Is Cardel an alternative to Patreon or Squarespace?

Cardel is a home for your craft: a site of your own with a blog, newsletter, shop, community, and one inbox. It can replace Patreon or Squarespace when you want your work, audience, and sales in one place. The feature list on this page shows where Patreon and Squarespace are marked.

Can I use Cardel with Patreon or Squarespace?

Yes. Cardel pages can link out to other products, so you can keep Patreon or Squarespace for what it does best and bring the rest of your work to Cardel.

How much does Cardel cost compared with Patreon and Squarespace?

You don't pay for Cardel until you publish. Choose Starter, Pro, or Studio when your site goes live. Patreon and Squarespace set their own prices, so check their pricing pages on this page for current plans.

How do I switch from Patreon or Squarespace to Cardel?

Start with Build Your Site, set up your home, and bring your work over at your own pace. You do not have to move everything on day one.

Compare

PatreonvsSquarespace

Patreon lets fans fund you monthly for members-only posts, chats, and shop items. Squarespace builds sites with commerce, scheduling, and email as add-ons.

Compare Pricing Compare Features

How Patreon and Squarespace compare

Patreon turned fans into patrons. Membership tiers, members-only posts, community chats, a shop for one-off items, and native podcast and video delivery give creators steady income from the people who care most. It is the default word for creator memberships, and the tools have grown up with it.

Squarespace makes sites that look finished. Award-winning templates, a fluid editor, commerce, scheduling through Acuity, email campaigns, and member areas mean a designer or small business can build almost anything in one account. It is polished, dependable, and deservedly popular with people who care how things look.

Where they are different

Patreon

Patreon lives at patreon.com/yourname and gates most content.
Patreon takes a percentage of membership revenue.
Patreon messages patrons in-app.

Squarespace

Squarespace sells pieces separately: commerce tiers, scheduling seats, email campaign plans.
Squarespace email is outbound.
Squarespace has comments on the blog.

Choose Patreon when recurring fan support with tiers and members-only perks is the model.

Choose Squarespace when design flexibility and a huge template library matter most and you are happy adding modules as you grow.

Compare features

What's on Patreon and Squarespace

A check means that capability is available. Patreon and Squarespace are marked only when the offer is comparable, not the same product.

Site and brand

Workspace site
Patreon: Not included
Squarespace: Included
Custom domain
Patreon: Not included
Squarespace: Included

Public content

Blog
Patreon: Not included
Squarespace: Included
Reader engagement
Patreon: Not included
Squarespace: Included
Shop pages
Patreon: Included
Squarespace: Included

Audience and email

Audience
Patreon: Included
Squarespace: Included
Marketing emails
Patreon: Included
Squarespace: Included
Campaign workflows
Patreon: Not included
Squarespace: Included

Messaging

Built-in chat
Patreon: Included
Squarespace: Not included

Commerce

Shop payments
Patreon: Included
Squarespace: Included
Orders and fulfillment
Patreon: Included
Squarespace: Included
Scheduling and bookingsLink to external scheduling available on Starter.
Patreon: Not included
Squarespace: Included

Team

Admin users
Patreon: Included
Squarespace: Included
Per-admin permissions
Patreon: Included
Squarespace: Included
AI Assistant
Patreon: Not included
Squarespace: Included

Feature comparison for Patreon and Squarespace
Feature	Patreon	Squarespace
Site and brand
Workspace site	Not included	Included
Custom domain	Not included	Included
Public content
Blog	Not included	Included
Reader engagement	Not included	Included
Shop pages	Included	Included
Audience and email
Audience	Included	Included
Marketing emails	Included	Included
Campaign workflows	Not included	Included
Messaging
Built-in chat	Included	Not included
Commerce
Shop payments	Included	Included
Orders and fulfillment	Included	Included
Scheduling and bookingsLink to external scheduling available on Starter.	Not included	Included
Team
Admin users	Included	Included
Per-admin permissions	Included	Included
AI Assistant	Not included	Included

* Note: This table does not capture every feature of Patreon or Squarespace, and is not intended as a comprehensive list. We keep this page current, but Patreon or Squarespace may add or remove features that are not shown here.