Squarespace gives you a 14-day free trial, and you do not need a credit card to start it. That part is simple. What the sign-up page does not spell out is what the trial cannot do, what happens on day 15, and whether the discounts people search for alongside it (promo codes, student pricing, annual billing) are real.
I have been in ecommerce for 15+ years, and at Ecommerce Paradise my rule for any platform trial is that it is a test of your setup, not two free weeks of hosting. If you are still working out what kind of store to build, my guide on what high-ticket dropshipping is covers the model, and the platform is a smaller decision than the products you sell.
This article covers the trial terms, the limits that catch store owners, a 14-day plan for using it well, what happens at the end, what a plan costs afterward, and the discounts and refund rules Squarespace publishes. I read Squarespace’s pricing page, coupons page, student page and help center articles on trials, offer codes, refunds and free domains on October 7, 2026, plus TechRadar’s review and PetaPixel’s coverage of this year’s price increase. I have not started a new trial for this post, so I describe the terms as Squarespace publishes them, and menus change. Confirm anything that decides your purchase on the signup screen.
Disclosure: I may earn a commission if you sign up through my Squarespace link, at no extra cost to you. It does not change which builders I compare or what the help center says.
| Platform | Free option | Card up front | When it ends | Money-back note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Squarespace | 14-day free trial, one site per trial | No, per its pricing page and help center | Site goes private, you must upgrade to paid service, content is marked for deletion | Full refund on annual plans cancelled within 14 days of purchase, with any free domain cost deducted |
| Shopify | 3-day free trial | No, per its trial page | Pick a plan; the page advertises $1/month to keep building (length not stated there) | Not checked for this post |
| Webflow | Free Starter plan, no stated end date | Not addressed on the pricing page | Paid plan needed for more pages, bandwidth and a custom domain | Not checked for this post |
| Wix | Free plan | No, per its plans page | Upgrade to a premium plan for more | 14-day money-back guarantee on premium plans |
Build Your Store Before You Spend a Dollar
Squarespace lists a 14-day trial with no credit card, and Core at $29 a month on annual billing has a 0% store transaction fee as of October 2026.
Does Squarespace Have a Free Trial in 2026?
Yes. Squarespace’s pricing page says every Squarespace website starts with a 14-day free trial, that you can upgrade to a paid plan at any time during or after it, and that no credit card is required. Its help center repeats the same terms, and TechRadar’s February 2026 review also lists a 14-day trial with no card needed.
There is no permanent free plan. The pricing page says Squarespace does not offer one, which is the big difference from builders that let you keep a free site running indefinitely. When the 14 days are up, you pay or you lose access.
Two details in the help center matter before you click anything. First, you can create as many trials as you want, but each site is upgraded and paid for separately. Second, if you buy a website plan as part of a package with a domain, there is no trial period for that site, because the purchased plan starts immediately.
What You Can and Cannot Do During the Trial
Squarespace’s help center says you get access to nearly all features and most custom code options during a trial. Your site stays private while you build, and you can let specific people in with a password. That is plenty to learn the editor, test templates and lay out pages.
The limits are where store owners get surprised. As of October 2026, the help center’s trial article lists these restrictions:
- You cannot accept payments through Squarespace Commerce, including donations.
- Customer email notifications and abandoned checkout recovery are not available.
- You cannot connect a PayPal Business account or create subscription products.
- Form submission emails are disabled, so you need a third-party storage option to catch form entries.
- Search engines do not index trial sites, and Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools cannot verify a trial.
- Image and file URLs only open for logged-in contributors or people with the site-wide password.
The first item is the one that changes how you should use the trial. If you plan to sell, you cannot run a real checkout during the 14 days, so you are testing your product pages, layout and workflow, not your payment flow. Some guides online suggest running a test checkout during the trial, but the help center’s wording says taking payments is not possible there.
What the Trial Does Well
The trial is a good fit for judging the editor and templates. The same TechRadar review counts more than 180 templates and calls the drag-and-drop editor intuitive, but it also lists downsides worth knowing before you build: you cannot switch templates without rebuilding your site, there is no autosave, and there is no phone support. Those are exactly the things a trial exists to surface.
If the editor frustrates you in the first two hours, that is useful information, and it cost you nothing. My Squarespace vs Webflow comparison shows what you give up in control and what you gain in speed if you are weighing a more design-heavy tool.
