Updated: November 9, 2026

Leaving Squarespace or Wix: alternatives, what exports, cost and steps

In July 2026, press reports and owners’ renewal emails showed Squarespace prices going up on many annual plans, and a lot of owners started looking for the exit. Leaving is not hard to start, but both platforms keep more of your site than you might expect. This page covers what each one lets you take, how to cancel without a surprise charge, how to move the domain, and what to put in place so your Google traffic survives the move.

We have not tested moving a site yet. We have cancelled one Squarespace plan step by step (November 12, 2026, notes here), nothing else. Every platform fact below comes from the platform’s own help pages, read on November 9, 2026. Prices come from our renewal price tracker. Buyer reports are labelled as reports. Hour estimates are ours and untested. See how we test.

The short version

• Squarespace exports pages, one blog, and text and image blocks in a file built for WordPress (images can come across as links that break later). It leaves out store pages, a second blog, product, audio and video blocks, drafts and custom CSS. Products go out as a separate .csv.
• Wix says its sites cannot run on another host. Its help pages list no whole-site export. Blog posts cannot be exported. Store products (physical only) and CMS collections export as .csv files.
• Both let you keep or move the domain. Do not cancel the plan until the new site is live and the domain points to it.
• Turn off auto-renew before the renewal date. Wix tries to charge yearly plans up to 3 weeks early. Squarespace says renewals are not refundable.

What happened to Squarespace pricing in July 2026

Here is what we can say from sources, and where we stop.

From Squarespace’s pricing page (read November 8, 2026, in our tracker). Basic is $19 a month billed yearly ($228) or $25 month to month. Core is $29 a month billed yearly ($348) or $39 month to month. Plus is $49 yearly or $65 monthly. Advanced is $99 yearly or $139 monthly. The page shows list prices only. It does not show a separate renewal price, and Squarespace’s terms say plans auto-renew for an equal period and that fees can change at any time.

From press coverage. PetaPixel reported on July 17, 2026 that Squarespace “has seemingly not published a specific memo about its price changes, instead communicating directly with customers via email.” Using archived copies of the pricing page, it reported annual Basic moving from the equivalent of $16 to $19 a month, and Core from $23 to $29. That is the publication’s reading, not an official Squarespace statement (PetaPixel, July 17, 2026).

From buyers (reports, not our price readings). Owners on Reddit posted the amounts on their renewal emails. One wrote: “My site went from $192 to $348.” (r/squarespace, July 18, 2026). Another reported a 47.83% increase on renewals after August 12, 2026 (r/graphic_design, July 16, 2026). On July 24, a user posted that Squarespace emailed to say a higher price had been misapplied on some plans (r/squarespace, July 24, 2026). We have not seen that email and cannot confirm it.

What we cannot tell you. We cannot say what your own renewal will cost. Buyers started from different prices, some on a first-year promotion, so the same list change shows up as very different jumps. Check the “upcoming renewal charge” on your Billing panel. Squarespace’s billing help says each subscription shows “the upcoming renewal charge amount and due date” (Squarespace help, updated October 21, 2026).

Wix. We have no verified US price for Wix. Wix’s pricing page served this reader a non-US storefront, so our tracker records no Wix price, and we quote none here. Buyers also report Wix renewal anger. One commenter wrote: “They just auto renewed mine for almost $500 with no notice over 30 days before it was due” (r/WIX, thread dated August 24, 2026). That is one buyer’s account. Wix’s own help page says it sends reminder emails starting 30 days before payment is due.

What exports and what does not

Squarespace

Squarespace’s export page, last updated October 9, 2026, lists what the export file holds: layout pages, one blog page with posts and up to 1000 comments per post, text and image blocks, text from embed and Instagram blocks “with minimum structure”, and gallery pages on version 7.0 sites. It says “many features rely on our platform’s JavaScript and CSS, so some content doesn’t export.”

The image trap. The same page warns that if you import into self-hosted WordPress with the WordPress Importer plugin, your images may not come across. WordPress may keep reference links instead, so “the image links stop working after you cancel your Squarespace site.” The page recommends importing into WordPress.com, which copies images to its servers. Either way, download your images before you cancel.

After you cancel. Squarespace’s cancel page says: “When your site expires, you can still log into your site to manage billing, domains, and past commerce data,” and that the Import & export panel lets you “Export your site’s available content.” We have not checked how long that access lasts, so do not rely on it. Export first.

Sources: Exporting your site (updated October 9, 2026), Cancel your website subscription (updated October 15, 2026), Export products to a .csv. The first two were read November 9, 2026. The products page is linked from our earlier Squarespace page and we did not re-read it for this one.

Wix

Wix’s help page “Exporting or Embedding Your Wix Site Elsewhere” says: “The reason you can’t use another host for your Wix site is that the SaaS architecture does not support external hosting since it uses Wix’s proprietary technology and relies on Wix’s services to operate.” It also says the content you build “belongs to you” under Wix’s Terms of Use. Embedding the site elsewhere is possible, but Wix says it then cannot provide support, and that “Google Analytics and search engines may not work properly with embedded sites.”

