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At Big Cat Creative, we’re big fans of both Canva and Squarespace. We use Canva every day for graphics and design work and always recommend it to business owners who want an easy to use design software that has beautiful templates built right in.

We are huge Squarespace fans, our website templates are built on Squarespace, this website is built on Squarespace—basically, we live and breathe Squarespace. 😂

So when Canva launched their website builder, we were intrigued. If it's as easy to create a website as it is to create social graphics, we had to try it out!

And of course, we had to compare it to our gold standard for DIY web design: Squarespace.

Here’s what we’ll cover in this post:

What the editing experience is like in Canva vs. Squarespace
Which platform has better SEO, blogging, and mobile responsiveness
Business tools, analytics, and overall scalability
A side-by-side cost comparison
And how to decide which one is best for your business

We’ll be honest about all of the pros and cons, and share when each one makes sense (because honestly, they're both great in their own ways) depending on your goals, your experience level, and the kind of business you’re building.

Also we have an awesome free training that we created for small business owners and creatives wanting to DIY their own dream website. After years of designing websites, we wanted to share a few of our key tips for navigating tech challenges, aesthetics, and strategy, so feel free to check it out here!

Alright now let’s get into the rest of this post…

1. Editing Experience: What It’s Like to Design in Each Platform

The editing experience is where you’ll spend most of your time, and it sets the tone for how enjoyable (or frustrating) building your website will be.

Editing in Canva Websites

If you’ve used Canva for social graphics, you already know what the design experience feels like–it’s drag–and-drop freedom. ✨

Designing a website in Canva is basically the same: you start with a blank canvas and add whatever elements you like: text, photos, buttons, shapes, illustrations, wherever you want. There are no layout constraints, no sections, no grids. It’s completely freeform.

This means you can be super creative, but it also means you are responsible for making everything look aligned, balanced, and readable. There are no built-in guides to help with layout or spacing.

With that said, you can use Canva's branding features to help you stick to your color palette and fonts.

You also have all of the fun design elements of Canva baked right in. GIFs, Photos, Videos. All you need to do is drag and drop them in.

Pros:

Very intuitive. If you can use Canva (or a computer), you can build a website here.
Fast and SO flexible.
All of the Canva features built in (images, video, graphics etc), the design flexibility is almost endless.

Cons:

No structure, so if you're not a designer or don't have any eye for design, things can get messy pretty quick.

Editing in Squarespace (Fluid Engine)

Squarespace takes a slightly more structured approach. You build your site using pre-designed content blocks–for example, image + text, gallery, newsletter signup, button group, etc. You stack these blocks inside sections, and the sections are made up of grids. Because of this structure, you can't go too wild with the design (well, not as wild as Canva anyway).

Fonts, colors, spacing, and buttons are styled globally through your design settings. That means you only have to set things once, and everything stays consistent throughout your site.

Pros:

Better for organized layouts and brand consistency.

Cons:

More of a learning curve.
Less visually "free" — you work within a structured grid.
Even though you have this "grid", things can still easily get messy if you don't know much about layout design.

So, does Squarespace or Canva Websites have a better editing experience?

Canva gives you artistic freedom, but little structure. Squarespace gives you some helpful structure and global styling, but less creative freedom.

✅ If we're just comparing editing experience, Canva wins this one hands down.

But, unfortunately we're not just comparing editing experience, so make sure to keep reading.

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2. Templates & Design Flexibility

Templates are usually the first thing you’ll interact with when setting up your sit–they’re like the starter kit for your website design. A good template can save you hours of design time and help you get a polished, professional-looking site without hiring a designer or starting from scratch.

Psst—did you know we sell premium Squarespace Templates? Check em out here!

But not all templates are created equal. Here’s what it looks like on both platforms:

Canva Website templates

Canva offers a huge library of website templates — over 800 and counting! These templates are eye-catching, modern, and designed for visual impact. With 800 templates, there's probably too much to choose from, but we appreciate the enthusiasm.

Templates are categorized by purpose: portfolios, personal sites, link-in-bio pages, events, services, etc. Most are one-pagers or very simple multi-page sites. The focus here is definitely on style. Each template looks like a polished social media graphic stretched into a webpage — which can be a huge plus if you want something beautiful and quick.

What you won’t find? Deep page structure or anything designed for larger, content-heavy websites. Canva templates are best suited to very simple websites.

Squarespace website templates

Squarespace takes a more strategic approach to templates. While there are fewer options to choose from, each template comes with a full site layout already built in: homepage, about, services, contact, blog, and often more.

These templates are designed with function in mind, not just looks. They’re built to guide your visitors through your site with thoughtful page flow, easy navigation, and clean structure. Squarespace also provides recommendations for what types of sites each template suits best — like portfolios, product-based businesses, or service providers.

They’re less flashy out of the box compared to Canva, but they still look good and are a great starting point.

Who has better templates, Canva Websites or Squarespace?

✅ If you want a visually striking, simple site fast — Canva templates deliver. But if you’re building a full, functional site with room to grow, Squarespace’s templates give you are great starting point.