How to Start the Trial Step by Step
Squarespace changes menus and button labels regularly, so treat these steps as the shape of the process. The details come from the help center’s guide to starting a trial site.
Step 1: Create the Trial Site
Go to the Squarespace site, click Get Started, and choose a design (you can type a sentence about your site’s goal to see suggested designs, or skip that). Enter your name, email address and password, and you land in your trial site. You can also start from the mobile app.
Verify your account when the email arrives, since Squarespace says it may keep asking if you do not. When you are ready to commit, you can start your Squarespace trial and follow the same prompts.
Step 2: Find Your End Date and Put It in Your Calendar
The help center says to open the Billing panel, click Website under Trial Subscriptions, and look under Upgrade Your Site, where it shows how many days are left. Squarespace also sends an email the day before your trial ends, but I would put the date in my own calendar with a reminder two days out.
The FTC’s consumer advice on getting in and out of free trials says to note on your calendar when to cancel before the trial ends. That advice is mostly about trials that bill automatically, which Squarespace’s card-free trial does not, but the habit still protects you from losing a site you built.
Step 3: Decide What You Are Testing Before You Click
Do not open the editor without a short list of questions. Mine would be: can I build the product page my customers need, can I import my catalog, does the layout hold up on a phone, and do I like working here for an hour at a time.
A 14-Day Plan for Using the Trial Well
This is my own suggested schedule, built from what Squarespace says the trial includes and excludes. I have not run it against a fresh account, so adjust it to your project. The goal is to reach day 14 knowing whether to pay, not just whether the templates are pretty.
Days 1 to 3: Settle the Foundation
Decide what you are selling before you pick a template. If you are still choosing, my high-ticket niches list is the place to start, because the products decide how many variants, images and spec tables your pages need.
Then gather the data you will import: product names, descriptions, images and prices. If you work with dealers, my supplier guide explains how to get clean product information from them, which saves hours of copying.
Days 4 to 7: Build One Real Product Page
Pick your single most important product and build the full page: gallery, specs, shipping notes, FAQs. Check how many options and variants your product needs against Squarespace’s published product limits now, not after you have paid.
Also build your core pages (home, about, shipping, returns, contact). Since trial sites are private, you can share the password with a friend and ask whether they can find the price and the next step in under 30 seconds.
Days 8 to 10: Test Mobile and Check What Is Locked
Open the site on a phone and a tablet and read every page as a customer would. Then go through the commerce limits above and write down which ones affect you: if you need abandoned checkout recovery, subscription products or PayPal Business, you will not see them working until you upgrade.
Days 11 to 13: Price It and Decide
Work out which plan you would actually need, using the plan table further down. If you expect to process sales, compare Basic’s 2% store fee with Core’s 0% using your expected monthly volume, and decide between annual and monthly billing.
If you are forming a company for the store, set up the business side first so the subscription lands in the company’s name. My business formation guide covers the order to do that in.
Day 14: Upgrade, Extend or Walk Away
By the last day you should have one of three answers: this is the right platform, I need a few more days, or this is not for me. The next section covers all three.
Not Sure You Can Handle the Editor? Find Out in an Afternoon
The help center says trials need no credit card, include nearly all features and can be extended once by seven days. Build one real product page before you decide.
What Happens When the Trial Ends
Squarespace’s help center says you will receive an email the day before your trial ends with your options. You can upgrade to paid service at any time during the trial, ask for more time, or let the trial expire. Because no card is on file, nothing bills automatically.
Upgrading
If you upgrade, the help center warns you to pick a plan that includes the features you used. Features from the trial that your chosen plan does not offer will stop being available, and you can add them back later by upgrading again. That is why I would choose the plan by checking its feature list, not just its price.
Extending Once
The help center says you can request a one-time, seven-day extension. After your trial expires you receive an email from Squarespace with the subject “Your trial has expired. Need more time?” and a link to extend by seven days, after which your site is back as you left it.
That means the realistic maximum is 21 days by my arithmetic (14 plus 7), and only once. At the end of the extension you are asked to upgrade to paid service.
Letting It Expire
If you do nothing, the site stops being public and you lose access until you upgrade. The help center also says that when a trial expires, all content is marked for permanent deletion, and that depending on how much time passes you might still be able to upgrade and continue editing.
