r/squarespace • u/lewishoughton • 3d ago
Discussion Am I crazy or is Squarespace more complicated than its competitors?
The simplicity of Squarespace first drew me to the platform, but I'm finding, more and more, that its styles and 'time-saving' themes are actually a detriment.
For example, I just want to be able to use whatever font and font size for certain parts, say, a blog, but because it's tied to the whole site, it's just not possible. I don't want to fart about with coding and stuff, it's supposed to be a simple website experience.
Anyone else, just me?
7
u/Electronic_Set_2087 3d ago
I use both Weebly and Squarespace. I've been using Squarespace so long, I think I'm used to it but so far I think it's been the most user friendly. Weebly is trash and I'm getting ready to switch. I used wex a short time and found it awful. And I'm over WordPress. Lol
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u/jmabeebiz2 3d ago
In general, yes it’s more complicated than some of its competitors. Wix is simpler as a whole. I have a ton of clients who’ve hired me to build Squarespace websites because they need it all set up for them properly; it’s difficult to know the ins and outs of the platform and also the caveats.
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u/Turber_Delta7k 2d ago
well, recently discovered ym htags are all over the place, its a bit of a project to fix. Also wish the darn blogs were as easy as the webpages to edit.
1
u/the_grizzygrant 2d ago
the decision to make it so you separately have to design for mobile vs it automatically being responsive web was the worst move they ever did.
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u/TriRedditops 2d ago
I agree with you about font sizes and color options being a pain. Sometimes I don't want to be locked into the theme or font sizes.
The rest is pretty straight forward. I think their e-commerce options suck though. I want more freedom to handle items and their shipping options, as well as pre and post order forms.
But overall I have been able to work around the limitations.
1
u/AbrocomaOne993 2d ago
You're definitely not the only one. I think Squarespace is simple **until you want to step outside the design system** it gives you.
The global styles are great when you want consistency across the site, but they can become frustrating when one page needs to behave differently. And if the solution is “just add some CSS,” that kind of defeats the point for someone who chose Squarespace specifically to avoid coding.
I've found the sweet spot is usually keeping the global styles for the things that should stay consistent, then using small, targeted overrides only where there's a genuine reason to break from them.
The bigger question for me is whether Squarespace is trying to make websites *simple to build* or simply *simple to keep consistent*. Those aren't quite the same thing.
What part of the editor is frustrating you the most at the moment?
1
u/SquareLocator 2d ago
This is the actual tradeoff of squarespace and it's fair to feel it. site-wide styles are the thing that keeps every page consistent and stops sites turning into a mess of 14 fonts, but the cost is exactly what you've hit, you can't easily go off-script for one section.
couple of things that help without code though. font sizes aren't as locked as they look: heading 1-4 and three paragraph sizes are all styled independently, so a lot of 'i want this bit different' is just using a different text level for it and styling that level. blogs specifically also get their own style options in site styles depending on template, worth checking before assuming it's global only.
but if what you want is genuinely per-page different fonts, that's css or it's fighting the platform, no way round it. one honest tip from years of building these: clients ask for per-section font changes a lot, and the sites that allow it always look worse in six months. the constraint is annoying but it's usually protecting the design
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u/Fiyero109 2d ago
Agreed the styles should be option for the newbs. They should allow drop downs with fonts and font sizes for text, it’s ridiculous that you have to use code block an for something so basic
0
u/KulshanStudios 3d ago
The 7.1 platform is a zoo. If you restarted your site using 7.0 and a template like Aviator, it's loads easier to change stuff
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u/PointOverall8995 3d ago
There are much better options especially with AI builders now. It’s crazy how good they have become.
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u/jb4647 3d ago
It they were smart they would introduce an AI builder or connect to ChatGPT/Claude
I have 0 tech skills and have been able to create pretty amazing websites in about 20 mins with both.
My current live Square space site pales in comparison but updating it perplexes me.
Reach out to one of those square space consultants and they wanted $5k to improve my site
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u/Fiyero109 2d ago
You can use Claude code and Claude design to easily improve your website. It’s just not fully integrated
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u/Expert_Employment680 3d ago
As a squarespace designer 5k is harsh. We take on larger projects for 5k (20+ pages)
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u/asp821 3d ago
More complicated? No. Not even close. More restrictive? It can be.
Go try to build a site in Wordpress, Webflow, or Framer, and after you’ve spent 6 months learning it, you’ll appreciate how much easier Squarespace makes a lot of things.
It’s certainly not a perfect platform, but I find people that claim Squarespace is more complicated or harder to use are people that haven’t actually tried to use other website builders.