Kartra vs Squarespace: What’s Best Website Builder?

When evaluating digital marketing tools, you’ll likely encounter two names: Kartra and Squarespace.

Each platform serves a distinct purpose, with its strengths that cater to different business needs. Your choice between Kartra and Squarespace could significantly impact how you create, market, and sell online.

In this Kartra vs. Squarespace article, I compare both platforms to help you choose the one that aligns with your business’s specific needs, whether intricate marketing funnels or a focus on crafting a beautiful, responsive website.

Kartra is an all-in-one marketing platform that handles various aspects of online business. With Kartra, you get access to robust features for email marketing, building sales funnels, hosting membership sites, and automating your marketing campaigns.

It’s a comprehensive solution if your goal is to establish an online presence and actively drive and manage marketing strategies.

On the other hand, Squarespace shines as a website builder, prioritizing design and ease of use. It’s a go-to option if you’re focused on crafting a visually appealing website or an e-commerce store without the need for code.

Squarespace’s templates and intuitive interface allow for a straightforward building process, making it a favorite among creatives, small retailers, and those looking to quickly establish a professional online storefront.

Both platforms are foundational software for businesses looking to strengthen their online presence, offering unique benefits.

Continue reading to learn more.

Overview of Kartra and Squarespace

Feature	Kartra	Squarespace
Primary Function	All-in-one marketing software	Website builder and hosting platform
Free Trial	30-day free (here)	14-day free (here)
Pricing	Starts at $119 monthly	Starts at $16 monthly
Functionality	Sophisticated & Comprehensive	Sophisticated
White Label	No	Yes
Target Audience	Small to large businesses	Individuals and small businesses
Website and Page Builder	Advanced	Highly Advanced
CRM	In-built CRM	None
User Friendliness	Offers a range of tools that require a learning curve	Extremely user-friendly with an intuitive interface
Design Flexibility	Functional designs aimed at conversions	Highly customizable templates focused on aesthetics
Form Builder	Yes	Yes
Calendar	Yes	The comprehensive set includes email marketing and funnels
Email Marketing	Advanced	Basic
Membership Site Management	Advanced	No
Marketing and Sales Tools	Comprehensive set includes email marketing and funnels	Basic marketing tools with a focus on design and commerce
Third-party Integrations and APIs	Very extensive	Less extensive
E-Commerce	Yes	Yes

What is Kartra?

Kartra is a comprehensive all-in-one marketing platform that offers a suite of tools for building and managing online businesses. It is specifically designed for companies looking to manage and optimize their online marketing efforts.

It includes features for creating landing pages, sales funnels, email marketing campaigns, membership sites, and more.

Kartra aims to streamline running an online business by providing a comprehensive set of tools in one platform, eliminating the need for multiple separate services.

Who Should Use Kartra?

Kartra is best suited for businesses and individuals looking for an all-in-one platform to manage their online presence, marketing, and sales efforts.

Kartra is well-suited for a variety of users, including:

• Online Entrepreneurs: Kartra offers a comprehensive suite of tools for building and managing online businesses, making it ideal for entrepreneurs looking for an all-in-one solution.
• Digital Marketers: Kartra’s marketing automation features, such as email campaigns, sales funnels, and lead management, make it a valuable tool for streamlining digital marketing campaigns.
• E-commerce Businesses: Kartra’s e-commerce capabilities, including product pages, checkout forms, and payment processing, make it an excellent choice for businesses selling products online.
• Membership Site Owners: Kartra’s membership site features, such as content drip-feeding, member management, and subscription billing, make it a powerful platform for managing online memberships.
• Coaches and Consultants: Kartra’s appointment scheduling, client management, and lead generation tools are valuable for coaches and consultants who manage their clients and grow their businesses.

What is Squarespace?

Squarespace is a website builder platform that allows users to create professional-looking websites without knowing how to code. Its e-commerce capabilities make it a solid choice for online stores.

It offers a variety of templates that can be customized to fit different needs, whether you’re creating a personal blog, a portfolio, an online store, or a business website.

Squarespace also provides hosting services, domain registration, and e-commerce functionality, making it a comprehensive solution for individuals and businesses looking to establish an online presence.

Who Should Use Squarespace?

Squarespace is best suited for individuals and small businesses looking for a visually appealing and easy-to-use platform to create and manage their online presence.