The wording gives no exact deadline, so I would not rely on getting a long grace period. If you built something worth keeping, decide within a few days of expiry.
Cancelling Early
You can cancel or delete a trial before it ends. The help center says cancelling keeps the site in your account until the system removes it, while deleting removes it at once. If you later leave a paid plan, my guide on how to cancel Squarespace covers exports, domains and add-ons that keep billing.
Plan Prices After the Trial
These are the prices on Squarespace’s pricing page as of October 2026, in US dollars before taxes. Local pricing and taxes can differ outside the US, and the monthly figures come from the page’s monthly toggle, so confirm both at checkout.
| Plan | Annual billing (per month) | Annual total (12 x monthly figure) | Monthly billing | Store transaction fee | Standard card rate on Squarespace Payments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $19 | $228 | $25 | 2% | 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Core | $29 | $348 | $39 | 0% | 2.9% + $0.30 |
| Plus | $49 | $588 | $65 | 0% | 2.7% + $0.30 |
| Advanced | $99 | $1,188 | $139 | 0% | 2.5% + $0.30 |
Prices rose this year, which is why older articles disagree. PetaPixel’s report on the July 2026 increase lists annual Basic moving from $16 to $19, Core from $23 to $29 and Plus from $39 to $49, with Advanced unchanged at $99. TechRadar’s February 2026 review still shows the older $16 starting price, so I treat Squarespace’s own page and PetaPixel as current.
PetaPixel also notes that existing customers on promotional rates may see bigger percentage jumps when they renew. For a trial reader, the lesson is that the first-year price is not guaranteed to be next year’s price. For the full cost by plan, Squarespace’s own pricing page is the source to confirm against before you pay.
Costs Outside the Plan Price
Squarespace’s help center lists several services that need their own subscriptions: Acuity Scheduling, Bio Sites, domains, Email Campaigns, Google Workspace and Unfold. The free domain on annual plans is free for the first year only. After that, Squarespace says it renews at the annual price for that domain extension, and the help center’s own example uses a $20 domain.
The pricing page also says one Google Workspace mailbox is free for the first year on select plans, and the help center’s plan guide lists it under Core. Squarespace says additional users are billed at the standard rate, the offer only applies to new Google Workspace accounts set up through Squarespace, and after the first year it renews at the standard rate.
Annual vs Monthly: Real-Cost Scenarios
Here is my own arithmetic from the table above, not a quote from Squarespace. The point is to see how much the billing choice matters before you click Buy Now.
What Annual Billing Saves
Basic costs $300 a year on monthly billing and $228 on annual, a $72 gap. Core is $468 versus $348 ($120 saved), Plus is $780 versus $588 ($192) and Advanced is $1,668 versus $1,188 ($480). That works out to roughly 24% to 29% off depending on the plan.
Squarespace’s pricing page labels each plan “20% off” and says “Pay annually to save up to 36%.” I could not reconcile either number with the plan prices on the same page, so I use the dollar figures above. Treat the badges as marketing and the checkout total as the truth.
Basic or Core for a Store
The gap between Basic and Core on annual billing is $10 a month. Basic charges a 2% store transaction fee, so 2% of $500 is $10, which makes $500 a month in sales the break-even by my arithmetic. A single $1,500 sale costs $30 in Basic’s store fee, which is three months of the price gap.
For a high-ticket store, that math points to Core or higher almost immediately. Card processing at 2.9% + $0.30 applies on both plans, so the store fee is the only difference at that rate.
The Trial Plus Refund Window Timeline
The refund rules below create a timeline worth seeing. If you use the 14-day trial, upgrade to annual Core on day 14 and then cancel inside the 14-day refund window, you would have roughly 28 days to judge the platform, with the second half on a real paid plan. That is my own inference from the published terms, and it only works on annual billing, since monthly plans are not refundable.
The reason this matters is the payments limit. You cannot take a real order in the trial, so the refund window is the first chance to test a live checkout without a long commitment, with the free-domain deduction as the cost.
Promo Codes and Discounts Squarespace Publishes
Most coupon sites list codes that Squarespace never issued. I will only repeat what Squarespace’s own pages say, as I read them on October 7, 2026, and I will not invent anything beyond that.
