Squarespace Core vs Plus Plan: When Does Upgrading Save You Money?
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.
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Is It Worth Upgrading to Squarespace Plus to Lower Your Transaction Fees?
Squarespace Core and Plus plans look quite similar on the surface, and for a lot of businesses, they are. But for other businesses, the difference between the two plans is worth hundreds of dollars a year, in fees you either keep or hand over to Squarespace.
This post breaks down exactly who each plan is built for, when choosing or upgrading from Core to Plus makes financial sense - and when it doesn't and it’s better to stick with Core.
Ready to build? Start your free 14-day Squarespace trial here and get 10% off your first year when you're ready to launch.
Key Facts: Squarespace Core vs. Plus Plan
Core is the best starting point for most small business owners: service-based businesses, physical product shops, restaurants, musicians, creators. And Plus makes more sense when you have digital products or memberships that make more than $400/month… or physical product sellers doing high volume (around $8,000/month - roughly*).
Core: $23/month billed annually ($33/month billed monthly), and Plus: $39/month billed annually ($56/month billed monthly)
Core charges a 5% fee on digital products and memberships; Plus charges just 1%
Both plans charge 0% transaction fees on physical product sales
Core includes 5 hours of video storage; Plus includes 50 hours
Both plans include unlimited contributors, custom code, integrations, pop-ups, and full ecommerce
Plus is only available where Squarespace Payments is active; check Squarespace's pricing page for supported countries
Prices and features can change; always verify on Squarespace's official pricing page
What Squarespace Core and Plus Have in Common
Before getting into the differences, it helps to know how much overlap there is between the two plans. (And there’s a lot.)
Both Core and Plus plans include:
0% Squarespace transaction fee on physical products
Custom CSS & JavaScript (code injection)
Unlimited contributors
Promotional pop-ups & announcement bars
Premium integrations: Mailchimp, Zapier, OpenTable, ChowNow, etc
Commerce & purchase funnel analytics
Carrier-calculated shipping and shipping label printing
Google Shopping integration
Product waitlists and customer accounts
Abandoned cart recovery
SSL, unlimited bandwidth, SEO tools, 24/7 customer support
So actually most of what makes Squarespace a powerful choice for a small business is available on both plans. The upgrade from Core to Plus is not about getting access to a bunch of new tools and pricing; it's about what you pay to use the tools they’ve already given you.
Which Squarespace Plan Should I Choose: Core or Plus?
If you're just getting started on Squarespace and trying to decide between Core and Plus from the beginning, here are my two cents, based on years of being in the platform every single day.
For most freelancers, solopreneurs and small business owners, Core is the best plan. The Squarepace Core Plan covers service-based businesses, shops, restaurants, musicians, creators — basically anyone who isn't running a digital product or membership business at scale. If that's you, you can start with Core. Plus is worth looking at if your digital products or memberships are consistently bringing in $400/month or more, or if you're a physical product seller doing pretty decent volume.
Start with the Core plan if:
You're a service-based business: a photographer, designer, consultant, therapist, or coach whose main revenue comes from services (not products)
You're building your first website and you're not sure yet what your monthly digital product or membership revenue will look like
You want to keep startup costs lean and upgrade later - if and when the numbers support it
Start with the Plus plan if:
You're launching a course, membership, or template shop and you already have an audience or existing sales that put you at or above $400/month in revenue
You plan to host video content for a course or membership library directly on Squarespace and know you'll need more than 5 hours of storage
You're not locked in forever to whichever plan you choose at first. Squarespace lets you change plans at any time, and the upgrade from Core to Plus takes a few clicks. If you start on Core and your digital sales grow, upgrading is easy. Starting on Core and moving up later is a completely reasonable path. You can also start on Plus, and if the numbers don’t make sense, you can downgrade when your plan renews.
Start your free 14-day Squarespace trial here (affiliate link) and get 10% off your first year when you're ready to go live.
For a full breakdown of all four Squarespace plans, the plans and pricing guide covers everything.
I'm on Squarespace Core. Should I Upgrade to the Plus Plan?
The Core to Plus upgrade costs $16/month on annual billing. Whether that's worth it depends almost entirely on how much you're bringing in from digital products and memberships. Sometimes it makes sense, and sometimes it doesn’t.
