To extend a Squarespace trial, open the site’s dashboard and add /config/extendtrial to the end of the URL (so it reads https://your-site.squarespace.com/config/extendtrial; some guides write it /config/extend-trial, and both forms have been reported to work), press Enter, and the trial gains seven days on the spot. That is the same one-time, seven-day extension Squarespace offers by email when the 14-day trial ends, just reached directly. Beyond those seven days there are only two honest routes to more time: work with a Squarespace Circle member or Partner, whose trials run six to twelve months, or duplicate the site into a fresh trial and carry on there. Each is explained below, along with what a trial can and cannot do, and how to make the two weeks enough in the first place.
How long is the Squarespace trial?
Fourteen days from the day the site is created, with no card required. Squarespace’s trial extension guide states that a one-time seven-day extension is available, sent by email when the trial expires, and that Circle partners get longer trials. The expiry date is under Billing, Trial Subscriptions, Website, where it says “You have X days left in your free trial.” An expired trial site is not deleted straight away; the content stays for a period and comes back the moment the trial is extended or the site upgraded.
How do you extend a Squarespace trial?
| Method | Extra time | How | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The extend-trial URL | 7 days | Log in, open the site, append /config/extendtrial to the dashboard URL | Works before or after expiry; same extension as the email |
| The expiry email | 7 days, once | Search your inbox for “Your trial has expired. Need more time?” from customercare@squarespace.com and click Extend your trial by seven days | Check spam; the link is the official route |
| Ask Customer Support | Sometimes more, at their discretion | Help, Contact us, explain that the site is mid-build | No guarantee; polite and specific requests do best |
| Squarespace Circle member | Six-month trials on sites the member creates | A Circle member (a designer with three or more Squarespace sites) starts the trial or is invited as contributor | This is how designers build client sites over months |
| Squarespace Partner (Platinum) | Up to 12 months, with a first-year discount | Work with a Partner agency; the site is created under their programme | Only through an engagement with the partner |
| Duplicate the site | A fresh 14-day trial on the copy | Account dashboard, three dots on the site, Duplicate Website | Redo anything that did not copy before relying on it |
The URL trick is not a hack; it triggers the extension Squarespace offers everyone by email. Squarespace describes that extension as one-time, so do not plan on it working twice, even though some people report that it has. The duplicate route is the one to know: duplicating a Squarespace site takes a minute and produces a new trial with your work intact, at the cost of redoing anything that does not copy.
What can you do during the trial?
- Build everything: pages, styles, blog posts, products, forms, custom CSS. Nothing in the editor is locked.
- Preview on any device and share the built-in squarespace.com address, which shows a lock screen to visitors until you set a site-wide password or upgrade.
- Not connect a custom domain. Domains require a paid plan; the site is a subdomain until then.
- Not go public. Trial sites show a “coming soon” style screen; the hide-a-Squarespace-site-while-working post covers how that carries over into a paid site.
- Not take payments. Commerce test orders only.
How do you make 14 days enough?
- Write the content before starting the trial. Page copy, image selection and the page list done in a document; the trial then becomes assembly. How long a Squarespace site takes to build shows that content, not the editor, is where the weeks go.
- Pick the template on day one and do not switch; on 7.1 the template is only a starting layout anyway.
- Use saved sections and duplicate pages rather than rebuilding layouts.
- Leave the domain, email and shop settings for after upgrading; they need a paid plan and they do not expire.
- Upgrade when the site is 80 percent done. The remaining polish is easier on a live site, and the first month’s fee is cheaper than another fortnight of chasing extensions.
What happens when the trial expires?
The site becomes read-only and shows an expired notice when you open it; visitors to the subdomain see nothing. Squarespace keeps the site for a while (it does not publish the exact retention period, and the safe assumption is weeks rather than months), and upgrading or extending restores it as it was. If you built something you want to keep and are not ready to pay, use the seven days to export what you can: 7.1 has no full-site export, but blog posts export as an XML file under Settings, Import & Export, and pages can be copied by hand or duplicated into a new trial.
Should a designer extend the trial or start it under their account?
Under their own account, as a Circle member, then transfer ownership to the client at launch. The client gets months of build time, the designer works in one dashboard, and ownership transfer is a two-click step under Permissions & Ownership. That is how I run Squarespace design projects: the trial is opened on the first day of the project and the client is invited as an administrator, so they can watch it come together without either of us counting days. Giving a designer access to a Squarespace site covers the reverse case, where the client already started the trial.
Frequently asked questions
Open your site’s dashboard and add /config/extendtrial to the end of the URL, or click the Extend your trial link in the expiry email from Squarespace. Both give the same seven-day extension.
Not through the standard extension; it is one-time. For more time, ask support, work with a Circle member or Partner whose trials run six to twelve months, or duplicate the site into a new 14-day trial.
14 days, no card required, plus a one-time seven-day extension. Circle members get six-month trials and Platinum Partners can offer up to twelve months.
The site becomes read-only and hidden. Squarespace keeps it for a period and restores it when you extend or upgrade. Export blog posts under Settings, Import & Export if you want a copy before deciding.
Yes. In the account dashboard, click the three dots on the site and choose Duplicate Website. The copy starts a fresh 14-day trial with your pages, styles and content; domains, orders and contributors do not copy.
No. Connecting or registering a domain requires a paid plan. During the trial the site lives on a squarespace.com subdomain behind a lock screen.
