If you're reading this, you've probably had both tabs open for a week.
Showit on the left. Squarespace on the right. Your coffee went cold somewhere in between.
Here's the short version: they're both good. They're just good at opposite things. One gives you freedom. The other gives you structure. The right one depends on how you like to work, and how many Sundays you're willing to give up.
Let's go.
What is Showit?
Showit is a website builder made for creatives. Photographers fell in love with it first, then coaches, designers and wedding people followed.
Its big promise: drag anything anywhere. No grid telling you no. You also design the phone version separately, so it looks exactly how you want on a small screen.
Two things to know:
- It's not an AI-first builder. You start from a template (many are made by independent designers and sold in their Design Market) or from a blank page, and you build it yourself.
- The blog runs on WordPress. Showit hosts it for you, but behind the scenes your blog is a WordPress blog.
What is Squarespace?
Squarespace is the polished all-rounder. Beautiful templates, built-in shop, bookings, newsletters, and now built-in AI tools that help you start a site and write.
Its big promise: it's hard to make it ugly. You move things on a grid, inside sections. Less freedom, fewer disasters.
Showit vs Squarespace: the real differences
1. Design freedom
Showit wins. Put a photo half off the edge, overlap text on an image, place a button exactly there. Squarespace lets you move blocks on a grid, but the layout still decides a lot, and the phone version follows the desktop more than you control it.
2. Ease
Squarespace wins. Freedom has a price: time. In Showit, every page is a small design project. In Squarespace, you can get something clean online in an afternoon.
3. Blogging and SEO
This is why "Showit SEO" is a popular search.
- Showit: your blog is WordPress, so you get the whole WordPress world for blogging (on the Advanced Blog plans, plugins too). Your pages also have their own titles and descriptions. Good news for SEO, as long as you actually fill them in.
- Squarespace: the SEO basics are built in and simple to use. Less power, less to break.
Honest truth: neither will rank you on Google by itself. What ranks is useful pages, regularly. The builder only makes it easier or harder.
4. Selling
Squarespace wins. Shop, digital products, memberships, all built in. Showit isn't made to be a shop. You'd connect outside tools.
5. Price (checked on their official pages, 29 Oct 2026)
Showit (US prices, in dollars):
- Showit, no blog: $22 a month paid yearly ($259 a year), or $27 month to month
- Showit + Basic Starter Blog: $27 a month paid yearly ($326 a year), or $34 month to month
- Showit + Advanced Blog: $39 a month paid yearly ($470 a year), or $49 month to month
- Showit changed its prices in 2026: new subscriptions since 15 January 2026, renewals since 1 March 2026.
- Free trial: 14 days. During the trial you can't connect your domain.
Squarespace (European pricing page, in euros):
- Basic from €12 a month paid yearly (€17 month to month), with a 2% fee on shop sales
- Core from €18 a month paid yearly (€24 month to month), no shop sales fee
- Plus and Advanced cost more, for bigger shops and memberships
- Free trial: 14 days
Prices change by country and over time, so check both pages on the day you buy.
So, Showit or Squarespace?
Choose Showit if:
- you're a photographer, a designer, or someone who loves to design
- your blog matters a lot to your business
- you have time, or a designer, to build every page
Choose Squarespace if:
- you want clean and done, this week
- you sell products, digital downloads or memberships
- you'd rather follow a good structure than invent one
The third way: what if you don't want to choose between freedom and time?
A personal note from Aliya, Big Cat's founder (my experience, October 2026): Showit was my favourite builder. I could drag everything anywhere, the templates were inspiring, and it was simple. But the phone version is not automatic, you design it again by hand, and I hate it. For me it was also very expensive. That gap is exactly why I built Big Cat.
Here's what most comparisons don't tell you. Both builders start from a template. Showit lets you change it more. Squarespace makes it easier to change. But it's still somebody else's starting point, and somebody else's starting point is very hard to make feel like you.
That's why we built Big Cat, the authentic AI website builder. It starts somewhere else: from a design you love.
- Paste a website that gives you chills, a screenshot, or your Pinterest board.
- Big Cat reads its “feeling”: proportions, type, space, mood. Never its words, photos or logo.
- In minutes you see your site in that feeling, with your words and your offers.
- Then you edit by talking to the cat (voice or text), or you move things yourself.
It's the freedom of Showit's look without the weekends, and the speed of Squarespace without the same-as-everyone grid. Plus a brand strategist inside: it writes your words in your tone and adds the legal pages.
Price: €12 a month, or €60 every 6 months (€10 a month). 7-day free trial, no card needed. Your own domain.
Where Showit or Squarespace are still the better pick (because honest):
- A big shop with lots of products: Squarespace.
- A huge blog with years of posts and WordPress plugins: Showit.
- More than 10 pages, or several sites: not on our first plan yet.
Try it: paste a site you love →
Keep reading
- Showit alternatives in 2026, with the phone version done
- The best AI website builders in 2026, ranked
- The best website builders in 2026, with prices for one site
- Why I left Showit
- Why I never chose Squarespace
Questions people ask
What is Showit?
Showit is a drag-and-drop website builder for creatives. You can place anything anywhere, design the phone version separately, and the blog runs on WordPress.
Is Showit better than Squarespace?
For design freedom and blogging, yes. For ease, speed and selling, Squarespace is better. It depends on how much time you want to spend building.
How much does Showit cost in 2026?
On Showit's official page (29 Oct 2026): from $22 a month paid yearly without a blog, $27 with the Basic Starter Blog, $39 with the Advanced Blog. Monthly billing costs more.
Is Showit good for SEO?
Yes, if you use it. The blog is WordPress, and each page has its own title and description. Like any builder, it won't rank you by itself: useful, regular content does.
Is there a Showit alternative that's faster?
If you love Showit's editorial look but not the hours, Big Cat builds your site from a design you love in minutes, then lets you edit by talking or by moving things yourself.