Steps and limits verified on October 19, 2026 from Squarespace Help and Cloudflare's docs. Links are at the bottom.
How do I move a Squarespace site to Cloudflare?
It depends on what you want to move. Hosting and domain registration are separate jobs. Rebuild the live pages as HTML, CSS and images, host them on Cloudflare Pages, point the domain, and cancel the Squarespace website subscription last. Transferring the domain to Cloudflare Registrar is optional. This works for a simple site of about 10 pages. If you take payments, have member logins or customers book through Squarespace scheduling, staying on Squarespace is usually the better choice.
Moving a Squarespace site to Cloudflare is two jobs. Hosting is where the pages live. Registration is which company the domain is registered with. You can do one and skip the other.
Cloudflare Pages hosts the files. The domain can stay at Squarespace, or you can transfer the registration to Cloudflare Registrar later. Pointing the domain at Pages does not transfer it. Transferring it does not move the site, and it does not cancel the Squarespace website.
This guide is for a simple site: a portfolio, a landing page, or a brochure site of about 10 pages.
Squarespace Basic is $19 a month on annual billing, which is $228 a year, or $25 a month if you pay monthly. Other plans, when the charge hits, and the refund rules are on the Squarespace renewal cost page. Run your plan in the renewal savings calculator.
Step 1: Get the site out of Squarespace
Squarespace's export is not a site you can upload. From Export your site content: "You can export certain content from your Squarespace site into an .xml file." That file "can only be in a WordPress format." Squarespace also says: "Many features rely on our platform's JavaScript and CSS, so some content doesn't export."
What does not export:
- Album, cover, index, info, calendar, portfolio, and store pages
- Content in page-specific headers, footers, and sidebars
- Any blog past the first one. "Only one blog page exports."
- Dropdowns, audio blocks, product blocks, and video blocks
- Drafts, style settings, and custom CSS
Products, form submissions, contacts, Email Campaigns mailing lists, images, files, and DNS records are separate from this XML. How to export each one, and the order for canceling, is in How to leave Squarespace.
Rebuild the live pages as HTML, CSS, and images while Squarespace is still online. Do that yourself with an AI assistant, or have Eject do it. Host that folder.
Step 2: Put the files on Cloudflare Pages
pages.cloudflare.com says: "All plans come with unlimited sites, seats, requests, and bandwidth." Builds, files, and custom domains are still capped on the Free plan. Pick the upload path before the first deploy.
| Method | What you can upload | File cap | Per file |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drag and drop | A zip file or a single folder | 1,000 files | 25 MiB |
| Wrangler | A single folder. A zip is not supported. | 20,000 files | 25 MiB |
Drag and drop and Wrangler are Direct Upload. Git is the other path, for deploys that should come from a repository. From the Direct Upload docs: "If you choose Direct Upload, you cannot switch to Git integration later."
Free plan limits, from Pages limits:
| Limit | Free plan |
|---|---|
| Builds per month | 500 |
| Builds at a time | 1 |
| Custom domains per project | 100 |
| Files | Up to 20,000 |
| Largest single asset | 25 MiB |
Check the pages.dev URL before you change DNS.
Step 3: Point the domain
Who the domain is registered with does not change here. From Cloudflare's custom domains doc:
- Apex (example.com). "You will need to add your site as a Cloudflare zone and configure your nameservers."
- Subdomain. The site does not have to be a Cloudflare zone. Add a CNAME to
<YOUR_SITE>.pages.dev.
Add the hostname on the project first: Pages > Custom domains > Set up a domain. A CNAME added by hand before that returns a 522 error.
For the apex, set nameservers in Squarespace. Path from Review, change, or reset your domain's nameservers: domains dashboard, the domain, DNS, Domain Nameservers, Use Custom Nameservers. Use at least 2 and at most 13. "It can take up to 48 hours for the nameservers to start working properly."
Squarespace states what that save does:
- "Your domain will disconnect from your site."
- Records in Squarespace DNS "won't apply to the domain." Re-add custom records at Cloudflare, "like MX or DKIM records controlling custom email."
- "PayPal Payment Links won't work."
