Verdict
Open Portfolio compared with
Squarespace
Squarespace is a better product than this one and sells things this will never sell. It is also the one whose export leaves behind exactly the pages a creative would want to take with them.
Who
Stay with Squarespace if
- You need to sell something, take bookings, or run a mailing list from the same place.
- You want templates designed by people who do this full time.
- You want somebody to phone when it breaks.
Look at this if
- You are paying monthly for what is, in practice, five pages and a contact form.
- You want your content in a format you can read without their software.
- You would rather the site outlive the subscription.
Sources
From Squarespace’s own documentation
Every claim below links to the page it came from and says when it was read. Quoting a vendor’s own support article is the only form of comparison that cannot be argued with — and a claim with no date is worth nothing a year later.
Squarespace’s export leaves out portfolio pages, gallery pages, style settings and custom CSS — the one content type it markets hardest to creatives is the one it will not give back.
Squarespace has no free plan, and content on an expired trial is "marked for permanent deletion".
Side by side
Side by side
| Question | Squarespace | Open Portfolio |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | None. Trial content is marked for permanent deletion when the trial expires. | The software is free. Hosting can be free too, with the caveats on the cost page. |
| Export | A partial export, omitting portfolio pages, gallery pages, style settings and custom CSS. | One JSON file with everything, at any time. |
| Commerce, bookings, email campaigns | All sold, all mature. | None of them, ever. Staying narrow is the design. |
| Design range | A large template library, professionally made, with real visual variety. | Six themes that change colour, type, spacing and radius. They do not rearrange the page. |
| Support | A support team. | One person, GitHub issues, no promised response time. |
Concessions
What Squarespace does better
Not a formality, and there is no “but” after any of them.
The templates are simply better
Squarespace employs designers to make them and it shows. Six token themes are not a template library, and if the design *is* the work you are being hired for, you will feel that on day one.
It is one bill and one login
Site, domain, email campaigns, scheduling and payments in one account with one company responsible. That is worth real money to somebody who does not want to be their own IT department.
Commerce that works
If you sell prints, sessions or products, Squarespace does it today and this never will.
CTA
Have a look before you decide
The demo is the fastest way to know whether this is enough for you. It needs no account and forgets you after an hour.