Squarespace is an excellent choice for a variety of users, including:

• Small Businesses: Squarespace offers an easy-to-use platform for small businesses to create and manage their websites without technical expertise.
• Creative Professionals: Squarespace’s visually stunning templates and design tools make it a popular choice for artists, photographers, designers, and other creative professionals looking to showcase their work online.
• E-commerce Businesses: Squarespace’s e-commerce features, including integrated payment processing and inventory management, make it a good option for selling products online.
• Bloggers and Content Creators: Squarespace’s blogging platform is user-friendly and includes features like scheduled posting, social sharing, and analytics, making it an excellent choice for bloggers and content creators.
• Event Organizers: Squarespace’s event management features, including event scheduling, ticket sales, and RSVP tracking, make it a valuable tool for organizing and promoting events online.

Kartra vs Squarespace: Ease of Use

When evaluating Kartra and Squarespace, both platforms emphasize ease of use. Their user-friendly designs and customization options cater to users with varying technical expertise.

User-Friendly Design

Squarespace is recognized for its elegant, sophisticated themes, which offer a seamless experience even for those with no background in design or development.

You can select from an array of intuitively organized templates, allowing for quick selection and implementation.

Kartra, while slightly more complex due to its broad range of marketing tools, maintains a clear interface. The platform guides you through creating marketing funnels and pages, even if you’re new to such tasks.

Customization Options

Both Squarespace and Kartra provide extensive customization options.

Kartra offers a robust page builder with functional flexibility, allowing deeper customization for your marketing campaigns.

You can experiment with different page elements to enhance the user experience and conversion rates.

Squarespace offers various themes and pre-designed templates that can be easily modified with the drag-and-drop page builder.

You can customize templates further to ensure your website reflects your brand identity.

Kartra vs Squarespace: Website and Page Building

Kartra

Kartra offers a comprehensive website builder, allowing you to create custom, mobile-responsive websites without coding knowledge.

The platform provides a range of professionally designed templates covering various industries and use cases.

You can easily customize these templates using the drag-and-drop editor, which includes options for adding text, images, videos, forms, and more.

One of Kartra’s standout features is its ability to create dynamic and interactive elements, such as pop-ups, countdown timers, and progress bars, to engage visitors and drive conversions.

The platform also offers advanced features like A/B testing and analytics to help users optimize their website’s performance.

Squarespace

Squarespace is renowned for its beautifully designed templates, ideal for creating visually stunning websites.

The platform’s drag-and-drop editor allows for easy customization, and you can choose from a wide range of layout options to create a unique look for your site.

Squarespace offers a seamless user experience with intuitive design tools, making creating and updating pages easy.

The platform also provides built-in SEO tools, e-commerce capabilities, and analytics to help users track their website’s performance.

Verdict

Kartra and Squarespace offer powerful website-building tools but cater to slightly different needs. Kartra is more focused on providing a complete marketing solution, so its website builder integrates seamlessly with its other marketing tools, like email marketing and sales funnels.

On the other hand, Squarespace is known for its design-focused approach, making it an excellent choice for users looking to create visually stunning websites quickly.

Regarding flexibility, Kartra offers more advanced features like dynamic elements and A/B testing, making it a better choice for users looking to optimize their websites for conversions.

Squarespace, however, is better suited for users who prioritize design and aesthetics in their website-building process.

Kartra vs Squarespace: E-Commerce Capabilities

Kartra

Kartra provides robust e-commerce tools to help you sell products and services online. The platform allows you to create customizable product pages, manage inventory, and process payments seamlessly.

You can also set up subscription services, payment plans, and one-click upsells to maximize revenue.

One of Kartra’s standout features is its ability to create complete sales funnels, from lead generation to conversion. You can easily create sales pages, order forms, and checkout pages, all integrated into a seamless process.

Kartra also offers built-in analytics to track sales performance and optimize marketing efforts.

Squarespace

Squarespace offers a range of e-commerce features that allow you to create online stores quickly and easily.

The platform provides customizable templates for e-commerce, simplifying product showcases and inventory management.

Squarespace also offers tools for processing payments, managing orders, and tracking inventory.

Verdict

While Squarespace’s e-commerce capabilities are robust, they may not be as advanced as Kartra’s for users with more complex e-commerce needs.

However, Squarespace is an excellent choice for users looking to create a beautiful online store with minimal hassle.

Kartra and Squarespace: CRM Capabilities

Kartra

Kartra includes a built-in CRM system that allows users to manage their contacts, track interactions, and analyze customer behavior.

The CRM is integrated with other marketing tools in Kartra, such as email marketing and sales funnels, providing a comprehensive view of each customer’s journey.

One of Kartra’s key CRM features is its ability to create custom tags and segments to organize contacts based on various criteria. This allows you to create targeted marketing campaigns and personalized customer experiences.

