Google Sites vs Square Online: guide for 2024

Final verdict

Google Sites vs Square Online both offer unique advantages, but they cater to different needs and audiences.

Google Sites (Overall Grade: 5.6/10)

is ideal for users seeking a simple, collaborative platform for creating informational websites. It excels in ease of use, integration with Google services, and user management, making it a great choice for team projects, personal portfolios, and small business websites. However, it lacks built-in ecommerce features and advanced design customization options, which may limit its appeal for businesses looking to sell products online.
Square Online (Overall Grade: 7.2/10)

stands out for its comprehensive ecommerce capabilities, making it a preferred choice for businesses aiming to establish an online store. It offers a wide range of design features, robust payment processing, and extensive marketing tools. While it may not provide the same level of integration with other services as Google Sites, its focus on ecommerce and business management tools makes it a powerful solution for retailers, restaurants, and service businesses.

	Overall grade: 5.6	Overall grade: 7.2
Design functionalities & templates	4.9	7.4
Ease of use	8.3	8.4
Ecommerce	1.8	7.3
Website Editors	7.0	6.6
Product testing options	6.9	7.8
Price	8.1	7.5
Hosting quality	8.2	7.8
Website speed optimization	3.3	6.2
Plugins/extensions and integrations	6.4	7.6
Marketing features	2.6	7.4
Customer support	7.2	6.7
Website security	9.3	8.5
AI capabilities	0	7.4
User Management	7.8	5.2

Best for ecommerce

1.8

7.3

Verdict

: Square Online is the clear winner for ecommerce, offering a comprehensive suite of features tailored for online sales, while Google Sites lacks built-in ecommerce functionalities.

Google Sites

: Google Sites is primarily a tool for creating simple websites with ease, using a drag-and-drop interface. It integrates well with other Google services, making it suitable for team projects and small business websites. However, it lacks native ecommerce features, requiring third-party tools or widgets for any ecommerce functionality. This makes it less ideal for businesses focused on online sales.
Square Online

: Square Online excels in providing a robust ecommerce platform with features like product listing, inventory management, payment processing, and POS capabilities. It offers customizable templates and extensive product page customization options. The platform is designed to support businesses transitioning from brick-and-mortar to online sales, making it a strong choice for retailers, restaurants, and service businesses looking to manage their online presence and operations efficiently.

Best for informational & business websites

7.2

7.4

Verdict

: When comparing Google Sites vs Square Online, Square Online slightly edges out Google Sites for informational and business websites, thanks to its comprehensive set of tools and better design functionalities.

Google Sites

: Google Sites is a solid choice for creating simple, collaborative websites. Its integration with Google Workspace makes it ideal for team projects and small business websites. However, it offers limited design customization options, which might not be sufficient for businesses looking for more creative control. Google Sites scored 7.2 in this category.
Square Online

: Square Online provides a more robust platform for businesses, especially those looking to integrate online sales with their existing operations. It offers a variety of customizable templates and a comprehensive set of tools for managing an online presence. This makes it a better option for businesses that need more than just a basic informational site. Square Online scored 7.4 in this category.

Detailed comparison

4.9

7.4

🏆

Winner: Square Online.

If you’re looking for a platform that offers more creative control, a wider array of design features, and a focus on e-commerce, Square Online is the preferred choice.

Google Sites offers a limited number of templates suitable for various purposes, from personal blogs to business websites. These templates are designed for user engagement, simplicity, and functionality, allowing for customization to meet specific needs. However, compared to other website builders, Google Sites might offer less variety in templates and design customization options.

Google Sites Themes

On the other hand, Square Online offers a flexible website builder with a focus on e-commerce, providing a variety of design options through integration with platforms like Weebly. Users can customize their sites extensively, choosing from themes and preset styles to best represent their brand.

Square Online Themes

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8.3

8.4

🏆 Winner: Square Online

. With a score of 8.4, Square Online slightly edges out Google Sites, which scored 8.3. Both platforms offer user-friendly interfaces and drag-and-drop functionality, making it easy for users without coding skills to create and manage their websites. However, Square Online’s comprehensive set of tools for ecommerce and robust customer support give it a slight advantage.

