Squarespace Advanced Plan: A Complete Guide (2026)
A note on pricing: all prices mentioned in this post are accurate as of the date this article was written, but can change at any time. This includes Squarespace plans, third-party tools, plugins, templates, and any other services referenced. Always check directly with the provider for the most current pricing before committing.
This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
This article was researched and fact-checked for all information provided directly from primary sources (Squarespace,) and is up to date as of July 2026. AI was not used as a source.
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What is the Squarespace Advanced plan and is it worth it?
Quick Answer: The Squarespace Advanced plan is Squarespace's highest-tier plan at $99/month (billed annually), built for businesses that need the lowest transaction fees and payment processing rates that Squarespace offers, plus unlimited video storage. It's the right fit if you're running an online store with enough sales volume that the fee savings cover the price difference. For most service-based businesses, bloggers, and smaller shops, the Core or Plus plan will cover everything you need; the Advanced plan is specifically for established high volume e-commerce businesses.
KEY FACTS
Advanced plan costs $99/month billed annually ($139/month billed monthly)
0% Squarespace transaction fees on both physical and digital products
Lowest card processing rate of any plan: 2.5% + $0.30 through Squarespace Payments
Unlimited video storage (Plus caps at 50 hours)
All lower-tier features from Basic, Core and Plus are included, including custom code and unlimited contributors
Squarespace offers four plans:
Squarespace somewhat recently revamped and renamed the plans. If you see one of these older names in your research, come check my reviews to see what’s different.
Basic Plan (previously Personal plan) → Read my full Squarespace Basic Plan review
Core Plan (previously Business Plan) → Read my full Squarespace Core Plan review
Plus Plan (previously Basic Commerce Plan) → Read my full Squarespace Plus Plan review
Advanced Plan (previously Advanced Commerce Plan)
Who Needs the Advanced Plan?
If you're wondering whether you need the Squarespace Advanced plan, there's a good chance you might not. And that's not a knock on your business; it's just how Squarespace's plan tiers work.
The Advanced plan exists for one very specific type of Squarespace user: someone running an active e-commerce store with enough sales volume that the extra commerce features will genuinely make a difference in their bottom line.
If you're a service provider with a portfolio site, a blogger, a musician, or even someone selling a handful of digital downloads per month, the Core or Plus plans are going to cover you just fine. The jump from Plus to Advanced is significant; over an extra $700 a year. So the features you're getting for that price need to be earning you money.
If you ARE running a high-volume online store, the Advanced plan has a handful of tools that can move the needle. Let's go through what you'd get and if it’d be worth it for you.
The Features That Make the Advanced Plan Different
Everything included in Basic, Core, and Plus carries over to the Advanced plan. So you're getting all the website building tools, SEO features, blogging, email campaigns, scheduling integrations, and e-commerce basics from those lower tiers.
Here's what's unique to the Advanced plan on Squarespace:
0% Transaction Fees on Digital Products
This is the biggest case for the Advanced Squarespace plan. Physical product transaction fees are already 0% starting on Core, so that's not a differentiator. But digital products are a different story. On Basic, Squarespace charges 7% on digital product sales. Core drops that to 5%. Plus drops it to 1%. Advanced brings it to 0%.
If you're selling courses, downloads, memberships or any other digital content at high volume, that 1% on Plus adds up fast. Selling $5,000/month in digital products on Plus means you're paying Squarespace $50/month in transaction fees. Advanced costs $60/month more than Plus, so at that volume the math is close. Scale it up and Advanced starts paying for itself.
(You'll still pay payment processing fees through Squarespace Payments; that's separate from what Squarespace charges on top.)
Lower Payment Processing Rates
Advanced drops the standard card processing rate to 2.5% + $0.30 through Squarespace Payments, compared to 2.7% on Plus. That 0.2% difference only matters at volume, but if you're processing significant sales every month, it compounds.
ACH payments cost 1% on both Plus and Advanced, but Advanced caps the fee at $10 per transaction. On a large ACH payment, that cap would save a lot of money.
Unlimited Video Storage
Plus gives you 50 hours of hosted video, which is good. But Advanced is unlimited. So if you're hosting course content, a video library, or a significant amount of native video on your site, this is worth factoring in to your decision.
When the Advanced Plan Is Worth It (And When It’s Not)
Here's how I'd think about it:
The Squarespace Advanced plan would make sense for you if:
You're selling digital products at enough volume that going from 1% to 0% in transaction fees covers most or all of the $60/month difference between Plus and Advanced
You host a lot of video content and 50 hours of storage isn't enough
You're processing large ACH transactions where the $10 fee cap saves you money
The Squarespace Advanced plan is probably overkill for you if:
You sell products occasionally but it's not your primary revenue stream
You're primarily selling physical products (transaction fees are already 0% on Core and up)
You're a service-based business, even if you sell a few digital downloads
You're still building your audience and don't have consistent store traffic yet
The Plus plan handles e-commerce really well for most small businesses. You get 0% transaction fees on physical products, 1% on digital products, carrier-calculated shipping, abandoned cart recovery, unlimited contributors, and 50 hours of video storage. For a lot of online stores, that's honestly more than enough.
The Full Plan Comparison (So You Can See Where Advanced Fits)
Here's a quick breakdown of all four Squarespace plans so you can see the progression:
Squarespace Basic Plan - $16/month (billed annually)
Great for portfolio sites, super simple business sites, and blogs
2% transaction fee on physical products, 7% on digital
Only 2 contributors
No code injection
Squarespace Core Plan - $29/month (billed annually)
Everything in Basic
Adds code injection (site-wide and page-level), carrier-calculated shipping, advanced website analytics, customer accounts; drops digital product fees to 5%
Can have unlimited contributors
0% transaction fee on physical products
This is where most service-based businesses land
Squarespace Plus Plan - $49/month (billed annually)
Everything in Core
Drops digital product fees to 1% and card processing rate to 2.7% + $0.30
Where most small to mid-size e-commerce stores land
Squarespace Advanced Plan - $99/month (billed annually)
Everything in Plus
Drops digital product fees to 0%, card processing rate to 2.5% + $0.30, video storage to unlimited
$10 cap on ACH fees
For stores doing enough volume that the fee savings justify the price
Want to check out the Advanced plan? Start your free 14-day trial here and get 10% off your first year when you're ready to go live.
