Squarespace for Nonprofits: No Discount, So Pick the Plan Carefully

Squarespace has no nonprofit pricing. Its help centre answers the question directly: transaction fees are not discounted for nonprofits. What it does have is a checkout code, NONPROFIT, which takes 10% off your first payment and nothing after that. So the real decision is not about a discount at all. It is which plan to pick, because on Basic Squarespace takes 2% of every donation and on Core and above it takes nothing. We read every figure on this page at Squarespace’s own pricing and help pages on 10 November 2026.

What Squarespace costs a nonprofit

The plan prices are Squarespace’s US list prices. Squarespace shows local prices outside the United States, so we read these on a US copy of its pricing page, and the Basic and Core figures match what we recorded on 27 October. The fee and processing columns come from Squarespace’s transaction fees article. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial.

The discount is the NONPROFIT code, which Squarespace’s own guide to building a nonprofit site describes as “a 10% discount off your first payment.” On an annual Core plan that is about $35 off the first year. Squarespace does not ask for proof of charitable status to use it. Third-party articles describing an ongoing nonprofit rate at Squarespace are wrong, and our nonprofit software discounts guide explains how to check any such claim at source.

The 2% that decides the plan

Squarespace charges its own transaction fee on donations as well as sales. The Donation blocks article says transaction fees apply to donations, and the fee is 2% on Basic and 0% on Core, Plus and Advanced. Card processing comes on top on every plan, at 2.9% plus $0.30 a gift on Basic and Core through Squarespace Payments.

That makes the comparison simple. Core costs $120 a year more than Basic on annual billing. Basic’s 2% fee costs more than that once your online gifts pass $6,000 a year. Above that line, Core is the cheaper plan even before you count its extra features.

What a year really costs, plan plus fees

Our arithmetic: annual plan price, plus Squarespace’s transaction fee, plus Squarespace Payments card processing at each plan’s standard rate, assuming an average online gift of $50 on US cards. American Express and other premium cards cost 3.2% plus $0.30, and international cards 1.5% more. ACH bank payments cost 1%, or 1.5% on Basic, which suits large gifts.

Three things stand out. Under about $6,000 a year, Basic is cheapest. From there to six figures, Core wins, because Plus saves 0.2% on processing for $240 more a year, which only pays back above $120,000 of gifts. And Advanced only beats Core above roughly $210,000 a year. Most small nonprofits should be on Core, billed annually. The “cover the fees” option, which asks donors to add a percentage to offset fees, can recover much of the processing cost on any plan.

How donations work on Squarespace

You add a Donation block to a page and connect Squarespace Payments, Stripe or PayPal. Each donation fund has its own suggested amounts and a disclaimer field shown beneath the donate button, and you can run up to 100 funds, which is enough to separate restricted appeals.

Two of those limits matter more than they look. Recurring gifts need Stripe or Squarespace Payments and customer accounts, so a site built on PayPal cannot take monthly donations at all, and monthly donors are the ones who stay, as our donor retention guide shows. And no anonymous option exists, which some major donors will want.

Squarespace also warns, on its donations page, that donations merchants on Stripe or Squarespace Payments “may receive additional scrutiny” during onboarding, and may be asked for documents showing the funds are for a legitimate purpose. Have your EIN and determination letter ready before a campaign launch, not on the day.

Receipts: the gap to close yourself

Squarespace emails you and the donor after every gift. Its Managing donations article lists what the email contains: amount, date, fund, donor name and billing address, order number and payment type. Nothing in Squarespace’s help pages calls that a tax receipt.

The IRS rule is specific. For any single gift of $250 or more, the donor needs a written acknowledgment showing your organization’s name, the amount, and a statement that you provided no goods or services, or a description and good-faith value of any you did. Squarespace’s email does not include that statement by default. Put it in each fund’s disclaimer, and send a proper acknowledgment from your CRM or by hand. Our donation receipt template has the exact wording, and a thank-you letter can carry it.

Refunds: the help centre disagrees with itself

Squarespace’s Managing donations article says refunding a donation “won’t refund” the processing fee or the Squarespace transaction fee. Its transaction fees article says the transaction fee is refunded on plans that charge one, and that the processing rate is not. On Core and above there is no transaction fee to argue about. On Basic, assume you lose both fees on a refunded gift until Squarespace confirms otherwise, and remember that refunding a recurring gift does not cancel the future ones.

Setting it up, in order

Most of the problems above are settled by choices made in the first hour. Do them in this order.

