After over 10 years as a Squarespace customer I’ve decided to close my account an move my website. That’s right, I’m ditching Squarespace. I moved my site to the Squarespace platform in 2016 when the platform was relatively new. At the time, the platform was being promoted on every YouTube channel I subscibed to in the photography community.
At the time, moving to Squarespace made perfect sense. It was easy to use, quick to get started with, and ideal for getting my photography portfolio and blog online without needing to worry too much about the technical side of things. Back then, the pricing felt reasonable for what I needed. Couple that with a 15% discount for the first year and I was sold.
But fast forward ten years, and things look very different.
Like many online services, the costs have gradually crept up year after year. At first, the increases were small enough to ignore — a few pounds here, a little more there. Nothing too dramatic. But over a decade, those incremental rises have really added up. This year, the renewal price was more than double what I paid in the first year, even if you exclude the 15% discount.
What started as an affordable and convenient solution has slowly become something that’s harder to justify, especially when I look at what I’m actually getting for the price. My site has changed very little over those 10 years, and I get no additional services or benefits to justify the price increase. As an amateur photographer who makes very little money from their hobby, I can no longer justify the expense of a squarespace website.
So What Am I Ditching Squarespace For?
The core needs of my site haven’t changed all that much. I still need a clean portfolio, space for blog posts, and the flexibility to showcase my work the way I want. Before moving to Squarespace, the previous iteration of my website was self-hosted using WordPress. You will therefore not be at all surprised to know I’m returning to that platform.
Even when using the Squarespace platform to host the bulk of my website, I still hosted the blog section on a separate wordpress site. This was mainly because I didn’t like the admin interface or the lack of customisation available with the Squarespace blog. It therfore wasn’t a bit stretch to move the static content back there as well.
Unlike Squarespace, the wordpress platform has advanced significantly over the same ten year period. Ten years ago, most wordpress sites looked the same. It was very difficult to make a modern looking clean website that didn’t look like every other wordpress website. With all the modern page builders available now, not only are wordpress sites infinitely configureable, they also really simple and quick to design.
As someone who works in the technology sector, I actually quite like the idea of having more control over the platform. A self-hosted setup gives me flexibility, ownership, and room to grow the site exactly how I want it. Of course, it does mean taking on a bit more responsibility. Updates, security, and maintenance now sit with me rather than being handled automatically. But honestly, I see that as a worthwhile trade-off.
This move isn’t just about cost, although the price increase over the last ten years has definitely been the main driver. It’s also about future-proofing the site and making sure it continues to work for me rather than the other way around. I’m looking forward to using this as an opportunity to refresh the site, improve the galleries, and possibly expand the blog a bit more as well. So if things look a little different around here soon, that’s why.
A fresh platform, more flexibility, and hopefully a better long-term home for my work. A fresh platform, more flexibility, and hopefully a better long-term home for my work. If you have any suggestions for improvement, spot any typos or see any other areas for improvement, drop me a comment below.
Thanks for stopping by. Until next time, take it easy!