Kartra also offers automation features within its CRM, allowing you to set up rules and triggers based on customer interactions.

Squarespace

Squarespace does not offer a built-in CRM system. However, using the platform’s built-in integrations or custom code, you can integrate third-party CRM tools with your Squarespace websites.

While Squarespace’s lack of a built-in CRM may be a limitation for some users, it does allow users to choose a CRM system that best suits their needs.

Popular CRM options like HubSpot, Salesforce, and Zoho can easily integrate with Squarespace.

Verdict:

Kartra’s built-in CRM offers seamless integration with its other marketing tools, providing a comprehensive solution for customer management.

Conversely, Squarespace requires users to integrate third-party CRM tools, which may require additional setup and management.

Regarding CRM capabilities, Kartra is the better choice for users looking for an all-in-one solution. Squarespace, however, allows users to choose a CRM system that best fits their needs.

Kartra and Squarespace For Email Marketing

Kartra

Kartra offers a comprehensive email marketing platform integrated into its all-in-one marketing solution.

You can create and send personalized email campaigns, automate follow-up sequences, and segment their email lists based on user behavior.

One of Kartra’s key features is its ability to create dynamic email campaigns that respond to user actions in real time. For example, users can set up automated sequences that send targeted emails based on whether a user opens an email, clicks a link, or purchases.

Kartra also provides detailed analytics to track the performance of email campaigns, including open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates.

This data can help you optimize your email marketing efforts and improve their ROI.

Squarespace

Squarespace also offers email marketing capabilities, allowing you to create and send email campaigns directly from the platform.

You can choose from various templates and customize them to match your brand.

Verdict

Regarding functionality, Kartra offers more advanced email marketing features, making it a better choice for users with complex email marketing needs. Squarespace, however, is a great option for users looking for a straightforward solution for basic email campaigns.

While Squarespace’s email marketing features are sufficient for basic campaigns, they may not be as advanced as Kartra’s for users with more complex needs.

Squarespace also lacks some of the automation features offered by Kartra, such as dynamic email responses based on user actions.

Kartra vs Squarespace: Pricing and Plans

When comparing Kartra and Squarespace, understanding their pricing structures is essential for assessing which platform provides better value for your business.

Kartra

Kartra offers tiered pricing plans tailored to your business’s size and requirements. Prices are based on a monthly subscription and increase based on the number of leads and features in each plan.

• Starter ($119/month): This plan includes up to 2,500 leads, 15,000 monthly emails, 50 GB bandwidth, and two membership sites.
• Growth ($229/month): This plan includes up to 12,000 leads, unlimited emails, bandwidth, membership sites, and additional features like Kartra Agency and Kartra Leads.
• Professional ($549/month): This plan includes up to 25,000 leads and features like Kartra Mail, Kartra Video Hosting, and Kartra Helpdesk.

Squarespace

Squarespace offers four pricing plans: Personal, Business, Basic Commerce, and Advanced Commerce. Prices are based on a monthly subscription and increase based on the features included in each plan.

• Personal ($16/month): This includes website-building tools, fundamental analytics, and unlimited bandwidth and storage.
• Business ($23/month): Includes all Personal features plus professional email from Google, advanced website analytics, and promotional pop-ups.
• Basic Commerce ($27/month): Includes all Business features plus e-commerce tools like a fully integrated online store, inventory management, and no transaction fees.
• Advanced Commerce ($49/month): Includes all Basic Commerce features plus advanced shipping, discounts, and gift cards.

Kartra vs Squarespace: Marketing and Sales Tools

Kartra

Kartra is designed to be a comprehensive marketing platform, offering a wide range of tools to help you drive traffic, generate leads, and convert customers.

The platform includes features for email marketing, lead capture, sales funnels, and more, all integrated into a single platform.

One of Kartra’s key features is its ability to create sophisticated sales funnels easily.

You can create multi-step campaigns that guide customers through the buying process, from initial interest to final purchase.

Kartra also offers tools for split testing, analytics, and automation, allowing users to optimize their marketing efforts and maximize ROI.

Squarespace

Squarespace offers a range of marketing tools to help you promote your websites and drive traffic.

The platform includes built-in SEO tools to optimize website content for search engines and social media integration to share content across various platforms.

While Squarespace’s marketing tools are more essential than Kartra’s, they are sufficient for users looking to establish a basic online presence.

Squarespace also offers e-commerce features like abandoned cart recovery and email campaigns to help users boost sales and conversions.

Comparison

Kartra and Squarespace offer different approaches to marketing and sales tools. Kartra is more focused on providing a complete marketing solution with advanced tools for creating sales funnels, email campaigns, and more.