💡At the end of the day, the templates actually don't play THAT big of a role. Both of these platforms are super customizable, so even if you start with a template, you might end up customizing to create something totally different. So, while you might hear Canva and Squarespace using their templates as part of their promotion, it doesn't have to play in to your final design at all.

If you’re looking for beautiful, strategic Squarespace templates that are built to convert (and save you hours of design time), we’ve got you covered! Browse our Squarespace Templates →

3. SEO Tools (Search Engine Optimization)

Okay — let's talk SEO. If you’ve heard the term thrown around but never totally understood it, here’s the quick breakdown: SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization,” and it’s all about how your website shows up on Google. It’s what helps someone find your site when they type something into a search bar — even if they’ve never heard of you before.

For small businesses, content creators, or anyone trying to grow an audience online, good SEO can mean the difference between crickets and clients. And while SEO itself is a big topic, your website platform plays a huge role in how much you can actually optimize.

Maybe link to a related post about SEO?

SEO for Canva Websites:

Canva offers the absolute basics. You can set a page title and meta description (which is the short text preview you see in search results).

That’s… kind of it 😬

You won’t find options for image alt text, URL customization, structured data, or anything deeper. (If this is brand new lingo to you, that's OK, just know that it's pretty important stuff if you want to get found on Google).

Canva doesn’t generate a sitemap, and there’s no blog feature — which is one of the best tools for SEO. Without those things, it’s harder for search engines to understand your site, and harder for people to find you organically.

SEO for Squarespace websites:

Squarespace, on the other hand, has a full suite of built-in SEO tools. You can edit titles, meta descriptions, image alt text, custom page URLs, and more. It also automatically generates your sitemap, integrates with Google tools, and ensures your site is mobile-responsive and secure (with SSL) — all of which help boost your ranking.

If you want to be found on Google, especially for blog posts, local services, or niche topics, these features matter. And they’re all baked in with no plugins required. 🙌

How to Get Your Squarespace Website on Google: A 5-Step Guide

Who has better SEO, Canva Websites or Squarespace?

✅ If you want people to actually find your site on Google, Squarespace is the clear winner.

4. Blogging Tools

Let’s talk blogs. Blogging isn’t just about sharing your thoughts — it’s one of the most powerful ways to grow your site traffic, boost your SEO, and show up as the expert in your space. Whether you're writing tutorials, posting updates, or sharing stories, your blog can become a core part of your business or brand.

But not every website platform is built for blogging, so here’s how Canva and Squarespace compare:

Canva websites:

Canva doesn’t currently have a native blog feature. That means no blog feed, no post categories or tags, and no built-in way for people to browse your older posts. You could technically build out individual pages and link them together manually, but that’s a lot of work and doesn’t function like a true blog.

There’s also no post scheduling, and no way to display a dynamic list of recent posts. Basically, if blogging is a core part of your content strategy — Canva’s not going to cut it.

Squarespace websites:

Squarespace is built for bloggers. It includes a full-featured blogging system with everything you need: post scheduling, categories, tags, excerpts, search functionality, and RSS feeds. You can also enable comments (if that’s your thing), feature posts on other pages, and style your blog to match the rest of your site.

It’s all easy to use, well-integrated, and plays nicely with Squarespace’s SEO tools — which means every blog post is another chance to get found online.

Check out the best Squarespace templates for bloggers in 2025

Who has better Blogging Tools, Canva Websites or Squarespace?

✅ If blogging is part of your plan — or even just something you might want to do later — Squarespace is the clear winner.

5. Forms, Email & Lead Capture

Growing your audience or running a service-based business often starts with one thing: a form. Whether you're asking people to get in touch, sign up for your newsletter, or request a quote — your website needs a way to collect that info.

Canva websites:

Canva doesn’t have its own native form builder (yet), but there are workarounds. You can embed third-party forms using tools like Jotform, Typeform, or Google Forms. Canva even has a Jotform app built in, which is a nice touch and makes basic integration fairly smooth.

These embedded forms will get the job done, but they don’t match your design perfectly, and managing the form responses or connecting them to email software takes extra steps. There’s no direct integration with email platforms (like Mailchimp or ConvertKit), so you’ll need to set that up externally.

Squarespace websites:

Squarespace has everything you need built in. You can drop in a contact form or newsletter signup on any page, style it to match your site, and connect it to platforms like Mailchimp, Kartra, Google Sheets, Zapier, and more.

You can also tag form submissions, send them to multiple places, and even add custom confirmation messages or redirects. It’s one of the easiest ways to turn your site into a lead-generating machine.

And if for some reason you do want to integrate different form or email marketing software, you can do that too.

Who makes it easier to collect leads, Canva Websites or Squarespace?

✅ If you want to collect contacts, emails or leads in a way that’s smooth, professional, and connects to your marketing system natively, Squarespace is the stronger choice. However if you are using third party apps anyway, it's still possible with Canva!

6. Business Growth Tools

When you think about your website as more than just a digital business card,but instead, as the hub of your business, the tools it offers really start to matter. We’re talking about things like analytics (so you can track who’s visiting your site), integrations (like connecting email platforms or appointment schedulers), and features that help you actually grow your business.

