Free Squarespace Trial

What Is Included in the Squarespace Free Trial?

If you are new to the platform, our guide covers what Squarespace is and who it is for. The trial gives you the same editor and features as a paid plan. There are no feature restrictions during the trial period.

Full template access. Browse and install any of Squarespace's 150+ templates. Switch templates during the trial to test different designs.

Complete editor access. Use the Fluid Engine drag-and-drop editor. Add pages, sections, content blocks, images, and videos. Configure Site Styles including fonts, colors, and spacing.

Blogging tools. Create and publish blog posts with categories, tags, and scheduling. Full blogging functionality is available including multiple authors and comment management.

E-commerce setup. Add products, configure an online store, and set up payment processing. You cannot accept live payments during the trial, but you can build your entire store structure and test with Stripe's test mode.

SEO tools. Set title tags, meta descriptions, and URL slugs. Your site is not indexed during the trial (it uses a temporary .squarespace.com URL), but you can prepare all SEO settings in advance.

Mobile optimization. Preview and test your site on mobile. All templates are responsive by default.

Analytics and integrations. Access basic analytics and connect third-party tools during the trial.

Customer support. 24/7 email and live chat support is available during the trial, the same as paid plans.

SSL security. Your trial site is HTTPS-secured automatically.

What Is NOT Included in the Trial?

Custom domain. Your trial site uses a temporary yoursite.squarespace.com URL. Custom domains require a paid plan. You can register or connect a domain after subscribing.

Live e-commerce transactions. You can build your store but cannot accept real payments until you subscribe to a Business plan or higher.

Search engine indexing. Trial sites are not indexed by Google. Your site becomes indexable after subscribing and connecting a custom domain.

Password protection for pages. Locking individual pages with a password requires a Business plan or higher. During the trial you cannot restrict access to specific pages. The entire site is already private by default, but per-page passwords are a paid feature.

Selling digital products or memberships. Digital downloads and Squarespace Member Areas require a Commerce plan. You can set up the structure during the trial, but these features will not activate until you upgrade to the right plan.

Some third-party integrations. Certain integrations, including advanced email marketing connections and some Squarespace Extensions, require an active paid subscription before they fully authenticate or sync. Test these early in your trial so you know what to expect.

A custom branded URL. The .squarespace.com subdomain stays until you subscribe. You cannot share a fully branded URL with clients or customers during the trial period.

How to Start the Free Trial

Step 1: Go to squarespace.com and click Get Started.

Step 2: Sign up with email, Google, or Apple. No credit card required.

Step 3: Choose a template or answer questions about your site's purpose to get template recommendations.

Step 4: Start building. You have 14 days of full access.

What to Test Before You Commit

Most people spend their trial building and designing, then subscribe without checking whether the platform actually handles their specific use case. Run through this checklist before your trial expires.

• Submit a contact form. Fill it out as a visitor would and confirm the notification email arrives in your inbox with the right sender name and formatting.
• Check mobile on a real device. The editor's mobile preview is not always accurate. Open your trial URL on your actual phone and tap through every page.
• Test the checkout flow in test mode. If you are building a store, enable Stripe test mode and complete a full purchase. Confirm the order confirmation email arrives and looks right.
• Test your fastest and slowest pages. Image-heavy galleries and large product pages can load slowly. Check them on mobile data, not just Wi-Fi.
• Try a blog post end-to-end. Write a post, schedule it, publish it, and confirm it appears correctly in your blog index and any category filters.
• Check every navigation link. Click every menu item and footer link. Broken or missing links are easy to miss during building and embarrassing after launch.
• Test your 404 page. Type a bad URL into your browser to see what visitors see. You can customize the 404 page, so decide now whether you want to.
• Verify integrations authenticate. If you plan to connect Google Analytics, Mailchimp, or another tool, set it up during the trial and confirm data is flowing correctly.
• Preview in multiple browsers. Open your site in Chrome, Safari, and Firefox. Most issues are minor, but better to catch them before launch.

Common Mistakes During the Squarespace Trial

These are the things people most often regret once their 14 days are up.

• Switching templates too many times. It is tempting to keep browsing. Pick one template by day 2 and commit. Switching templates resets some of your styling choices and costs you hours.
• Spending too long on fonts and colors. Design details matter, but getting your pages built and your content written matters more. Lock the design in by day 4 and move on.
• Not writing real content. Placeholder text makes it impossible to judge how your site actually looks. Drop in your real copy early, even if it is rough.
• Skipping SEO setup entirely. You cannot get indexed during the trial, but you can set every page title, meta description, and URL slug. Leaving this for after launch costs you time when you are already paying.
• Only checking the site in the editor. The editor preview does not match what visitors see. Open your actual trial URL in a browser and on your phone throughout the build.
• Not testing the features you actually need. If you need memberships, digital downloads, or a specific integration, test it on day 1, not day 13. Some features require a higher plan tier than you expected.
• Forgetting to note your login details. Squarespace accounts are tied to the email you signed up with. If you use a Google or Apple sign-in and later lose access to that account, recovering your site becomes complicated.

