Best Website Platforms for Coaches: Paperbell vs. Squarespace
If you're a coach struggling to decide how to build your online presence, you're not alone. It can feel like a lot is at stake for managing your future business when, in reality, you just want to meet with people and help them! So, what do you do?
The short answer? It depends on what you need right now, what your preferences are in terms of design, and where you’re headed.
Below is an honest breakdown of two top options—Paperbell and Squarespace (with Acuity Scheduling)—so you can choose what works best for you.
Paperbell – $57/month
Best parts: It is all-inclusive, easy to use, is low-hassle, and has decent pricing. Great for newer coaches who want to keep it simple and focus on serving clients without worrying about design or tech. Great if you already have clients lined up and don’t need to sell or explain your services or describe too much of what your coaching is all about.
Downsides: This site will be far less effective in helping you gain new clients with whom you don’t already have an existing relationship. It’s more of a CRM for scheduling and invoicing rather than a landing page where new clients can discover you and learn more about what you offer.
If you decide to use Paperbell, you will need to find alternative ways or get creative about where you find your clients and how you will explain to them what your coaching business can do for them. Which, is totally an option (definitely will need to up your social media game!)
With Papberbell, you can’t blog or build an email newsletter list to offer your clients helpful tips, resources, or a podcast. It will be hard to find you online, and you can’t do much to boost your SEO with Paperbell.
With Paperbell, your design options are limited to this.
But it’s true—the design element isn’t so bad when you look at everything else you get! It truly is accessible in one easy-to-find place. You can sign up today and get three months free + an Expert Setup Call during your seven-day free trial.
✅ Paperbell–What’s Great:
All-in-one platform: scheduling, payments, client management, downloads, packages
Super easy to use and quick to set up
Low-maintenance, low-tech learning curve
❌ Paperbell–What’s Limiting:
Very limited design control (you can’t customize layout, page structure)
No custom domain (your URL is paperbell.com/your-name)
No blog, course hosting, or sales pages—just one coaching page
No room to scale if you plan to grow your digital presence
💬 A Note from Heidi:
They are clearly thinking about coaches' needs, and the platform keeps getting better. But I noticed some of their info on competitors (like Acuity) is misleading.
For example, Acuity does work beautifully with Squarespace and offers way more flexibility than Paperbell implies. Acuity does offer SMS text reminders, the option to purchase a package of sessions, and functions as a CRM when paired with Squarespace. Paperbell’s assessment is simply incorrect or, at best, outdated.
Summary: Paperbell is one flat rate for one flat set of features.
Squarespace + Acuity – Starts at $29/month
That’s $16 for a Basic Squarespace Membership and $12.80 for an Acuity Membership added on to Squarespace = $29/mo. See add-on options below.
Best for: Coaches who want more creative control, beautiful branding and design, and room to grow (courses, blogs, newsletters, etc.).
Acuity from within Squarespace functions as a powerful tool for scheduling, invoicing, purchasing a package of appointments, requesting intake forms, and more.
With Squarespace, your site can beautifully reflect your heart, communicate your vision, and evoke the essence of the hospitality, safety, and presence you desire to offer your clients.
Featured above are screenshots from a template that will soon be available in my template shop (coming soon!).
You can View the Demo Site Here → (password = password).
✅ Squarespace–What’s Great:
Highly customizable: you can design your site to reflect your brand perfectly
Custom domain (like www.yourname.com – usually $14/yr)
Custom email that matches your domain (first year free Google Workspace account with Squarespace, $6/yr/user after that.)
Expandable: add a blog, email list, store, podcast, online courses, and more
Fully integrated with Acuity Scheduling for booking, invoices, and client management.
20% discount code at Squarespace when you hire me to design and set up your site!