Learning Resources

🏆 Winner: Tie

. Both Google Sites and Square Online offer a wide array of learning resources, making it easy for users to learn and adapt to the platforms. Google Sites provides practical guides and comprehensive digital skill development programs, while Square Online offers comprehensive guides, video tutorials, active community forums, and accessible customer service.

Learn Google Sites

Learn Square Online

1.8

7.3

When it comes to ecommerce, Square Online clearly outperforms Google Sites. Google Sites lacks built-in ecommerce features, and users have to rely on third-party tools or widgets to add ecommerce functionalities. On the other hand, Square Online offers a comprehensive suite of ecommerce features, making it a more suitable choice for businesses looking to sell products online.


Ecommerce themes and templates	0.0	6.8
Product page customization	0.0	7.6
Payment processing and commissions	1.0	7.9
POS capabilities	0.0	9.0
Payment gateways	2.0	7.5
Product numbers	0.0	7.0
Additional ecommerce features	0.5	7.2

Google Sites ecommerce features:

Google Sites itself does not have built-in eCommerce features. However, you can integrate eCommerce functionalities into a Google Sites website by embedding third-party tools or widgets, linking to an external eCommerce platform, or using buttons that link to payment processors.

Square Online ecommerce features:

Product Listing and Inventory management
Payment Processing and POS features
Shipping and Fulfillment
Marketing features

Ecommerce themes & templates

Google Sites does not offer any ecommerce templates. On the other hand, Square Online offers a range of ecommerce templates designed to meet various business needs. It includes dynamic styling tools, personalized user experiences, and integrated payment solutions, including Square’s own payment gateway.

Product page customization

Google Sites lacks any product page customization features. In contrast, Square Online allows for extensive product customization. You can add up to 250 variations per item, like different sizes or versions, through “Selectable Options” in the item details section of your online store. Additionally, “Item Modifiers” allow for further customization by letting customers choose options or input custom text, such as engraving names on jewelry, without affecting inventory levels.

Payment processing

Google Sites does not have native payment processing features. Instead, it allows for the integration of payment gateways using external tools or links. This can be done by embedding HTML code for payment buttons from services like PayPal, Square, or Stripe, or by linking to an external checkout page. On the other hand, Square Online supports a variety of payment options including Square Pay, Apple Pay, Cash App Pay, Google Pay, and Afterpay. The platform charges a transaction fee of 2.9% + 30¢ per online transaction for its free plan, with a discounted fee available on the Premium plan. Additionally, Square offers comprehensive POS capabilities, with a range of hardware solutions that seamlessly integrate with its online store and point of sale systems, ensuring a unified management system for both online and in-person sales.

7.0

6.6

🏆

Winner: Google Sites

. Google Sites, with a score of 7.0, offers a user-friendly website builder editor that allows users to create and design websites without needing coding knowledge. With its drag-and-drop interface, users can easily add, customize, and arrange elements such as text, images, and videos on their web pages. It also provides a variety of templates and design options to help users get started quickly and ensure their site looks professional. Additionally, Google Sites integrates seamlessly with other Google services, enabling the incorporation of Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Maps directly into the website.

Google Sites editor

Square Online’s website builder, scoring 6.6, is designed for businesses looking to establish an online presence with ease, focusing on e-commerce functionality. It offers limited customization options, aiming to simplify the design process, yet includes essential e-commerce and marketing tools suitable for a variety of business needs. The platform supports an unlimited number of products and integrates with Square’s payment processing, albeit with limited external payment options. While Square Online is user-friendly and efficient for quickly setting up a website, it may not cater to those seeking extensive design flexibility or advanced e-commerce features.

Mobile editor/app

5.5

🏆

Winner: Square Online

. Both Google Sites and Square Online do not offer a dedicated mobile editor app. However, Square Online allows users to manage and edit a website using the mobile browser version, although this comes with certain limitations. On the other hand, Google Sites does not provide any mobile editing functionality.

