Most cafe owners asking this question have already spent an evening looking at templates. All three platforms can produce a good-looking cafe site. The differences show up later: when the winter menu has to go up on a Sunday night, when a plugin update breaks the booking button, or when you want to move to someone else and find you can't take the site with you.
We build and look after cafe and restaurant websites. This is how they compare for a cafe, without a favourite to sell you.
The short version
- Squarespace if you want a site that looks good with little effort, and the person updating it isn't technical.
- Wix if you want to drag things exactly where you like, and you will be careful to keep it tidy on a phone.
- WordPress if you want to own the site outright, expect to grow, and have someone (you, staff or a developer) to keep it updated.
| Squarespace | Wix | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who updates it | You, in a visual editor | You, in a visual editor | You or a developer, in the WordPress dashboard |
| Running cost | One monthly plan, hosting included | One monthly plan, hosting included | Hosting, plus any paid plugins and theme |
| Upkeep | Handled by Squarespace | Handled by Wix | Updates to WordPress, theme and plugins are your job |
| Design freedom | Polished templates, less freedom | Very free, easy to make messy | Anything, if someone builds it |
| Moving away later | Partial export only | No full export | Full export, any host |
Squarespace
Squarespace's templates are clean and look professional out of the box, which is why so many cafes use it. The editor is structured: you place blocks in sections, and it is hard to make a page that falls apart on a phone. Hosting, security and software updates are all handled for you.
For a cafe it does the basics well. There is a menu block that puts your menu on the page as text, and you can set page titles and descriptions for Google. It connects to common booking and ordering tools through links or embeds.
The trade-offs: you have less freedom over layout than on Wix or WordPress, and moving away later is awkward. Squarespace can export some content in a format WordPress can import, but not the design or every page type, so leaving usually means a rebuild.
Wix
Wix gives you the most freedom of the three builders. You can drag any element anywhere on the page. That suits owners who know exactly what they want, and it is also how Wix sites end up with text overlapping photos on a phone. If you choose Wix, check the mobile view of every page after every change.
Wix has its own restaurant features for menus, online ordering and table reservations, which can save paying for a separate tool if your needs are simple. Compare its fees and features with the ordering or booking system you already use before switching.
Wix has improved a lot for SEO over the years and gives you control of titles, descriptions and redirects. The main limit is that there is no full export. If you ever leave, the site is rebuilt from scratch elsewhere.
Already have a cafe website?
Whatever it's built on, send it to us. We'll check how it loads on a phone, how Google reads it and whether customers can find the menu and book, and tell you the first three things to fix. Free.
Get a free website checkWordPress
WordPress (the free software from WordPress.org, run on your own hosting) is the most flexible. Any layout, any integration, any number of venues, and you own every file. You can move it to another host or another developer at any time. That is its biggest advantage over the builders.
The cost of that freedom is upkeep. WordPress itself, the theme and every plugin need regular updates, and an out-of-date plugin is the usual way small WordPress sites get hacked. Someone also has to keep backups and watch the site speed, because a WordPress site loaded with plugins can get slow on a phone. Many cafe owners don't want that job, which is why WordPress sites are often paired with a care plan from whoever built them.
WordPress.com is a different thing: a hosted service from the company behind WordPress, closer to a website builder. It removes most of the upkeep but also some of the freedom, depending on the plan.
What it costs to run
Builder plans in Australia typically cost A$20 to A$70 a month, depending on the plan and whether you pay yearly. WordPress hosting for a cafe-sized site is typically A$10 to A$50 a month, plus any premium theme or plugins. A .com.au domain typically costs A$15 to A$40 a year on any of them. Prices change, so check the current plans before you commit. We break down the full picture, including agency builds, in how much a restaurant website costs in Australia.
The bigger cost is time. On a builder it is your time. On WordPress it is your time or a developer's.
The platform matters less than the setup
Google doesn't rank a cafe higher for being on one platform or another. What decides whether the site helps you is the same everywhere:
- A homepage title that names the cafe, what it is and the suburb.
- The menu typed onto a page, not only a PDF. See why a PDF menu costs you customers.
- Address, hours and phone on the page, matching your Google listing.
- A page that loads quickly on a phone over 4G, with the booking or ordering button easy to find.
Our cafe website checklist lists everything to check, whichever platform you use.
So which one?
A single cafe with an owner or manager who will keep the menu and hours current: Squarespace, or Wix if you want more control and will check the mobile view. A cafe planning a second venue, catering orders, or anything custom, with a budget for someone to look after it: WordPress. If you would rather not touch the site at all, the platform is the builder's choice, and what you should ask about is who updates it, how quickly, and whether you own it if you leave.
For reference, our own cafe and restaurant websites start from A$2,800 one-off, with a care plan (hosting, updates and menu changes) from A$150 a month, and you own the site.
FAQs
Which is the best website builder for a cafe in Australia?
For most single cafes where the owner or a manager will update the site, Squarespace or Wix is the simpler choice. WordPress suits cafes that want full control, plan to grow into several venues or online sales, and have someone to look after updates.
Is Wix or Squarespace better for SEO?
Both can rank a cafe well when the basics are done: a page title with your suburb, the menu as text, your address and hours on the page, and a fast mobile page. Neither will do those things for you. The platform matters far less than how the site is set up.
How much does a Squarespace or Wix site cost for a cafe?
Website builder plans typically cost A$20 to A$70 a month in Australia, depending on the plan and whether you pay yearly, plus a domain name. Check the current pricing page before you sign up, as plans change often.
Is WordPress free?
The WordPress software is free. You pay for hosting (typically A$10 to A$50 a month for a cafe-sized site), the domain, and often a premium theme or plugins. The bigger cost is keeping it updated and secure.
Can I move my cafe website from Wix to WordPress later?
Yes, but it is a rebuild rather than a move. Wix has no full export, so pages, menus and images are recreated on the new site, and old page addresses need redirects so you keep what Google already ranks.