How to Make the Most of Your 14-Day Trial

Day 1: Sign up and choose your template. Spend one hour browsing templates filtered by your site type (portfolio, business, online store, blog). Pick one and commit. Read through the features of the plan you expect to subscribe to so you know what you are building toward.

Day 2: Map out your pages and structure. List every page your site needs. Set up the navigation and create blank pages with placeholder titles. Getting the structure right early saves time later.

Day 3 to 5: Build your core pages. Write and add real content to your Home, About, Services (or Products), and Contact pages. Use your actual copy, not dummy text. Add images and configure your contact form, then submit a test immediately.

Day 6 to 8: Set up your blog or store. If you are building a blog, publish at least two or three real posts and check how they display in the index. If you are building a store, add your products, configure categories, and run a test checkout in Stripe test mode.

Day 9 to 10: Refine the design. Adjust Site Styles (fonts, colors, button styles) and fine-tune layouts. Test on your actual phone. Ask one other person to look at the site and point out anything confusing.

Day 11 to 12: SEO and final checks. Set SEO titles and descriptions on every page. Check all navigation links and footer links. Review your URL slugs. Set up Google Analytics if you plan to use it.

Day 13: Run the full pre-launch checklist. Go through the testing checklist above. Confirm forms work, the store checkout works, mobile looks right, and all integrations are connected.

Day 14: Subscribe and launch. Choose your plan, connect your domain, and go live. Use code OKDIGITAL10 for 10% off. Build a portfolio or business site, whatever fits your goals. Check all supported browsers before launching.

What Happens When the Trial Expires?

If you do not subscribe within 14 days, your site is suspended but not deleted. You can still log in and view your site in the editor. All your content, design, and settings are preserved. You just cannot publish or make the site accessible to visitors. If you want to actively remove the site rather than leave it suspended, our guide on how to cancel a Squarespace free trial walks through deleting it step by step.

To reactivate, subscribe to any paid plan. Your site returns exactly as you left it. Squarespace preserves suspended trial sites indefinitely, though this policy could change at any time.

Can You Extend the Trial?

Squarespace does not offer standard trial extensions. However, Squarespace Circle members (designers and developers) receive 6-month trials for client projects. If you are working with a Squarespace designer, they may be able to set up an extended trial through their Circle membership.

For full plan details after the trial, see our Squarespace plans and pricing guide.

Squarespace Trial vs. Competitor Free Plans

Squarespace's 14-day trial is time-limited but fully featured. The key difference from competitors is that Squarespace gives you everything upfront for a short window, rather than a stripped-down free tier you can keep forever.

• Wix: Free plan with no time limit, but your site shows Wix branding and ads. You are locked to a Wix subdomain unless you pay. The free plan also restricts storage, bandwidth, and many premium features. Squarespace's trial has no ads, no artificial feature restrictions, and gives you the same editor paid users get.
• Weebly (Square Online): Offers a permanent free tier but with Square branding on your URL and limited design control. E-commerce on the free plan charges a transaction fee on every sale. Squarespace's trial is more capable for testing a full store setup, though neither lets you process live payments for free.
• WordPress.com: Free tier is available but heavily restricted. You cannot install plugins, use a custom domain, or remove WordPress.com ads without paying. The paid plans start lower than Squarespace, but the free plan gives you much less to evaluate during testing.
• Shopify: Offers a 3-day free trial followed by a $1/month introductory period for 3 months. Better suited to stores than general websites, and the trial period is shorter. Squarespace is stronger for design-focused sites and blogs.
• Webflow: Free tier lets you build up to 2 projects, but you cannot publish to a custom domain or remove the Webflow badge without a paid plan. More technical than Squarespace and has a steeper learning curve.

The Squarespace trial is better thought of as a full test-drive rather than a freemium tier. You get everything for 14 days, then either subscribe or walk away with nothing lost.

Build First, Pay Later

The Squarespace free trial gives you 14 days to build a complete website with no financial commitment. Use the full trial period to create your pages, refine your design, run through the testing checklist, and prepare your SEO settings. When you are ready, subscribe and launch with your site ready to go live immediately. If you are deciding between building on a trial or switching your existing template, our guide on switching templates vs. starting a separate trial covers the trade-offs in detail.