Comparison

Netiva vs Squarespace,
an AI agent or a drag-and-drop editor.

A sourced side-by-side of Netiva’s AI agent and Squarespace’s drag-and-drop builder: content, selling, code export, version history, mobile editing and price, plus where Squarespace fits better.

By Kelvin Çobanaj
Updated Pricing and features checked
Try Netiva free All comparisons

The short answer

Squarespace and Netiva both host your site, set up SSL and let you sell online without writing code. They differ in how you build and what you can take with you. Squarespace is a no-code website builder: you arrange blocks in a drag-and-drop editor, start from a designer template or Blueprint AI and can edit from its iOS and Android app. Netiva builds by chat with an AI agent and a live preview, adds web apps with sign-in to sites and stores, checkpoints every change and gives you code you can export. Pick Squarespace for a design-led site you lay out yourself; pick Netiva when you need an app beside the site, a version history or the source code.

Netiva is best for

Websites, stores and web apps with sign-in, built by chat in one workspace, with custom content models, checkpoints on every change and code you can export

Squarespace is best for

Design-led websites and shops you lay out yourself in a drag-and-drop editor, with bookings, marketing campaigns and an app for editing on the go

At a glance

Netiva vs Squarespace, side by side

Netiva compared with Squarespace
Criterion Netiva Squarespace
What you can build Websites, web apps (dashboards, portals and SaaS products) and online stores in one workspace No-code website builder; a site can add pages, products, bookings and marketing campaigns as the business grows; server-side code isn’t supported[1][2]
How you build Chat with an AI agent and watch a live preview; annotate the preview, @mention files or edit the code yourself Drag-and-drop editor (Fluid Engine); start from a designer template or Blueprint AI, which drafts a multi-page site from your description[1][3]
Content and CMS Built-in collections: any content model, nine field types, slugs and relations, bound to list and detail pages Built-in CMS for pages, blog posts, products and images; collection pages hold sets of content such as posts or products[1][4]
Commerce Built in: products and variants, orders, hosted checkout, automatic tax, multi-currency, warehouses and carrier rates Selling on every paid plan through Squarespace Payments, Stripe, PayPal or Square; 2% store transaction fee on Basic, 0% from Core[5][6]
Code ownership Clean production code you own and can export; no proprietary runtime Partial content export to an .xml file meant for WordPress; code injection from the Core plan; server-side code not supported[7][2]
Hosting and domains Global hosting, automatic SSL and preview URLs; custom domains from the Starter plan Managed cloud hosting on every plan; a custom domain included for the first year on annual plans; no limit on connected domains[5][8]
Collaboration Real-time collaboration: invite teammates into the workspace, see their cursors and comment on the preview Contributors with their own accounts: two on Basic including the owner, unlimited from Core; SSO for Premium and Enterprise[9][10]
Versioning and rollback Every change is checkpointed; branch, compare and roll back No auto-save or revision history; undo ends with the editing session; deleted pages restorable for 30 days; page drafts on Premium and Enterprise[11][12][13]
Mobile Web apps that open in the phone’s browser and mobile-first storefronts; no native iOS or Android builds Responsive sites; an iOS and Android app edits block content and blog blocks but can’t add or move blocks on pages; native apps for visitors not stated[3][14]
Starting price Free plan; paid plans from $19/month ($16/month billed yearly) No free plan; 14-day free trial with no card needed; Basic from $25/month or $19/month billed yearly; each plan covers one site[5][15]
Best for Teams that want a website, web app and store built and run in one agentic workspace Design-led websites and shops you lay out yourself, with bookings, marketing campaigns and on-the-go editing on one platform
Details

Feature by feature

What you can build

Websites and stores on both, web apps on Netiva

Edge: Netiva

Netiva

Netiva covers marketing sites, portfolios, docs, online stores and booking systems, and it goes past websites into web apps: dashboards, portals and SaaS products with real data and auth. People who sign in to an app you build see their own records, and the app can send email, run scheduled jobs and call any REST API with its keys stored securely.

Squarespace

Squarespace describes itself as a no-code website builder. Its websites page says you can add pages, products, bookings and marketing campaigns as your business grows, without switching to a new builder. Memberships and digital content are products in their own right, each with its own transaction fee on the pricing table, so visitors can sign up and read content behind a login. For custom code, the Help Center notes that Squarespace doesn’t support server-side code, including PHP, Ruby, Ruby on Rails and SQL, and a database or per-user records for custom apps isn’t described on the pages we checked.[1][2][5]

For a brochure site, a blog or a shop, both fit. Squarespace puts member content behind its own sign-up; if you need a portal or dashboard where each person signs in and works with their own records, Netiva covers that in the same workspace.