How the Squarespace Digital Product Fee Works on Core vs. Plus
Core charges a 5% fee on every digital product and membership sale. Plus charges 1%. That 4% difference is the engine behind the whole Core vs. Plus decision.
The math looks different for everyone, depending on what you sell and how much. So I built you a calculator; toggle between digital and physical products, drag to your monthly sales volume, and it'll show you exactly where your numbers end up and what looks like the best choice for you.
Squarespace Core vs. Plus: Fee Comparison
What do you primarily sell? Drag to see when Plus pays for itself.
(5%)
(1%)
savings
Net gain = monthly fee savings minus the $16/month plan cost difference. All figures based on annual billing (Core $23/mo, Plus $39/mo). Annual billing is always the better deal. Monthly billing rates differ. View current pricing →
@jpkdesignco
This calculator compares Squarespace Core and Plus fees at different sales volumes. For digital product and membership sellers, the breakeven is $400/month in revenue. For physical product sellers, it's around $8,000/month. Fees and plan prices verified as of June 2026.
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So What Does That Look Like for Business Owners Who Use Squarespace?
If you're a graphic designer selling something like brand kits or Canva templates at $47 each: You'd need to sell around 9 templates a month to hit $400. At that point, Plus pays for itself. At 15+ templates a month, you're keeping money that the Squarespace Core plan would otherwise take in fees.
If you're a health coach with a $97/month membership: Five active members puts you right at the breakeven. Ten members and you're saving $33/month in fees over what you'd pay on Core. Plus makes more sense here than Core.
If you're a photographer selling Lightroom presets at $25 each: You'd need to sell 16 presets a month to justify the upgrade. For most photographers just starting to add digital products to their business, Core is the right call until sales volume gets there consistently.
If you're a course creator selling a $297 program: Two sales a month puts you well past $400. Plus makes financial sense from the start for you.
You can see that the pattern is that the higher your price point per digital product, the fewer sales it takes for Plus to make sense financially as the Squarespace plan to choose. (That was a long sentence, sorry!)
Planning to sell downloads? Once you start your trial, check out my step-by-step tutorial on How to Sell Digital Downloads on Squarespace in 2026 to configure your delivery system without the headache.
What About Squarespace Physical Product Sales: Core vs. Plus Plan?
Core and Plus both charge 0% Squarespace transaction fees on physical products, so there's no fee savings to calculate there.
The only difference for physical product sellers is the payment processing rate. Plus charges 2.7% + $0.30 per domestic card transaction; Core charges 2.9% + $0.30. That 0.2% gap matters at high volume, but for most small shops it's a small number.
A handmade goods seller doing $1,000/month in physical product sales would save about $2/month on processing fees with Plus.
A boutique clothing shop doing $3,000/month would save around $6/month. Neither gets close to covering the $16 plan difference on physical sales alone.
For physical product sellers, Core is probably the right plan in most cases, unless you’re selling more than $8000/month. The exception is if you're also selling digital products or memberships at meaningful volume on top of your physical inventory.
Design Pro Tip: If you're a service provider choosing the Core plan, the best way to automate your client bookings is via Acuity. See exactly how to set it up in my Complete Guide to Squarespace Acuity Scheduling .
Selling Physical and Digital Products on Squarespace
If you sell a mix of physical and digital products, the savings add up from both sides. A shop doing $300/month in digital sales and $800/month in physical orders would save about $13.60/month in combined fees on Plus. Still just under the $16 threshold, but close. A few more digital sales a month and Plus tips into positive territory.
Squarespace Plus Video Storage: Do You Need 50 Hours?
Core includes 5 hours of video storage. Plus includes 50 hours of video storage.
For most Squarespace small business oowners, 5 hours is plenty. But for course creators and membership site owners hosting video directly on Squarespace, it's probably worth thinking through.
A course with six weekly modules and two or three videos per module can get close to that 5-hour ceiling quickly. If you're planning to grow your course library or build out a video-heavy membership, Plus gives you room to do that without having to move content off Squarespace.
That said, a lot of course creators host video externally on platforms like Vimeo and embed it in Squarespace, in which case the storage difference doesn't factor in at all. If that's your setup, this isn't a reason to upgrade.
