Webflow and Squarespace walk into a bar.

Actors: BT = Bartender / WF = Webflow / SQ = Squarespace

BT: Have your IDs?

WF: (born August 2013, San Francisco)

SQ: (born January 2004, Maryland)

BT: What'll it be?

WF: Drag and drop, no code, full customization — neat.

SQ: Drag and drop, no code, limited customization — on the rocks.

(BT starts mixing. WF and SQ glance at each other.)

WF: You look familiar, have we met?

SQ: Maybe. We run in the same circles.

WF: Come here often?

SQ: I’m a regular. You?

WF: I am now. Can I ask your name?

SQ: Squarespace.

WF: Of course! That’s why I recognized you. And I’m…

SQ: Webflow. I’ve heard a lot about you.

BT: (delivers the drinks) Open a tab?

WF: Sure — tabs, divs, containers, sections, classes, CMS — open or closed, and did I mention fully customizable?

SQ: Tabs available with plugins… (cough) unsupported.

(BT steps back discreetly)

WF: Tabs or no tabs, nobody does prepackaged designs better than you do.

SQ: (takes a sip) Is that a compliment?

WF: You are a great looking platform. Clean… user friendly…

SQ: And I hear your UI/UX tools are some of the best. Creative… powerful…

(they drain their drinks)

WF: One thing you should know — I can be intimidating if you’re not comfortable working with dynamic data in the CMS.

SQ: And I can be inflexible unless you know your way around code.

BT: Another round?

WF: Cosmopolitan. Make mine a double.

SQ: Old Fashioned, with a twist.

WF: Are you a parking ticket? You've got fine written all over you.

SQ: Are you a magician? When I look at you, everyone else disappears…

WF: (to piano player) Play it, Sam. 'As Time Goes By.’

(cue music)

BT: (aside, to audience) Of all the design joints, in all the towns in all the world, they walk into mine.

(lights fade)

Why we redesigned our website with Webflow

[After redesigning it in Squarespace.]

The short answer is that it just wasn't good enough. We weren't satisfied with the design overall (after months of planning and designing). But there was something else. Like Mailchimp, we saw Squarespace venturing away from their core product (site design). There's still a lot to like about Squarespace, and switching is not the right choice for everyone, but it was the right decision for us.

Other reasons centered around limited design customization. We're quite familiar with Squarespace (and custom code) but options are too limited. We turned our attention to Webflow.

"As a designer, being able to bring your designs to life through website development can make your skills 10X more valuable to prospective clients — you'll be able to give your clients full service, faster (not to mention you make more money)." — Ran Segall on Webflow

Add greater value (10x more value). Give your clients full service (design and development). Faster. Oh, and make more money.

Sounds like an opportunity every designer would take. And we did. We took a very close look at Webflow, compared it to Squarespace, enrolled in Webflow University and Flux Academy and made the switch. It wasn't without much consideration. We have quite the investment and history with Squarespace, were selected to be among the first custom designers for Squarespace — and happily built many client sites in the platform.

It came down to answering these questions:

• Will this add value to our design services?
• Will this allow us to reach a broader audience?
• Will this compliment our other services?

The answers were a resounding "YES" and we haven't looked back. More about our core reasons for making the change below, but we haven't been this excited since we won our scriptwriting Oscar.

Webflow

Why we switched

Beyond templates

Are there custom templates for Webflow? Yes. Do you have to begin with a template? No. Webflow has the core belief that if someone can design it, someone can create it in Webflow. Check out these award winning designs.

No limits

Complete design freedom — elements are fully customizable and we no longer have to tell clients "that's not doable". It is absolutely doable. Add gamechanging animations and interactions (without having to code), the options have no limits.

Bye bye plugins

The more plugins you have, the more time is spent updating and maintaining them — and unfortunately out of date plugins provide an open door to hackers/spammers. We've invested our own fair share in plugins. Webflow is plugin-less. See ya.

No code

The word code can freak people out (and cost mega $$$). Webflow takes the fundamentals of code and translates them into simple drag and drop solutions — allowing creators to build modern apps and websites visually. Fully custom design without needing to know any code.

*Note to our clients: If we provide support for an existing Squarespace site, or we designed your site in Squarespace — nothing will change. Contact us with questions (about this or anything else). Here to help!

Helpful links

‍Webflow vs. Squarespace

Why this Wordpress designer switched

And this tech company

From there to here

Photo 1: Squarespace design (2013'ish)
Photo 2: Squarespace redesign (2021)
Photo 3: Our brand new Webflow redesign.

Next week

October 17

Apps we can't work without

A look at apps that improve our productivity and efficiency (and just make life better all around). Using an application you'd like us to demo or review? Send us an email and we'll take a look under the hood (and it might be listed in next week's apps)!

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