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Which Squarespace plan makes sense once you start selling?
Summary
For a US Squarespace store selling products or services, Core becomes cheaper than Basic above $6,000 a year in store sales on annual billing. For paid courses and memberships, the cheapest plan changes differently: on platform fees alone, Plus overtakes Basic above $6,000 a year, and Core is never uniquely cheapest in that comparison. Card processing and needed features can shift the result.
Separate the store fee from the content fee
The US plans shown on the official pricing page are Basic, Core, Plus and Advanced. Annual billing is a monthly equivalent paid for a full year; monthly billing is a separate price. All figures below are USD before applicable taxes.
| Plan | Annual equivalent / yearly payment | Monthly billing | Store fee / content fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $19 / $228 | $25 | 2% / 7% |
| Core | $29 / $348 | $39 | 0% / 5% |
| Plus | $49 / $588 | $65 | 0% / 1% |
| Advanced | $99 / $1,188 | $139 | 0% / 0% |
Source: official US-dollar pricing view, checked 10 October 2026. The store fee covers online products, services and donations. The content fee applies to paid content and memberships, such as courses and access behind a paywall. A downloadable item in an online store is not automatically the same category as a paid course. Payment processing is charged separately.
A small product store can still use Basic
On annual plans the Core increase is ($29 − $19) × 12 = $120. Basic’s 2% store fee reaches that at $120 ÷ 0.02 = $6,000 a year. Below that level, Basic is cheaper on these costs if its features suffice; above it, Core saves money. With monthly billing, ($39 − $25) ÷ 0.02 = $700 of monthly store sales is the crossover.
US domestic-card processing through Squarespace Payments is 2.9% + $0.30 on Basic and Core, 2.7% + $0.30 on Plus and 2.5% + $0.30 on Advanced, according to the official plan guide. Holding the transaction mix constant, Core-to-Plus needs ($588 − $348) ÷ 0.002 = $120,000 a year in eligible card sales to recover the subscription increase on processing alone. Plus-to-Advanced needs ($1,188 − $588) ÷ 0.002 = $300,000. These calculations do not apply unchanged to other payment types or countries.
For courses, compare all four totals
Ignoring card processing to isolate the platform charge, annual cost is subscription plus paid-content sales times the content fee. At $6,000 in content sales, Basic costs $228 + $6,000 × 0.07 = $648; Core costs $348 + $6,000 × 0.05 = $648; Plus costs $588 + $6,000 × 0.01 = $648. Below that point Basic is cheaper, and above it Plus is cheaper. Core’s fee reduction alone does not create a range where it is the cheapest.
Advanced overtakes Plus at ($1,188 − $588) ÷ 0.01 = $60,000 a year in content sales on this platform-only comparison. If you also qualify for lower card processing, include that saving: the actual crossover can be lower. Mixed stores need to add each kind of sale at its corresponding fee.
Buy features you need, then refine the calculation
Core adds unlimited contributors, carrier-calculated shipping and premium code features such as JavaScript and code injection. If several people must edit the site or your delivery setup needs those functions, Core may be useful before the sales crossover. The plan guide lists Acuity Scheduling, Email Campaigns and Google Workspace as separate subscriptions; their full ongoing cost does not disappear into the website plan.
Japan’s pricing page currently shows three plans with a different price structure. Do not convert this US table into yen and use it as a Japanese quote. Compare the plans actually offered in your pricing or subscription screen, using annual price difference divided by the applicable fee reduction. Basic fits a low-volume store without extra feature needs; Core fits growing product sales, while content sellers should compare Basic directly with Plus and Advanced.
Sources
Current facts checked 10 October 2026; calculation assumptions are stated in the text.
- https://www.squarespace.com/pricing
- https://www.squarespace.com/scheduling
- https://acuityscheduling.com/pricing
- https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/206536797-Choosing-the-right-Squarespace-plan
- https://www.squarespace.com/pricing?channel=mixedmedia&subcampaign=editorial&subchannel=onepagelove
What changed on this page
- correction11 October 2026 Article 61 — Costs and plan conditions
Earlier text did not distinguish all conditions used in the cost comparison. → Compared all content-selling plan totals, keeping platform and processing fees separate.
Editorial correction using official facts checked10October2026, not a vendor price-change announcement.
Every recorded change to this site is in the change log.
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