Squarespace vs Rocketspark for NZ wellness, creative & experience-led businesses
A calm, practical guide for choosing the right website foundation in Aotearoa New Zealand
Introduction
Choosing a website platform can feel like standing at a fork in the path - too many browser tabs open, too much conflicting advice, and the quiet worry of making the wrong call.
For many wellness practitioners, creative entrepreneurs, retreat operators, and boutique accommodation owners in Aotearoa New Zealand, the choice often narrows to two platforms: Squarespace or Rocketspark.
Both are capable. Both are popular. And both can either support your business beautifully, or quietly limit it, depending on how you work.
This guide isn't here to crown a universal winner. Instead, it's designed to help you choose the platform that fits your rhythm, your capacity, and the way your business actually runs. We'll compare Squarespace and Rocketspark through a grounded lens by considering design flexibility, editing experience, real-world features, local context, and long-term growth.
By the end, you'll know not just which platform suits you, but why.
A quick overview of each platform
Squarespace
Squarespace is a globally recognised, design-led website platform known for its refined templates and all-in-one ecosystem.
It includes:
Pages, blogs, and portfolios
Built-in styling controls
Scheduling (via Acuity)
E-commerce and digital products
A large ecosystem of extensions and integrations
Squarespace works particularly well for businesses where the website is part of the experience, not just a source of information.
This includes wellness practices with strong visual identities, creative studios, and experience-led brands such as retreat centres or boutique accommodation. These businesses often rely on imagery, white space, and storytelling to convey atmosphere, values, and care before a booking is ever made.
Rocketspark
Rocketspark is a New Zealand-founded platform designed with simplicity, reliability, and local support in mind.
It offers:
A structured, row-based layout system
Built-in hosting with NZ-based support
Straightforward tools for service businesses and online stores
Local billing in NZD
Rocketspark tends to appeal to business owners who want a website that feels stable, clear, and easy to maintain, without needing to make hundreds of design decisions. This often includes service providers, trades, and some boutique accommodation businesses whose priority is clearly presenting rooms, amenities, location, and contact details - without needing layered storytelling or frequent content updates.
What they have in common
Both platforms:
Are fully hosted (no server management required)
Produce mobile-responsive websites
Can be used DIY or with a professional designer
Suit small to medium-sized businesses
The difference isn't about quality, it's about fit.
Editing experience and learning curve
Squarespace
Learning timeline: Plan for 3-5 hours of focused exploration to feel comfortable with the basics, and 2-3 weeks of regular use to feel confident. Squarespace offers you a 14 day FREE trial.
Squarespace uses inline editing, meaning you can see changes as you make them. Blocks handle text, images, galleries, forms, and layouts.
Many business owners appreciate:
The visual nature of editing
The depth of styling control
The ability to refine details over time
There is a bit of a learning curve, however, particularly around:
Mobile spacing
Section stacking
Advanced settings
Squarespace suits those willing to invest time learning the system, or those working alongside a designer. If you enjoy the process of refinement, Squarespace can feel creatively satisfying. If website work feels like a burden rather than a craft, the flexibility might create friction.
Rocketspark
Learning timeline: Most business owners feel comfortable within 1-2 hours, fully confident within a week.
Rocketspark's editor is more straightforward, with clearer boundaries and fewer settings.
This often feels supportive for:
Time-poor founders
Business owners with limited tech energy
Anyone who wants to "set and maintain" rather than continually refine
In service-based practices like counselling, business owners often prioritise low-maintenance systems that let them update availability or publish a short post quickly, without needing to revisit design or settings each time. Rocketspark supports that kind of quiet, sustainable rhythm.
The editing experience matters more than many people expect, especially for businesses managing bookings, seasonal changes, or availability.
For wellness practitioners publishing content regularly, or retreat operators updating offerings and schedules, Squarespace’s flexibility can feel empowering over time. For businesses making infrequent updates, such as seasonal availability or occasional project photos, Rocketspark’s simplicity can feel far more sustainable.
Features that matter for wellness and creative businesses
Rather than listing everything each platform can do, let's focus on what actually supports day-to-day work.
Appointments and bookings
Booking systems are often central for wellness practices, retreats, and boutique accommodation — but the type of booking matters.
Squarespace’s native Acuity integration works well for practices offering 1:1 consultations, classes, workshops, or retreat bookings with multiple sessions or options. Setup typically takes 2-3 hours for basic scheduling, longer for complex availability patterns. The benefit: once configured, clients book directly without email back-and-forth.
