Squarespace vs RapidWebLaunch: build it yourself, or have it handled?
Squarespace Core is $39 a month, and every page is yours to build and keep up. For $95 a month, I design, write and run the site, so you never have to.
Squarespace is a good builder. The real question is who does the building.
Squarespace costs less in cash. You pay in time.
Squarespace Core is $39 a month, and Basic is $25. My plan is $95 a month. If you only count cash, Squarespace wins by a wide margin.
What the Squarespace price doesn’t include is anyone doing the work. You pick the template, write every page, fill in the SEO fields and keep it all current. I wrote about what it really takes to maintain a website, and it adds up. If you’d rather spend those hours on your business, that’s what my price pays for.
$25 to $39 a month, and you do the work.
$95 a month, and I do the work.
The templates and AI get you started. Finishing is your job.
Squarespace’s templates are a real strength, and Blueprint AI can turn a description of your business into a multi-page site with copy, images and styling in place. Squarespace calls the result a starting point.
The words still need your eye. Squarespace says you shouldn’t publish AI text you wouldn’t have written yourself, and that what goes live is on you. On my plan, I research your business and write the pages. You approve them.
A fast AI starting point that you finish.
Pages written for your business, ready to approve.
Leaving Squarespace means a rebuild, not an export
Squarespace’s export is a WordPress-format file. It carries layout pages, text and image blocks, and one blog with its posts. Style settings, custom CSS, store pages, portfolio pages, video blocks and any second blog stay behind, and it only works from an active, published site.
So whoever you move to, the design gets rebuilt. What matters is keeping what Google already knows: every old address gets a permanent redirect to its new page. That redirect map is part of every switch I do.
A partial WordPress file. The design stays behind.
Every old page redirected to its new address.
Stores, forms and bookings
If you sell products, Squarespace is strong: an online store on every plan, with no transaction fee from Core up. I build online stores too, custom to your products, but they’re quoted separately, not part of the $95 plan.
If you enjoy designing and editing your own site, the Squarespace column isn’t a cost, it’s the fun part. That’s a fine reason to choose it.
Complaints
What Squarespace customers complain about
Every company gets complaints, and one bad review isn’t a pattern. These four themes come up again and again in public reviews. Each one links to where it comes from, with Squarespace’s side where it has one.
Before you sign up:Open the Billing panel, list every subscription (site, domain, email, scheduling), and turn off auto-renew on anything you might not keep.
You enjoy design and want to build and edit the site yourself, on polished templates.
Your budget is tight. Core is $39 a month, and Basic is $25.
You sell products online and want the store in the same place as the site.
You like making changes the minute you think of them, without asking anyone.
Choose RapidWebLaunch if
You’d rather hand the website off completely, including the writing.
You want the site finished and launched without learning an editor.
You want SEO basics like page descriptions, redirects and speed handled for you.
You want your site’s files to be yours, not tied to one platform.
Neither of us may be the right fit if
You love Squarespace and only want help with the build. Squarespace can match you with an Expert who builds on its platform, and you keep the editor afterward.
A complete redesign, handled
A painting company’s redesign, SEO included
We were looking for someone to completely redesign our site and maximize its performance with SEO services. I found it so helpful that he does it all with an easy and budget friendly payment plan. He incorporated many design elements that created an incredibly polished and user friendly platform.
The goal: nobody who finds you today hits a dead end tomorrow. Here’s the order I do it in.
1
Find out what’s working
Before touching anything, I look at which pages bring in your visitors and leads. With your Search Console access, I protect those first.
2
Save what Squarespace will give you
Export the WordPress file while the site is still live, download each form’s entries as a spreadsheet, and keep your photos. The export needs an active, published site, so this happens before anything is canceled.
3
Keep your domain, and move it only if you want to
A domain bought through Squarespace stays yours when the site is canceled and keeps renewing. You can point it at the new site or transfer it away, which can take up to 15 days. A free first-year domain loses the free offer when it moves.
4
Protect your email
Google Workspace email billed through Squarespace stays active after the site is canceled. If the domain moves, its mail records need setting up at the new provider, so I record every DNS setting first and mail keeps arriving.
5
Redirect every old page
Each old address gets a permanent (301) redirect to its new page, and your business name, address and phone stay exactly the same.