On the other hand, Squarespace is better suited for users looking for a simple and easy-to-use platform with basic marketing tools.

Kartra vs Squarespace: Membership and Subscription Management

Kartra

Kartra offers robust membership site capabilities. It allows you to create and manage membership levels, content access, and subscription payments.

The platform also provides tools for building membership portals, drip-feeding content, and managing member accounts.

One of Kartra’s standout features is its integration with other marketing tools, such as email marketing and sales funnels. This integration allows you to seamlessly promote membership offers, upsell existing members, and track member engagement.

Squarespace

Squarespace also offers membership and subscription management features, allowing you to create members-only website areas.

However, compared to Kartra, Squarespace’s membership capabilities are more limited, with fewer options for managing membership levels and subscription payments.

Squarespace’s membership features are best suited for users looking to create simple membership sites with basic content access restrictions.

Comparison

Kartra and Squarespace offer membership and subscription management features but cater to different needs.

Kartra is more suited for users looking to create and manage sophisticated membership sites with multiple levels and subscription options.

Conversely, Squarespace is better suited for users who want to create simple membership areas with basic content access restrictions.

Kartra and Squarespace: Advanced Functionalities

In this section, I’ll uncover the distinctive features of Kartra and Squarespace that cater to integration capabilities, affiliate program management, and detailed analytics, ensuring your business operations are both streamlined and comprehensive.

Integrations and APIs

Kartra positions itself robustly regarding integrations and APIs, offering seamless connections with many third-party services.

Its API access facilitates custom integrations, which are essential for syncing with CRM software, email marketing platforms, and other tools you may require.

Additionally, Kartra supports various payment gateways for subscription websites and membership management, enhancing its flexibility.

While providing less extensive API access, Squarespace does support a series of pivotal integrations for small businesses, focusing on ease of use and design.

However, your capacity to implement advanced custom integrations might be limited compared to Kartra.

Affiliate Management

If your business leverages affiliate marketing, Kartra provides a comprehensive affiliate management system that enables you to create and manage affiliate programs effectively.

With Kartra, you can set custom commission rates, track affiliate performance, and manage payouts.

This system is inbuilt, meaning there’s no need for additional software.

However, Squarespace does not have native affiliate management tools, which may require external services to create an affiliate program.

Analytics and Tracking

Regarding analytics and tracking, both Kartra and Squarespace offer detailed insights but with a different focus.

Kartra’s analytics capabilities are extensive, providing in-depth reports on sales, page views, and customer behavior.

This data is pivotal for marketing performance analysis and can inform your strategy and optimization efforts.

While Squarespace offers solid analytics features, it focuses more on website performance and visitor data.

It provides metrics on traffic, site usage, and conversions, which are key to understanding your website’s effectiveness and design impact.

Each platform caters to distinct needs: Kartra provides a comprehensive toolkit for in-depth marketing analytics, while Squarespace provides essential information supporting design and user experience optimizations.

Squarespace or Kartra? Which has Better Customer Support and Resources

When selecting between Kartra and Squarespace, it’s crucial to consider each platform’s level of customer support and resources. Both platforms assist but differ in their approaches to training and onboarding.

Customer Support

Kartra offers customer support through various channels, including email and a ticketing system, ensuring your queries are addressed in a structured manner.

Conversely, Squarespace is renowned for its comprehensive customer service, which includes 24/7 email support and live chat during business hours.

Yet neither platform provides direct phone support, focusing on digital communication to resolve customer issues.

Training and Onboarding

Kartra emphasizes empowering you with knowledge through its detailed video tutorials for training and onboarding.

These are designed to guide you through setting up your entire online business, offering deep insights into each feature and functionality.

Squarespace provides a more intuitive approach, focusing on quickly getting you started through user-friendly design tools and helpful guides that make onboarding seamless.

Final Thoughts and Recommendations

When choosing between Kartra and Squarespace for your online business, your decision hinges on your specific needs.

Kartra is an all-in-one platform tailored for marketing and funnels, offering tools to manage leads, email campaigns, and analytics. If maximizing your marketing performance is your priority, Kartra is your go-to choice.

Contrastingly, Squarespace shines as a website builder with a strong emphasis on design. Its interface is highly intuitive, making it ideal for small businesses aiming for a stylish web presence with less complexity.

Decide whether a marketing-centric approach (Kartra) or a design-focused strategy (Squarespace) aligns more closely with your business goals.

Both platforms are highly regarded, as reflected in user reviews and ratings. Your choice should integrate well with your strategy and offer the best value for money.