How to Upgrade to the Advanced Plan
If you're already on a Squarespace plan and want to move up to Advanced:
Go to your website's Home panel
Click Settings
Click Site billing
Under your current plan, click Change Plan
Select the Advanced plan
Confirm and update your billing
Squarespace prorates the cost when you upgrade mid-billing cycle, so you'll only pay the difference for the remaining time on your current billing period.
Pro Tip: If you're going back and forth between Plus and Advanced, start with Plus. You can always upgrade later if your sales volume reaches the point where the Advanced features and fee savings justify the price jump. There's no penalty for upgrading, and you won't lose any data or settings.
A Note on Squarespace vs. Dedicated E-Commerce Platforms (Like Shopify)
If you're reading this because you're trying to figure out whether Squarespace's Advanced plan can compete with something like Shopify for high-volume e-commerce; here's my take.
Squarespace Advanced is capable for small to medium online stores, especially if your website also serves as your portfolio, blog, or brand hub. The advantage is that everything lives in one place; your content, your store, your email campaigns, your scheduling. You're not stitching together several different platforms.
But if e-commerce is your ENTIRE business and you're managing hundreds of SKUs, complex inventory, multiple sales channels (Amazon, wholesale, retail), or need deeply customizable checkout flows, a dedicated e-commerce platform is going to give you more flexibility. Squarespace is a website builder with strong e-commerce features. It's not a dedicated e-commerce platform with a website bolted on. And that distinction starts to show at scale.
For most small businesses selling products alongside their other content? Squarespace Advanced handles it beautifully. Just know where the ceiling is so you can plan accordingly.
If you want to set up a shop on Squarespace, read my step-by-step tutorial guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Squarespace Advanced plan worth it for a small business?
It depends entirely on what your small business does. If you're running an active online store and selling digital products at real volume, the Advanced plan can pay for itself through eliminated transaction fees; going from 1% to 0% on digital products is the strongest argument for upgrading. But if you're a service-based business, a blogger, or someone who only sells products occasionally, Core or Plus will cover everything you need. The key question: will the fee savings cover the price difference between Plus and Advanced? If yes, upgrade. If not, stay where you are.
What are the different types of Squarespace subscriptions?
Squarespace offers four website plans: Basic, Core, Plus, and Advanced, all billed monthly or annually. Each tier includes everything in the plan below it, with higher plans offering lower transaction fees, better payment processing rates, and more storage. There are also separate subscriptions for add-on products like Acuity Scheduling, Email Campaigns, and Google Workspace. For a full breakdown of all four plans, check out my Squarespace plans and pricing guide.
Why is Squarespace so expensive now?
Squarespace is a fully hosted, all-in-one platform, so the price includes hosting, security, templates, e-commerce tools, analytics, and customer support all in one place. You're not piecing together separate services or paying a developer to maintain things. Whether it's expensive depends on what you're comparing it to; platforms like WordPress can cost less upfront but require more time, maintenance, and often additional paid plugins. For most small business owners, the convenience of having everything in one place is worth the monthly cost. If you’re not a business owner, you might want to check out these blog posts to see if there’s a better platform for you:
What is the downside of Squarespace?
The biggest limitation is that Squarespace is a website builder first, e-commerce platform second. If your entire business is a high-volume online store, you'll eventually hit a ceiling that dedicated platforms like Shopify don't have. Beyond that, the template system, while beautiful, is less flexible than WordPress if you need deep customization. And costs add up if you need add-ons like Acuity Scheduling or Email Campaigns on top of your website plan.
What's the difference between the Squarespace Plus and Advanced plans?
Both plans include 0% transaction fees on physical products, unlimited contributors, carrier-calculated shipping, abandoned cart recovery, customer accounts, and advanced website analytics. The differences with Advanced are: 0% transaction fees on digital products (vs 1% on Plus), a lower card processing rate of 2.5% + $0.30 (vs 2.7% on Plus), unlimited video storage (vs 50 hours on Plus), and a $10 cap on ACH fees. The price difference is $60/month billed annually. Advanced becomes worth it when the fee savings at your sales volume justify that gap.
Does the Squarespace Advanced plan include Acuity Scheduling?
Nope. Acuity Scheduling is a separate paid product regardless of which Squarespace plan you're on. It has its own pricing tiers: Starter, Standard, and Premium, all billed annually. Even on the Advanced plan at $99/month, Acuity is an additional cost. If you're a service-based business that needs scheduling, factor that into your total monthly budget when comparing plans.
Can I upgrade to the Squarespace Advanced plan from a lower plan?
Yep! You can upgrade at any time from your site's billing settings. Go to Settings > Site billing > Change Plan, then select Advanced. Squarespace prorates the cost, so you'll only pay the difference for whatever's left on your current billing cycle. You won't lose any content, design settings, or data when you upgrade. Everything carries over. And if you decide later that you don't need Advanced, you can downgrade too.
How much does the Squarespace Advanced plan cost?
The Squarespace Advanced plan costs $99/month when billed annually, or $139/month if you pay month-to-month. Annual billing saves you $480 per year, so if you know you're committing to the plan, annual is the way to go. All features from Basic, Core, and Plus are included.
