DreamHost vs Squarespace: Which Platform to Choose in 2025?
Choosing between DreamHost and Squarespace is like choosing between a fully-equipped garage with all the tools you need (DreamHost) versus a pre-assembled furniture kit (Squarespace). Both will get you a website, but the journey, flexibility, and long-term value differ dramatically.
DreamHost is a web hosting provider that gives you the foundation to build any type of website, while Squarespace is an all-in-one website builder focused on design and simplicity. Understanding these fundamental differences will help you make the right choice for your project.
In this comprehensive comparison, we'll examine pricing, features, ease of use, performance, and help you determine which platform aligns best with your goals, technical comfort level, and budget.
Quick Comparison Overview
Before diving deep, here's a snapshot of how these platforms compare:
Choose DreamHost if you want:
- WordPress-based websites with unlimited flexibility
- Multiple websites on one account
- Full control over your site's code and functionality
- Better long-term value and lower costs
- Access to thousands of themes and plugins
- Custom development capabilities
Choose Squarespace if you want:
- Drag-and-drop simplicity with zero technical requirements
- Beautiful, designer-quality templates out of the box
- All-in-one solution with no separate hosting concerns
- Quick setup without a learning curve
- Built-in features without plugin management
Pricing Comparison: Value for Money
Price is often the deciding factor, but the real question isn't which is cheaper—it's which offers better value for your specific needs.
DreamHost Pricing (2025)
Web Hosting:
Starter Plan: $2.59/month (renews at $10.99/month)
- 1 website
- 50GB SSD storage
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Free domain for 1 year
- Free SSL certificate
- Daily backups
Unlimited Plan: $3.95/month (renews at $13.99/month)
- Unlimited websites
- Unlimited SSD storage
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Unlimited email addresses
- Free domain for 1 year
- Free SSL certificate
DreamPress (Managed WordPress):
- DreamPress: $16.95/month (renews at $19.95/month)
- 1 WordPress site
- 30GB storage
- 100,000 visitors/month
- Built-in caching
- Staging site
- WordPress pre-installed
- 24/7 WordPress support
What You Actually Pay:
- First-year cost with Web Hosting Starter: $31.08 (for 12 months)
- First-year cost with Web Hosting Unlimited: $47.40 (for 12 months)
- First-year cost with DreamPress: $203.40 (for 12 months)
Money-Back Guarantee: 97 days for entry-level web hosting, 30 days for DreamPress
Squarespace Pricing (2025)
Personal Plan: $16/month (billed annually: $192/year)
- 1 website
- Unlimited storage and bandwidth
- Free custom domain for 1 year
- SSL security
- SEO features
- Mobile optimization
Business Plan: $23/month (billed annually: $276/year)
- Everything in Personal
- $0 transaction fees for selling
- Professional email from Google Workspace ($6/month per email)
- Advanced website analytics
- Promotional pop-ups and banners
Commerce Basic: $27/month (billed annually: $324/year)
- Everything in Business
- Integrated e-commerce functionality
- 3% transaction fee
- Customer accounts
- Inventory management
Commerce Advanced: $49/month (billed annually: $588/year)
- Everything in Commerce Basic
- 0% transaction fees
- Advanced shipping options
- Subscriptions
- Abandoned cart recovery
What You Actually Pay:
- Personal Plan: $192/year
- Business Plan: $276/year
- Email add-on: +$72/year per address
Cost Analysis
First-Year Comparison:
- DreamHost Web Hosting Unlimited: $47.40
- Squarespace Personal: $192.00
- Savings with DreamHost: $144.60 (75% less)
Renewal Comparison (Second Year):
- DreamHost Web Hostingg](/go/dreamhost-web-hosting) Unlimited: $167.88
- Squarespace Personal: $192.00
- Savings with DreamHost: $24.12
Email Included:
- DreamHost: Unlimited email addresses at no extra cost
- Squarespace: $6/month per email address ($72/year per address)
Multiple Websites:
- DreamHost Unlimited: Host unlimited sites for $3.95/month
- Squarespace: Must purchase separate plan for each site ($192/year each)
Winner: DreamHost for cost-conscious users and anyone running multiple websites.
