
How Many Templates Does Squarespace Have?
Squarespace currently offers over 150 templates. The official number of templates changes as Squarespace adds new designs and retires older ones. The library has grown significantly from the roughly 110 templates available in earlier years.
Every template is free, included with your Squarespace plan at no additional cost. There are no premium or paid templates. Every user on every plan has access to the full template library.
How Are Squarespace Templates Organized?
Squarespace organizes templates by industry and use case. When browsing the template library, you can filter by categories including:
Portfolio and creative: Photography, art, design, film, and creative work showcases.
Online stores: E-commerce templates optimized for product display and checkout.
Blogs and podcasts: Content-focused designs with prominent blog feeds and media players.
Professional services: Consulting, legal, medical, and service-based business templates.
Restaurants and food: Menu display, reservations, and food photography layouts.
Events: Event promotion, ticketing, and venue showcase designs.
Personal and CV: Resume, personal branding, and individual portfolio templates.
Each category contains multiple template options with different layout approaches, visual styles, and content arrangements. For a deeper look at template design options, our guide to Squarespace templates design and layout covers customization possibilities.
Templates on 7.0 vs 7.1: A Critical Difference
Squarespace 7.0 Templates
On 7.0, templates belong to template families (Brine, Bedford, Skye, York, etc.). Each family has unique features, some support index pages, some have sidebar navigation, some offer specific banner styles. Choosing a template on 7.0 means choosing a feature set, not just a design. You can switch between templates within the same family easily, but switching across families requires more reconfiguration.
Squarespace 7.1 Templates
On 7.1, all templates share one unified feature set. Every template has access to the same layout tools, section types, and design options. The template you choose determines only the initial visual arrangement, you can customize any template to look like any other. This makes the starting template less important on 7.1 than on 7.0.
How to Choose the Right Squarespace Template
Start with Your Content Type
Choose a template designed for your primary content type. Image-heavy businesses should start with portfolio or photography templates. Content publishers should start with blog-focused templates. E-commerce businesses should start with store templates. The starting template sets up the right content blocks and page layouts for your needs.
Consider Your Marketing Approach
If you plan to rely on email marketing, look for templates with prominent newsletter signup areas. If video is central to your brand, choose a template that places video prominently. If social proof drives your conversions, select a template with testimonial or review sections. The right template reduces the amount of customization needed to implement your marketing strategy.
Evaluate Speed and Performance
Website loading speed directly affects conversions and search rankings. Simpler templates with fewer animated elements and lighter designs tend to load faster. Test template demos on Google PageSpeed Insights before committing. A template that loads in 1-2 seconds will outperform a visually complex template that takes 4-5 seconds. For speed-focused options, our guide to fastest Squarespace templates covers the top performers.
Preview with Your Actual Content
Template demos use professional photography and perfectly formatted text. Your content will look different. Before committing, enter your actual text, upload your real images, and see how the template handles your content. Short text looks different from long paragraphs. Amateur photos look different from studio shots. Test with reality, not idealized demos.
Choose One You Will Enjoy Working With
You will spend significant time editing and maintaining your site. If you enjoy the template's editor experience, you will invest more time in refining your site. If the template frustrates you, your site will suffer from neglect. Personal preference matters more than people admit. For template browsing, our guide to free Squarespace templates showcases the best options across categories.
Can You Change Templates After Launching?
On 7.1, switching templates is seamless, your content stays, and you adjust the design through Site Styles. On 7.0, switching templates within the same family is straightforward. Switching across families requires more work, Custom CSS resets, header/footer configurations change, and some template-specific features may not transfer. For the switching process, our guide on how to change templates on Squarespace covers every step.
How Squarespace Manages Its Template Library
Squarespace actively curates its template library rather than letting it grow indefinitely. New templates are released several times per year, typically tied to design trend cycles and feedback from the user base. When new templates arrive, they are added to the existing library without removing older ones immediately.
Retired templates are handled carefully. If Squarespace retires a template, existing sites using it continue to work, the template is simply removed from the selection for new sites. You will never lose access to a template you have already chosen and customized. This is an important distinction from some other platforms where template deprecation can force a complete redesign.
Template Previewing on Squarespace
Before committing to a template, you can preview any template with your existing content. On 7.1, click Design > Templates and browse the library. Hover over any template and click Preview to see how your site's content would look in that design. This live preview uses your actual pages and content, not placeholder demos.
On 7.0, template previews show a generic demo version rather than your actual content. This makes it harder to evaluate how your specific content and images will look. For this reason alone, building on 7.1 is the stronger choice for new sites.
Template Families on 7.0 vs Individual Templates on 7.1
Squarespace 7.0 organizes templates into families. The Brine family, for example, includes Brine, Basil, Calder, Clay, Forte, Galapagos, Greenwich, Haute, Hatch, Impact, Juke, Maple, Memento, Montclaire, Naomi, Nolan, Pacific, Pawson, Ren, Simple, Sofia, Tremont, Tudor, Twain, Union, Wave, and more, each a design variant within the same technical framework. On 7.1, every template is genuinely distinct, different starting layouts rather than variations on a shared framework.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many templates does Squarespace have?
Are Squarespace templates free?
Does the template I choose limit my features on Squarespace?
Can I change my Squarespace template after launching?
What is the best Squarespace template for a beginner?
What is the difference between Squarespace themes and templates?
How Do Squarespace Templates Compare to Competitors?
Squarespace offers over 150 templates, fewer than WordPress (thousands of themes, including paid third-party options) but more curated. Every Squarespace template is professionally designed and optimized for performance, which means you get consistent quality across the entire library. With WordPress, quality varies widely between themes.
Wix offers a similar number of templates (800+), but many are older designs that haven't been updated in years. Squarespace's library is smaller but more consistently maintained. Webflow has fewer templates overall but allows more design flexibility for developers.
For most small businesses and creators who want a polished website without design experience, Squarespace's template library provides everything they need in a ready-to-use format. For our curated picks, see the best free Squarespace templates tested across every major category.
Over 150 Free Templates to Start With
Squarespace's template library covers every major industry and website type. On 7.1, every template has equal features, choose based on design preference. On 7.0, choose based on both design and the template family's feature set. Preview with your actual content, test loading speed, and pick one you enjoy working with.
* Read the rest of the post and open up an offer