Let’s break down how Canva and Squarespace compare when it comes to supporting the growth of your business online.

Canva Websites:

Canva websites are great for getting something up quickly — and they do offer basic built-in analytics through their Website Insights feature. You can see things like total views, unique visitors, and top-performing pages directly within Canva, which is handy for keeping tabs on how your site is doing.

Canva also allows you to embed third-party tools, which means you can technically add things like appointment schedulers (using Calendly or similar) and email opt-in forms (like Jotform or Mailchimp). But none of these features are native to the platform, and setting them up takes extra work — often requiring multiple external accounts, embed codes, and design tweaks to make them fit visually.

There’s currently no built-in support for e-commerce, memberships, or automated workflows. You can try to patch these features in through integrations, but it gets tricky and may not scale well if your site grows.

Squarespace websites:

Squarespace is built to grow with your business. You get a full analytics dashboard right in your account, where you can see page views, traffic sources, device types, and more. You can also integrate with Google Analytics or Search Console if you want deeper insights.

Need to sell products or services? Squarespace includes a full e-commerce setup. Want to book appointments? It connects with Acuity Scheduling.

You can even set up member-only areas, digital downloads, and donation pages — all from the same dashboard.

Who has better tools for business growth, Canva Websites or Squarespace?

✅ If your website is meant to do more than just look pretty, Squarespace is hands-down the better platform for business growth.

7. Mobile Responsiveness

Let’s be real — most people are visiting your website from their phone these days. So if your site doesn’t look good (and work well) on mobile, you’re losing out on a big chunk of your audience.

Mobile responsiveness is how well your site adjusts to different screen sizes — phones, tablets, laptops, and everything in between. A good platform makes this process easy and automatic. A not-so-great one can leave you stuck with overlapping text, weird layouts, or buttons you can’t tap.

Canva Websites:

Canva automatically generates a mobile version of your site based on how you laid it out on desktop. Sometimes it looks great… and sometimes, not so much.

There’s currently no way to manually adjust your mobile layout. So if a section looks off on your phone (maybe the text overlaps or the spacing looks weird) you’ll have to go back and rearrange it on the desktop version and hope that fixes it.

Squarespace websites:

Squarespace uses responsive design by default. That means everything you add automatically adapts to fit different screens. And with Fluid Engine (their drag-and-drop editor), you also get the option to tweak your mobile layout separately if needed — like resizing text or reordering elements for better flow.

It’s definitely not perfect (tablet views can still be a bit clunky), but it gives you much more control than Canva.

Who has a more optimized mobile site, Canva Websites or Squarespace?

✅ If mobile layout is important to you (and honestly, it should be!) Squarespace offers more flexibility. Though both platforms are technically optimized for mobile.

8. Cost Comparison

Let’s talk about the money stuff. Both Canva and Squarespace have free trials or low-cost starting points, but what do you actually get for your money? And how do their plans stack up if you’re planning to build a full business website?

Canva Websites:

Canva has a completely free plan, which is a pretty amazing entry point. You can publish a site using a Canva-branded domain (like yoursite.my.canva.site) and get access to a good range of templates and features.

To unlock more — like connecting your own domain, accessing premium templates and elements, and adding custom branding — you’ll need Canva Pro, which is around $14/month.

Squarespace websites:

Squarespace doesn’t offer a free plan, but they do offer a 14-day free trial. Their pricing plans start at around $16/month and go up depending on the features you need.

You can also use our exclusive code BIGCATCREATIVE10 for 10% off the first year of your Squarespace subscription.

Even on the lowest plan, you get access to powerful design tools, built-in SEO, forms, blog functionality, mobile optimization, and customer support. The higher tiers unlock things like advanced analytics, scheduling, e-commerce, and custom code access.

Which is cheaper, Canva Websites or Squarespace?

✅ If budget is your #1 concern and you just need something fast and simple, Canva is a great low cost or even free choice. Squarespace is more expensive, but you get a whole suite of tools.

So, Which One Should You Choose?

Both Canva and Squarespace are amazing tools. And the good news is, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer here. It all comes down to what you’re building, what your priorities are, and how much you want your website to do.

Choose Canva if...

You want to launch a simple, stylish site quickly
You’re creating a portfolio, event page, or link-in-bio
You don’t need a blog, SEO, forms, or integrations
You care most about design freedom and ease

Choose Squarespace if...

You’re building a business, blog, or brand that you want to grow
You need structure, functionality, and long-term scalability
You want your site to be searchable, strategic, and high-converting

At Big Cat Creative, we're strongly team Squarespace when it comes to building powerful websites for small businesses (for now, anyway!). But we’ve got HUGE respect for what Canva is doing too, and we're so excited to see how their website feature continues to develop. We'll definitely be keeping a close eye on it 👀

Start with a Premium Squarespace Template

If you’re ready to build your Squarespace site (the easy, beautiful way), check out our full collection of strategic, designer-crafted Squarespace templates! 👇

I hope you enjoyed this post and learned a bit about email marketing and where to start. Good luck!

Squarespace Website Templates