Website builder Squarespace is adding an extra string to its bow today with the launch of Squarespace Domains, a service that helps users procure more than 200 top-level domain (TLD) names from $20 to $70 a year.
Founded in 2004, Squarespace has built a solid reputation in the creative realm, with a DIY platform for building and hosting websites, alongside a content-management system (CMS) for bloggers. And from today, anyone can search for their preferred domain across a multitdue of TLDs, including .academy, .camera, .pizza, .plumbing, and more.
Squarespace is also touting WHOIS Privacy as a free addon to subscribers — this means that when you register a domain name, your personal details will automatically be hidden in the WHOIS public database, something which GoDaddy and other providers charge for. Other “perks” include a “beautiful ad-free parking page,” and it will soon offer SSL certificates and free domain-name transfers.
Above: Squarespace Parking Page
This puts Squarespace up against some major competitors, including oldies such as GoDaddy, as well as relative newcomers such as Google which offers a similar service in the U.S. In many ways, it’s surprising the New York-based company has hitherto not offered domain-name registration as part of its package, though historically the company has offered a free domain as part of a Squarespace annual subscription. It certainly makes sense — rather than someone having to mess around with different vendors, they can now do everything from within the one Squarespace platform.