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How To Download A Squarespace Site To HTML For Self Hosting

If you love the simplicity of building on Squarespace but wish you could host your site anywhere, you’re not alone. Many creators and businesses reach a point where Squarespace hosting feels too expensive for their needs, or they simply want the control and flexibility that comes with static hosting. In this guide, you’ll learn exactly how to download a Squarespace site to HTML so you can self-host it—safely and efficiently—without sacrificing SEO.

Along the way, we’ll show you how to use ExFlow, a powerful Squarespace exporter and downloader that turns your live site into clean, static HTML, CSS, JS, and images you can deploy anywhere.

Why download a Squarespace site to HTML?

  • Cost savings: If Squarespace feels too expensive for your current stage, static hosting on S3, GitHub Pages, or your own server can be dramatically cheaper.
  • Flexibility and control: Host wherever you want, implement your own caching, CDNs, and CI/CD workflows.
  • Performance: Static HTML is fast by default, improving Core Web Vitals and SEO.
  • Portability: A static copy serves as a future-proof archive if you ever migrate to a Squarespace alternative.

SEO note: When migrating, preserve URLs, meta tags, canonical tags, and redirects to maintain rankings.

What you actually get with a static export

When you export a Squarespace site as static files, you’ll receive:

  • HTML pages for each crawled page
  • Associated CSS and JavaScript files
  • Images and other media assets

Limitations of static sites to plan for:

  • Forms and search: Replace with third-party form endpoints or a headless search service.
  • Commerce and memberships: Static copies won’t include server-side functionality. Consider linking to external checkout or using a lightweight storefront solution.

The fastest way: Use ExFlow (Squarespace Exporter & Downloader)

ExFlow.site is a tool purpose-built to export Squarespace and Webflow sites to static HTML. It crawls your site, collects assets, and packages everything into a ready-to-deploy bundle. You can also auto-sync to services like S3, Git, or FTP—or even host on ExFlow’s servers with unlimited bandwidth.

Key benefits:

  • One-click export: Download your Squarespace site to HTML quickly.
  • All core assets: HTML, CSS, JS, and media files included.
  • Full-site capture: Export all pages and collections that are publicly accessible.
  • Optional hosting: Self-host or let ExFlow host your static site and link a custom domain.
  • Sync options: Git, S3, and FTP for automated deployments.

Step-by-step: Download your Squarespace site with ExFlow

1) Visit the exporter

2) Enter your URL

  • Paste your live Squarespace domain or temporary domain.
  • If your site is password protected and you’re the owner, ExFlow can access it when you provide the password.

3) Configure export settings

  • Export CSS files
  • Export JS files
  • Export images/media
  • Export all pages so you don’t miss collection pages
  • Ensure pages export with .html extensions
  • Optionally add custom style.css and script.js to extend or override styles/scripts
  • Optional: Choose destination sync (Git, S3, or FTP) or built-in hosting

4) Start export

  • ExFlow crawls your site and assembles a clean static bundle. When finished, download the ZIP or let ExFlow auto-sync to your selected destination.

5) Validate locally

  • Unzip and open index.html in your browser. Click through pages, images, and menus.
  • Check canonical tags, title tags, meta descriptions, and open graph tags.

6) Deploy anywhere

  • Use one of the hosting paths below to ship your static site live.

4k isometric, hyperreal scene of a calm studio desk where a living, glowing website gently unzips into neat folders labeled HTML, CSS, JS, and IMAGES; a tiny papercraft city made of angle brackets and curly braces rises from the desk; soft morning light, micro-textures on paper, shallow depth of field, floating dust motes, tranquil pastel palette, subtle bokeh, cinematic composition, photoreal details

Screenshot of ExFlow export configuration for a Squarespace to HTML download

Hosting options for your self-hosted Squarespace site

You have several reliable and affordable paths. Choose the one that best fits your workflow.

1) Host directly on ExFlow

  • The simplest route: choose Hosting during export.
  • ExFlow hosts your static site with unlimited bandwidth.
  • Link your custom domain for a professional, branded URL.

Try it here: Host with ExFlow

2) Host on Amazon S3 (static site)

  • Create an S3 bucket matching your domain.
  • Enable static website hosting in the bucket settings.
  • Use ExFlow’s S3 Sync to push files directly to your bucket.
  • Point your DNS to CloudFront for global caching and HTTPS.

3) Host via Git + a static host (GitHub Pages, Netlify, Vercel)

  • Connect your Git repository in ExFlow and enable Git Sync.
  • Push your exported bundle on every update.
  • Deploy with:
    • GitHub Pages: great for simple sites.
    • Netlify or Vercel: automatic builds, previews, powerful CDNs and HTTPS.

4) Host on any server via FTP

  • Enter FTP credentials in ExFlow.
  • On export, ExFlow uploads your static bundle to your server.
  • Ensure the web root serves index.html at your domain.

Preserve SEO when moving from Squarespace to HTML

  • Keep your URLs: Maintain the same URL structure wherever possible.
  • Migrate metadata: Titles, meta descriptions, canonical tags, and Open Graph tags should remain intact.
  • 301 redirects: If any URLs change, map permanent redirects to avoid losing rankings.
  • Robots and sitemap: Include a robots.txt and generate a sitemap.xml for search engines.
  • Performance hygiene: Compress images, preload critical assets, and use a CDN.

Common questions (and quick answers)

  • Is this a good Squarespace alternative? If hosting costs or platform limits are your main pain points, a static export plus low-cost hosting is an effective Squarespace alternative for many brochure and content sites.
  • What breaks when I go static? Any server-side features like native forms, search, e-commerce checkout, or memberships. Replace forms with an endpoint service (e.g., Netlify Forms) and search with a lightweight JS solution or a SaaS index.
  • Can I update content later? Yes. Re-export with ExFlow whenever you change content in Squarespace and redeploy. Set up Git/S3/FTP Sync to automate releases.
  • Is this allowed? Always ensure you own or have rights to the content and that your usage complies with Squarespace’s terms and applicable laws.

Why ExFlow for downloading a Squarespace site

If you’re comparing tools, ExFlow stands out as a reliable Squarespace Downloader and Squarespace Exporter that helps you:

  • Download a Squarespace site to HTML, CSS, JS, and images.
  • Export all pages, including collection pages that are publicly reachable.
  • Sync to Git, S3, or FTP automatically, or use built-in hosting.
  • Scale with various plan options depending on your site size, export frequency, and integrations.

Start here: Download your Squarespace site with ExFlow

A quick checklist before you flip the switch

  • Replace forms with an external endpoint and update any form actions.
  • Audit navigation links to ensure they point to your new domain.
  • Set up HTTPS with your host or CDN.
  • Add 301 redirects for any changed URLs.
  • Generate and submit sitemap.xml to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
  • Monitor analytics after launch for crawl errors and broken links.

Final thoughts

If Squarespace is too expensive for your current needs or you simply want full control, converting your site to static HTML is a smart, scalable move. With ExFlow, you can download your Squarespace site, preserve your SEO, and deploy in minutes—whether you prefer ExFlow hosting, Amazon S3, GitHub Pages, Netlify, Vercel, or a classic FTP server. It’s the fastest path to a lean, fast, self-hosted site.

Get started now: ExFlow.site

Some images in this article were generated via AI tools and the article itself was proof-read with AI.

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