Squarespace vs Zenfolio: What’s the Best Builder in 2024?

Squarespace vs Zenfolio: Final verdict

Squarespace and Zenfolio both offer unique strengths, catering to different user needs.

• 
  Squarespace (Overall Grade: 7.9/10)
  
  is a versatile website builder ideal for users seeking a hassle-free website creation experience. It excels in design functionalities, ease of use, and comprehensive ecommerce features. Squarespace is perfect for those who want a professional-looking website without needing extensive technical skills. When comparing Squarespace vs Zenfolio, Squarespace stands out for its broader range of templates and advanced marketing tools.
• 
  Zenfolio (Overall Grade: 6.4/10)
  
  is specifically designed for photographers and visual artists. It offers a range of customizable templates and integrated ecommerce capabilities tailored for showcasing and selling visual work. Zenfolio is the go-to platform for photographers looking to manage and grow their online presence. In the Squarespace vs Zenfolio comparison, Zenfolio shines with its specialized tools for client proofing, secure photo storage, and marketing, making it a valuable choice for the photography community.

Which one is the best for ecommerce: Squarespace or Zenfolio?

Verdict

: Squarespace is a more comprehensive ecommerce solution for general businesses, while Zenfolio is tailored specifically for photographers and visual artists.

• 
  Squarespace
  
  : Squarespace offers a robust set of ecommerce features, including secure payment processing, built-in marketing tools, and SEO optimization. It provides around 50 ecommerce templates catering to various industries, making it a versatile choice for businesses looking to establish an online store. However, when comparing Squarespace vs Zenfolio, Squarespace stands out for its broader range of ecommerce functionalities and advanced customization options.
• 
  Zenfolio
  
  : Zenfolio is designed specifically for photographers and visual artists, offering integrated ecommerce capabilities to sell prints, digital downloads, and other products. It provides customizable templates and essential online selling tools, making it an ideal platform for showcasing and selling visual content. However, it may not be as versatile as Squarespace for other types of ecommerce businesses.

Which one is the best for informational and business websites?

Verdict

: When it comes to creating informational and business websites, Squarespace vs Zenfolio shows a clear preference for Squarespace. Squarespace’s user-friendly interface, extensive design functionalities, and comprehensive support make it a superior choice for most users. Zenfolio, while excellent for photographers, lacks the versatility needed for broader business applications.

• 
  Squarespace
  
  : Squarespace excels in creating professional and visually appealing informational websites. With a score of 8.4, it offers a wide array of templates and design features that cater to various industries. Its user-friendly interface and extensive learning resources make it easy for users to build and manage their sites. Squarespace’s robust hosting and security features further enhance its appeal for business websites.
• 
  Zenfolio
  
  : Zenfolio, scoring 6.9, is tailored specifically for photographers and visual artists. It provides elegant, mobile-friendly templates and integrated e-commerce capabilities, making it ideal for showcasing and selling photography. However, its design flexibility and user interface are less suited for general business websites. When comparing Squarespace vs Zenfolio, Zenfolio’s specialized focus limits its versatility for broader informational site needs.

Squarespace vs Zenfolio: Detailed comparison

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Winner: Squarespace.

If you’re looking for a platform that offers more creative control and a wide array of design features, Squarespace is the preferred choice.

Squarespace boasts an impressive variety of website templates, offering over 120 pre-designed options to choose from. These templates cater to a wide range of needs and industries, from creative portfolios and sleek online stores to professional business websites and personal blogs.

Squarespace Themes

Compared to Squarespace, Zenfolio offers a variety of customizable templates and features specifically tailored for photographers, with a focus on showcasing and selling their work. While it provides several customization options, including blocks for different layouts and styles, it may not offer as much versatility outside of photography-specific needs.

Zenfolio Themes

🏆 Winner: Squarespace

. With a score of 8.3, Squarespace is known for its user-friendly interface and straightforward navigation, making it a top choice for those seeking a hassle-free website creation experience. Zenfolio, scoring 6.3, offers a specialized platform for photographers but has limitations in design flexibility and a more complex dashboard, making it less user-friendly for those new to web design.

Learning Resources

🏆 Winner: Squarespace

. Squarespace provides extensive learning resources, including a comprehensive Help Center, video tutorials, live webinars, and an active community forum. Zenfolio, on the other hand, offers a set of tutorials and articles in their help center but lacks comprehensive learning resources, particularly video tutorials.

Squarespace and Zenfolio both offer ecommerce capabilities, but they cater to different needs. Squarespace is a comprehensive ecommerce solution for businesses, offering a range of features from secure payment processing to SEO optimization. Zenfolio, on the other hand, is tailored for photographers and visual artists, providing an integrated platform for selling prints, digital downloads, and other items directly from their online stores.