1. Pick Core and pay annually, with the code. The NONPROFIT code takes 10% off the first payment, so it is worth $34.80 on an annual Core plan and $3.90 on a monthly one. Annual billing is also what unlocks the free first-year domain.
2. Connect Squarespace Payments or Stripe, not only PayPal. Recurring gifts are impossible without one of them. You can offer PayPal as well, but not instead.
3. Turn on customer accounts before you build the donation page, because recurring gifts need them and donors can then save their card for the next gift.
4. Create one fund per appeal. A general fund plus one for each restricted purpose keeps the money separate from the first gift, which your accountant and any grant report will need.
5. Write the disclaimer for every fund. Your legal name, EIN, and the sentence that no goods or services were provided in return, so the automatic email is at least close to a usable acknowledgment.
6. Decide on “cover the fees”. It is preselected for donors, who can untick it, so leaving it on costs you nothing and offsets part of every fee.
7. Set up the export. On Core, send new gifts to a Google Drive spreadsheet; on Basic, put a monthly CSV download in someone’s calendar.
8. Make a real test gift once payments are live, and refund it, so you see exactly what the donor receives and what the refund costs.

Then gather the documents Squarespace may ask for during payment onboarding: the IRS determination letter, the EIN confirmation and a board-approved description of what the money is for. Asking for gifts before verification clears risks a frozen first appeal.

What is not in the plan price

The domain after year one. A free custom domain for the first year comes only with an annual plan, in the lowest price tier, which includes .com. Monthly billing does not qualify. After the first year it renews at the standard rate for that ending, and cancelling the annual plan during the free year means paying for the domain.

Email campaigns. Squarespace Email Campaigns is a separate subscription priced by sends, and the smallest tier keeps the “Powered by Squarespace” line. Compare it against dedicated tools in our nonprofit email marketing software guide, several of which have nonprofit discounts that Squarespace does not.

Scheduling and email accounts. Acuity Scheduling is a separate product with its own plans. Core and above list professional email from Google Workspace among their features, though a nonprofit can usually get Google Workspace free anyway.

A donor database. Squarespace records donations, but it is not a CRM. Export the CSV regularly, or on Core use the Google Drive export, and keep donors in a proper nonprofit CRM.

If price matters most, Wix offers eligible charities 70% off two years through TechSoup and takes no fee of its own on donations: see Wix for nonprofits.

When Squarespace is the wrong choice

Squarespace suits a small organization that wants a polished site with simple giving and nobody to maintain plugins. It is the wrong choice if you need anonymous gifts, peer-to-peer fundraising, event ticketing with tax-deductible portions, or recurring gifts through PayPal. For those, a dedicated platform from our fundraising software guide, embedded or linked from the site, does more, and several charge nothing to the nonprofit. Our nonprofit website builders guide compares Squarespace with WordPress and the nonprofit-specific builders on total first-year cost, and payment apps for nonprofits covers the processors.

Squarespace has no commercial relationship with this site, and we take no referral fees. Prices change, and Squarespace shows different prices by country, so check the pricing page before you buy. Other tools in the same position are covered in our guides to Slack, Adobe and password managers for nonprofits.

Questions people ask

Does Squarespace have a nonprofit discount?

Only a small one. Squarespace's guide to building a nonprofit site says to enter the code NONPROFIT at checkout for 10% off your first payment. It applies once, with no verification. Its help centre says transaction fees are not discounted for nonprofits.

How much does Squarespace cost for a nonprofit?

The same as for anyone. US list prices are $19, $29, $49 and $99 a month billed annually for Basic, Core, Plus and Advanced, or $25, $39, $65 and $139 billed monthly. The NONPROFIT code takes 10% off the first payment.

Does Squarespace charge fees on donations?

On Basic, yes: 2% of every donation, plus card processing. Core, Plus and Advanced charge no Squarespace transaction fee on donations. Card processing through Squarespace Payments is 2.9% plus $0.30 on Basic and Core, 2.7% on Plus and 2.5% on Advanced, each plus $0.30.

Which Squarespace plan is best for a nonprofit?

Core, billed annually, for most. It costs $120 a year more than Basic but drops the 2% donation fee, so it is cheaper once online gifts pass about $6,000 a year. Plus and Advanced only pay for themselves at six-figure online giving.

Can Squarespace take recurring donations?

Yes, weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually, but only with Stripe or Squarespace Payments connected and customer accounts turned on. PayPal cannot take recurring donations on Squarespace, and donors cannot use Apple Pay for them.

Does Squarespace send tax receipts for donations?

It emails the donor a confirmation with the amount, date, fund and payment details, but it does not add the IRS statement about goods or services that gifts of $250 or more need. Add it to each fund's disclaimer and send your own acknowledgment.

Can donors give anonymously on Squarespace?

No. Squarespace's Donation blocks article says it is not possible for someone to hide their name at checkout. If anonymous giving matters, use a dedicated donation platform alongside the site.

Is the Squarespace domain free for nonprofits?

For the first year only, and only on an annual plan, for a domain in the lowest price tier such as .com. Monthly plans do not qualify. After a year it renews at the standard rate.

This is reference information, not legal or tax advice. Rules vary by state and change over time. For a decision that carries real consequences, check the current text at irs.gov or your state registry, and talk to a nonprofit attorney or CPA.