Squarespace Courses: A Complete Guide (2025 Review)
Is Squarespace good for online courses? A Squarespace course platform review for 2025
Thinking about hosting your online course on Squarespace? Before you decide, let's talk numbers. While Squarespace's course platform offers an attractive entry point for new coaches, those transaction fees can sneak up on you! I'm breaking down the real costs, features, and limitations to help you make the smart choice for your business stage.
In this complete guide, you'll discover whether Squarespace is the right platform for your online course, how to calculate when it's time to upgrade your plan, and the key features you need to know about. Plus, I'll share real pricing scenarios to help you understand exactly what you'll pay (and save!) at different price points and sales volumes.
Plus.. if you need extra help, check out my self-paced course or work 1:1 with me to get your course launched.
Key Features of Squarespace Courses
Course Structure and Content
Built for Squarespace 7.1 websites only
Can be organized with Chapters (modules) and Lessons (sub-modules)
Allows you to offer both free and paid courses
You can offer multiple content options: uploaded videos, YouTube/Vimeo link integration, text, buttons, and downloadable resources (whatever Squarespace pages can do, your course can do!)
Progress tracking bar for students to see how far they’ve progressed in the course
A course overview page showing full curriculum with time stamps for how long the module is
Squarespace offers flexible page layouts for customizing lesson presentation. Because you’re getting the design functionality of Squarespace, you can build a beautiful “course page” using the design features in Squarespace. However, it’s not really a separate native course platform (if that’s what you’re looking for).
It has a 250-lesson limit per course
Automatic login details sent to students after enrollement
Ability to host your sales page & website & course in one-platform, Squarespace.
Drip-Fed Content
Unlike some dedicated online course platforms, Squarespace does not automatically release content based on when a student enrolls.
It does allow content to be drip-fed based on calendar date (let’s say if your students are all going through a cohort at the same time or you’re doing live launching). The drip-feed schedule applies to all students at the same time.
To achieve drip-feeding, you need to manually set up the release schedule for each course section within your Squarespace course.
Video Hosting Options
You can upload directly to Squarespace (for the most professional look but it does eat up your hosting limits if you aren’t on the highest tiered plan)
You can embed YouTube or Vimeo videos via a link (I’d recommend making these videos unlisted so no one can find your course content on YouTube)
Pricing and Payment Features
Multiple pricing options: free, one-time payment, installment plans, and subscriptions
Squarepace offers bundle creation capabilities (adding extra digital products, special promo content, and bonus options) to create special pricing plans
You can set set enrollment periods for launch windows (if you’re live launching for example and want to set a start and end date for enrollment).
Squarespace integrates with Stripe, PayPal, and Square for payment processors. Customers can only use PayPal for fixed amount one-time payments. If your pricing plan uses fixed amount installments or subscriptions, ensure you connect Squarespace Payments or Stripe so customers can use credit and debit cards.
You can offer discount codes for special promos
Squarespace digital products pricing breakdown: Is it worth it?
Three Pricing Tiers available (with the Digital Products Add-on feature):
Starter Plan: $12/month with 7% transaction fee
Core Plan: $34/Month with 3% transaction fee
Advanced Plan: $111/month with 0% transaction fee
Money-Saving Tip: Annual payment for the Advanced plan costs $1,068 ($89/month) versus $1,332 paying monthly ($111/month) so look into paying upfront for the year if you can afford it.
Squarespace transaction fees calculations
Let's Talk Transaction Fees & when you’d need to upgrade to the top tier (this is always good to note before signing up for any software plan!)
To help you decide which plan makes sense, here's some real math:
Scenario 1: You are on the Core Plan & have a $250 Course & pay $37 / month
Let’s say you’re on the Core plan (3% transaction fees) and make 10 sales per month of your $250 course. This equals $2500 revenue / month. That comes out to be $75 in transaction fees lost per month + $37 monthly fee paid for the Core Plan = $112 total monthly cost to you.
So at that point, you’d want to upgrade to the $111 / month plan with 0% transaction fees to save money.
Scenario 2: You are on the Core Plan & have a $650 Course & pay $37 / month
Let’s say you’re on the Core plan (3% transaction fees) and make 4 sales per month of your $650 course. This equals $2600 revenue / month. That comes out to be $78 in transaction fees lost per month + $37 monthly fee paid for the Core Plan = $115 total monthly cost to you.