Ease of Use: Simplicity vs. Flexibility
This is where the platforms diverge most dramatically.
Squarespace: Maximum Simplicity
Setup Time:
- Account creation to live website: 15-30 minutes
- Choose template, customize, add content, publish
- Zero technical knowledge required
Interface:
- Beautifully designed, intuitive drag-and-drop editor
- Visual editing: what you see is what you get
- Template-based approach with consistent design
- All settings in one unified dashboard
- No file management or technical configuration
Content Management:
- Add pages with a few clicks
- Drag content blocks anywhere
- Built-in image editing and optimization
- Integrated blogging platform
- Mobile app for on-the-go updates
Learning Curve:
- Beginners: 1-2 hours to feel comfortable
- Can create professional site on day one
- Limited learning required for basic functionality
Limitations:
- Cannot access or modify underlying code
- Customization limited to what builder allows
- Can't install third-party apps or plugins
- Template changes may require content restructuring
DreamHost: Maximum Flexibility
Setup Time:
- Account creation: 5 minutes
- WordPress installation: 1-click (automatic)
- Theme selection and basic setup: 30-60 minutes
- Full customization: hours to days (depending on complexity)
Interface:
- DreamHost Panel: Clean, custom control panel for hosting management
- WordPress Dashboard: Standard WordPress interface
- File management available via SFTP/FTP
- Advanced users can access command line
Content Management:
- WordPress dashboard for all content
- Block editor (Gutenberg) or classic editor
- Thousands of free and premium themes
- 60,000+ plugins for any functionality
- Complete access to HTML/CSS/PHP
Learning Curve:
- Beginners: 5-10 hours to feel comfortable with WordPress
- Basic sites achievable within first week
- Advanced customization requires learning
- Extensive documentation and community support
Advantages:
- Build literally anything WordPress can power
- Access to global WordPress community
- Complete code control for developers
- Future-proof: never locked into proprietary system
Winner: Squarespace for absolute beginners; DreamHost for users wanting flexibility.
Features and Functionality
Design and Templates
Squarespace:
- 140+ professionally designed templates
- Award-winning design quality
- Mobile-responsive by default
- Limited customization within template constraints
- Cannot switch templates without rebuilding content
- Consistent, polished aesthetic
- Built-in fonts and color schemes
DreamHost (WordPress):
- Thousands of free themes
- Tens of thousands of premium themes
- Complete customization with page builders
- Switch themes easily (usually)
- Custom theme development possible
- Page builders like Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder
- Unlimited design possibilities
Winner: Squarespace for design simplicity; DreamHost for design flexibility.
Blogging Capabilities
Squarespace:
- Built-in blogging platform
- Clean, simple post editor
- Categories and tags
- RSS feeds
- Basic commenting system
- Scheduled posts
- Mobile blogging app
- Limited advanced blogging features
DreamHost (WordPress):
- WordPress began as a blogging platform
- Unlimited posts and categories
- Advanced taxonomy systems
- Multiple authors with role management
- Powerful plugin ecosystem
- Editorial calendars and workflow tools
- SEO optimization plugins
- Newsletter integrations
- Comment management systems
- Content scheduling and automation
Winner: DreamHost (WordPress) for serious bloggers and content creators.
E-Commerce Features
Squarespace:
- Built-in e-commerce on Business plan and above
- Unlimited products
- Inventory management
- Variant options (size, color)
- Payment processing (Stripe, PayPal, Apple Pay)
- Abandoned cart recovery (Commerce Advanced)
- Transaction fees: 3% (Commerce Basic) or 0% (Commerce Advanced)
- Limited marketplace integrations
- Point of Sale (POS) capabilities
DreamHost (WordPress + WooCommerce):
- WooCommerce: world's most popular e-commerce platform
- Unlimited products
- Complete inventory management
- Hundreds of payment gateway options
- No transaction fees (just payment processor fees)
- Thousands of e-commerce extensions
- Multi-currency support
- Subscription products
- Marketplace integrations (Amazon, eBay, etc.)
- Complete control over checkout process
Winner: Depends on complexity. Squarespace for simple stores; DreamHost for complex e-commerce.