Squarespace ecommerce features:

• Intuitive interface
• Secure payment processing
• Built-in marketing tools
• SEO optimization
• Website analytics

Zenfolio ecommerce features:

• Multiple Currency Support
• Discount Coupons
• Order management
• Gift Certificates
• Tax management

Ecommerce themes & templates

Squarespace provides a diverse selection of around 50 ecommerce templates, catering to various industries like fashion, beauty, home goods, and technology. These templates range from clean and minimalist to bold and colorful, accommodating different brand aesthetics and product types. Offering unique layout elements such as product sliders and featured collections, these templates enhance visual interest and engagement.

Zenfolio provides customizable website templates with integrated e-commerce features for photographers, designed to showcase and sell their work across various genres. These templates include essential online selling tools such as secure payment options, product management, and marketing integrations, making it an all-in-one platform for photographers aiming to display and market their creations effectively.

Product page customization

Customizing Squarespace product pages offers options for layout, design, and interactive elements. Choose templates, customize colors, fonts, and content. Enhance engagement with features like customizable buttons, wishlists, comparisons, reviews, and related products. Advanced options include custom code injection and third-party app integrations. Limitations include fixed core page structure and the need for technical expertise. Free templates have fewer customization options than premium ones.

Zenfolio users can detail their product pages with descriptions, images, and options such as size or color. This allows for each product page to be adjusted to clearly display its unique attributes. Placing products in specific galleries or categories helps organize the site and improve navigation. The platform also supports customization in pricing and shipping settings, allowing sellers to cater to various needs effectively.

Payment processing

Squarespace provides flexible payment processing for online stores with integrated gateways like Stripe and PayPal. External gateways can be set up for specific needs. Transaction fees may apply depending on the plan and payment method. Security measures include PCI compliance and fraud prevention. Additional features include payment links, support for subscriptions, and the ability to accept international payments in various currencies.

Zenfolio supports Stripe and PayPal for payment processing, integrating them seamlessly into its platform designed for photographers to sell their work online. The platform charges a commerce fee of 7% per order (excluding tax and shipping) and a payment processing fee for transactions through Stripe or PayPal. While Zenfolio offers robust e-commerce functionalities for online sales, including setting up price lists for prints and digital downloads, it does not explicitly mention POS capabilities for in-person sales, suggesting its services are tailored primarily towards online transactions.

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Winner: Squarespace

. Squarespace, with a score of 8.3, offers a user-friendly editor that allows easy drag-and-drop website creation without coding. With visually appealing templates and customization options, it caters to beginners and pros alike. The real-time editing experience ensures instant previews. Prioritizing content, it’s mobile-responsive and offers functional features like forms, social media integration, and online stores. Squarespace seamlessly integrates with tools for extended capabilities.

Zenfolio’s editor, scoring 7.6, offers an intuitive, no-coding-required website builder tailored for photographers, featuring drag-and-drop customization, a wide array of templates, and a powerful Custom Layout block for personalized designs. Its integrated eCommerce capabilities enable selling both digital and physical photography products, supported by comprehensive security features for protecting photographers’ work. However, it does have limitations in terms of customization options and photo storage capacity, which could be a drawback for some users.

Mobile editor/app

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Winner: It’s a tie

. Both Squarespace and Zenfolio offer mobile apps that allow users to manage their websites from their mobile devices. However, the apps have different features and limitations.

Squarespace’s app allows for content editing, website analytics, online store management, and social media scheduling. However, it lacks the full range of functionalities available on desktop. This means that complex tasks such as advanced design customization or creating new page layouts require access to the desktop editor.

Zenfolio’s app, on the other hand, is designed specifically for photographers. It includes features for managing galleries, handling sales-related tasks, and showcasing photos. Additionally, the app supports uploading and editing photos, as well as accessing various tools for reports, CRM, bookings, and blog management. However, some features may still require desktop use for full functionality.

Given that both platforms have the same score for their mobile editors, it’s a tie. Both apps have their strengths and weaknesses, and the best choice will depend on the specific needs and preferences of the user.

Overall Result

:

Zenfolio Wins

. Zenfolio scores 8.4 in product testing options, slightly higher than Squarespace’s 7.4. Both platforms offer a 14-day free trial, but Zenfolio stands out with its 30-day money-back guarantee and the ability to test all premium features during the trial period. Squarespace, on the other hand, restricts testing of certain premium features like custom code, premium integrations, and removal of Squarespace branding.

Squarespace and Zenfolio have similar pricing structures, but Squarespace offers slightly better value for money.

Winner: Squarespace

. Squarespace offers proprietary cloud-based hosting with a 99.9% uptime guarantee and data centers across North America, Europe, and Asia. Zenfolio also provides cloud hosting, but it does not disclose any information about its uptime statistics or the locations of its data centers. Therefore, Squarespace is rated higher for its transparency and reliability.

