The many hats of Squarespace: from blog hosting to all-in-one
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Let’s talk Squarespace: this top CMS is growing, not only in popularity but in its services and product offerings too. From blog hosting only to becoming an all-in-one platform, they’ve also recently taken on domain registering and scheduling software. What does the data tell us about the state of Squarespace? Dive into our explainer to learn more.
What is Squarespace?
Squarespace is one of today’s most popular website management platforms. From what started as a blog hosting project in 2003, the company has grown beyond its core as a no-code, D.I.Y., drag-and-drop website builder. These days, it delivers innovative features like domain name services, analytics capabilities, e-commerce tools, and AI integrations.
Content management systems (CMSs) are the part of the digital ecosystem that helps individuals, organizations, and businesses structure their online content. WordPress is a hugely popular CMS, dominating the industry and accounting for almost 60% of all active websites (Figure 1). This is followed by Wix, but Squarespace has staked its claim in the top 3 of CMSs used globally.
The popularity and online adoption of Squarespace as a content management system has been strong and steady: in Figure 2 we see that its presence on the web as a CMS has close to doubled in the past four years. Since early 2024, especially, the growth of Squarespace usage has been significant.
Templates on Squarespace
Templates are to Squarespace what themes are to WordPress: the starting point of shaping and building a new website. Selecting the right one for the purpose of a site shapes how visitors interact with it, what impressions it leaves, and what capabilities it has. It can be a delicate balance: too whimsical, and visitors might not take the brand seriously, or too formal and casual visitors might be alienated.
The most recent Squarespace iteration is Squarespace 7.1, released in 2020. It brought with it a big change—this edition doesn’t operate in the same way that the templates before it did. Pre-7.1 templates differed from each other in that they offered different functionalities: some were more appropriate for online stores since e-commerce features were built in, while others may have worked better as portfolios because of design, customizability, or contact options. These days, all templates are functionally the same, differing only in style and layout.
This said, not every Squarespace website has made the switch yet. As seen in Figure 3, over 33% are not yet using 7.1, despite its improved flexibility and speed. Squarespace continues to support sites using the earlier templates, but only 7.1 is receiving updates and upgrades in the future. Website owners that still use 7.0 templates may hesitate to change because for many, it means rebuilding pages that took considerable time and effort to build in the past. Especially if they are not feeling restricted or slowed down, there’s not yet much pressure to switch.
Squarespace’s expansion: Google Domains become Squarespace Domains
Changing their template system has been part of the company’s shift to an all-in-one, comprehensive platform. Another major change has been their absorption of Google Domains. In September 2023, Squarespace acquired all domain registrations from Google Domains—including associated customer accounts—and began migrating them to become their host. Domains owners who previously logged into Google to manage their domains now were given Squarespace accounts, or if that Gmail address was already known, the domain was added to the existing account.
Why this change? There was no official communication about it, but some speculate that the small margin on domains, combined with customer service needs, combined with low upsell opportunities (i.e., Google doesn’t offer the website building hosting plans that Squarespace or other CMSs do), were a recipe for Google wanting to move the domains along.
The migration did not go entirely smoothly, however: according to Security Week, hackers exploited a flaw in Squarespace's domain transfer process from Google Domains, hijacking control of several cryptocurrency domains. This vulnerability allowed malicious actors to create fake accounts, just by guessing email addresses without email verification, and access the new Squarespace account before the real domain owners could. From here, they could alter DNS records and redirect visitors to malicious websites.
The July 2024 attack affected major (crypto-related) platforms like Celer Network and Compound Finance, but Squarespace has since addressed the issue and urges users to update their settings and secure their accounts with two-factor authentication. Fortunately, the affected platforms have regained control and there are no ongoing threats.
The future of Squarespace
Squarespace has continued to grow in the last years, adjusting to consumer preferences and embracing emerging technologies. From the company’s acquisition of Acuity Scheduling in 2019, to its purchase of Tock Reservations in 2021 (although it sold this again to AMEX in 2024), to its full adoption of generative AI tools in its website creation toolbox, Squarespace is determined to be the one-stop option for web needs.
The company went public in 2021, but in late 2024—after a back-and-forth of almost half a year—private equity firm Permira purchased all remaining shares and took Squarespace private again for around 7.2 billion USD.
As explored here, our data shows that Squarespace is a mainstay in the CMS industry and a firm competitor to the domination of WordPress. Its updates and upgrades make it attractive for new clients, and the features and support it offers keep older customers happy. As Squarespace continues to add more services to its repertoire and manage its security, its growth is likely to continue. Only time (and structured web data) will tell where Squarespace ends up.
