TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    LightCMS (discontinued)

    Score6.1 out of 10
    N/ALightCMS, from NetSuite, was a cloud-based content management system for building websites and eCommerce storefronts. It is designed to be used by individuals, non-profits, and small to medium-sized businesses. The product has been discontinued.N/A

    Squarespace

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/ASquarespace is a CMS platform that allows users to create a DIY blog, eCommerce store, and/or portfolio (visual art or music). Some Squarespace website and shop templates are industry or use case-specific, such as menu builders for restaurant sites.

    $25

    per month

    Pricing
    LightCMS (discontinued)Squarespace
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Basic
    $25
    per month
    Core
    $36
    per month
    Plus
    $56
    per month
    Advanced
    $139
    per month
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    LightCMS (discontinued)Squarespace
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details28% to 36% discount available for annual pricing.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    LightCMS (discontinued)Squarespace
    Considered Both Products
    Discontinued Products
    Chose LightCMS (discontinued)
    We have looked at hundrends of CMS's and LightCMS is a perfect entry-level system for most of our small to mid sized clients. LightCMS's feature set is less complex than almost every other system and the actual interface is miles ahead of most other CMS systems. It's simply …
    Incentivized
    Squarespace
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    97%
    Would buy again
    33 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    34 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    94%
    Happy with the feature set
    32 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    29 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    31 Answers
    Features
    LightCMS (discontinued)Squarespace
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of LightCMS (discontinued) and Squarespace
    Feature
    LightCMS (discontinued)
    8.0
    1 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Squarespace
    8.5
    59 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Role-based user permissions8.01 Ratings8.559 Ratings
    Web Content Creation
    Comparison of Web Content Creation features of LightCMS (discontinued) and Squarespace
    Feature
    LightCMS (discontinued)
    9.1
    1 Ratings
    16% above category average
    Squarespace
    7.1
    90 Ratings
    8% below category average
    WYSIWYG editor10.01 Ratings8.178 Ratings
    Code quality / cleanliness9.01 Ratings8.071 Ratings
    Admin section9.01 Ratings6.089 Ratings
    Page templates10.01 Ratings7.090 Ratings
    Library of website themes10.01 Ratings7.087 Ratings
    Mobile optimization / responsive design10.01 Ratings7.386 Ratings
    Publishing workflow8.01 Ratings6.278 Ratings
    Form generator7.01 Ratings7.171 Ratings
    Web Content Management
    Comparison of Web Content Management features of LightCMS (discontinued) and Squarespace
    Feature
    LightCMS (discontinued)
    7.3
    1 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Squarespace
    7.0
    80 Ratings
    5% below category average
    Content taxonomy4.01 Ratings6.768 Ratings
    SEO support7.01 Ratings7.973 Ratings
    Bulk management8.01 Ratings8.045 Ratings
    Community / comment management10.01 Ratings6.760 Ratings
    Availability / breadth of extensions00 Ratings5.760 Ratings
    Platform & Infrastructure
    Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of LightCMS (discontinued) and Squarespace
    Feature
    LightCMS (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Squarespace
    4.2
    52 Ratings
    57% below category average
    API00 Ratings5.045 Ratings
    Internationalization / multi-language00 Ratings3.534 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    LightCMS (discontinued)Squarespace
    Small Businesses
    Umbraco CMS
    Score6.7 out of 10
    Umbraco CMS
    Score6.7 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Square Online
    Score7.4 out of 10
    Square Online
    Score7.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    RWS Tridion Sites
    Score9 out of 10
    RWS Tridion Sites
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    LightCMS (discontinued)Squarespace
    Likelihood to Recommend
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.4
    (90 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    LightCMS (discontinued)Squarespace
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Discontinued Products
    LightCMS is perfect for 90% of websites out there. It has all the basic modules like calendars, photo galleries, news/blog, or forms building built in. Small businesses to mid-sized businesses are perfect for LightCMS. We use other solutions when the requierments for the website include a lot of third party integrations or custom modules. As a hosted CMS it has the same limitations as others with server-side development.
    Read full review
    Squarespace
