Publii vs Squarespace
Publii and Squarespace are both blogging and static sites software. Publii is open source under GPL-3.0, with 7.4k GitHub stars. Squarespace is a commercial product from Squarespace.
Which to pick
- Pick Publii when
- A non-developer wants a fast static blog or small business site without running a server.
- Pick Squarespace when
- A small business, creative or freelancer wants a good-looking site quickly and does not need custom code.
Side by side
A desktop app for Windows, macOS and Linux that lets you write posts in a WordPress-like editor and publishes a static website to hosting such as Netlify, GitHub Pages or FTP.
Hosted website builder with designer templates, blogging, online store, bookings and domains.
Editing happens on one computer, so multi-author teams are awkward, and premium themes cost extra.
Limited flexibility and extensions, and content does not move cleanly to another platform.
Production-ready (both)
Desktop app
Cloud service
JavaScript, Vue, Electron and Handlebars
Not published
Open source, GPL-3.0 (strong copyleft)
Closed source, sold by Squarespace
Use inside your business is unrestricted, but anything you distribute that includes it must be released under the same license.
Closed source: you use it under the maker's terms and cannot change or resell the code.
7.4k GitHub stars
1.4k Wikipedia readers a month on phones
Established: started 8 years ago, latest release v.0.48.1-build-17582.
Not known
Other comparisons
More blogging platforms and static site generators
Both sides were judged on 2026-11-03 from makers' descriptions, Wikipedia, READMEs and GitHub data. License, age and popularity lines are worked out directly.