A subdomain CNAME does not do this. Squarespace DNS still applies, and the apex can keep showing the Squarespace site.
Before you save nameservers: screenshot every DNS record, disable DNSSEC, and wait at least 24 hours. Cloudflare says to disable DNSSEC at the current registrar before the nameserver change. Squarespace prompts you to disable it on that screen. You cannot enable or disable DNSSEC during a pending transfer, so turn it off before any transfer. Add MX and DKIM on the Cloudflare zone before the cutover. If Google Workspace is attached, adjust MX there. You keep managing Google Workspace through Squarespace unless you cancel it.
The zone usually becomes Active in minutes, and it can take up to 24 hours. Active is required for a registrar transfer, not for a subdomain CNAME.
Step 4: Transfer the registration (optional)
Skip this if the domain should stay registered at Squarespace. "Cloudflare domains are at-cost with no markup fees." The registrar product page says registration, transfer, and renewal prices "are always at or below what registries and ICANN charge us." "Most transfers include a one-year extension from your current expiration date." A Squarespace free domain offer "doesn't carry over to the new provider."
What a .com costs to renew at Squarespace, Wix, Webflow, and Framer, and how the at-cost sum is built, is in Domain renewal cost.
Transfer your domain to Cloudflare will not take an auth code until the zone is Active. Also:
- DNSSEC has been off for at least 24 hours before the nameserver change
- Registered at least 60 days ago, and not transferred in the last 60 days (ICANN)
- No change to the registrant name, organization, or email in the last 60 days
- The account is active and the domain is not expired
In Squarespace, from Transferring a domain away from Squarespace: open the domain, switch Domain Lock off, and request the transfer code. Squarespace asks for your password or 2FA again. The code goes to the registrant contact from no-reply@squarespace.com, subject "Auth code for [yourdomain.com]", and it "should be received within 24 hours."
| Clock | What the source says |
|---|---|
| Hands-on time at Cloudflare | About 30 minutes |
| Zone becomes Active | Usually minutes, up to 24 hours |
| After DNSSEC is disabled | At least 24 hours before nameservers change |
| Nameservers start working | Up to 48 hours (Squarespace) |
| Auth code email | Within 24 hours |
| Most registrars | Approve within 5 business days |
| Squarespace Domains LLC or Squarespace Domains II LLC | Up to 5 days to reject by email. No action, and the transfer proceeds after that grace period. |
| Cloudflare's total | Up to 10 days, depending on your registrar |
| Squarespace's total | Up to 15 days |
After the transfer you can turn DNSSEC back on at Cloudflare. Squarespace says a transfer "doesn't move your site hosting to your new provider or cancel your current Squarespace site." If you are leaving entirely, "cancel your website subscription after transferring your domain."
Step 5: Cancel the website subscription last
Cancel the website plan after the domain already serves Pages. From Cancel your website subscription: a "Website expired" message appears when someone visits from any of your domains, so the domain has to point at Cloudflare first. Outside the refund window, "your site stays online until your billing cycle ends." The refund window itself is on the renewal cost page. "Your domain subscription stays active. You can keep your domain registered through your account, manage its DNS settings, or transfer it to a different host."
Safe order
| What | Where | When |
|---|---|---|
| Rebuild the live pages as files | Your computer, an AI assistant, or Eject | Before any DNS change |
| Upload and read the pages.dev URL | Cloudflare Pages | Before the domain points at Pages |
| Save every DNS record | Squarespace DNS | Before nameservers change or a transfer starts |
| Disable DNSSEC | Squarespace | At least 24 hours before the nameserver change. Not during a pending transfer. |
| Add the hostname | Pages > Custom domains > Set up a domain | Before a CNAME you add by hand |
| Re-add MX and DKIM | Cloudflare DNS | Before nameservers finish propagating |
| Point the apex, or CNAME a subdomain | Squarespace nameservers, or a CNAME | After pages.dev looks right |
| Transfer the registration | Squarespace, then Cloudflare Registrar | Optional. Only after the zone is Active. |
| Cancel the website subscription | Squarespace Billing | Last. The domain subscription stays separate. |
What breaks
- Forms. The export is a partial WordPress file, and many features depend on Squarespace's own JavaScript and CSS. Rebuild each form and send a test before you switch.