SEO Capabilities
Squarespace:
- Clean, SEO-friendly code
- Basic SEO settings per page
- Auto-generated sitemaps
- Mobile optimization
- SSL certificates included
- AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) support
- Limited schema markup options
- Basic analytics
DreamHost (WordPress):
- Complete SEO control
- Advanced plugins (Yoast SEO, Rank Math, All in One SEO)
- Schema markup plugins
- Advanced analytics integrations
- Custom permalinks structure
- Advanced heading hierarchy control
- Image optimization plugins
- Speed optimization plugins
- Complete robots.txt control
- Advanced redirect management
Winner: DreamHost (WordPress) for serious SEO efforts.
Email Marketing
Squarespace:
- Built-in email campaigns
- Newsletter templates matching site design
- Subscriber management
- Email analytics
- Campaign scheduling
- Limited to 500 emails/month on Personal plan
- Unlimited emails on Business+
DreamHost (WordPress):
- Integration with all major email platforms
- Mailchimp, ConvertKit, ActiveCampaign, etc.
- Advanced automation platforms
- Landing page builders
- A/B testing capabilities
- Unlimited integration options
- Choose best tool for your needs
Winner: DreamHost for advanced email marketing needs.
Performance and Reliability
Speed and Loading Times
Squarespace:
- Built-in CDN (Content Delivery Network)
- Optimized infrastructure
- Automatic image optimization
- Generally fast load times
- Limited control over optimization
- Average load time: 1.5-3 seconds
DreamHost:
- Entry-level web hosting: 2-4 seconds average
- DreamPress (managed WordPress): 1-2 seconds average
- Built-in caching on DreamPress
- CDN options (Cloudflare, others)
- Complete optimization control
- Image optimization plugins
- Caching plugins available
- Database optimization possible
Winner: Squarespace for out-of-box speed; DreamPress for optimized WordPress performance.
Uptime Reliability
Squarespace:
- 99.9%+ uptime typical
- Managed infrastructure
- Automatic scaling during traffic spikes
- Enterprise-grade reliability
- No server management required
DreamHost:
- 100% uptime guarantee for entry-level web hosting
- 99.9%+ actual uptime
- 24/7 network monitoring
- Automatic backups
- Redundant infrastructure
- Daily backups on all plans
Winner: Tie—both offer excellent reliability.
Security
Squarespace:
- Free SSL certificates
- Automatic security updates
- DDoS protection
- PCI compliance for e-commerce
- Secure hosting infrastructure
- Limited security customization
DreamHost:
- Free SSL certificates (Let's Encrypt)
- Automatic WordPress updates (optional)
- Security plugins available
- DDoS protection
- Web Application Firewall (WAF)
- Two-factor authentication
- Malware scanning options
- Advanced security customization
Winner: Squarespace for hands-off security; DreamHost for customizable security.
Customer Support
Squarespace Support
Availability:
- 24/7 email support
- Live chat during business hours
- No phone support
- Help center with guides
- Community forum
- Video tutorials
Quality:
- Generally responsive
- Knowledgeable about platform
- Limited for custom development questions
- Average response time: 2-24 hours
DreamHost Support
Availability:
- 24/7 ticket support
- Live chat support
- No phone support
- Callback option available
- Extensive knowledge base
- Community forum
- DreamPress: Priority support
Quality:
- Experienced support team
- WordPress expertise
- Technical depth for complex issues
- Average response time: 1-4 hours
- Community support from global WordPress ecosystem
Winner: Tie—both offer solid support with different strengths.
Migration and Portability
Moving TO the Platform
Squarespace:
- Import from WordPress (limited)
- Manual content migration often required
- Design must be recreated
- No guarantee of feature parity
- Professional migration services available (paid)
DreamHost:
- Free WordPress migration service
- One-click migration plugins
- Supports migration from most platforms
- Generally smooth process
- Maintains URLs and structure
Moving AWAY from the Platform
Squarespace:
- Export to WordPress (basic content only)
- No design export
- Rebuilt from scratch required
- Potentially significant migration cost
- Proprietary platform lock-in
DreamHost (WordPress):
- Export complete WordPress site
- Move to any WordPress host
- Complete data portability
- Standard WordPress migration
- Never locked in
Winner: DreamHost for portability and platform independence.