How you build

Describe changes in chat or arrange blocks by hand

Depends on your project

Netiva

In Netiva you describe the site or app in plain language, and an AI agent writes the pages, wires up the data and ships each change while you watch a live preview. To adjust something, annotate that spot on the preview or @mention a file, then keep chatting. You never have to code, though you can open the editor, change files yourself and switch between the preview and the source in one click.

Squarespace

Squarespace’s editor is visual: you design, edit and publish with drag-and-drop tools (Fluid Engine), and no HTML, CSS or JavaScript is needed to launch. You can start from a designer template or from Blueprint AI, which asks what you want to create and produces a multi-page starting point with pages, copy, imagery, colors and fonts. Squarespace AI can also generate a custom section, such as a comparison, gallery or pricing display, from a description.[1][3]

Neither needs code. If you like placing every block yourself, Squarespace’s drag-and-drop editor suits that; if you’d rather say what should change and review it in a preview, Netiva works that way throughout.

Content and CMS

Posts and products, or any content model you define

Edge: Netiva

Netiva

Netiva’s collections let you model whatever your site needs — menu items, rooms, classes, artworks — with nine field types, from text and images to dates and files, plus auto-generated slugs and relations between collections. Required fields and default values keep entries clean, and the grid works like a spreadsheet, with saved filter and sort views. Bind a collection to your pages and the list and detail pages render on their own. A collection-aware assistant can translate, reformat or fill fields across many rows and draft new records for you to review.

Squarespace

Squarespace has a built-in CMS for pages, blog posts, products and images, which its site says stays organized as you grow. Content that comes in sets lives on collection pages, and the Help Center gives blog posts and products as examples. Custom content types with fields and relations you define aren’t described on the Squarespace pages we checked.[1][4]

For a blog and a product catalog, both have you covered. If your content has its own shape, such as rooms with rates or classes with teachers, Netiva documents custom fields, relations and AI-assisted bulk edits.

Commerce

Selling built in, with different payment and fee models

Depends on your project

Netiva

Netiva’s store handles products with sizes, colors, SKUs and per-variant pricing and stock, plus categories, merchandised collections and a low-stock flag. Cards work out of the box on a hosted one-page checkout with automatic tax and multi-currency, and orders move through a pipeline for fulfillment, refunds and customer notes. Shipping routes each order to the nearest warehouse that can ship it, with real carrier rates, labels and tracking. Checkout runs on Stripe, with PayPal from the Pro plan, and subscriptions, digital downloads and memberships come with the Business plan and up.

Squarespace

Every paid Squarespace plan can sell products or services, though ecommerce features vary by plan. Payments go through Squarespace Payments or a connected Stripe, PayPal or Square account. The online store transaction fee is 2% on Basic and 0% on Core, Plus and Advanced, while digital content and memberships carry fees of 7%, 5%, 1% and 0% across those plans. Squarespace Payments charges 2.9% + $0.30 on standard US cards on Basic and Core, and 3.2% + $0.30 on premium cards such as American Express and business cards. Core adds carrier-calculated shipping and Commerce APIs, and Plus adds a reserved cart and timer.[5][6][10]

Squarespace sells digital content and memberships from its entry plan and accepts Square. Netiva brings multi-warehouse shipping, carrier rates and labels into the store. Check Squarespace’s fees for your plan against the sales you expect.

Code ownership

Exportable code versus a partial content export

Edge: Netiva

Netiva

Netiva writes clean, framework-standard code rather than throwaway markup, and that code is yours. Read it in the code view, change it if you want to and export it at any time. There’s no proprietary runtime behind what you publish and no lock-in, so if you move on, the code goes with you.

Squarespace

Squarespace lets you export certain content to an .xml file, which it says is useful for importing into WordPress. Not everything exports, because many features rely on Squarespace’s own JavaScript and CSS. On the platform itself, code injection is available on Core, Plus, Advanced and some legacy plans, and the Developer Platform — its advanced tool for customizing a site beyond the built-in code tools — covers version 7.0 sites on Core, Plus and Advanced. Server-side code isn’t supported, and a full HTML, CSS and JavaScript export isn’t described.[7][2]

If you want your site’s source in hand, Netiva gives you exportable code. Squarespace’s export carries some of your content, mainly for a move to WordPress, and leaves platform features behind.