6
Rebuild forms and bookings, then test them
Contact forms are rebuilt and tested end to end, and bookings move to the plan’s built-in calendar booking. Acuity keeps billing on its own, so it gets canceled once the new calendar works. A store gets its own quote.
7
Review, launch, then cancel Squarespace
You review the new site before it goes live. Once it’s live and the forms, email and redirects check out, you cancel Squarespace. Canceling can take the old site offline right away, so it always comes last.
Pricing
Everything in one plan
No build fee, no contract, no upsells. Here’s every feature the monthly price covers.
The Everything Plan
One plan, because you should not have to study a comparison table to buy a website. Every feature below is included from day one.
$95/month
$0 to build. No contract. Cancel anytime.
Your website is yours from day one.
A site built for you, not from a template
Imagine what you could accomplish with more than just a Home, About and Contact page.
Built for speed
Hand-coded and served from data centers around the world, not a page builder dragging its own weight around. Fast on any phone, on any connection.
Custom illustrations
No junky stock photos or cookie cutter icons here.
Copywriting
Great copywriting is the difference between a website that sells and one that doesn't.
On-page SEO
Essentially this means making it as easy as possible for Google and AI to find you.
Custom lead forms
Forms that actually convert visitors into leads.
Easy analytics
Plain, simple, straightforward, valuable analytics anyone can read.
100's of local SEO pages
Local SEO requires hyper-local intent targeting. Almost every service-based business needs this!
Blog
Blogs are awesome if they are used authentically. The age of purely info-based content is over.
Social media integration
We can integrate your social media content directly into your website. Strategically, of course. We don't want visitors getting distracted!
Automated reviews management
Automatically add new reviews from review platforms (Google, Yelp, etc) directly into your website.
Online calendar bookings
Let visitors book meetings, sessions and appointments directly through your site.
Email newsletter integration
Email newsletters help turn your visitors into subscribers.
Automated legal policies
Your Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions are generated by a specialist legal-policy service and update automatically as privacy laws change. Included, with nothing for you to maintain.
CRM integrations
We connect your forms to the CRM you already use: HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho and most other software that connects with outside apps. A custom system gets its own scope.
Advanced integrations
Automations that send each new lead to the right person, log it in your spreadsheets and handle the follow-up.
Hosting
Not all hosting is created equal. If you want the Taco Bell of web hosting, Bluehost is waiting for you.
Unlimited Updates
Changes to hours, photos, text and services are included. Routine edits have a 72-hour target; larger requests get an agreed scope and completion date.
1-on-1 VIP support, direct with Patrick
No call centers, no offshoring, just your friendly neighborhood Patrick. Based in North America, native English speaker, and fluent in Spanish if that is easier for you.
Not as a working copy. Squarespace’s export is a WordPress-format file with basic pages and one blog, and it leaves out the design, styles and store pages. I rebuild the site, reuse your text and photos, and redirect every old page.
Will I lose my Google rankings if I leave Squarespace?
Nobody can promise rankings won’t move at all. What protects them: every old page gets a permanent (301) redirect, your business name, address and phone stay identical, and I submit the new sitemap and watch Search Console after launch.
Do I have to move my domain away from Squarespace?
The simple things, yes. You can edit blog posts and FAQs yourself. New pages, layout and design changes, you send to me by text or email, and they’re included.
Isn’t $95 a month a lot more than Squarespace?
In cash, yes. Squarespace Core is $39 a month, and Basic is $25. The difference pays for someone else doing the design, writing, SEO and changes. If you enjoy doing those yourself, Squarespace is the better deal.
Core plan 
Squarespace 
+100 business owners like you 
Patrick
Do it yourself 
Price What the monthly bill says 
Building the site Pages, layout, photos 
Writing the words Headlines, pages, calls to action 
Changes after launch New photo, new price, new page 
Who you talk to When you need something 
SEO Getting found on Google 
If you leave What you walk away with 
Online store Selling products on the site 
Design How the site looks 
AI help Drafts, images, edits 
Domain yourname.com 
Business email you@yourname.com 
Online booking Appointments on the site 
$25 to $39 Plus your time. 
Melanie Maese Co-Founder of Grey Wolf Painting · Google review 
