Ionos vs Squarespace: An evenly matched contest
Ionos versus Squarespace sees two evenly matched website builders going head-to-head - but which comes out on top?
Want to build a website, but you’re unsure about your long-term strategy? Do you need a good-looking site that can easily be upgraded as and when required? Both Ionos and Squarespace are website builders that can serve those needs, and will work for you regardless of the type of website you wish to build.
Both services offer all the basics required to create a simple, good-looking website to get your brand out there. Which of the companies’ templates you prefer will be a matter of personal taste, but Ionos comes in slightly cheaper with its low-end plans. If you’re looking to add ecommerce capabilities then, again, both companies can help, but Squarespace offers a greater choice of plans and options, potentially costing a little less in this particular area.
It’s a tough choice then, but we’re here to help you make the right one. If you remain undecided after reading this article, check out our full Ionos review and Squarespace review for more detail.
Ionos vs Squarespace: Pricing
Ionos’ prices start at a remarkably cheap £1 per month for its Plus plan, while Squarespace’s lowest-priced Personal package comes in at a less-impressive £12 per month and for that, you won’t get access to the same level of features as the Ionos plan. However, the Ionos plan is a special offer that’s only applicable for the first six months, after which the price of the Plus package rises to £16 per month (ex VAT).
Once the introductory period is over, the Ionos Plus plan isn’t the cheapest of its offerings. The Starter plan is currently offered at £6 per month for the first six months, but rises to only £10 per month thereafter, and provides users with 10GB of storage, 10 web pages, a free domain for a year, and 2GB of email inbox storage. The Plus plan boosts the offering to 50GB of storage, 200 web pages, a free domain and 12GB of email inbox storage. Then Pro is Ionos’s top-tier plan, costing £20 per month for the initial six months before rising to £28 per month.
All of the plans are available with a shop option, which obviously ups the price. Both Starter and Plus offer to include the shop for the first six months at the same bargain prices, but then the cost goes up to £20 per month and £28 per month, respectively. The inclusion of the online shop bumps the cost of the Pro plan up to £35 per month for those initial six months, before rising to £60 per month.
Squarespace offers four plans, including the Personal plan. Next up is the Business plan, which is yours for the equivalent of £17 per month when paid annually, or £24 per month if you’re paying monthly. There are two Commerce plans, with the Basic tier coming in at £23 per month and the Advanced plan costing £35 per month.
The Personal plan includes all the core features, while Business introduces customisation and ecommerce features for a 3% transaction fee. The Basic Commerce package then offers 0% transaction fees – credit card processing fees still apply – while the Advanced plan offers additional features such as abandoned cart recovery and advanced shipping options.
Winner: Ionos
Ionos is the winner, but only just. This is mainly due to its six-month introductory offers and the low price of its Starter plan, which is cheaper than the Squarespace Personal plan for a similar set of features. As you go up the tiers, the prices and features are more evenly matched but, if you want advanced ecommerce, Squarespace’s Advanced Commerce package is cheaper than Ionos’s offering.
Ionos vs Squarespace: Features
Ionos and Squarespace pack in a lot of features, making both of them a tempting proposition for building a website, whether or not you want an online store. Both are template-driven and offer a decent selection, but while Ionos has an AI Website Generator that can pick everything for you, in our opinion Squarespace’s templates are much more on-trend and have the edge in sophistication. However, this difference is very much a personal choice, so check out both to see what’s on offer before you make any decisions.
Beyond aesthetics, Squarespace has a rich set of marketing features and you get decent help for social media promotions via Instagram Stories and Meta ads, although not on all plans. There are some decent SEO tools included, for greater visibility, but newbies might struggle with them, and the same is true of its comprehensive analytics panels, but at least they’re present if you need them. What’s also helpful is the wide range of stock photos and art you have access to, thanks to Squarespace’s integration with Unsplash.
While Ionos might lag a little behind Squarespace in template design, its templates include some great options for showcasing video content. And the gallery sections are nicely presented, with flexible layout options that help with customisation to complement any design.
Ionos goes big on ecommerce, offering some decent features – such as bulk editing – and it also makes it easy to add products and quickly modify options such as size, colour or finish. You can connect your store to Facebook Shop and Instagram Shopping to help boost sales – as you can using the included Kliken Stats, which you tie into Google Analytics.
Winner: Squarespace
If you’re looking for trendy template designs and a more integrated focus on ecommerce, Squarespace provides slightly more options. Ionos isn’t far behind though, including some neat design features to help customise templates – you just need a little more design know-how to get what you want – and its ecommerce features aren’t shoddy either. However, the final decision over which you go for will likely be based on what you’re looking to sell.
Ionos vs Squarespace: How easy is it to use?
Who doesn’t like an easy setup? With Ionos and Squarespace, this is exactly what you get. Squarespace is probably the simpler of the two to get started since you don’t even need to sign up – you can just jump straight in and start building a website. However, this will be necessary once you’ve selected a template, but by then you should have a good idea of what to expect. You then have 14 days to design, develop and test your site for free, before you need to sign up and connect a domain to get online.
Ionos is slightly different in that you’ll need to sign up and pay before you can start building, but you do get a special rate for six months. After that, it’s pretty straightforward: select a template, enter a few basic business details, and start designing. That said, Ionos isn’t as intuitive as we’d have liked and it isn’t immediately obvious how to customise different page elements. Nevertheless, the more you use it, the quicker you’ll be able to create a modern-looking, responsive site, and adding new sections is a straightforward process.
Ionos offers a strong selection of ecommerce features. If your business is services, rather than products, then you might find it a little lacking, but for selling physical or digital products, Ionos delivers.
Squarespace is easier to get to grips with, offering decent drag-and-drop flexibility and control. The UI is consistent and uses a modular system which makes it easy to add or move components. Applying global changes – adjusting layouts, formatting, or fonts – is quick and easy via the Site Styles sidebar. There’s a lot of creative power on offer here, but you shouldn’t worry if you’re not a design genius as you have all the tools you need to make regular posts look good.
Where Squarespace has traditionally excelled is its ecommerce features, and that remains true today. Adding products, adjusting prices, and keeping track of stock are all easy, and there’s a whole host of features to ensure your online store looks good and works well.
Winner: Squarespace
Once again, it’s close, but the Squarespace setup and design process is slightly more intuitive, making it easier to tweak templates and get the look you want.
Ionos vs Squarespace: Verdict
Choosing between the Ionos and Squarespace is tough. Both offer good-looking templates and an easy-to-use website builder – although we preferred the Squarespace templates as they seem a bit more sophisticated.
Ionos offers a cheaper low-end plan, but if you want to add ecommerce, then both plans are competitively priced. However, for more advanced ecommerce features, Squarespace offers better value and, again, we preferred its layouts for online store designs.
As always, your decision is likely to come down to personal preference, but you won’t be disappointed, whichever one of the two you go for.