- Google Workspace. Squarespace DNS stops applying after custom nameservers. Re-add MX and DKIM at Cloudflare. You still manage Google Workspace through Squarespace unless you cancel it.
- PayPal Payment Links. Squarespace says these "won't work" with custom nameservers.
- Commerce, member areas, and scheduling. Store pages and product blocks do not export. Pages does not run Squarespace commerce, member areas, or scheduling.
- Other DNS records. After the nameserver change they "won't apply." Copy them from the screenshot you took.
When to stay on Squarespace
- You take payment in Squarespace. Store pages and product blocks do not come with you.
- Members log in, or customers book through Squarespace scheduling.
- The pages are album, cover, index, portfolio, or calendar pages, and rebuilding them is not worth it.
- You edit in Squarespace every week and want that editor.
FAQ
Can I move a Squarespace site to Cloudflare without transferring the domain? Yes. Host the files on Cloudflare Pages and point the domain with nameservers (apex) or a CNAME (subdomain). Registration can stay at Squarespace. A transfer is optional and does not move the site.
What does a Squarespace export include? A WordPress .xml file of some content. Squarespace does not export album, cover, index, info, calendar, portfolio, or store pages, page-specific headers, footers, or sidebars, extra blog pages, dropdowns, audio, product, or video blocks, drafts, style settings, or custom CSS. Only one blog page exports.
How do I point a Squarespace domain at Cloudflare Pages? An apex domain needs a Cloudflare zone and custom nameservers in Squarespace (domains dashboard, the domain, DNS, Domain Nameservers, Use Custom Nameservers, between 2 and 13). The site disconnects, Squarespace DNS stops, and it can take 48 hours. Disable DNSSEC and re-add MX and DKIM first. A subdomain needs no zone: add it under Pages, Custom domains, Set up a domain, then add the CNAME. A CNAME added first returns a 522 error.
How do I transfer a Squarespace domain to Cloudflare? The zone must be Active, DNSSEC must have been off for 24 hours, and the domain must be 60 days old with no transfer or registrant name, organization, or email change in that time. The account must be active and not expired. Unlock the domain and use the auth code from no-reply@squarespace.com. Squarespace says a transfer can take up to 15 days. Cloudflare's active work is about 30 minutes, and the total is up to 10 days.
If I cancel Squarespace, does the domain cancel too? No. The domain subscription stays active, so you can keep it, manage DNS, or transfer it. Cancel the website last, after the domain points at Cloudflare Pages. Squarespace shows a Website expired message on the old Squarespace site, so point the domain first. Outside the refund window the site stays online until the billing cycle ends.
Sources (checked October 19, 2026)
- Squarespace, Export your site content: https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/206566687-Export-your-site-content
- Squarespace, Review, change, or reset your domain's nameservers: https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/4404183898125-Review-change-or-reset-your-domain-s-nameservers
- Squarespace, Transferring a domain away from Squarespace: https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/205812338-Transferring-a-domain-away-from-Squarespace
- Squarespace, Cancel your website subscription: https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/205810508-Cancel-your-website-subscription
- Squarespace pricing: https://www.squarespace.com/pricing
- Cloudflare Pages, Custom domains: https://developers.cloudflare.com/pages/configuration/custom-domains/
- Cloudflare Pages, Direct Upload: https://developers.cloudflare.com/pages/get-started/direct-upload/
- Cloudflare Pages, Limits: https://developers.cloudflare.com/pages/platform/limits/
- Cloudflare Pages: https://pages.cloudflare.com/
- Cloudflare Registrar, Transfer your domain to Cloudflare: https://developers.cloudflare.com/registrar/get-started/transfer-domain-to-cloudflare/
- Cloudflare Registrar (product page, redirects to https://www.cloudflare.com/domains/): https://www.cloudflare.com/products/registrar/
Squarespace and Cloudflare are trademarks of their owners. Eject is not affiliated with Squarespace or Cloudflare.
Where to go next
The automated move is a $99 one-time fee for a simple site of about 10 pages. Custom work has no public price. See renewal watch or contact us.