Hosting and domains

Managed hosting on both, domains bundled on Squarespace

Edge: Squarespace

Netiva

Netiva takes care of global hosting, automatic SSL and preview URLs, and publishing to your domain takes one click. Custom domains are available from the Starter plan: you connect yours by adding the DNS records Netiva lists at your registrar, and the domain gets SSL automatically.

Squarespace

Every Squarespace plan includes fully managed cloud hosting, and the Basic plan lists SSL and unlimited bandwidth. If you pay annually, Squarespace includes a custom domain at no charge for the first year. Its Help Center says there’s no limit to how many domains you can connect or register to a site, so you can register a new domain or point one you already own.[5][8]

Hosting and SSL are handled on both. Squarespace also registers domains and includes one for the first year on annual billing, while Netiva connects a domain you already have.

Collaboration

Live co-editing or contributor accounts

Depends on your project

Netiva

Netiva is built for working together in real time. Invite teammates into the same workspace, follow their cursors as they move and leave comments directly on the preview as you build together live. Role-based access for team members arrives with the Pro plan, and single sign-on and two-factor authentication come with Enterprise.

Squarespace

Squarespace lets you invite contributors who each log in with their own account. Basic sites are limited to two contributors, with the owner counting as one, and the Core plan opens that up to unlimited contributors. Enterprise and Premium customers can set up single sign-on. Real-time co-editing isn’t described, and the Help Center lists editing content in several places at once, such as two browser tabs, among the situations where lost content can’t be restored.[9][10][11]

For a team editing the same pages at the same moment, Netiva is designed for it. Squarespace suits a group taking turns, with unlimited contributors from the Core plan.

Versioning and rollback

Checkpoints and rollback versus session undo

Edge: Netiva

Netiva

Every edit you or the agent make in Netiva is saved as a checkpoint. You can branch off to try an idea, compare it with what you had and roll back to any earlier moment without losing work, so a redesign or a large content change can be reversed if it doesn’t work out.

Squarespace

Squarespace’s Help Center says the editor has no auto-save or revision history. Undo and redo work within an editing session; once you exit the page, those changes can’t be undone or redone. Pages deleted in the last 30 days can be restored from Deleted Pages at the bottom of the Pages panel. Drafting edits to live pages is available only to Premium and Enterprise customers on version 7.1 sites.[11][12][13]

If you want a history to go back to, Netiva checkpoints every change. On Squarespace, undo ends with the editing session, and deleted pages can be restored for 30 days.

Mobile

Phone-friendly sites and editing on the go

Edge: Squarespace

Netiva

Everything Netiva builds runs in the browser, including on phones, so visitors don’t install anything. Storefront product pages are mobile-first, and web apps can use the phone’s camera to scan barcodes. Netiva doesn’t create native iOS or Android apps, and it doesn’t publish to the App Store or Google Play.

Squarespace

Squarespace websites are responsive and optimized for desktop, tablet and mobile. The Squarespace app for iOS and Android lets you edit your site from a phone or tablet: you can change block content there, and the mobile blog editor can add line, text and image blocks, but adding or rearranging blocks on pages isn’t possible in the app. Building native apps for your visitors isn’t described on Squarespace’s site.[3][14]

Both give visitors a site that works on phones, and neither describes native apps for them. Squarespace adds an app for editing your site away from your desk.

Pricing

Netiva vs Squarespace pricing

Prices change often. Confirm the current numbers on each vendor’s pricing page before you decide.

Netiva

  • Free$0/mo
    5 seats, 1 workspace, up to 4 products in the online store
  • Starter$19/mo
    $16/mo billed yearly
    Up to 10 products in the online store, custom domain connection, up to 10 pages
  • Pro$49/mo
    $42/mo billed yearly
    Everything in Starter, up to 100 products in the online store, advanced SEO tools
  • Business$129/mo
    $110/mo billed yearly
    Everything in Pro, 250 products in the store, advanced analytics dashboard
  • EnterpriseCustom
    Everything in Business, 500 products in the store, single sign-on and two-factor authentication

USD per month. Yearly prices are per month, billed annually. Checked Sep 17, 2026. Current Netiva pricing