Square Online, therefore, is the winner in this comparison as it provides some level of mobile editing capability, albeit limited, compared to Google Sites which does not offer any mobile editing functionality.

6.9

7.8

Overall Result

:

Square Online wins

. Square Online scores 7.8, slightly higher than Google Sites’ 6.9. Both platforms offer a free version and the possibility to test some premium features. However, Square Online provides a longer trial period of 30 days compared to Google Sites’ 14 days. Neither platform offers a money-back guarantee.


Free Plan	Yes	Yes
Trial Duration	14 days	30 days
Testing Premium Features	Limited during trial period	Available during 30-day free trial
Money Back Guarantee	No	No

8.1

7.5

Google Sites offers a range of plans suitable for individuals, small businesses, and large enterprises, with discounts for annual billing. Square Online, on the other hand, provides a free plan for businesses starting to sell online, with more advanced features available in their Plus and Premium plans.

	Offerings	Offerings
Free	No offering at this amount.	Free ($0/month): For businesses who want to start selling online fast. Online payments with 2.9% + 30¢, basic-site layouts and design controls, tax calculation, unlimited items, SEO tools, blog feature, Facebook ads.
$0-$10	Business Starter ($7.20/month): This plan includes basic features suitable for individuals or small businesses, offering professional email through Gmail, 30GB of storage per user, and video meetings for up to 100 participants. It allows to manage 1 website and there is no limitation on number of pages. Value for price: 6.0	No offering at this amount.
$10-$20	Business Standard ($14.40/month): Suitable for growing businesses, this plan provides 2 TB of storage per user, video meeting capacity for up to 150 participants with recording features, and access to smart booking pages and shared drives. It allows to manage 1 website and there is no limitation on number of pages. Value for price: 7.5	No offering at this amount.
$20+	Business Plus ($21.60/month): Designed for larger businesses needing more robust capabilities, offering 5 TB of storage per user, advanced security options, and video meetings for up to 500 participants. It allows to manage 1 website and there is no limitation on number of pages. Value for price: 8.5	Plus ($29/month): For businesses looking to drive online growth and streamline operations. Includes all the features of the free plan, plus, free custom domain for a year, professional branding, custom embed code, manage multiple sites, pre-orders, abandoned cart recovery, free shipping and delivery progress bar, product reviews, discounts, website statistics. Value for price: 7.5

In some cases companies have different prices based on various components like a
location. As a result in rare cases the prices displayed here can differ from the ones you see on their
websites.

8.2

7.8

🏆

Winner: Google Sites

Google Sites offers cloud-based managed hosting with a 99.9% uptime guarantee and a vast network of 21 global data centers. Square Online, while offering unlimited bandwidth, does not specify its hosting type or data center locations, and lacks an uptime guarantee despite a slightly higher uptime of 99.96%. Google Sites’ transparency and reliability give it the edge in this category.


Do they offer hosting?	Yes, basic storage with 100MB free per site, can be increased by upgrading to Google Workspace	Yes, with unlimited bandwidth
Data Centers:	21 globally: 2 in Asia, 5 in Europe, 13 in US and 1 in South America	Not disclosed
Type of hosting:	Cloud based managed hosting	Not specified
Uptime:	99.9%	99.96%
Uptime Guarantee:	Yes, 99.9%	No

3.3

6.2

🏆 Winner: Square Online

Both Google Sites and Square Online have strategies in place for website speed optimization, but Square Online has a higher website speed optimization score.


Focus	Automated Optimization, CDN, Mobile Optimization, Browser Caching, Code Minification, Use of AMP	Lazy Loading, Code Minification, Caching, Image optimization
Performance Tools	Google Lighthouse, PageSpeed Insights	Google PageSpeed Insights Integration
Key Strategies	Automated Optimization, CDN, Mobile Optimization, Browser Caching, Code Minification, Use of AMP	Lazy Loading, Code Minification, Caching, Image optimization
Load Times	Google does not disclose statistics about website Page Speed scores, or load times	Load times and PageSpeed scores vary depending on optimization and website complexity
Core Web Vitals Improvement	Emphasis on LCP, FID, CLS improvements	Square Online does not provide any information on their Core Web Vitals improvements

Google Sites uses automated optimization, CDN, mobile optimization, browser caching, code minification, and AMP to optimize website speed. However, Google does not disclose statistics about website Page Speed scores or load times. They do place an emphasis on LCP, FID, and CLS improvements for Core Web Vitals.