Use Case Recommendations
Choose Squarespace If You:
Value Design Above All
- Need a beautiful site immediately
- Don't want to think about design decisions
- Appreciate cohesive, professional templates
Want Maximum Simplicity
- Have zero technical knowledge
- Don't want to learn WordPress
- Prefer all-in-one solution
Run a Simple Business
- Portfolio website
- Small product catalog (under 100 products)
- Service-based business
- Restaurant or venue
Have a Single Website
- One site now and likely in the future
- Price per site isn't a concern
Choose DreamHost If You:
Need Flexibility
- Custom functionality requirements
- Want complete design control
- May need advanced features later
Run Multiple Websites
- Manage several sites
- Build client websites
- Test different projects
Value Long-Term Cost Savings
- Budget-conscious
- Want unlimited email addresses
- Need multiple sites on one account
Plan to Scale
- Growing e-commerce store
- Expanding blog or publication
- Complex business requirements
Already Know WordPress
- Comfortable with WordPress
- Want WordPress-specific features
- Part of WordPress ecosystem
Need Advanced Marketing
- Serious SEO efforts
- Advanced email marketing
- Marketing automation
Real-World Examples
Example 1: Freelance Photographer
Squarespace Choice: Sarah is a wedding photographer who wants a stunning portfolio site. She values beautiful templates, needs a simple blog, and wants a contact form and galleries. Squarespace's design-forward templates and built-in gallery features make perfect sense. Monthly cost: $16/month.
DreamHost Choice: Mike is a commercial photographer who needs a portfolio, blog, client galleries with password protection, online print sales, and integration with his accounting software. DreamHost with WordPress gives him WooCommerce for print sales, gallery plugins with advanced features, and unlimited customization. Monthly cost: $2.59-3.95/month for hosting + optional premium plugins.
Example 2: Online Store Owner
Squarespace Choice: Emma sells handmade jewelry with 30 products. She wants a beautiful store, integrated checkout, and inventory management without complexity. Squarespace Commerce provides everything in one package. Monthly cost: $27/month (Commerce Basic).
DreamHost Choice: David sells bike parts with 500+ products, needs wholesale pricing, volume discounts, integration with suppliers, and advanced shipping calculations. DreamHost with WooCommerce provides unlimited flexibility through extensions. Monthly cost: $16.95/month (DreamPress) + WooCommerce extensions as needed.
Example 3: Blogger
Squarespace Choice: Lisa writes a personal lifestyle blog as a hobby. She publishes once a week and wants a clean, simple interface. Squarespace's blogging features are sufficient. Monthly cost: $16/month.
DreamHost Choice: Tom runs a tech news publication with multiple authors, scheduled content, newsletter subscriptions, advanced SEO needs, and plans to monetize with ads and affiliates. WordPress on DreamHost provides editorial workflow, SEO plugins, email integrations, and ad management. Monthly cost: $2.59-16.95/month depending on traffic.
Making Your Decision: Decision Framework
Ask yourself these questions:
Budget Questions
How many websites will you run?
- One site: Either platform works
- Multiple sites: DreamHost significantly cheaper
What's your email volume?
- 1-2 addresses: Either works
- Multiple team members: DreamHost (unlimited email included)
Long-term cost sensitivity?
- Budget-conscious: DreamHost saves $100-200/year
- Budget unlimited: Choose on features alone
Technical Questions
Technical comfort level?
- Absolute beginner who wants simplicity: Squarespace
- Willing to learn: DreamHost
- Already knows WordPress: DreamHost
Custom functionality needs?
- Standard website features: Either platform
- Custom requirements: DreamHost only option
Future flexibility important?
- Want to switch platforms easily later: DreamHost
- Committed long-term: Either works
Business Questions
Business complexity?
- Simple portfolio or brochure site: Either works
- Complex e-commerce: DreamHost
- Multi-site business: DreamHost
SEO priority?
- Basic SEO sufficient: Either works
- Competitive SEO strategy: DreamHost
Marketing sophistication?