    Squarespace is one of the best solutions out there for building a website or web experience that looks good, has great functionality and is cost-effective, even for smaller businesses. Although most people in marketing will find most of the elements intuitive, if the creator is struggling with any of the functionality, there are many, many support options and other users who can offer assistance.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Discontinued Products
    • LightCMS provides all the major functionality 90% of sites need. It keeps out of its own way by making these solutions intuitive and simple and not trying to solve every problem for everyone which would over-complicate the tool-set.
    • This is the easiest to use CMS we have ever seen. I tell my client's that if they can make a Facebook post, they can manage their website, and it's true. Their UI is so easy and keeps getting easier to use. Untrained users get it in minutes and are able to manage their sites without our help.
    • LightCMS's code is simple and light-weight. Sites are fast and the CMS doesnt get in the way of performance.
    • You can do almost anything you want (except server-side programming) with LightCMS. So, we can create any design we want and it works great with Light CMS's tokens and editable regions concept (which is also simple to implement.)
    • Constantly upgraded and fixed, the product is 1000x better after 10 years of working with it, but is still simple and not bloated.
    Read full review
    Squarespace
    • Stupid simple to use. I know very creative people who cannot code and this is probably the easiest ever platform for them!
    • Pretty website templates and great functionality with showing off portfolios.
    • They've already figured out what are the problems that non-coding people have when creating websites and they've figured out a simple solution for all of it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Discontinued Products
    • While keeping it simple is LightCMS's thing, some of the elements/modules could use deeper options or control for advanced users.
    • Some content, such as calendars, cannot have data exported/imported easily.
    • Support was amazing 10 years ago. We openly talked about how awesome they were... it isn't as good as it once was, but is still way above almost every support of other CMS systems we have used.
    Read full review
    Squarespace
    • Customizing the sites can be highly UN intuitive
    • Navigation for editing the sites can be difficult and frustrating
    • Squarespace has different versions and it's hard to know which version you're on. You can't switch after you start making a site with one version.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Squarespace
    Unless our website requires significantly more functionality in the future, I can't see us terminating our contract
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Squarespace
    It's simple to use for someone who is really good with computers as well as those who are not. I've been using my personal squarespace for years and have also helped clients build a starting page which they are later able to manage theirselves.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Squarespace
    Help is available directly from the back end and uses full sentence searching to find answers to questions others may have asked before. With a ton of articles and support questions documents, it is very likely that your question has been answered. If not each page has the ability to open a direct email to support. Each case has a number and can be followed. Responses are often quick and have links and directions clearly stated
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Discontinued Products
    We have looked at hundrends of CMS's and LightCMS is a perfect entry-level system for most of our small to mid sized clients. LightCMS's feature set is less complex than almost every other system and the actual interface is miles ahead of most other CMS systems. It's simply thought out better. It lacks sensibility and an API as well as other advanced features many more expensive or more DIY systems have, but the simplicity makes up for it.
    Read full review
    Squarespace
    Squarespace was quicker to set up and more accessible to manipulate the theme, pictures, and content. The page layouts are more versatile and fluid. With WordPress, more time-consuming efforts go into making a template work the way you want it to (because of the lack of the drag-and-drop grids that Squarespace has).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Discontinued Products
    • While I always think the price could be cheaper, LightCMS is incredibly inexpensive if you consider the costs of hosting, support, and upgrading is all included.
    • As part of their partner program, we are able to control client accounts from our master account, making moving between clients easier and supporting them faster which ultimately makes our labor costs better.
    Read full review
    Squarespace
    • The cost is reasonably decent. My client says they spent about $20 a month or $240 a year. I asked her if she could add Google AdSense to her blog one day, and they believe they can. They said a custom site would cost them $3000-10,000 depending on who does it. And I agreed, but I found the website they created was on the lower end of that range.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots