Wix vs Squarespace for an Australian service business
For a tradie, cleaner or detailer who wants bookings, Wix is the better fit: its Core plan includes scheduling and payments. Squarespace has the better-looking templates, and charges for bookings separately. Either one runs to about $350 a year before your own time. The prices below were read from both sites on 7 October 2026.
Twelve months of Wix, Squarespace and a managed site
Yearly-plan prices as shown to an Australian visitor on 7 October 2026. Both builders charge more if you pay month to month, and Wix confirms the final currency at checkout. The $17 plans on each lack what a booking business needs.
| Wix Core$29/month | Squarespace CoreA$28/month | Managed site$900/month + $1,500 setup | |
|---|---|---|---|
| About $350 over 12 months | — | — | |
| Scheduling and payments included | — | — | |
| Domain free for the first year | — | ||
| You build it and run it | — | ||
| You do the Google work | — | ||
| A$336 over 12 months | — | — | |
| Bookings need Acuity Scheduling, from US$16 a month extra | — | — | |
| $12,300 over 12 months | — | — | |
| Lead tracking, Google Business Profile and local SEO foundations included | — | — | |
| We build it and run it | — | — | |
| Month to month, 30 days' notice | — | — | |
| See pricing |
Four things that matter more than the template
Bookings
Wix puts scheduling and online payments in the Core plan, so a customer can pick a service and a time without a second product. Squarespace's booking tool is Acuity Scheduling, a separate subscription priced in US dollars from $16 a month. For a business that lives on appointments, that puts Wix ahead on cost and on having one login.
Design
Squarespace templates look finished with very little effort, and they are hard to break. Wix gives you more freedom to move things around, which also means more ways to end up with a page that looks homemade. If you have good photos of your work and no patience for layout, Squarespace is the safer choice.
Being found locally
Both let you set page titles and descriptions, and both produce pages Google can read. Neither writes a page for each suburb you work in or sets up your Google Business Profile. That work is the same on either builder, and it decides whether a customer in the next suburb ever sees the site.
Leaving
Your domain is yours on both, and you can copy out your text and photos. The design and layout do not travel: move to another platform and the site gets rebuilt. Check that the domain is registered in your own name, and you have lost very little by starting on either one.
Pick Wix for bookings, Squarespace for looks
Choose Wix if customers book a time with you: detailers, cleaners, mobile mechanics, anyone selling a slot in the diary. Scheduling and online payments sit inside the plan you are already paying for.
Choose Squarespace if the site's job is to show the work and take an enquiry: builders, renovators, landscapers. A gallery of finished jobs and a contact form are what it does best, and you will not need Acuity.
Either way, budget your own time. The $350 a year is real, and so are the evenings spent writing service pages and working out why the site is not showing up. If you are a tradie weighing this up, we have compared website builders for tradies in more detail.
A good-looking site can sit flat for six months
The chart is Google Search Console for a site we manage. For six months it showed up in search between 420 and 700 times a month. It was live, it looked fine, and the line did not move.
It moved after the site was rebuilt, with local SEO work alongside. A few months later it was showing about 1,150 times a month.
The builder you choose does not do that part. It is the work every builder leaves to you: pages matched to real searches, a Google Business Profile kept up to date, and reviews coming in steadily. Google Maps visibility usually moves in 4 to 8 weeks and organic rankings take 3 to 6 months, and no one can guarantee either. That work is what local SEO is.
Wix and Squarespace alternatives for Australian businesses
WordPress
More flexible than either, and the site is fully portable. You pay for hosting separately and someone has to keep the plugins updated. It suits a business with a developer on call.
A custom build
Worth it for several locations, unusual functions or a brand built from scratch. For one service business it is usually more than the job needs. Typical prices are in our guide to what a website costs in Australia, linked below.
A managed site
Someone else builds it, runs it and does the Google work, for a monthly fee. It costs far more than a builder, as the table shows. It makes sense when your hours are worth more on the tools than on a website.
Start on a builder, move later
A sound plan for a new business. Register the domain yourself, start on Wix or Squarespace, and move when the site is costing you jobs or time. Nothing you learn about your customers on the way is wasted.
Wix and Squarespace questions, answered
Is Wix or Squarespace better for a small business in Australia?
For a business that takes bookings, Wix, because scheduling and payments are included from the Core plan. For a business that mainly needs to show finished work and collect enquiries, Squarespace, because its templates look polished with less effort. On price there is almost nothing between them.
How much does Wix cost in Australia?
On 7 October 2026 Wix showed Australian visitors $17 a month for Light, $29 for Core and about $40 for Business, on yearly plans with GST included. Paying month to month costs more. A domain is free for the first year on yearly plans, then renews at the normal rate.
How much does Squarespace cost in Australia?
On 7 October 2026 Squarespace listed A$17 a month for Basic, A$28 for Core, A$49 for Plus and A$109 for Advanced, when paid yearly. Core works out at A$336 a year. Online booking is extra: Acuity Scheduling starts at US$16 a month.
Can I take bookings on Wix or Squarespace?
Yes on both. Wix includes scheduling and online payments from the Core plan up. Squarespace uses Acuity Scheduling, a separate subscription from US$16 a month that you add to the site. For an appointment-based business, Wix is the simpler and cheaper setup of the two.
Can I move my site off Wix or Squarespace later?
You can take your domain with you and copy out your text and images. The design and page layouts do not transfer, so the site is rebuilt on the new platform. Register the domain in your own name from the start and a later move is an inconvenience, not a loss.
Rather see it than read about it?
Tell us about your business and we'll build your homepage — a real working page, not a sketch. Back to you within 2 business days of getting your details. No cost, no obligation. It's a preview: the page stays with us unless you go ahead.