So at that point, you’d want to upgrade to the $111 / month plan with 0% transaction fees to save money.
Another way to put it is that you’d need to make ~$2,500 in sales per month on the Core plan until it makes sense to upgrade to the top pricing tier at $111/month.
So try and guestimate how many course sales you probably will make & your course price to figure out how close this is for you.
But what if you can afford the yearly plan?
Let’s say you had the budget to pay upfront for the year for Squarespace (awesome!)
If you do this, you’d need to make about $2,000 in sales per month on the Core Plan (3% transaction fee) until it makes sense to upgrade to the top pricing tier at $89/month annually (0% transaction fees).
[THE MATH: $2000 x 3% transaction fees = $57 in transaction fees + $29 / month in Core Plan = $89 / month].
So then you need to decide… if you were to upgrade to the top tier ($111 or $89 / month), do you get the features you want in a course provider for that price. Only you can answer that! With Squarespace you also have to look at that many people also do pay for separate email provider.
Pros of Squarespace Courses
✅ Relatively easy initial setup
✅ Integrates seamlessly with existing Squarespace websites if you’re already using Squarespace
✅ A clean, professional course area with lots of room for design (which can mimic your website’s branding). Design capabilities are top notch compared to some course platforms if design is important to you.
✅ Intuitive student experience
✅ Affordable entry point for beginners, new coaches, and new businesses (if you’re not making many sales to start)
✅ Flexible content options (audio, video, downloads)
✅ Unlimited Members
✅ Free & Paid Courses
Squarespace Courses: Cons and Limitations
❌ No drip-content functionality (You can’t drip content based on student action (only on specific date).
❌ Basic email marketing capabilities (many small businesses often pay extra monthly fees to use a separate email provider which requires external service)
❌ No built-in community features
❌ No affiliate program functionality
❌ Limited advanced automation options
❌ Transaction fees can add up quickly if you’re making lots of course sales and then if you upgrade, you’re paying $89/month - $111/month for course platform
❌ 250-lesson course limit
❌ No native course player
❌ Must use third-party tools for quizzes
❌ Video storage limitations (except for the top pricing tier with unlimited storage)
Who Should Use Squarespace Courses?
Perfect for:
Coaches just starting out who want a simple solution to get digital products sold quickly
Those already using Squarespace for their website
Those who value design over features
Creating mini-courses or beta courses or free courses
Testing course ideas before investing in bigger platforms
Those who don’t need a lot of automation
May not be ideal for:
Established course creators needing advanced features
Those who want an all-in-one solution (with advanced email integrations, tagging capabilities, surveys, etc)
Those planning complex course structures
Those who want a course community inside their platform
Businesses requiring robust automation
High-volume sales where transaction fees become significant
Those who want drip-fed content, based on student enrollment date, not calendar date.
Making the Decision
The choice ultimately depends on your specific needs and business stage. If you're just starting out and already use Squarespace, their course platform can be an excellent way to test the waters and get your course launched quickly. However, if you're planning to become a serious course creator or need advanced features, you might want to consider platforms specifically designed for online education.
Pro Tip: Consider starting with Squarespace if you're new to course creation, then migrate to a more robust platform as your course business grows and you need more advanced features.
Pro Tip: Decide what you value & how much in revenue you think you can bring in each month. Decide what pricing tier you’d need to be on and when you’d need to upgrade. Do you want an all-in-one platform like Kartra or Kajabi? Do you value design over everything? Do you value an affiliate program or need a community inside your course? Do you mind piecing together platforms and email lists or do you want it all-in-one?
Make a list of MUST HAVES and what you can live without and pick your course software.
Next Steps & Summary
Before making your decision, calculate your projected course sales and compare the total costs (including transaction fees) across different platforms. Remember, the cheapest option isn't always the best - consider the value of your time and the student experience as well. Consider design aspects. Consider where you want your business to go.
Kartra may be better suited for serious course creators who need comprehensive course delivery features and marketing tools all in one platform. Squarespace may be better for simple courses where you prioritize website design and are willing to use third-party integrations for course functionality.
Need my help??
Check out my course The Passive Creator Method (where I break down even more tools and software programs).
Want me to build your course for you while you record the content? I work 1:1 with businesses in Kartra and Squarespace. Check out my services here or email emily@tohealthwithit.com