So leaving Wix means rebuilding the site on the new platform. What you can carry over by file is the text and data you can copy out, the CMS .csv, and the product .csv. Wix’s CMS export page says collections export as a .csv “to use in another application such as Google Sheets or Excel”. Its store page says you can export “up to 5,000 rows per CSV file”.

We did not find a Wix help page covering page-by-page export of regular pages. If you have a large blog, one owner described the problem this way: “Migrating a 70+ page Wix site (200+ blog posts, 2 CMS collections) to WordPress” (r/Wordpress, July 21, 2026). That is a report of the job, not a method we have checked.

Sources: Exporting or Embedding Your Wix Site Elsewhere, Wix Blog Request: Exporting Blog Posts to Other Platforms, Wix Stores: Exporting Your Product List, CMS: Exporting Content from Your Collection. All read November 9, 2026. Wix pages do not show an updated date in the text we read.

How to cancel

Squarespace

Open the Billing panel for the site. Under Subscriptions, click the subscription, then “Cancel subscription.” Inside the refund window you choose “Retain Access” or “Get Refund Immediately.” Then give a reason and confirm.

• Refund. Squarespace’s refund policy (updated May 21, 2026) says annual plans canceled within 14 days of purchase can get a full refund. Annual plans canceled after that, monthly plans and renewal payments are not refunded. To avoid a renewal charge, it says: “Cancel before the renewal date to avoid being charged.”
• After you cancel. A “Website expired” message appears when people visit. For a monthly plan, “your service stops at the end of your billing cycle.”
• Your domain stays. Squarespace says you “can keep your domain registered through your account, manage its DNS settings, or transfer it to a different host.” A domain is a separate subscription, so cancel it separately if you want it gone.

Do not count on a refund after 14 days.

Sources: Cancel your website subscription, Website refund policy. Read November 9, 2026.

Wix

Go to Premium Subscriptions in your Wix account, click the More Actions icon next to the plan, click “Cancel Plan”, then “Cancel Now”, and confirm after giving feedback.

• Refund. Wix’s help says Premium and Studio plans have a 14-day refund period for first-time purchases. Inside it, cancelling ends the plan at once with a full refund. “The refund policy does not apply to renewals or cancellations after the 14 day period.”
• Timing of the charge. For yearly and multi-year plans, Wix says “we will attempt to process your renewal payment up to 3 weeks before the plan’s expiration date.” If you do not want to renew, “you must turn off auto renewal before your next payment date.”
• After you cancel. The site stays online, reverts to a free Wix address and shows Wix ads. You have to unpublish it yourself if you want it down. Content is not deleted.
• Other purchases. A domain or business email bought through Wix has its own auto-renew, which you must turn off separately.

Sources: Canceling a Wix Premium or Studio Plan, Turning Off Auto Renewal for a Wix Site Plan. Read November 9, 2026.

Move the domain

Treat the domain as a separate job. It is the one thing both platforms let you move whole.

Two details to plan around. Squarespace gives you up to 5 days to reject a transfer by email, so check that email if you start one by mistake. On Wix, the 60-day lock applies if you change your contact information, and Wix advises: “If your final goal is to transfer your domain to another domain provider, please be advised that you should do so before changing your contact information.” If the lock blocks you, Wix says you can keep the domain there and point it at the new site.

Write down every DNS record before you start, including MX records for email. Squarespace’s guide warns that most hosts cannot keep your settings during a transfer.

Sources: Transferring a domain away from Squarespace (updated July 1, 2026), Transferring Your Wix Domain Away from Wix, ICANN’s 60 Day Lock Policy, Connecting a Wix Domain to an External Site via Pointing. Read November 9, 2026.

The order we would do it in

This sequence is our plan from the documents above. We have not run it on a live site.

1. Check the domain first. Find where it is registered and whether a 60-day lock applies. If it is registered at Squarespace or Wix, start the move early, because it can take up to 15 days (Squarespace) or up to 7 days (Wix). Move it to a neutral registrar you control.
2. Record your DNS settings, including email records, and screenshot your plan and renewal date.
3. Export everything you can. Run the Squarespace export, products .csv, Wix CMS and product .csv files. Download all images and any files you uploaded. Save a list of every live URL.
4. Build the new site on a temporary address. Do not touch the old plan yet.
5. Set up redirects on the new site (next section), then test the old URLs.
6. Point the domain at the new site once the transfer finishes. Keep the old plan running until the new site loads on your domain.
7. Cancel the old plan and turn off auto-renew on every other Squarespace or Wix subscription (domain, email, apps) before the renewal date. Remember the refund windows: 14 days at both for first purchases, nothing for renewals.

