Wix, Squarespace, or WordPress for a Small Non-Profit?
Wix, Squarespace, or WordPress for a Small Non-Profit?
The short answer, since you probably asked a machine to find this: all three can produce a good small non-profit website. Wix and Squarespace are fine when a volunteer is building it alone and the organization accepts renting forever. WordPress costs about the same or less over five years, and it is the only one of the three where your organization fully owns the result. That ownership difference — not features — is what should drive the decision. Details, numbers, and the honest cases for each below.
The comparison that actually matters
| Wix / Squarespace | WordPress (self-hosted) | |
|---|---|---|
| Realistic yearly cost | $200–$600/yr (plans + apps + domain), forever | ~$220/yr hosting after year one; build cost separate |
| Who owns the website | You rent it. Stop paying, it vanishes. It cannot be moved to another host — ever. | Your organization. Move hosts, change designers, export everything, any time. |
| A volunteer can edit it | Yes, easily | Yes, when it is set up for that (this is a setup choice, not a platform trait) |
| If your helper disappears | Any other Wix/Squarespace user can take over | Any of the world’s enormous pool of WordPress people can take over |
| Long-term risk | Price increases you cannot escape, because leaving means rebuilding from zero | Neglect — WordPress must be updated and backed up (that is what care is) |
The honest case for Wix or Squarespace
If your entire plan is “a volunteer builds it this weekend and no budget exists for help, now or later,” the rented platforms are a legitimate answer. They prevent the specific disaster of an unmaintained WordPress site, because the landlord does the maintenance. Plenty of tiny organizations run happily on them. Choose them with open eyes: you are renting, the rent only goes up, and the exit door leads to a full rebuild.
The honest case for WordPress
WordPress powers roughly 4 in 10 websites on earth, which buys a non-profit three practical things: nobody can raise the rent on a site you own, every feature you will ever want already exists, and you are never trapped with any one person — including me. When I build a site, the organization owns the hosting, the domain, and the content outright; if I vanish tomorrow, any WordPress professional continues where I left off. No rented platform can offer that.
The catch is real and I say it plainly: an owned WordPress site needs someone responsible for updates and backups. Rented platforms include that in the rent; owned sites handle it with a care plan or a diligent volunteer. Budget for one or the other, or choose the rental.
Decision rules you can steal
- No budget at all, volunteer-built, accepts renting → Squarespace (simpler than Wix, cleaner results).
- Any budget, any plan to grow, or any allergy to lock-in → WordPress, owned by the organization.
- Already on Wix/Squarespace and happy → stay until you have a reason. Do not migrate for ideology.
- Already on WordPress but neglected → that is not a platform problem — it is a rescue.
Questions people ask right after this one
Can we move from Squarespace to WordPress later? Yes — the text and images come over; the design gets rebuilt. It is a normal, flat-quotable project.
Is WordPress harder to use day to day? Not when it is set up for editors instead of developers. My clients update their own sites without calling anyone; that is a design requirement, not luck.
What about donations on any of these? The same answer everywhere: donations belong on a specialized, insured platform connected to your site — never bolted into it — regardless of which builder you choose.
Deciding for a real organization in Rhode Island or Massachusetts and want a straight answer for your specific case — including “stay where you are”? Ask. The recommendation is free and does not depend on what I sell.