Squarespace Review Australia 2026
Best Design-First E-Commerce Platform for AU Creatives and Small Sellers
Squarespace is still the design-first hosted AU shop: commerce on every plan, Basic from AUD $17/month annual, 0% commerce fee from Core. AU Squarespace Payments personal-card rates are 1.75% + A$0.30 on Basic/Core — not the stored US 2.9% table. Unlimited products; two contributors on Basic. No native Australia Post. Data is in the US. Plan dollars for Core/Plus/Advanced remain the stored AUD cards because the public page hydrates prices in JavaScript.
- Best for
- Creatives, photographers, artists, designers, and small product-based businesses that prioritise visual brand presentation and want a simple, all-in-one platform without technical complexity.
- Not ideal for
- High-volume e-commerce stores needing advanced shipping integrations (Australia Post), large product catalogues with mixed GST rates, or businesses requiring Australian data sovereignty and local phone support.
SoftwareHQ does not currently have an affiliate arrangement with Squarespace. Scores are independent of commercial relationships. Affiliate disclosure
Overview
Squarespace is design-first website builder with integrated e-commerce. Founded in 2003 and headquartered in New York City, USA, it serves Australian businesses.
Feature highlights
These highlights come from vendor documentation and editorial analysis of public sources. They are not firsthand test results or a claim that every listed capability was exercised in a trial.
- From AUD $17/month annual
Official AU start page floor. Stored Basic $24 monthly / $17 annual. 14-day trial, no card.
- 0% commerce fee from Core
Basic still takes 2% on physical commerce. Core/Plus/Advanced 0%. Digital 7% / 5% / 1% / 0%.
- AU personal cards 1.75% + A$0.30 on Basic/Core
Squarespace Payments AU: Plus 1.55%, Advanced 1.35%. Amex/international/business 2.9% + A$0.30. Stored 2.9% on every plan was the US table.
- Unlimited products on every plan
Basic is 2 contributors and 30 minutes of video. Core adds unlimited contributors and 5 hours of video.
- Carrier rates from Core; own carrier on Advanced
No native Australia Post SKU on the pages opened. Google Shopping and Mailchimp start on Core.
- US-hosted
Tier III US data centres. CDN for assets. Not AU-sovereign.
AU Compliance Scores
These scores apply to Australian tax, payroll and banking capabilities where they are relevant to Squarespace. They are SoftwareHQ editorial judgements from public documentation, not firsthand product tests.
Not applicable means this product type is not scored on that dimension (for example BAS lodgement on a CRM). Not supported means the vendor does not offer it. Unknown means we could not verify it from public sources — that is not the same as unsupported.
E-commerce platform. BAS stays in accounting software (Xero/MYOB), not in-product ATO lodgement.
No native AU payroll.
No payroll.
No payroll.
Automated GST/VAT rates on Core+ (not Basic) with a per-order automated-tax fee. Inclusive display supported. Not ATO lodgement. Per-product mixed GST/GST-free was a prior forum limitation — not re-opened this check.
Not a bank-feeds product. Reconciliation via accounting integration.
When this was checked
Status as of (page snapshot) against a 90-day review target. Checked dates are not updated when the site is rebuilt.
Editorial article date: . That is not proof that pricing, hosting, or compliance was re-checked.
- PricingVerified
Verified — checked 8 September 2026.
AUD. Official AU start page from $17/mo annual (Basic). Stored $24/$39/$69/$149 monthly and $17/$28/$49/$109 annual kept — public /pricing hydrates JS. 14-day trial. Commerce fees 2%/0%/0%/0%; digital 7%/5%/1%/0%. AU SQ Payments personal 1.75/1.55/1.35% + A$0.30.
- HostingVerified
Verified — checked 8 September 2026.
US Tier III private cloud; CDN for assets. No AU region. PCI via processors. Not AU-sovereign.
- GST handlingVerified
Verified — checked 8 September 2026.