On the other hand, Square Online uses lazy loading, code minification, caching, and image optimization for website speed optimization. The load times and PageSpeed scores vary depending on optimization and website complexity. However, Square Online does not provide any information on their Core Web Vitals improvements. Despite this, Square Online has a higher website speed optimization score, making it the winner in this category.

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6.4

7.6

🏆 Winner: Square Online.

With a score of 7.6, Square Online offers a wider array of app integrations that facilitate various aspects of business operations, including eCommerce, accounting, marketing, and employee management. These integrations span from free options to premium services, allowing businesses to tailor their Square setup to their specific needs, enhancing functionality while managing costs according to their budget.

On the other hand, Google Sites, scoring 6.4, offers a wide array of plugins and extensions to enhance website functionality, catering to various needs such as social media integration, e-commerce, chats, forms, video, audio, and more. However, it falls short in comparison to the comprehensive integrations offered by Square Online.

Google Sites Applications

Common Ninja Google Sites plugins

Square Online Applications

Square Online apps marketplace

2.6

7.4

🏆

Overall Winner: Square Online

. Square Online offers a more comprehensive set of marketing features, including email marketing, blogging, and advanced social media integrations. Google Sites, while offering basic SEO and social media integrations, lacks in areas like email marketing and blogging.


SEO Tools	Basic SEO settings	Comprehensive SEO features
Email Marketing	No	Yes
Blogging	No	Yes
Social Media Integration	Basic social media links and widgets	Advanced social media integrations
Analytics and Reporting	Google Analytics integration	Comprehensive analytics and reporting tools
Ads and Promotions	No	Yes

7.2

6.7

🏆 Winner: Google Sites

. In the comparison of Google Sites vs Square Online, Google Sites takes the lead with a customer support score of 7.2. Google Sites offers a robust support system primarily through self-service resources like a Help Center and community forums. For Google Workspace customers, direct support options such as phone, email, and live chat are available, with 24/7 support for critical issues depending on the subscription tier. This comprehensive support structure ensures that users can find the help they need, whether through self-service or direct assistance.

Square Online, with a customer support score of 6.7, provides support through phone, live chat, and email, with general availability from 6 AM to 6 PM Pacific Time on weekdays. Premium plan users benefit from 24/7 phone support in English, along with weekend support hours. While Square Online offers a solid support system, it falls short compared to the more extensive and flexible support options provided by Google Sites.

9.3

8.5

🏆

Winner: Google Sites

. Google Sites, with a security score of 9.3, offers robust security measures including SSL encryption, two-factor authentication, and automatic malware scanning. It also benefits from Google’s regular security updates and compliance with international data protection standards. Google’s infrastructure offers DDoS protection and data redundancy, safeguarding against data loss and maintaining site accessibility under heavy traffic.

Although it may not offer the same level of specialized security features as Google Sites, Square Online, scoring 8.5 in security, also prioritizes user privacy and data security. It provides free SSL security for every site, crucial for encrypting data transferred between web servers and browsers. This ensures that personal and financial information remains confidential and protected, which is essential for building trust with customers and securing online transactions.

7.4


Personalized Design
SEO Optimization
Customer Behavior Analysis		AI algorithms for personalized product recommendations
Sales Predictions
Inventory Management
Content Generation		AI assistance in creating website content and menu generation

🏆 Winner: Square Online

. Square Online, with a score of 7.4, utilizes AI mainly to enhance the ecommerce experience and content generation. Its AI features focus on customer behavior analysis for personalized shopping experiences and AI assistance in creating website content and menu generation.

Google Sites, on the other hand, does not have any AI capabilities.

7.8

5.2

🏆 Winner: Google Sites

. Google Sites and Square Online have different approaches to user management.

