How to Cancel Squarespace Subscription or Free Trial

The upgrade process and template limitations are major concerns for many Squarespace customers. The fact that one cannot seamlessly move from version 7.0 to 7.1 without having to rebuild the entire site again is a huge problem. This is both time-consuming and disruptive, especially if you have spent a lot of time on SEO, blog post writing, and customization of your site. To access new features, redoing all these elements feels like going backward rather than forward.

Another complaint associated with Squarespace is template problems. Lack of flexibility in the 7.0 templates requires users to switch templates in order to use certain functionalities while at the same time losing out on other functionalities which they desire. Repeating all style settings every time you do this will not only be tiresome but also consume much of your valuable time.

Are you also experiencing the same? It may be high time for you to consider cancelling your Squarespace subscription or free trial. In this guide, we will take you through a few steps on how to cancel Squarespace plus some alternative suggestions that will enable you to transition smoothly.

How to Cancel Squarespace Subscription

There are two methods to cancel Squarespace website subscription:

Cancelling Your Squarespace Subscription Immediately

If you’re ready to move on right away, you can cancel your subscription, which will instantly take your site offline. This is the quickest way to end your subscription.

1. Log in to the Billing Panel.
2. Go to Subscriptions.
3. Click on your subscription or plan (e.g. Website, Commerce, or Squarespace).
4. Press Cancel Subscription.
5. Choose the reason for cancellation from the dropdown menu.
6. Click Next.
7. Fill up the rest of the form to share experiences with Squarespace.
8. Press Next.
9. Review your subscriptions under Your other subscriptions panel if you have active subscriptions attached to your site.
10. Select Continue.
11. Click Cancel Subscription.

Turning Off Squarespace Auto-renew

If you’re not in a rush, you can disable auto-renew. This means your site will stay live until the end of your current billing cycle and then it will go offline. This option gives you some time and ensures that you make the most out of what you’ve already paid for.

Squarespace subscription automatically renews annually or monthly. By disabling auto-renew, you can set your subscription to expire at the end of your billing cycle. Here are the steps to disable auto-renew:

1. Log in to the Billing Panel.
2. Open the Billing Panel you’d like to expire.
3. Go to Subscriptions.
4. Click Website or Store depending on your plan.
5. Turn off the Renew Automatically toggle.

How to Cancel Squarespace Free Trial

Here are the steps to cancel your trial site, but keep it visible in your account:

1. Log in to the Account dashboard.
2. Select the trial you want to cancel.
3. Choose the Billing panel.
4. Click Website under Trial subscriptions.
5. Select Cancel trial.
6. Choose a reason for the cancellation.
7. Click Cancel trial.
8. A “Your trial has been canceled” message will appear at the bottom.
9. A “Website Expired” message will appear for visitors to your URL.

How to Delete Squarespace Free Trial

Here are the steps to permanently delete your trial site and remove it from your account:

1. Navigate to the Account dashboard.
2. Click “…” on the trial site.
3. Select Delete.
4. Click Delete again if you see the pop-up window.
5. A “Site Deleted” message will appear for visitors to your URL.

Things to Know Before You Cancel Your Squarespace Website Subscription

Before you decide to cancel your Squarespace subscription, here are a few things you might want to consider:

• Content management: Make sure you know what will happen to your content once your subscription ends. It’s a good idea to export your content first so you can easily move it to another platform.
• Impact on commerce: If you have an online store through a Commerce plan, cancelling your subscription will shut it down. This also means your customers’ subscriptions will end, and they’ll need to start their subscriptions again by purchasing your products anew.
• Annual billing plan considerations: Cancelling within 14 days of your first payment on an annual plan means you’ll lose the free domain offer. You will get a prorated refund, but $20 will be deducted to cover the non-refundable domain registration fee.
• Transferring subscriptions: If you’re thinking about moving your website subscription to a different site, you’ll need to cancel the current subscription and start a new one because direct transfers aren’t possible.
• Legacy pricing plans: For those on a legacy pricing plan, be aware that you can’t reactivate the same plan once it’s canceled. Check out the Legacy website billing plans page for more details.
• Digital product plans: These plans enter a 30-day pause period after cancellation or expiration. If you reactivate during this grace period, your customers’ subscriptions will resume, and they’ll be charged for the periods during the pause.

How to Cancel Digital Products Plan on Squarespace

There are two methods to cancel your digital products plan:

• Cancel your digital products immediately.
• Disable auto-renew and make your digital products expire at the end of your billing cycle.

Here are the steps for the two methods mentioned above:

Cancel Digital Products Immediately

1. Log in to the Billing Panel.
2. Go to Subscriptions.
3. Click Digital Products.
4. Choose Cancel subscription.
5. Select Confirm cancellation in the Confirm your cancellation panel.

Note: If you choose to cancel your Digital Products plan, it will end immediately, and you won’t get a refund for any remaining time in your billing cycle. After the cancellation, the transaction fee for your digital products will jump to 9%, and your video storage limit for any new uploads will drop to 30 minutes.

Turn off Auto-renew

1. Log in to the Billing Panel.
2. Go to Subscriptions.
3. Click Digital Products.
4. Turn off the Renew automatically toggle.

Things to Know Before You Cancel Your Digital Products Plan on Squarespace

Before you decide to cancel your digital products on Squarespace, here are a few things you might want to consider:

• Members filter: If you cancel or let your Digital Products plan expire, you’ll lose access to the Members filter in the Contacts panel. This filter helps you sort member contacts by their pricing plans.
• Export contacts: Before you cancel, it’s a good idea to export all your member contacts to a .csv file. This way, you can personally email your members to explain the change.
• Recurring and fixed memberships: Even after cancellation, members with a recurring subscription or a fixed amount membership will still show up in the Customers filter.
• Email campaign subscribers: Members who subscribe to your email campaigns mailing list will appear in the Subscriber filter.