Rocketspark relies on third-party booking tools, which can be embedded and styled to feel cohesive with the site, and can be a good fit for accommodation businesses or service providers who want a clear enquiry or availability flow without layered booking logic. Setup time varies by tool but generally takes 3-5 hours including integration and testing.
If bookings are central to your business, Squarespace often feels more seamless, though Rocketspark can still work well with thoughtful setup.
Blogging and journalling
Content plays very different roles depending on the business.
For wellness practitioners, creatives, and retreat brands sharing long-form content - such as educational articles, seasonal reflections, itineraries, or stories - Squarespace’s blogging tools offer far more flexibility with categories, featured images, and layout flexibility. This is ideal for reflective posts, long-form writing, or design-led journals.
Rocketspark supports simpler blog formats, which suit businesses using content occasionally rather than as a core growth channel and articles without visual complexity.
If content is a key growth channel, Squarespace has the edge. Many practitioners find that writing reflective posts becomes part of their client connection strategy. If that resonates with you, prioritise blogging depth.
E-commerce and digital products
Both platforms support online stores.
Squarespace offers more flexibility for digital products, memberships, and layered content journeys. Best for: digital downloads, course access, membership content, flexible product variations.
Rocketspark focuses on clear product catalogues and straightforward checkout flows. Best for: physical product stores, straightforward retail, wholesale accounts.
For small, focused shops, either can work well. For evolving digital ecosystems, Squarespace scales more easily.
Real projects: how businesses chose
Scenario: Squarespace for a content-rich wellness practice
Imagine a content-led wellness practice, such as a naturopath, whose website needs to hold more than basic service information.
In this kind of setup, the site often needs space for:
long-form educational blog posts (for example, on gut health)
recipe resources and downloadable guides
online booking for consultations
When a practitioner is publishing two to three in-depth articles each month, the website becomes an extension of their practice, not just a booking tool. In these scenarios, Squarespace is often a strong fit.
Why Squarespace tends to work well in this context:
Built-in Acuity integration supports seamless consultation bookings
Flexible blog layouts allow for rich formatting, imagery, and clear reading flow
Resource libraries with downloadable PDFs are easy to structure
Template design can be aligned with calm, earthy brand identities
The trade-off:
There is usually an upfront investment in learning the platform. With initial guidance, this might look like several focused hours getting comfortable with layouts and settings, followed by around an hour or so each month maintaining content. For content-driven practitioners, that time often feels generative rather than administrative.
Scenario: Rocketspark for a service-focused business
Now consider a service-based business, such as a building company, that needs a professional, trustworthy online presence without ongoing content demands.
In this scenario, the website’s role is to:
clearly describe services
show recent project work through galleries
provide an easy contact pathway
Updates are infrequent, perhaps quarterly, and there’s little interest in blogging or content marketing.
Why Rocketspark often works well here:
Setup is straightforward, with fewer design decisions required
NZ-based support is available during local business hours
Billing in NZD simplifies accounting
The structured layout system keeps project uploads consistent
The trade-off:
Rocketspark offers less design flexibility than platforms like Squarespace. The result is a site that looks professional and clear, rather than highly distinctive. For many service-led businesses, this is entirely appropriate - the work itself does the differentiating, not the website design.
Squarespace vs Rocketspark: side-by-side comparison
| Feature | Squarespace | Rocketspark |
|---|---|---|
| Design flexibility | High | Moderate |
| Learning curve | Medium (3–5 hours to basics) | Low (1–2 hours to confidence) |
| Time per monthly update | 30–90 minutes | 15–30 minutes |
| Booking tools | Built-in (Acuity) | Third-party |
| Blogging depth | Strong | Simple |
| Digital products | Advanced options | Basic |
| Local NZ support | No | Yes |
| Billing currency | Local | NZD |
| Typical setup investment | 6–10 hours (DIY) or 2–3 weeks depending on complexity (with designer) | 3–6 hours (DIY) or 1–2 weeks depending on complexity (with designer) |
| Best for | Visual, content-rich brands | Stable, service-led businesses |
Common platform-choice mistakes
(and how to avoid them)
Choosing Squarespace for its beauty, then resenting the time required to manage it
➞ Before committing, honestly assess: Do I realistically have time for regular content updates or layout refinement? Do I enjoy that process? If no to either, consider Rocketspark's simplicity.
Choosing Rocketspark for simplicity, then feeling boxed in as the business grows
➞ If you're planning to add courses, memberships, or more layered content journeys within 2 years, Squarespace's flexibility will likely serve you better long-term. For example, feeling boxed in can show up for growing retreat businesses who later want to add layered retreat pages, content journeys, or digital resources - features that benefit from greater design flexibility.