The Published Promo Code
Squarespace’s promo codes page lists one code, GIMME10, for 10% off an annual website plan, with the note that the discount is valid for your first purchase only. Its help center says offer codes apply to the initial payment, not to recurring payments or renewals, and that you enter the code in the Promo code field on the Review order page and click Apply.
The same article says you cannot combine two offer codes, and you cannot combine a code with an automatic discount such as the free domain offer. It adds that if you qualify for an automatic discount and add a code, Squarespace applies whichever discount saves you more. Codes change, so check the coupons page again before you buy.
A Worked Example
On annual Core at $348, 10% off is $34.80, or $313.20 before tax, if the code applies to the full first payment. The free domain credit is worth whatever your domain costs, and the help center’s example uses $20. Using that figure, the code saves $14.80 more than the free domain would, but you would then pay for the domain yourself.
In that example, you would pay $313.20 plus a $20 domain, or $333.20 in total, compared with $348 for the plan with the free domain included. That assumes the code replaces the free domain credit, which is my reading of “whichever saves you more,” so confirm the total on the Review order page. If your domain costs more than $34.80, take the domain offer instead.
The Student Discount
Squarespace’s student page offers 50% off your first full year of an annual plan through its partner Student Beans. The help center says you must be a current full-time student at an eligible college or university, alumni, faculty and staff do not qualify, monthly plans and reactivated sites are not eligible, and the discount cannot be combined with other codes.
The process runs through the trial: you create a trial site, verify your status with Student Beans, get a single-use code, and enter it when you upgrade to an annual plan. If your site auto-renews, or you upgrade or downgrade, you pay the full price on the next payment. My own arithmetic puts annual Basic at $114 and Core at $174 for that first year.
Annual Billing and the Free Domain
As far as I can tell, the most dependable savings are the ones built into the plans: annual billing, the free domain for a year, and the free first year of one Google Workspace mailbox on select plans. None of them needs a code. Squarespace’s FAQ says it occasionally runs promotions and shares them on its website or by email, which matches my advice to check the official page rather than a deal blog.
If you find a code anywhere else, apply it at Squarespace’s own checkout and read the new total before you confirm. A code that the Promo code field rejects is not a discount, whatever the page that listed it claimed.
Refund Rules After You Upgrade
Squarespace’s website refund policy says you can request a full refund for annual website subscriptions cancelled within 14 days of purchase. It does not offer refunds for annual plans cancelled after 14 days, monthly plans, or renewal payments, and it says to cancel before the renewal date, which appears on your invoices.
The free domain is the catch. The refund policy says that if you cancel an annual plan within 14 days, the cost of the domain is deducted from your refund. The free domain offer page describes the same event as a “prorated refund” with a deduction for the nonrefundable domain registration fee, so the two pages do not use identical wording. I would confirm the exact refund amount in the cancellation screen before you click.
To request a refund you complete Squarespace’s refund request form. Services such as Email Campaigns, Acuity Scheduling, domains and Google Workspace have their own refund policies, so a website refund does not automatically cover them.
Who Should Skip Squarespace or Try Something Else First
Squarespace is a design-first builder, and that suits some stores more than others. If your business depends on supplier feeds, large catalogs or a deep app ecosystem, you may be better served elsewhere, and my Squarespace vs Shopify comparison explains where that line sits for high-ticket stores.
Here is how the free options compare for someone who wants to try before paying. All terms are as I read each company’s own page on October 7, 2026, so confirm them before you rely on them.
| Option | Free period | Best for trying | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopify | 3 days, no card per its trial page | A catalog-heavy store with supplier apps | A short window, and the $1/month offer length is not stated on that page |
| Webflow | Free Starter plan, no stated end date | Designers who want fine layout control | 2 static pages, 1 GB bandwidth and 50 form submissions on the free plan |
| Wix | Free plan, plus a 14-day money-back guarantee on premium plans | A low-pressure first site | Prices vary by location, so check the plan page for your country |
| Squarespace | 14 days, one extension of 7 | Polished templates with simple hosting | No payments during the trial, and no permanent free plan |
If you would rather not learn a builder at all, my team builds stores for clients through the done-for-you store build. If you want help deciding between platforms first, my one-on-one coaching is built for that conversation.