How to Delete Squarespace Account

1. Log in to the Security Settings.
2. Click Delete account.
3. Log in to confirm.
4. Cancel any active subscriptions directly from your account information panel.
5. Return to your account and security settings.
6. Select Delete account.
7. Click Confirm.

Note: Once you delete your account, it is impossible to recover it. You can create a new account with your deleted account’s email address but it will be a new and fresh account without access to previous data or settings.

Before you delete your account, you need to consider some things like exporting content, cancelling other active subscriptions, and cancelling or transferring your Squarespace domains. To know more, you can check Deleting your account page.

How to Cancel a Subscription on Behalf of a Customer

You can cancel a Squarespace subscription on behalf of the customer. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Log in to the Contacts Panel.
2. Select Customers from the dropdown menu.
3. Click Recurring to see their subscriptions in the panel that opens on the right.
4. Choose the name of the subscription.
5. Scroll down to the bottom of the payments.
6. Click Cancel Subscription.

For more information, you can visit Squarespace’s Managing customers page.

Squarespace Data Backup Duration

If you decide to cancel your Squarespace subscription, your website will stay backed up for 30 days. During this period, your site will be offline, but you can still export your content. This gives you a month to move your data to another platform if needed.

However, if you don’t reactivate your subscription within these 30 days, Squarespace will permanently delete your site content. So, it’s important to export your data before you cancel to ensure you don’t lose anything important.

Accessing Your Expired Squarespace Site

Even after your Squarespace site subscription expires, you can still access several key panels by logging in:

• Billing Panel: You can view or update your payment information and see your invoices.
• Domains Panel: Manage your domain subscriptions and connections.
• Import & Export Content Panel: Export your site’s content if it’s still available.
• Google Workspace Panel: Manage your Google Workspace subscription.
• Permissions & Ownership Panel: Review who has access to your site.
• Selling Panel: Check past sales details, including orders, customers, and payments, and issue refunds.
• Email Campaigns Panel: If still active, you can access the dashboard, draft and send campaigns, and manage the subscription.
• Digital Products Panel: View information about past membership sales and member contacts if your plan is still active.
• Contacts Panel: See all customers, mailing list subscribers, members, and donors.
• Scheduling Panel: If your Acuity subscription is active, manage your appointments from the panel.

Managing Other Subscriptions After Website Cancellation

When your website subscription ends, your other active subscriptions don’t automatically cancel. Here’s what happens:

• Domains: For Squarespace-registered domains, you can transfer, cancel, or use them with another site. For domains registered elsewhere, update the settings in your provider’s account. Learn more about managing your domain after cancellation on the Squarespace Help Center.
• Digital Products: Your plan enters a 30-day pause state if your site subscription ends. Reactivating your site within this period reinstates your settings and subscribers. If reactivated after 30 days, customers must sign up again.
• Google Workspace: Billing continues through Squarespace even if the site subscription is canceled. Manage it via the Google Workspace panel or end it separately through their cancellation guide.
• Email Campaigns: Access remains to the Email Campaigns dashboard, allowing you to draft, send, and manage campaigns. Export mailing lists before cancelling to use them with another service.
• Acuity Scheduling: The subscription remains active, allowing clients to book appointments. Cancel Acuity separately if needed.

Best Alternatives to Squarespace

If you’re searching for better website solutions than Squarespace, we’ve got you covered with some of the best website builder options available:

1. Wix

Wix is known for being affordable and easy to use; it has a robust drag-and-drop builder and numerous templates. This is good for people who are just starting out, or those in need of more advanced customization options.

2. WordPress

It’s an adaptable platform, perfect for any kind of customization you require. It’s useful for all kinds of things—from basic blogs to complex e-commerce websites—because it has many themes and plugins at its disposal.

3. Shopify

Shopify is ideal if you want to create an ecommerce site since it was designed specifically with that purpose in mind. Its features include secure payment processing, third-party app integration, and analytics.

4. Webflow

Webflow is a no-code website builder with high customizability. This suits web designers and developers wishing to have full control over how their sites look as well as how they work.

5. GoDaddy

GoDaddy has a very simple interface that anyone can learn very quickly; hence, it is a great option for newbies. For getting your website up and running fast, there are multiple templates available with tools that accompany them too.

6. Weebly

Weebly comes highly recommended for beginners; this is because its drag-and-drop interface makes creation and management processes quite easy. Also, it supports small online stores with good e-commerce capabilities.

7. Strikingly

Strikingly allows users to create quick elegant websites without much customization if they need simplicity alone.

Summary

To cancel your Squarespace subscription, you have two options: immediate cancellation or turning off auto-renew. For an immediate cancellation, log in to your account, go to the “Billing Panel”, find the “Subscriptions” section, and select your current plan (like Website or Commerce). Click “Cancel Subscription” and follow the prompts to provide a reason and confirm the cancellation. This will take your site offline right away.

Alternatively, if you prefer to let your subscription run its course, you can disable auto-renew. Simply log in to the “Billing Panel”, navigate to “Subscriptions”, and turn off the “Renew Automatically” toggle. This way, your site will stay online until the end of your current billing cycle.

Before you cancel, it’s a good idea to export your site content to ensure you don’t lose any important information, as Squarespace will permanently delete it after 30 days. Additionally, consider the impact on other services connected to your account, such as your online store, Google Workspace, Email Campaigns, and any digital products or scheduling tools you have. Managing or transferring these services in advance can help avoid disruptions.