.
Prefer to stay on Squarespace? We build on it too: WordPress website design.
Three reasons businesses choose Canadian Web Designs
You own it outright
When the project is done, the site is yours in every sense: the code, the content and the domain. You can hire any developer, change hosts or take it in-house, and nothing stops working because a subscription lapsed.
Custom work is the job, not an exception
A template is a starting point that ends where its options end. Our in-house team writes the code, so a booking flow, a bilingual layout, a product configurator or a client portal is a build, not a workaround.
Built for Canadian search
We serve businesses across Canada and build for the searches they win: city and neighbourhood pages, Google Business Profile set-up with a local SEO plan, and content written in Canadian English for Canadian customers. Most of our builds run on WordPress, which we also maintain.
Squarespace alternative — common questions
Is Squarespace a bad choice?
No. Squarespace is a well-regarded way to get a polished first website live without a developer, and plenty of good businesses run on it. This page is for a business that has reached the point where owning the site, custom functionality and having the work done for it matter more than the do-it-yourself editor.
Can you move my existing Squarespace site to a site I own?
Partly by export and partly by rebuild. Squarespace's own help page says its export covers certain content as an .xml file and leaves out store pages, custom CSS and style settings, so we import what exports cleanly, rebuild the rest, and redirect every old URL to its new home to keep the rankings you have earned.
What do you build on instead?
Most often WordPress, because it is open-source, widely supported and easy for any developer to take over. Where a business needs something WordPress does not do well, we build custom. Our Squarespace vs WordPress guide walks through the trade-offs in more detail.
Can I keep my domain name?
Yes. A domain registered anywhere can be pointed at the new site. If it is registered through Squarespace, their help centre covers transferring it out; we handle the DNS side and the redirects.
What does a custom website cost compared with Squarespace?
Our custom websites start at $299, quoted in full before work begins, and maintenance plans start at $99 a month. We do not quote Squarespace's prices here because their pricing pages are shown by region and change over time; check squarespace.com for current Canadian pricing and compare it against a written quote from us.
Let’s Build Something Great Together
Tell us about your project and get a free, no-obligation quote — most clients hear back within 24 hours.
Sources
- Squarespace Help Center: Exporting your site — checked 2026-10-15
- Squarespace Help Center: Using code injection — checked 2026-10-15
- Squarespace Help Center: Add custom code to your site — checked 2026-10-15
- Squarespace Help Center: Change the site owner — checked 2026-10-15
Squarespace is a trademark of Squarespace, Inc. Canadian Web Designs is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Squarespace, Inc. Statements about Squarespace on this page are drawn from Squarespace's own public help pages, linked below, and were last re-checked on the date shown. If a linked page has changed, the row it supports is out of date, not the other way round.
— Every claim about another product on this page was re-checked against its source on this date.