Squarespace

  • Basic$25/mo[5]
    $19/mo billed yearly
    2 contributors, 2% online store fee, 7% digital content and memberships fee, 30 minutes of video storage, 10 one-time AI credits, SSL; no code injection
  • Core$39/mo[5]
    $29/mo billed yearly
    Unlimited contributors, 0% store fee, 5% digital content fee, 5 hours of video storage, 20 AI credits a month, code injection, Commerce APIs, Mailchimp and Zapier integrations, carrier-calculated shipping
  • Plus$65/mo[5]
    $49/mo billed yearly
    Everything in Core, 1% digital content and memberships fee, 50 hours of video storage, 40 AI credits a month, reserved cart and timer
  • Advanced$139/mo[5]
    $99/mo billed yearly
    Everything in Plus, 0% store and digital content fees, unlimited video storage, 120 AI credits a month

USD, US prices. Monthly prices are billed month to month; yearly prices are shown per month and billed once a year. Each plan covers one website. Checked Sep 17, 2026.

Squarespace charges a flat subscription per website, not per seat, plus a store transaction fee (2% on Basic, 0% above it) and a digital content and memberships fee (7% on Basic down to 0% on Advanced). Card processing through Squarespace Payments, set out in its fee article, is 2.9% + $0.30 on standard US cards on Basic and Core, 2.7% on Plus and 2.5% on Advanced, with 3.2% on premium cards and 1.5% more on international cards.

Decision

Which should you choose?

Choose Netiva if…

  • You need a web app beside your site, such as a client portal, dashboard or booking system where people sign in and see their own records
  • You’d rather build and change the site by chatting with an agent and pointing at the live preview than by moving blocks
  • Your content has its own fields and relations, such as rooms, menu items or classes, and should feed list and detail pages
  • You want every change checkpointed so you can branch, compare and roll back later
  • You want clean, framework-standard code you can read, edit and export whenever you like

Choose Squarespace if…

  • You prefer laying out every block yourself in a drag-and-drop editor, starting from a designer template
  • You want to sell digital content or memberships from an entry-level plan, or take payments through Square
  • You want to edit your site’s content from an iOS or Android app while you’re away from your desk
  • You want to register domains where you build, with a custom domain included for the first year on annual billing
  • You plan to add Squarespace’s bookings and marketing campaigns to the same site as the business grows

Where Squarespace is stronger

  • Every paid plan can sell, through Squarespace Payments or a connected Stripe, PayPal or Square account, and digital content and memberships are sold with a fee that falls from 7% on Basic to 0% on Advanced[5][6]
  • A visual drag-and-drop editor (Fluid Engine) with designer templates and Blueprint AI, for people who want to place every block themselves[1]
  • An iOS and Android app for editing your site’s content from a phone or tablet[14]
  • Domains in one place: a custom domain included for the first year on annual plans, and no limit on how many domains you connect or register to a site[5][8]

What Netiva doesn’t do

  • No native iOS or Android apps: Netiva builds web apps that open in the phone’s browser, and its site doesn’t describe an app for editing your project on a phone.
  • No importer: nothing brings a Squarespace site, its .xml export or its products into Netiva automatically; the agent rebuilds from your description.
  • No drag-and-drop block editor or template gallery: you shape pages by chatting with the agent, annotating the preview or editing the code.
  • Square payments and domain registration aren’t described on Netiva’s site; checkout runs on Stripe (PayPal from Pro), and digital downloads and memberships need the Business plan.
Switching

Moving from Squarespace to Netiva

Netiva has no importer, so leaving Squarespace means rebuilding the site with the agent rather than transferring it. Squarespace can export certain content to an .xml file meant for WordPress, and it notes that not everything exports, because many features rely on its own JavaScript and CSS. Treat that file and your live site as the brief: most of the work is describing your pages and recreating your content in collections.

  1. Export what Squarespace allows

    Export the supported content to Squarespace’s .xml file and note what stays behind. List your pages, blog posts, products and forms so nothing gets missed in the rebuild.

  2. Describe the site to the agent

    Tell Netiva’s agent what each page is for, who visits it and how it should look. Annotate the live preview or @mention files until the layout matches, then keep chatting to refine.

  3. Rebuild your content in collections

    Model posts, products or other content with the fields you need. There’s no importer, but the collection assistant can draft records from a description and clean or reformat rows in bulk.

  4. Set up products and checkout

    Recreate products with their variants, per-variant prices and stock, and set your warehouses and parcel sizes for carrier rates. Checkout runs on Stripe, with PayPal alongside it from the Pro plan.