Letting price decide, rather than workflow and capacity
➞ A $10-20/month price difference becomes irrelevant if the platform creates friction in your weekly rhythm. Choose for fit, not just cost.
Selecting a platform before clarifying services, content, and growth plans
➞ Map your content strategy first: What will you update weekly? Monthly? Annually? What might you add in year two? Does my business operate year-round, or seasonally - and how often will the site realistically need updating? The platform should serve your plan, not limit it.
A platform won't fix unclear strategy, but the wrong one can amplify frustration.
How to choose the right platform for you
Instead of asking "Which platform is better?", try these questions:
Where are most of my clients based?
If primarily NZ/Australia, Rocketspark's local support and NZD billing may feel more grounding.
How much time and energy do I realistically have for website updates?
If website work feels like a burden: Rocketspark. If it feels like an extension of your creative practice: Squarespace.
Do I want my website to feel expressive, or quietly functional?
Both are valid approaches. Wellness spaces often lean expressive; service businesses often lean functional.
Will I be adding bookings, content, or digital products in the next 2–3 years?
Map your 2-year plan before choosing. Platform migrations are possible but costly in time and energy.
Do I prefer local support, or am I comfortable navigating global platforms?
Rocketspark's NZ-based team responds in your timezone. Squarespace offers extensive documentation and global community support.
Squarespace may be the better fit if:
Your brand is visually led
You value design flexibility and content depth
You're open to a learning curve or working with a designer
Bookings are central to your business model
You plan to publish regular blog content or resources
Rocketspark may be the better fit if:
You're NZ-based and value local support
You want a stable, low-maintenance site
Simplicity and clarity matter more than experimentation
You update your website infrequently (quarterly or less)
Your business is service- or product-focused rather than content-led
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Yes, but it takes time and cost. Content migration, redesign, and SEO re-settling are not trivial. Expect 15-25 hours of work (DIY) or $2,000-5,000 (professional migration) depending on site complexity. Most businesses find switching worthwhile only when their current platform significantly limits growth, so it's worth choosing thoughtfully from the start.
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Both can perform well. SEO success depends more on structure, content quality, and clarity than the platform alone. Squarespace offers slightly more granular control over technical SEO elements; Rocketspark provides solid fundamentals with less complexity. For local NZ businesses, both platforms handle location-based SEO effectively when set up correctly.
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Not inherently, but it rewards intention. Many beginners do well with 2-3 hours of guided setup (via tutorials or professional support) followed by gradual learning. The platform grows with you. If the learning process feels overwhelming rather than interesting, that's valuable information pointing toward Rocketspark's simplicity.
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No , both platforms are designed for DIY use. However, many businesses find a designer helps translate strategy into structure, saving 10-20 hours of trial-and-error, and creating a stronger foundation. Think of professional design as optional but often efficient, particularly if website work doesn't energise you.
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Booking-heavy practices (yoga teachers, counsellors, naturopaths) often lean toward Squarespace for Acuity integration. Content-rich practices (health coaches, nutritionists who blog regularly) also benefit from Squarespace's depth. Service-focused practices with simpler needs (massage therapists, beauticians with straightforward booking through external tools) often find Rocketspark perfectly sufficient. The deciding factor: how central is your website to your client journey?
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Consider starting with the platform that matches your current capacity, knowing migration is possible if your needs significantly evolve. Many businesses successfully use Rocketspark for 2-3 years before migrating to Squarespace as their content strategy deepens, and that's a valid path. Beginning is more important than choosing perfectly.
Key takeaways
Both Squarespace and Rocketspark are solid platforms
The "best" choice depends on how you work, not just what you sell
Design flexibility and simplicity are a trade-off, not a hierarchy
Time investment differs significantly: Squarespace requires more learning but offers more flexibility; Rocketspark requires less ongoing attention but provides less creative control
Choosing with clarity now saves friction later
Your platform should support your rhythm, not create resistance
Gentle next steps
If you're still unsure, you don't need to decide alone.
Platform decision session: A short, focused consult to map your needs, assess your capacity, and recommend the best fit. We'll look at your services, content plans, and working style to identify which platform serves your specific rhythm. 60 minutes, practical outcomes, no pressure.
Design partnership: A calm, collaborative build on either platform. Whether you choose Squarespace or Rocketspark, we'll create a foundation that feels stable and true to your work.
Stay connected: Receive thoughtful insights on design, platforms, and sustainable growth. Monthly reflections on creating web spaces that hold your work with intention.
Your website is a long-term home for your work. Choosing the right foundation helps everything else settle into place.
