Wix, Squarespace, or WordPress for a Small Non-Profit?
The short answer: 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’s the only one of the three where your organization owns the result. That ownership difference, more than any feature, is what should drive the decision. Details and numbers below.
The comparison that matters
| Wix / Squarespace | WordPress (self-hosted) | |
|---|---|---|
| Realistic yearly cost | $200–$600 a year (plans, apps, domain), forever | About $220 a year for hosting after year one; build cost separate |
| Who owns the website | You rent it. Stop paying and it vanishes. It can’t be moved to another host. | Your organization. Move hosts, change designers, export everything, any time. |
| A volunteer can edit it | Yes, easily | Yes, when it’s set up for that. It depends on the setup. |
| If your helper disappears | Any other Wix or Squarespace user can take over | Any of the world’s many WordPress people can take over |
| Long-term risk | Price increases you can’t escape, because leaving means rebuilding from zero | Neglect. WordPress must be updated and backed up, which is what care is for. |
The case for Wix or Squarespace
If the entire plan is that 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 small organizations run happily on them. Choose them knowing that you’re renting, the rent only goes up, and the exit leads to a full rebuild.
The case for WordPress
WordPress runs roughly four in ten websites, which buys a non-profit three practical things: nobody can raise the rent on a site you own, every feature you’ll want already exists, and you’re never dependent on any one person, including me. When I build a site, the organization owns the hosting, the domain, and the content. If I disappear tomorrow, any WordPress professional continues where I left off.
The catch: 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
- No budget, volunteer-built, renting is acceptable: Squarespace. It’s simpler than Wix and the results are cleaner.
- Any budget, any plan to grow, or any dislike of lock-in: WordPress, owned by the organization.
- Already on Wix or Squarespace and happy: stay until you have a reason to move.
- Already on WordPress but neglected: that calls for repairs rather than a new platform.
Questions people ask right after this one
Can we move from Squarespace to WordPress later? Yes. The text and images come over and the design gets rebuilt. It’s a normal, flat-quoted project.
Is WordPress harder to use day to day? Not when it’s set up for editors instead of developers. My clients update their own sites without calling anyone, and I build for that.
What about donations on any of these? The same answer everywhere: donations belong on a specialized, insured platform connected to your site, never built into it, whichever builder you choose.
Deciding for an organization in Rhode Island or Massachusetts and want an answer for your case, including “stay where you are”? Ask. The recommendation is free and doesn’t depend on what I sell.
Michel Muller
I build and look after websites for non-profits in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, with flat published prices and one person to call. More about me · My music site · Ask me something