  5. Point your domain and publish

    Custom domains are available from the Starter plan. Add the DNS records Netiva lists at the registrar that manages your domain, then publish in one click; SSL is set up automatically.

  • Squarespace’s export is meant for importing into WordPress; Netiva doesn’t read it, so use it as a reference while the agent rebuilds your pages.

  • Squarespace says not everything exports, so check what’s missing from the file and plan to recreate those parts by hand.

  • Keep the Squarespace site live until the Netiva version is published and your domain points to it, so visitors don’t hit a gap.

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FAQ

Netiva vs Squarespace: common questions

Is Netiva a good Squarespace alternative?

It can be, depending on what you need. Netiva suits you if you want to build by chatting with an AI agent, need a web app with sign-in next to your site, want every change checkpointed or want code you can export. Squarespace suits you if you prefer a drag-and-drop editor and designer templates, want to sell digital content or memberships from its entry plan or want an iOS and Android app for editing your site. Both host your site and let you sell online.

How much does Squarespace cost compared with Netiva?

Squarespace has no free plan; every site starts with a 14-day free trial. Its US plans run from Basic at $25 a month ($19 a month billed yearly) to Advanced at $139 a month ($99 a month billed yearly), billed per website, plus transaction and card fees that vary by plan. Netiva has a free plan with no credit card required, and its paid plans add capacity and features such as custom domain connection. The pricing section above shows both sides, checked on the date listed.

Can I export my site from Squarespace or Netiva?

Netiva writes framework-standard code that you own, and you can export it whenever you want, with no proprietary runtime tying it to Netiva. Squarespace can export certain content to an .xml file intended for importing into WordPress, but not everything exports, since many features rely on Squarespace’s own JavaScript and CSS. A full export of a Squarespace site’s HTML, CSS and JavaScript isn’t described on its site.

Can Squarespace or Netiva build native mobile apps?

Neither describes building native apps for your customers. Netiva builds web apps and mobile-first storefronts that open in the phone’s browser, with nothing to install, and its web apps can scan barcodes with the phone’s camera; it doesn’t produce iOS or Android builds or store listings. Squarespace sites are responsive across desktop, tablet and mobile, and Squarespace offers its own iOS and Android app for editing your site from a phone, though blocks on pages can’t be added or rearranged there, apart from line, text and image blocks in its mobile blog editor.

How do I move my website from Squarespace to Netiva?

There’s no importer, so plan a rebuild. Export the content Squarespace allows to its .xml file and keep your live site open as a reference. Describe each page to Netiva’s agent and refine it in the live preview. Recreate posts, products and other content in collections; the collection assistant can draft and clean records in bulk. Then connect your domain, available from the Starter plan, and publish. Keep the Squarespace site running until the switch is done.

Can I restore an earlier version of my site on Squarespace or Netiva?

On Netiva, yes: every change is checkpointed, so you can branch, compare and roll back to any earlier point without losing work. Squarespace’s Help Center says its editor has no auto-save or revision history. Undo and redo work only until you exit the page, deleted pages can be restored for 30 days and drafting changes to live pages is limited to Premium and Enterprise customers on version 7.1 sites.

Sources

  1. Squarespace websites — Squarespace, accessed
  2. Add custom code to your site — Squarespace, accessed
  3. AI website builder — Squarespace, accessed
  4. Collection pages — Squarespace, accessed
  5. Squarespace pricing — Squarespace, accessed
  6. Transaction fees and payment processing rates — Squarespace, accessed
  7. Exporting your site — Squarespace, accessed
  8. Connect a third-party domain to your Squarespace site — Squarespace, accessed
  9. Contributors basics — Squarespace, accessed
  10. Selling on the Basic, Core, Plus and Advanced plans — Squarespace, accessed
  11. Troubleshooting lost content — Squarespace, accessed
  12. Using undo and redo in Squarespace — Squarespace, accessed
  13. Drafting pages (Premium and Enterprise) — Squarespace, accessed
  14. Edit your site with the Squarespace app — Squarespace, accessed
  15. Choosing the right Squarespace plan — Squarespace, accessed

Written by Netiva, so we’re not neutral. Squarespace details come only from Squarespace’s public pages listed above, checked on the dates shown; prices and features change, so confirm them on Squarespace’s website. Squarespace is a trademark of its owner, and Netiva isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by Squarespace.

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