Should You Use the Trial? Who It Fits
The trial fits you if you are building a small, design-led site and want to see the editor before paying. It also fits if you are unsure between builders and want a no-card test, since the only cost is your time.
It fits less well if your main question is how checkout, payments or order emails will behave. Those are exactly the things the trial cannot show you, so build the pages, then use the annual refund window if you decide to test real payments.
Support is worth a quick check too. Squarespace’s pricing page lists 24/7 support, and its contact page says support runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through email, live chat and social channels, but also says chat is available “during live chat hours” and that there is no phone support. TechRadar’s review reports live chat on weekdays from 4 AM to 8 PM Eastern, with email around the clock. The sources do not line up on chat hours, so if support matters to you, contact the help center during the trial and see how quickly you get an answer.
My Verdict
Take the trial if Squarespace is on your shortlist. It costs no money, it takes no card, and 14 days is enough to know whether the editor suits you. Use it to test layout, imports and mobile behavior, not payments.
The downsides are real. There is no permanent free plan, you cannot take real orders during the trial, a trial that expires is marked for deletion, and the discounts are modest and mostly first-purchase only. My simple path is: start the free Squarespace trial, build one real page, then decide between annual and monthly using the numbers above.
If you want to learn the fundamentals of building a store before you pick any platform, my free mini course covers them. Either way, I would not buy a year of anything until you have used a trial properly.
Decide With a Built Site, Not a Sales Page
After the trial, annual Core is $348 a year versus $468 monthly, and annual plans can be refunded within 14 days of purchase. Build first, then pick your billing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Squarespace free trial need a credit card?
No. Squarespace’s pricing page says every site starts with a free trial and no credit card is required, and the help center says it does not require credit card information to sign up. You can start a trial here with just an email address and a password.
Can I extend the Squarespace free trial?
Yes, once. After the trial expires you get an email with a link to extend it by seven days, and your site returns as you left it. At the end of the extension you are asked to upgrade to paid service.
Can I take payments or test checkout during the trial?
No. The help center says you cannot accept payments through Squarespace Commerce during a trial, and it also lists no customer email notifications, no abandoned checkout recovery and no PayPal Business connection. Test your product pages in the trial and use the annual refund window if you want to test live payments.
Is there a Squarespace promo code in 2026?
On October 7, 2026, Squarespace’s own promo codes page listed GIMME10 for 10% off an annual website plan, first purchase only, plus 50% off for students through Student Beans. Codes change, apply them at checkout and read the new total before you confirm.
What if I upgrade and then change my mind?
Annual website plans cancelled within 14 days of purchase can be refunded in full, with the cost of any free domain deducted. Monthly plans, renewals and annual plans cancelled after day 14 are not refunded, per the refund policy, so cancel before the renewal date to avoid being charged again.
Skip the Build and Launch a Store That Is Ready to Sell
My team builds the store and lines up high-ticket suppliers, so you are not rebuilding product pages by hand. Prefer to learn it yourself? The free mini course covers the basics.
Related Articles
If you found this useful, these guides go deeper on related topics:
- Squarespace vs Webflow (2026): Pricing, Store Fees and Which to Pick
- How to Cancel Squarespace in 2026: Website, Domain, Email and Add-Ons, Plus the Refund Rules
- Squarespace vs Shopify in 2026: Which Should You Actually Build On?
- Best Squarespace Alternatives in 2026: 6 Platforms Compared
- Best Website Builders for Dropshipping Stores in 2026
Trevor Fenner is an ecommerce entrepreneur and the founder of Ecommerce Paradise, a platform focused on helping entrepreneurs build and scale profitable high-ticket ecommerce and dropshipping businesses. With over a decade of hands-on experience, Trevor specializes in high-ticket dropshipping strategy, niche and product selection, supplier recruiting and onboarding, Google & Bing Shopping ads, ecommerce SEO, and systems-driven automation and scaling. Through Ecommerce Paradise, he provides free education via in-depth guides like How to Start High-Ticket Dropshipping, advanced training through the High-Ticket Dropshipping Masterclass, and fully done-for-you turnkey ecommerce services for entrepreneurs who want a faster, more hands-off path to growth. Trevor is known for emphasizing sustainable, real-world ecommerce models over hype-driven tactics, helping store owners build scalable, sellable, and location-independent brands.
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