One unknown we want to settle by testing: both platforms describe the old site losing its domain connection around the transfer, and Squarespace blocks DNS changes during it. We do not yet know what visitors see during that gap. If you cannot afford any downtime, keep the domain where it is and point DNS at the new host, as Wix itself suggests when the lock blocks a transfer, and move the registrar later.

The redirect plan

Your old URLs will not work on a new platform unless you map them. Google has indexed paths such as /about-us or /blog/my-post, and the new site will usually use different ones.

1. List every old URL you want to keep, from your sitemap and your analytics.
2. Match each one to its new address.
3. On the new platform or host, add a permanent (301) redirect from each old path to its new path.
4. Test a sample of old URLs after launch.

Squarespace documents its own redirect tool, “URL mappings”, with lines like /old-url -> /new-url 301, and says the field holds about 2,500 redirect lines (Squarespace help, updated September 8, 2026). That tool runs on a live Squarespace site. After you cancel, redirects have to live on the new platform, so build them there. We did not find a Wix help page on setting up redirects, so we make no claim about Wix’s tool. Redirect methods on the new host depend on which host you pick.

Realistic hours (our estimate)

These are our estimates from the steps above, not measured. A small site is about 5 pages with no store. A medium site is 20 to 40 pages with a blog.

A Wix site takes longer than a Squarespace one, because there is no whole-site file to import. A store adds time for products, payments, shipping and tax settings. Treat these as planning ranges and replace them when our own test runs finish.

Where to go: alternatives

We rank nothing here. The right choice depends on what you are leaving.

• Self-hosted WordPress. Squarespace’s export is built to import into WordPress, so this is the shortest path for a blog-heavy Squarespace site. You run a host and updates. See Squarespace vs WordPress for 3-year costs.
• WordPress.com. Squarespace recommends it over the plugin route for images, because it copies them. It is hosted for you.
• Shopify. The usual move if the main job is selling. See Shopify vs Squarespace.
• Another builder. Wix, Webflow, Framer, Hostinger’s builder and others appear in AI answers (below). You still rebuild by hand, and you inherit someone else’s renewal terms, so read them first.

Cost check. In our tracker, Squarespace Basic is $228 a year at today’s list price. Hostinger Premium shows $95.52 upfront for 48 months, renewing at $10.99 a month. Bluehost Starter shows $3.99 a month for 36 months, renewing at $9.99. Those are hosting for self-hosted WordPress and leave out your time, a theme and a domain after year 1. Renewal prices for every host are on the renewal price tracker. Hosting is cheaper than a builder on paper, but only if someone handles updates and backups.

What AI assistants say

We asked ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity: “What are the best Squarespace alternatives?” (November 8, 2026, one run each).

• All 4 answers named Wix, Shopify and WordPress.
• All 4 list Wix first. Claude: “Wix is the best all-around alternative because it keeps the all-in-one convenience.” Perplexity: “Choose Wix for the closest all-around alternative.”
• Only Perplexity mentioned renewal prices (“check renewal rates and plan limits before choosing”). None of the 4 mentioned exporting, redirects, cancelling or moving a domain. Several of them point people to Wix, which exports less than Squarespace does.

One run, on one day. Answers change from run to run. We have no Wix-alternatives prompt in our scan, so we cannot say what the engines recommend for people leaving Wix. Our full scan is on What AI assistants recommend.

What we have not tested yet

These checks are on our list. None has started.

• Running a real Squarespace export and importing it into WordPress and WordPress.com, and counting what arrives (images, blog, comments, formatting)
• Exporting a real Wix site’s text, CMS and products, and timing a manual rebuild
• Cancelling each platform on a paid plan, and checking the refund and the dates on the confirmation
• Transferring a domain out of each platform, and recording what visitors see during the transfer
• Setting up 301 redirects on a new host and checking them in Google Search Console
• Contacting support at each platform with an export question and logging the reply
• Reading a real Squarespace renewal email and comparing it with the Billing panel
• Reading Wix’s US prices from a US connection

Sources and dates

All read on November 9, 2026, unless a date is given.

• Squarespace help: Exporting your site (updated October 9, 2026), Cancel your website subscription (updated October 15, 2026), Website refund policy (updated May 21, 2026), Transferring a domain away from Squarespace (updated July 1, 2026), Your Squarespace billing information (updated October 21, 2026), URL mappings (updated September 8, 2026), Export products to a .csv (not re-read for this page)
• Squarespace pricing (US): squarespace.com/pricing, read November 8, 2026, via our tracker
• Wix help: Exporting or Embedding Your Wix Site Elsewhere, Blog export request, Exporting Your Product List, CMS export, Canceling a Premium or Studio plan, Turning off auto renewal, Transferring your domain away, ICANN 60 day lock, Pointing a Wix domain to an external site
• Press: PetaPixel, July 17, 2026
• Host prices: Hostinger and Bluehost, via our renewal price tracker (checked November 8, 2026)
• AI answers: our scan of November 8, 2026, method here
• Buyer reports: Reddit threads linked where quoted, dated by post