By Mehdi HassanIs Framer or Squarespace better for a modern brand website?
Framer is better for a modern brand website when the brand needs to feel distinctive. It lets a designer control layout, type, color and motion with no template limits, so the site can express the brand rather than a theme. Squarespace is better when you want a polished, simple site quickly and a template look is acceptable.
The question is really about how much of your brand lives on the website. For a startup or design-led company, the website is often the main place people meet the brand. For a photographer or a small shop, a strong template can do the job. Our guide to the best platform for a marketing website covers the other main options.
Framer vs Squarespace: how do they compare?
Framer leads on design freedom and motion. Squarespace leads on ease, polished templates and built-in business tools. The table compares the two for a brand-led site.
Factor | Framer | Squarespace |
|---|---|---|
Design freedom | Freeform canvas, any layout | Template-based sections |
Typography and motion | Full control, rich animation | Good defaults, limited motion |
Ease for non-designers | Easy to edit, harder to design | Very easy to set up |
Business tools | Forms, CMS, embeds | Commerce, scheduling, member areas |
Blog and CMS | Flexible collections | Simple blog and pages |
Export | No real code export | Partial content export |
Best for | Startups and brand-led companies | Portfolios, services, small stores |
If you can picture your brand working inside a well-made template, Squarespace is a fair choice. If your brand needs something a template can't do, such as an unusual layout, bespoke type or motion as part of the identity, choose Framer.
Should you rebrand before choosing a platform?
If you're also rebranding, decide the brand before you pick the platform. The brand sets what the website needs to do: how much motion, how custom the layouts, how expressive the type. Choosing a platform first often means bending the brand to fit a template.
A practical order is brand direction first, then website explorations that show how the brand works on real pages, then the platform. Once you can see the homepage and a few key pages, it becomes obvious whether a template can carry them or whether you need Framer's freedom.
If you're at that point, our brand and design sprint is built for it. It's $3,000, fixed scope and fixed price: a brand refresh or redesign plus ten website and product explorations, delivered as Figma files. It's design only, so you can build the result in Framer, Squarespace or anything else. See our pricing for the details.
Which is easier to edit, Framer or Squarespace?
Squarespace is easier for a non-designer to set up from scratch, because templates make most of the decisions. Once a site is built, both are easy to edit: text, images, blog posts and simple sections can be changed without help on either.
The difference shows up when you want something new. On Squarespace, adding a new section means choosing from its section library, which keeps things consistent but limits what's possible. On Framer, a designer can build any new section, and a well-built Framer site gives marketers reusable components to drop in. For brand-led teams with a designer, Framer's flexibility is worth the slightly steeper start.
How do Framer and Squarespace compare on pricing and SEO?
Both charge a monthly plan that includes hosting, with higher tiers for more features. Squarespace's higher plans add commerce features, while Framer's costs grow with editors, CMS capacity and languages. Framer has added seat fees and charges per locale for localization. Check both current plan pages against your needs.
On SEO, both cover the basics: custom titles and descriptions, clean URLs, sitemaps, redirects and alt text. Neither gives a ranking edge by itself. Rankings depend on content, structure and speed. Framer gives a bit more control over page structure and custom code for schema. For modeling seat and add-on costs on Framer, see Webflow vs Framer pricing.
Hypothetical example: two brand-led businesses
For example, suppose an interior designer needs a portfolio, a contact form and occasional blog posts. A strong Squarespace template with good photography would serve the brand well and cost little to maintain.
Now suppose a design-led fintech startup is launching with a new identity that uses bold type, custom illustration and motion. A template would flatten all of that. Framer lets the designer build the identity into the site, and lets the team update pages as the product changes.
How do you move from Squarespace to Framer?
Moving from Squarespace to Framer is a rebuild with a content move. Squarespace's export covers only some content, so pages are designed fresh in Framer and blog posts are moved into Framer's CMS.
List every URL
Pull your sitemap and analytics to list pages and posts, and note which ones bring traffic or leads.
Settle the brand and copy
Use the move to fix messaging and structure, especially if you're rebranding.
Build in Framer
Design pages and CMS templates, move posts and check images and formatting.
Replace business tools
Swap Squarespace commerce or scheduling for embeds or dedicated tools where you need them.
Redirect and launch
Map every old URL to the new one with a 301, test forms and analytics, then switch the domain.
Our guide to Squarespace to Framer migration covers each step in detail. If you're coming from Webflow instead, see Webflow to Framer migration. And if Wix is also on your list, compare Framer vs Wix.