- Basic marketing: Either works
- Advanced automation: DreamHost
Getting Started with Each Platform
Starting with Squarespace
- Visit Squarespace.com
- Start 14-day free trial (no credit card required)
- Choose a template from 140+ options
- Customize your design with drag-and-drop editor
- Add your content (pages, blog posts, products)
- Configure settings (SEO, social, analytics)
- Connect your domain (new or transfer existing)
- Select a plan when ready to launch
Time to launch: 1-3 days for basic site
Starting with DreamHost
- Visit DreamHost to explore hosting options
- Choose a plan:
- Web Hosting Starter: $2.59/month (1 site)
- Web Hosting Unlimited: $3.95/month (unlimited sites)
- DreamPress: $16.95/month (managed WordPress)
- Sign up and complete registration
- Choose/register your domain (free first year)
- Install WordPress (automatic 1-click installation)
- Choose a WordPress theme (thousands available)
- Customize your site using WordPress dashboard
- Install essential plugins (SEO, security, contact forms)
- Add your content
- Launch your site
Time to launch: 1-7 days depending on complexity
Check Namr to find and register the perfect domain for your new website.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I switch from Squarespace to DreamHost later?
Yes, but it requires migration work. Content can be exported from Squarespace and imported to WordPress, but design and custom features must be recreated. Expect significant effort or professional migration costs ($200-500+).
Can I switch from DreamHost to Squarespace?
Yes, though design will need to be recreated in Squarespace templates. Content migration is possible but manual. WordPress portability makes leaving DreamHost easy; the challenge is Squarespace's template limitations.
Which is better for SEO?
DreamHost with WordPress offers superior SEO capabilities through plugins like Yoast SEO, advanced schema markup, complete technical control, and faster page speeds (especially with DreamPress). Squarespace has good basic SEO but lacks advanced optimization options.
Which loads faster?
Out of the box, Squarespace often loads faster due to built-in CDN and optimized infrastructure. However, properly optimized WordPress on DreamPress can match or exceed Squarespace speeds with the right plugins and configuration.
Can I use my own domain with both?
Yes. Both platforms support custom domains. DreamHost includes free domain registration for the first year. Squarespace includes free custom domain for the first year on annual plans.
Which has better mobile optimization?
Both platforms deliver mobile-responsive websites by default. Squarespace ensures perfect mobile optimization automatically. WordPress themes vary in quality, but most modern themes are fully responsive.
Which platform is more secure?
Both are secure for typical use. Squarespace handles all security automatically. DreamHost provides security tools and automatic updates, with additional security customization possible through plugins.
Can I sell products on both platforms?
Yes. Squarespace includes e-commerce on Business plan and above ($23-49/month). DreamHost supports WooCommerce, the world's most popular e-commerce platform, with no transaction fees and unlimited flexibility.
Which offers better support?
Both offer 24/7 support. Squarespace provides email and chat support with platform expertise. DreamHost offers ticket/chat support with WordPress expertise. Neither offers phone support. DreamHost users also benefit from the massive WordPress community.
Can I hire someone to customize my site?
Squarespace: Limited customization possible through CSS and developer platform. Fewer developers specialize in Squarespace.
DreamHost/WordPress: Millions of WordPress developers worldwide at every price point. Complete customization possible.
Final Recommendation
There's no universal "better" choice—only the better choice for your specific situation.
Choose Squarespace if:
- You need a beautiful site quickly with zero technical hassle
- You're running a single, simple website
- Design quality and ease of use matter more than flexibility
- You're willing to pay more for convenience
Choose DreamHost if:
- You want maximum flexibility and long-term value
- You're running multiple websites or plan to
- You need advanced features or custom functionality
- You value platform independence and portability
- You're budget-conscious or need unlimited email
For most users with long-term goals, WordPress hosting with DreamHost offers better value, flexibility, and growth potential. The learning curve is manageable, the community support is unmatched, and you'll never outgrow the platform.
Start your website journey with DreamHost's WordPress hosting from $2.59/month, and use Namr to find the perfect domain name for your project.
Your website is the foundation of your online presence—choose a platform that grows with you.