Easy Tech TutsHow to Go Live with Squarespace Website, Can I Publish My Squarespace Website for free in 2026?
By Impran M NLast checked against official docs
Once a Squarespace site is designed and full of content, the only thing standing between it and the public is one settings toggle and a plan selection. That toggle is buried a couple of menus deep, which trips people up more than the design work does.
There's also a common free-publishing question: Squarespace lets you build and preview a site on a free trial, but taking it live to the public needs an active paid plan. This guide shows where that setting lives and walks through picking a plan so the site is visible at your domain within a few minutes.
Before you start
- A Squarespace account, or the willingness to start the 14-day free trial (no credit card required to begin it)
- A site that's finished enough for real visitors — going live is a settings change, not a design step
01Log into your Squarespace account
Go to squarespace.com and click Login in the top right. On the sign-in screen, enter your account email and password, or use one of the faster options: Continue with Google, Apple, or Facebook, if your account is linked to one of those. A Can't log in? link is there if you've forgotten your credentials, and the reCAPTCHA-backed secure login notice is normal, just Squarespace's standard account protection.
02Open your site from the Dashboard
After logging in, you land on the Dashboard, which lists every site tied to your account as a card with its name, current domain (often a placeholder squarespace.com address before launch), and trial status, including the exact date the trial expires if you haven't upgraded. Click into the site you're ready to publish; each card has Website and Selling buttons, and a Domains button too if you already own one. If you manage more than one project, confirm you've opened the right card first, since the settings you change next apply only to that site.
03Open Settings and find Site Availability
Inside your site's editor, open Settings, then Website. This landing view lists a column of options: Site Availability, Site Languages, Regional Settings, Cookies and Data Privacy, Favicon, Social Links, and more below.
Site Availability controls whether the site is public, private, or password-protected; it may currently show a Password tag, meaning it's restricted to visitors who know the password until that's changed. Click into Site Availability.
If you're still on the free trial, you'll see a button labeled something like Upgrade to Publish instead of a plain toggle. That's Squarespace confirming the site is otherwise ready and a paid plan is the only thing missing before it can go public.
04Pick a plan and complete checkout
Squarespace's current lineup is Basic, Core, Plus, and Advanced, each with a monthly price and a lower rate for annual billing. Older screenshots and guides, including the recording behind this one, may show Personal, Business, Commerce, and Commerce Advanced instead; those were retired for new signups in February 2026, and Basic/Core/Plus/Advanced map to them in that order.
Pick based on what the site needs: the entry plan covers a standard content site, while the Commerce-tier equivalents (Plus and Advanced) add store and selling features. After selecting a plan, checkout moves through Billing, Address, Payment, and Review; complete each with accurate details, since this activates the subscription the site needs to go public.
05Check the site, then confirm it's live
Before finalizing payment, scroll through the site once more for leftover placeholder text, broken links, or images that never got swapped out, and click through the navigation, footer links, and any contact forms, since a live site gets real visitors immediately. Once payment completes, the site publishes right away and Site Availability updates to show it's public.
A free squarespace.com subdomain works until you're ready to connect a custom domain, which can be added later from the same Settings area without taking the site offline. Load the site's URL in a private browser window to see it the way a first-time visitor would, not the way it looks while you're logged in as the owner.
| Current name (Feb 2026 onward) | Legacy name it replaced |
|---|---|
| Basic | Personal |
| Core | Business |
| Plus | Commerce Basic |
| Advanced | Commerce Advanced |
Accounts opened before February 2026 keep the legacy name and its pricing unless they switch billing cycles or the site lapses; new signups only see the current names.
When it doesn't work
The plan names on screen don't match Personal, Business, or Commerce
Why: Squarespace retired those names for new signups in February 2026 in favor of Basic, Core, Plus, and Advanced.
Fix: Match by tier position rather than name: Basic is the old Personal, Core is Business, Plus is Commerce Basic, and Advanced is Commerce Advanced.
Site Availability only offers Private or Password, no Public option
Why: The site is still on the free trial with no paid plan attached.
Fix: Upgrade first. Public only becomes selectable once an active paid subscription is on the account.
A newly connected custom domain doesn't load the site yet
Why: DNS changes for a new domain need time to propagate across the internet after connecting.
Fix: Wait and recheck; this is separate from the publish step itself, which completes immediately.
Frequently asked questions
Can I publish a Squarespace website for free?
You can build and preview a site for free during the trial, but making it visible to the public needs an active paid plan. Squarespace shows an Upgrade to Publish prompt in Site Availability until you subscribe.
Do I need a credit card to start the trial?
No. Squarespace's help documentation states a credit card isn't required to sign up for the 14-day trial.
Where do I find the setting to make my site public?
Go to Settings, then Website, then Site Availability. This controls whether the site is public, private, or password-protected, and shows the upgrade prompt if you're still on a trial.
Why don't the plan names on my screen match this guide's screenshots?
Squarespace renamed its plans in February 2026: Personal became Basic, Business became Core, Commerce Basic became Plus, and Commerce Advanced became Advanced. Accounts from before that date can still show the older names.
Which plan do I need just to publish a basic content site?
The entry-level plan (Basic, formerly Personal) covers a standard content site with no selling features. If the site sells products, pick one of the higher tiers instead.
How long does it take for a Squarespace site to go live after upgrading?
Publishing itself is immediate once payment completes. Connecting a new custom domain instead of the default squarespace.com address can take longer while DNS changes propagate.
Can I switch plans after the site is already live?
Yes. Squarespace lets you upgrade or downgrade the plan at any time from Billing in Settings without taking the site offline.
Sources and last check
Click path and screens come from a recorded walkthrough that predates Squarespace's plan rename. Re-checked against Squarespace's official Help Center in September 2026, which surfaced that Personal, Business, Commerce, and Commerce Advanced were retired for new signups in February 2026 and replaced by Basic, Core, Plus, and Advanced; this guide's plan-selection step and its table were rewritten to reflect that. The 14-day, no-card trial and the Site Availability > Public mechanic were confirmed against the same Help Center.
About the author
Impran M N
I've been hooked on technology for as long as I can remember — especially the new tools and AI apps that seem to land every other week. Easy Tech Tuts is where I write up whatever I've just worked out: I do the task in the real product, record the screen, and turn it into the guide I wish I'd found first.