Google Sites allows multiple users to collaborate with different roles, including Owners, who have full control, and Editors, who can modify content but not site settings. There’s no strict limit on the number of users who can edit a site, allowing flexibility in management and development. Viewers can only see the site, with no editing permissions. This structure supports collaborative website building with varied levels of access and control for different users.
Square Online allows multiple staff accounts, however the platform does not specify the how many accounts are supported.

Additional Features


SSL Certificate
Custom Domain
Free Custom Domain Included
International Domains
Mobile Responsive
Page Speed
Website Builder Mobile App
Convert a Website To An App
Website Analytics
Multilingual Sites
Multiple Users

User Feedback

Google Sites

42,340 reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars

Square Online

16 reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars

Users consistently praise Google Workspace, particularly Google Sites, for its seamless integration, ease of use, and collaborative features, making it a go-to solution for various professional and educational needs. The platform’s simplicity and user-friendly interface are lauded, enabling effortless website creation and sharing of information within organizations. While some users desire more customization options and additional features, overall, Google Workspace remains highly valued for its versatility and streamlined workflow facilitation.

Users appreciate Square Online Store for its ease of setup, no initial payment requirement for registration, and dependable payment processing. The platform is lauded for its simple user interface, which allows for quick product sales and efficient inventory management. However, some users express dissatisfaction with the limited design customization options and the simplicity of the store layouts, noting that they do not match the design quality of competitors like Wix, Squarespace, or Shopify. Additionally, limitations in scheduled order processing and a desire for more advanced features and better support for custom HTML and SEO were highlighted.

The making of this blog

We followed a clear, step-by-step process to write and research this article.

Our Ranking Criteria

FAQ

Which platform is better for ecommerce, Google Sites or Square Online?

Square Online is the clear winner for ecommerce, offering a comprehensive suite of features tailored for online sales, including product listing, inventory management, payment processing, and POS capabilities. Google Sites, while capable of integrating third-party tools for ecommerce, lacks built-in ecommerce features.

Can I use Google Sites and Square Online for creating informational websites?

Yes, both platforms can be used for creating informational websites. Square Online slightly outperforms Google Sites in this area, offering more robust features tailored to business needs, despite Google Sites being a solid choice for simple, collaborative websites.

How do Google Sites and Square Online compare in terms of design and customization?

Square Online offers more creative control, a wider array of design features, and a focus on ecommerce, making it the preferred choice for users looking for flexibility in design. Google Sites offers a limited selection of templates and design customization options, focusing on simplicity and functionality.

Which platform is easier to use, Google Sites or Square Online?

Square Online edges out Google Sites in ease of use, with both platforms offering user-friendly interfaces and drag-and-drop functionality. However, Square Online’s comprehensive tools for ecommerce and robust customer support give it a slight advantage.

What are the main differences in pricing between Google Sites and Square Online?

Google Sites offers a range of plans suitable for different needs, with discounts for annual billing. Square Online provides a free plan for businesses starting to sell online, with more advanced features available in their Plus and Premium plans, making it a versatile option for businesses at various stages.

Which platform offers better hosting quality, Google Sites or Square Online?

Google Sites offers cloud-based managed hosting with a 99.9% uptime guarantee and a vast network of global data centers, providing transparency and reliability. Square Online, while offering unlimited bandwidth, does not specify its hosting type or data center locations.

How do Google Sites and Square Online perform in website speed optimization?

Square Online has a higher website speed optimization score, utilizing strategies like lazy loading, code minification, and image optimization. Google Sites uses automated optimization and CDN but does not disclose specific statistics about website speed scores or load times.

Which platform has better customer support, Google Sites or Square Online?

Google Sites offers a variety of support channels, including a Help Center, community forums, and direct support options for Google Workspace customers, making it slightly better in customer support compared to Square Online’s range of support options with varying availability.

In terms of security, which platform is more secure, Google Sites or Square Online?

Google Sites offers robust security measures including SSL encryption, two-factor authentication, and automatic malware scanning, benefiting from Google’s regular security updates. Square Online also prioritizes user privacy and data security, providing free SSL security for every site.