Alternatives / Squarespace
Looking for an open source Squarespace alternative? We compared 9 open source website builders and CMS platforms by license, editing model, and maintenance. Ghost and WordPress are complete publishing platforms, while Webstudio, Plasmic, and Ycode are visual builders.
Written by Maxime DERAME
Last updated:
| Alternative | Best for | License |
|---|---|---|
| Ghost | Publishing with newsletters and memberships | MIT |
| WordPress | Largest ecosystem, includes WooCommerce | GPL-2.0-or-later |
| Webstudio | No-code builder with HTML and CSS control | AGPL-3.0-or-later core |
| Builder.io | Visual editing with headless CMS (hosted) | MIT SDKs / proprietary hosted platform |
| Plasmic | Visual editor that generates React | MIT + AGPL-3.0 (platform) |
| Webiny | Serverless CMS with page builder | MIT core / Enterprise components |
| Drupal | Modular CMS for complex sites | GPL-2.0-or-later |
| Frappe Builder | Low-code builder on Frappe | MIT |
| Ycode | Visual builder and CMS (small) | MIT |
We looked for open-source tools that build and host websites like Squarespace. We verified each project's license, recent activity, stars, and self-hosting in its repository. None offers Squarespace's all-in-one hosting and support out of the box. See our methodology for the full criteria.
Ghost is a publishing platform with newsletters and paid memberships, available self-hosted or managed. WordPress has the largest theme and plugin ecosystem, including WooCommerce. Webstudio is a visual builder with HTML and CSS control and real-time collaboration.
Plasmic generates production React code with Figma import. Frappe Builder is a low-code builder on the Frappe Framework, and Ycode is a visual builder with a CMS that is free to self-host, deploying to Vercel with Supabase.
Drupal is a modular CMS for complex multilingual sites, Webiny is a serverless CMS with a page builder, and Builder combines visual editing with a headless CMS, but its hosted platform is proprietary.
Builder's SDKs are MIT while its hosted platform is proprietary. Webiny's core is MIT with enterprise components, and Plasmic's platform is AGPL-3.0 while its libraries are MIT.
Ghost, Frappe Builder, and Ycode are MIT. WordPress and Drupal are GPL-2.0 or later. Webstudio is AGPL-3.0.
All nine had commits within days or weeks of this update.
Squarespace is a proprietary subscription service bundling templates, hosting, and a domain, with your site locked into its platform. Open-source options let you own the code and choose hosting, but you handle updates, backups, and security.
MIT open-source publishing platform with a modern editor, built-in newsletters, memberships, paid subscriptions, Stripe integration, themes, SEO, Content API, self-hosting, and managed Ghost(Pro).
Pricing: Open-source self-hosted edition and managed Ghost(Pro) service.
WordPress is a content management system for everything from simple blogs to complex stores, with an intuitive dashboard, thousands of themes and plugins, SEO tools, multi-language support, and WooCommerce. It is licensed under GPL-2.0-or-later. Newsletters and paid memberships require plugins or external services.
Pricing: Free and open source; hosting, themes, and plugins have separate costs.
Webstudio is an open-source visual website builder that connects to any headless CMS, supports all CSS properties, and can be hosted anywhere, including on Webstudio's cloud. The core is AGPL-3.0-or-later, while an optional animation component package is proprietary and requires accepting an EULA.
Pricing: Free self-hosted; hosted plans are paid.
Visual development and headless content platform for React, Next.js, Vue, Svelte, and other frameworks. The public MIT BuilderIO/builder repository contains SDKs, integrations, examples, and plugins; the complete hosted platform is proprietary and not an entirely open-source CMS.
Pricing: Hosted platform is commercial; public MIT repository covers SDKs and integrations.
MIT-core serverless enterprise CMS designed for AWS infrastructure including Lambda, DynamoDB, S3, and CloudFront, with GraphQL, multi-tenancy, lifecycle hooks, custom code, and infrastructure as code. Enterprise directories use separate licensing.
Pricing: Self-hosted on AWS; Enterprise code and features are separately licensed.
Plasmic is a visual builder for React for building apps, websites, and content, with Figma import, data connectors, and code generation that you can integrate into your own codebase. Everything outside the platform directory is MIT, while the platform directory is AGPL-3.0, and self-hosting is available.
Pricing: Free self-hosted; hosted plans are paid.
GPL-2.0-or-later CMS with structured content, themes, modules, multilingual support, permissions, workflows, APIs, and enterprise extensibility. Can render complete websites or serve headless content. GitHub repository is a mirror; canonical development takes place on Drupal.org.
Pricing: Free and open source; self-hosted or available through third-party services.
MIT visual website builder on the Frappe Framework, with drag-and-drop editing, responsive layouts, reusable components, dynamic backend data, and publishing.
Pricing: Free and open source; self-hosted with the Frappe ecosystem.
Ycode is an MIT-licensed visual website builder and CMS for creating and managing sites without writing code, available as a self-hosted project or as a managed cloud service. Self-hosting needs your own Supabase and Vercel accounts.
Pricing: Free to self-host; the managed cloud is paid.
| Alternative | Type | License | Self-hosted | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ghost | Publishing platform | MIT | Yes | Writers and creators |
| WordPress | CMS | GPL-2.0+ | Yes | General sites |
| Webstudio | Site builder | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | Designers |
| Builder.io | Visual CMS | MIT SDKs / proprietary platform | No (hosted) | Marketing teams |
| Plasmic | Site builder | MIT / AGPL-3.0 platform | Yes | Teams with developers |
| Webiny | Serverless CMS | MIT core + enterprise | Your AWS account | AWS teams |
| Drupal | CMS | GPL-2.0+ | Yes | Large sites |
| Frappe Builder | Site builder | MIT | Yes | Frappe users |
| Ycode | Site builder + CMS | MIT | Yes (Vercel, Supabase) | Agencies |
Want a blog with memberships
Ghost combines publishing, newsletters, and paid memberships with no platform fee.
Want the biggest ecosystem
WordPress has thousands of themes and plugins and WooCommerce for stores.
Want a visual builder with code control
Webstudio mixes visual editing with HTML and CSS access.
Want a free self-hosted visual builder with CMS
Ycode is MIT with unlimited pages and CMS items when self-hosted.