⚠️ Squarespace–What’s Involved:
Takes more time to set up compared to Paperbell
You may want expert help to get it looking and functioning how you want
📦 Helpful Add-Ons to Know About
🗓 Acuity Scheduling (within Squarespace):
Basic tier starts at $12.80/mo (w/ Squarespace plan)
Calendar for each team member, employee, or location
Calendar Syncing
Custom Payment Settings and Card Vaulting
Embeddable Scheduler
Customizable Scheduler
Automatic Reminder Emails
Time Zone Conversion for Clients
Integrations
Group Appointments, Classes or One-on-One Appointments
Discounts and Coupons
Advanced Reporting
Upgrade to $21.60/mo (w/ Squarespace plan) for:
SMS/Text reminders
Appointment bundles (e.g. packages of 6 or 12 sessions)
Gift Certificates, Memberships, or Subscriptions
Upgrade to $39.20/mo (w/ Squarespace plan) for:
Multiple Time Zones for multiple team members
Optional “Powered by” badge
HIPAA (BAA)– You can sign a BAA with Acuity Scheduling to help satisfy your requirements to be a HIPAA-compliant business, and also have your account marked as HIPAA-compliant to help ensure safe handling of data.
Custom API & CSS (Aka, we can design it to fit your branding even more than it already does.)
📝 Signing Contracts:
Acuity can include a checkbox for agreeing to your Terms & Conditions. This is legally binding and should work in most cases for most coaching/client relationships. However, if you are looking for something even more legally robust, you can add:
📧 Custom Email Domain:
1 year of Google Workspace is free with your Squarespace subscription
After that: $6/user/month for a branded email like you@yourdomain.com
💻 Video Conferencing
Acuity integrates with your favorite video tools:
Zoom — auto-generates a meeting link in confirmations. Zoom's free plan has a 40-minute limit on group calls. Pro plans start at $14.99/mo.
Google Meet — easy if you're using Google Workspace. Note: Google Meet is not HIPPA compliant.
CRM or Client Management Tools
Want to track more than appointments? You may want to consider a CRM.
Squarespace does offer a limited CRM that could work for some coaching businesses, especially an NFTC story work coaching business. You can use Squarespace (or any other free method of your choosing) to take notes on client meetings or track client progress.
I suggest you use your own personal favorite method, such as an actual notebook (!? 🤯), Google Docs, Google Sheets, Evernote, or Notion. If you’re wanting a more robust all-inclusive CRM, you might consider:
Notion — flexible and free for tracking client notes or goals
Airtable — spreadsheet-style database
HoneyBook — full-service CRMs with forms, contracts, and billing
Paperbell — yes, if you want a robust, all-inclusive CRM, this would be your best bet.
💁♀️ Want Some Help?
If you’re leaning toward Squarespace, there are several great templates out there to help you get started. But, if you don’t want to go it alone, I can jump in on a template you already purchased or build you a custom site from scratch, starting at $250 for a basic one-page site and going up to $750 for a 3-5 page site. See my pricing here.
Not tech-savvy? I offer ongoing support plans starting at $30/mo. I’ll help you manage your Squarespace site, keep things running smoothly, and make sure your design stays sharp and impactful.
My support would be in addition to the support that Squarespace already offers on its platform. This would be a personal and a “we’ve worked together before” kind of support.
With a support membership and custom design with Squarespace, you get:
Ongoing design and tech support
A beautiful, functional website that reflects your coaching brand
Peace of mind, knowing your platform can grow with you
Paperbell is a great “starter kit,” but Squarespace gives you the long-term flexibility to scale and evolve.
🔁 Quick Comparison Chart
| Feature | Paperbell | Squarespace + Acuity |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Cost | $57 | Starts at $28 |
| Setup Time | Very quick | Takes more effort |
| Design Flexibility | ❌ Very limited | ✅ Fully customizable |
| Custom Domain | ❌ paperbell.com/yourname | ✅ yourname.com |
| Blog & Courses | ❌ Not supported | ✅ Yes |
| Scheduling/CRM | ✅ Built-in | ✅ Acuity-integrated |
| Room to Grow | ❌ Limited | ✅ High growth potential |
Ready to Build a Coaching Website You Love?
Let’s build something meaningful together. To get started, fill out an interest form here or email me directly.
Check out my portfolio and template shop to see what’s possible.
