Head-to-head · CMS & Website Builder
Squarespace vs Ghost
Which one to pick in 2026 — comparing 🇺🇸 Squarespace with the European alternative 🇪🇺 Ghost on the things that actually decide who can read your data.
🇺🇸 Squarespacevs🇪🇺 Ghost
Verdict
Who has stronger privacy guarantees by law?
Ghost — GDPR-native and outside the US CLOUD Act / FISA 702 reach.
Which one encrypts your data end-to-end by default?
Neither ships full E2E by default — check the table for nuance.
Which one tracks you for ads?
Squarespace relies on ad tracking. Ghost doesn't.
Which one is open source?
Ghost is open source. Squarespace is proprietary.
Side-by-side
Squarespace vs Ghost — full comparison
Criteria
🇪🇺 Ghost
🇺🇸 Squarespace
Headquarters
Dublin, Ireland
New York, NY, USA
Jurisdiction
Ireland (GDPR)
USA (CLOUD Act, FISA 702)
Data location
EU (self-hosted) or Ghost(Pro) cloud
Global, US-controlled (AWS)
GDPR-native
Yes
No
CLOUD Act / FISA exposed
No
Yes
Ad tracking
No
Yes
End-to-end encryption
No
No
Open source
Yes
No
Ownership
Ghost Foundation (non-profit)
Squarespace Inc. (taken private 2024)
Founded
2013
2004
Make the switch
Try Ghost instead of Squarespace
Irish open-source publishing platform — modern, fast, subscription-native.
Other European alternatives to Squarespace