TLDR: Squarespace Core vs. Plus
Core is the right plan for most service-based business owners using Squarespace. It includes everything you need to build a professional site, sell products and services, customize your design, and connect your marketing tools. For service-based businesses, bloggers, and physical product shops, Core covers it.
Plus makes financial sense when you're selling enough digital products or memberships that the fee savings outweigh the $16/month price difference. The breakeven is $400/month in digital revenue, or $8000/month in physical products. Under that number, Core is almost always the better deal. Over it, staying on Core means paying more in fees than you would on Plus.
And if you're not sure yet: start on Core. Upgrade when the numbers tell you to.
Ready to give Squarespace a try? Start your free 14-day trial here (affiliate link) and get 10% off your first year when you're ready to go live.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Squarespace Core and Plus?
Core and Plus share the same design tools, marketing features, integrations, and ecommerce capabilities. The differences come down to fees and storage. Plus drops the digital product and membership fee from 5% to 1%, lowers payment processing from 2.9% to 2.7% + $0.30, and increases video storage from 5 hours to 50 hours. It also includes API access for custom integrations. The price difference is $16/month on annual billing, and that difference pays for itself when you're selling $400/month or more in digital products or memberships.
Is the Squarespace Core plan worth it?
For most small business owners, yes. Core is the plan I recommend most often. It's where Squarespace's full toolkit becomes available: custom code injection, unlimited contributors, promotional pop-ups, premium integrations like Mailchimp and Zapier, 0% transaction fees on physical products, and full commerce analytics. At $23/month billed annually, it covers what the majority of service businesses, shops, and creators need. Read the full Core plan guide here.
What is the best plan on Squarespace?
Core is the best fit for most service-based businesses, shops, restaurants, musicians, and creators. It gives you the full set of tools without paying for fee reductions you may not need yet. Plus makes sense if you're selling $400/month or more in digital products or memberships, where the lower fees cover the price difference. Advanced is designed for high-volume sellers who need the lowest possible processing rates. Basic works for very simple sites with minimal ecommerce needs. For a full breakdown, the Squarespace plans and pricing guide walks through all four.
How do you get 50% off Squarespace?
Squarespace doesn't offer a flat 50% discount. The biggest savings available is paying annually instead of monthly, which saves between 28% and 36% depending on the plan. You can also start with a free 14-day trial (affiliate link) to build your site before committing, and get 10% off your first year through that link. Squarespace occasionally runs promotional offers, so it's worth checking their pricing page for any current deals.
Can I upgrade from Squarespace Core to Plus later?
Yes. You can change plans at any time from your Squarespace account settings, and Squarespace prorates the billing difference. There's no penalty for starting on Core and upgrading when your sales volume makes Plus worth it. Most new site owners are better off starting on Core and moving to Plus once the fee math supports it.
Does the Squarespace Core plan charge transaction fees?
Core charges 0% Squarespace transaction fees on physical product sales and a 5% fee on digital products and memberships. Standard payment processing fees of 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction apply through Squarespace Payments. Plus drops the digital product fee to 1% and processing to 2.7% + $0.30.
Is Squarespace Plus available in my country?
Plus is only available in countries where Squarespace Payments is active. Check Squarespace's pricing page for the current list of supported countries.
* Note: the $8,000/month figure for physical product sellers is a rough estimate based on the 0.2% processing rate difference between Core and Plus. Your actual breakeven will vary depending on card type, transaction size, and whether you're processing international orders, which carry different rates. Use it as a ballpark, not a hard number.
Squarespace Core vs. Plus: Fee Comparison
Based on digital product & membership sales only. Plan cost difference: $16/month.
| Monthly digital sales | Core fees (5%) | Plus fees (1%) | Monthly savings | Net gain on Plus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $200 / mo | $10 | $2 | $8 | −$8Stay on Core |
| $400 / mo | $20 | $4 | $16 | $0Breakeven |
| $600 / mo | $30 | $6 | $24 | +$8Plus wins |
| $1,000 / mo | $50 | $10 | $40 | +$24Plus wins |
| $2,000 / mo | $100 | $20 | $80 | +$64Plus wins |
Net gain = monthly fee savings minus the $16/month plan cost difference. Does not include payment processing savings on physical products.
@jpkdesignco