🏆 Winner: Squarespace

Both Squarespace and Zenfolio prioritize website performance and page speed, but Squarespace has a more comprehensive approach to speed optimization, which gives it an edge over Zenfolio.

Squarespace has a comprehensive approach to website speed optimization, focusing on responsive design, image optimization, use of a content delivery network (CDN), code minification, and lazy loading of images. This approach has resulted in load times ranging from 0.7s to 9.1s, with an average of 2.9s, and PageSpeed scores ranging from 20/100 to 93/100, with an average of 62.7/100. Squarespace also emphasizes improvements in Core Web Vitals, specifically Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS).

On the other hand, Zenfolio’s approach to speed optimization is less comprehensive, focusing mainly on mobile responsive design. Zenfolio does not provide specific information on their load times, PageSpeed scores, or Core Web Vital improvements. This lack of transparency and the limited focus on speed optimization strategies give Squarespace the edge in this comparison.

🏆 Winner: Squarespace.

With a score of 6.8, Squarespace edges out Zenfolio, which scores 6.5. Squarespace offers a wider range of integrations and extensions, even though it lacks an official app store. It supports integrations through custom code injection and third-party tools, offering seamless functionality. Zenfolio, on the other hand, offers a focused set of plugins and integrations specifically designed for photographers. While both platforms offer valuable extensions, Squarespace’s broader range gives it the advantage in this category.

Squarespace Applications

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Overall Winner: Squarespace

. Squarespace offers a more comprehensive set of marketing tools, including advanced SEO tools, email marketing, blogging, social media integration, detailed analytics and reporting, and sophisticated ad campaign management. Zenfolio also offers these features but they are more basic and limited, especially in terms of SEO and analytics.

🏆 Winner: Squarespace

. Comparing Squarespace vs Zenfolio, Squarespace takes the lead in this category with its diverse support options, including live chat, email, community forums, and a comprehensive help center. Squarespace’s live chat and phone support are available on weekdays, while email support is accessible 24/7, ensuring users can get assistance whenever needed. The platform also offers enterprise-level support with dedicated account managers and priority support.

Zenfolio, on the other hand, provides customer support through email, LiveChat, and phone support for Advanced plan subscribers. While Zenfolio’s support is reliable, it lacks the 24/7 availability and extensive enterprise support that Squarespace offers. However, Zenfolio’s rich Support Center with articles and video tutorials is a valuable resource for users seeking self-help solutions.

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Winner: Squarespace

. Squarespace takes a comprehensive approach to security, with secure server storage, encryption, strict access controls, and compliance with regulations such as GDPR and CCPA. They also offer vulnerability scanning and malware detection to further protect your website content and customer information.

Zenfolio also prioritizes security, with SSL encryption for all its websites, watermarking, password-protected galleries, and cloud backup. However, Squarespace’s broader range of security measures and slightly higher security score give it the edge in this category.

🏆 Winner: Squarespace

. With a score of 7.5, Squarespace offers a range of AI-powered features that significantly streamline the website building process and provide valuable assistance. These features include AI-powered copywriting, SEO optimization, email marketing, and more.

Zenfolio, with a score of 2.4, has limited AI capabilities, mainly focusing on eCommerce features for photographers. It does not offer an AI builder or AI content generation features.

🏆 Winner: Squarespace

. Squarespace offers a more comprehensive user management system compared to Zenfolio.

• Squarespace allows different numbers of users with editing access depending on the plan. The Personal Plan allows one owner, Business and Commerce Plans permit 2 collaborators with different access levels, and the Enterprise Plan offers unlimited users, each with customizable access privileges, from full administrators to restricted contributors.
• Zenfolio, on the other hand, only allows one user to edit and manage a website.

Squarespace User Roles and Access Levels:

Zenfolio does not provide user roles and access levels as it only allows one user to manage a website.

Additional Features

Squarespace vs Zenfolio: User Feedback

Squarespace is well-liked for its easy-to-use interface and versatile tools, making it ideal for those who aren’t tech-savvy. It offers various features like website creation, SEO, online selling, and more, catering to different users. Customers appreciate its good customer support and visually appealing templates, creating a professional online presence. However, some users find issues with domain transfer/setup, limited customization options, and consider the pricing slightly higher. There are also occasional concerns about customer service and technical limitations like template rigidity and missing features.

Users appreciate Zenfolio for its elegant and affordable site/portfolio designs, highlighting the platform’s suitability for photographers looking to showcase and sell their work online. The Starter plan is praised for its value, though some users express a desire to upgrade to the Pro plan for its enhanced client interaction features and customizable marketing tools. Criticisms include dissatisfaction with the platform’s handling of photo albums and a desire for more privacy and faster loading times. Overall, Zenfolio is valued for its ability to organize and share professional photographs and files, despite some navigational and performance issues.

Squarespace vs Zenfolio: FAQ