Hostinger Website Builder vs Squarespace: Which Fits Your Site?

Choose Squarespace if you want a lower store transaction fee at the entry price point, dedicated content types like blog and event pages, and a longer track record on ecommerce. Choose Hostinger's Website Builder if price is the deciding factor and you're comfortable with a proprietary editor that has a narrow export path. Both are hosted, drag-and-drop platforms with no code required. The real differences show up in what each one charges for a sale, what you keep if you leave, and how each handles AI.

How do the plans actually compare?

What does Hostinger's Website Builder actually include?

Hostinger's pricing page lists three tiers for its Website Builder, each shown with a discounted first-term price and a separate renewal rate directly beneath it: Premium at "$2.99/mo," renewing at "$10.99/mo," which lets you "create up to 3 websites" with no ecommerce listed; Unlimited at "$3.99/mo," renewing at "$16.99/mo," with unlimited websites and ecommerce; and Cloud Startup at "$7.99/mo," renewing at "$25.99/mo," also with unlimited websites and ecommerce (Hostinger, Website Builder, checked September 2026). The same page states, "All your content is automatically optimized for Google Search and AI search," though it doesn't document what that optimization does beyond the claim itself.

Hostinger's page doesn't state an online-store transaction fee for any tier, and this guide isn't printing one it can't verify on that page — check the pricing page directly before you plan a store's margins around it.

What does Squarespace actually include, and at which price?

Squarespace's pricing page shows both monthly and annual views, defaulting to annual. At that annual view: Basic is $19/mo with up to 2 contributors, a 2% online store transaction fee, and a 7% fee on memberships and courses; Core is $29/mo with unlimited contributors, a 0% store fee, and a 5% memberships/courses fee; Plus is $49/mo with a 0% store fee and a 1% memberships/courses fee; and Advanced is $99/mo with 0% transaction fees on both, plus what the page calls its lowest stated payment-processing rate for card payments (Squarespace, Pricing, checked September 2026). Monthly billing, shown on the same page's toggle, runs higher per plan — check the page directly for that view's numbers, since a toggle can change more than one figure at a time.

Squarespace's structure means the transaction-fee gap narrows fast: Hostinger's cheapest plan with ecommerce doesn't state a comparable fee, while Squarespace's cheapest ecommerce plan charges 2% and its second tier already drops that to 0%. If a store is the main reason for the site, read both fee structures against your expected sales volume rather than comparing sticker price alone.

What can I actually take with me if I export?

Neither platform hands you a portable, styled copy of the site.

Hostinger's Website Builder has two different export shapes depending on mode. Manual mode's export goes to WordPress and is content-only: "you can export regular pages, texts, images, and other files," but "you can't export website styles and layout, online store, integrations, forms, collected submissions, or SEO settings" (Hostinger, "How to export content to WordPress", checked September 2026). Agentic mode's export is the opposite shape: full code, no easy way back. It covers "your project's frontend and logic files" as a fixed "Node.js project built with React and Vite," but excludes the "integrated backend data," and once exported, "there is no way to import the edited version back to Hostinger AI Builder and continue with prompting" (Hostinger, "How to export code", checked September 2026).

Squarespace exports to a WordPress-formatted XML file that Squarespace's own help center describes as covering "layout pages," "one blog page, including all of its posts and up to 1000 comments per post," and "text blocks" and "image blocks" (Squarespace, "Exporting your site", checked September 2026). The same page excludes "other page types (including album pages, cover pages, index pages, info pages, calendar pages, portfolio pages, and store pages)," content in "page-specific headers, footers, and sidebars," more than one blog page, and "style settings" and "custom CSS." It also states plainly: "it's not possible to export content from a trial site." That means a store, a gallery page, or the visual design of a Squarespace site does not travel through this export at all.

Either way, plan on rebuilding the design and re-pointing any redirects yourself; our redirects guide covers building that map, and the full export capability matrix lines up more builders if you're weighing options beyond these two.

Who can actually make changes on each platform?

This matters if more than one person will touch the site. Squarespace documents specific contributor roles: a Website Editor "can add products, blocks, and other content to existing pages," edit blog posts and gallery images, and reorder store products, but explicitly "they can't add new pages or make style changes," and cannot manage store currency, taxes, shipping, payment processors, or view orders and accounting data (Squarespace, "Contributor roles and permissions", checked September 2026). That's a real, scoped way to let a content editor work without touching design or finances. Hostinger's Website Builder pricing page doesn't document an equivalent named-role permission system for the builder itself; check its current account and team settings before assuming a similar split exists.

Who is each one not for?

Hostinger's Website Builder is not a fit if you need a documented store transaction fee to plan around, dedicated content types like events or a members area, or a scoped contributor role for a non-designer teammate. Its export ceiling also matters: Manual mode leaves your design and store behind, and Agentic mode's code export is one-way.

Squarespace is not a fit if price is the deciding factor. Its entry plan costs more than Hostinger's, even before ecommerce fees are added into the comparison, and its own export is just as limited to a content-only WordPress file with no styles or store data.

Where does Figment fit in?

Nowhere directly for either. Figment publishes a Figma design as a live website through its Figma plugin, for someone who wants full design control over a marketing site or portfolio rather than a built-in store, blog, or events system. If a store, a members area, or Squarespace's dedicated content types are the actual requirement, this comparison is the one that matters — Figment doesn't replace either platform's commerce or CMS features.

Which should I actually pick?

• Pick Hostinger's Website Builder if price is the deciding factor and you don't need a documented ecommerce fee structure or scoped contributor roles.
• Pick Squarespace if you're running or planning a store and want a stated, falling transaction fee as you move up plans, or you need dedicated blog, events, or members-area content types with contributor-level access control.

Bottom line: Hostinger's Website Builder wins on sticker price and bundles AI generation into every tier. Squarespace costs more up front but documents its ecommerce fees, contributor permissions, and content types in more detail — the things that matter most once the site is doing real business. Compare both against our broader Hostinger vs. Wix matrix and Squarespace's full pricing breakdown before committing to either.