Automated GST on Core+. Per-order automated-tax fee. Not ATO lodgement. Basic is manual tax.
Pricing (AUD)
All prices below are in Australian dollars and exclude GST. Verified — checked 8 September 2026. Source: squarespace.com/websites/start.
- Products: unlimited
- Contributors: 2
- Online Store: Yes
- Video Storage: 30 minutes
- Products: unlimited
- Contributors: unlimited
- Online Store: Yes
- Video Storage: 5 hours
- Products: unlimited
- Contributors: unlimited
- Online Store: Yes
- Video Storage Hours: 50
- Products: unlimited
- Contributors: unlimited
- Online Store: Yes
- Video Storage: unlimited
Estimate first-year cost for Squarespace
Observed price changes
Recorded when a listed price changed. This is not a complete vendor timeline.
- AUD entry still from $17/mo annual (Basic). Stored $24/$39/$69/$149 monthly kept — pricing page hydrates JS. AU Squarespace Payments personal cards 1.75/1.55/1.35% + A$0.30, not the US 2.9/2.7/2.5 table.
- Basic · $17 → $17 · AU entry still from $17/mo annual (Basic). Stored monthly $24/$39/$69/$149 kept. AU Squarespace Payments personal cards 1.75/1.55/1.35% + A$0.30, not US 2.9%.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- From AUD $17/month annual on the official AU start page
- 0% commerce transaction fee from Core
- AU Squarespace Payments personal cards 1.75% + A$0.30 on Basic/Core
- Unlimited products on every plan
- 14-day trial, no credit card
- US Tier III hosting with CDN — fully managed
Cons
- Core/Plus/Advanced AUD dollars hydrate in JS — stored cards kept
- Basic is 2 contributors and a 2% commerce fee
- No native Australia Post SKU on the pages opened
- US-hosted, no AU region
- No phone support
- Afterpay row missing from the AU Squarespace Payments current-plan table
How this review was made
Reviews separate vendor documentation, editorial analysis and firsthand records. They are not interchangeable.
- Vendor documentation — Public pages from Squarespace and other sites. Recorded HTTP(S) URLs are listed under Sources. A source URL is a document we recorded, not a claim that every sentence on this page was checked against that URL.
- Editorial analysis — SoftwareHQ's written verdict and scores for Australian buyers. The header score is an editorial assessment, not a user-review average, not a lab result, and not a number derived from how many evidence records exist.
- Firsthand records — This review has no firsthand observation records, trial walkthroughs, or screenshots from a logged-in SoftwareHQ account. Missing tests stay not tested.
This page does not rank products by speed or security from documentation or from evidence count.
Checked by SoftwareHQ Editorial Team. There is no named author profile for this page; attribution stays with the SoftwareHQ editorial team. How we test and the editorial policy for scoring, independence and affiliate rules.
Sources
Public pages recorded when this review was compiled. They are not a checklist that every claim was verified, and they are not evidence of hands-on product testing.
- Squarespace pricing
- Squarespace Start
- Squarespace 206536797 Choosing The Right Squarespace Plan
- Squarespace 27853679334157 Transaction Fees And Payment Processing Rates
- Squarespace 115012540827 Where Does Squarespace Store My Data
- Squarespace 360053592211 Setting Up Automated Tax Rates In Squarespace
- Squarespace security
Squarespace Alternatives
If Squarespace doesn’t quite fit your needs, consider these alternatives for Australian businesses:
- Shopify — The world's leading e-commerce platform for AU online sellers. From $7/mo ex GST.
- WooCommerce — Free open-source e-commerce plugin for WordPress. Free plan available.
- BigCommerce — Australian-founded SaaS e-commerce platform built for growth. From $39/mo ex GST.
- Neto (Maropost Commerce Cloud) — Australia's all-in-one B2B and multi-channel ecommerce platform. From $199/mo ex GST.