How to Choose The Right Applet Studio Website Design Package
Everything you need to know about our 2026 design packages
You’ve decided to create a new website for your business — congratulations. Choosing Squarespace is a smart move. It combines ease of use with robust functionality in a way that’s difficult to achieve with platforms like WordPress without significant technical expertise. For most business owners, Squarespace offers the right balance of flexibility, stability, and long-term manageability.
Before choosing a design service, it’s important to get clear on your goals. There are three key questions worth thinking through. First, what is your current launch goal? Are you trying to get something live quickly, or are you preparing for a more strategic relaunch? Second, how prepared is your marketing and copywriting? Do you already have clear messaging, or are you still figuring things out? And third, what kind of impact are you expecting from working with a web design studio — and how hands-on do you want to be in the process?
Based on these questions, Applet Studio currently offers four website design paths:
The New Site option is designed for new businesses that don’t yet have a website and are comfortable building their presence using a thoughtfully designed template.
The Existing Site option is for established businesses that already have a Squarespace ,Wordpress or Wix site but are upgrading from an older version or need a website that better supports their current marketing goals.
The Premium Site option is template-based but allows for a more elevated, custom-feeling experience — ideal for businesses ready to invest in a more polished and professional client journey.
Finally, for businesses with highly specific needs, we also offer fully custom websites, built entirely from the ground up.
In this article, I’ll walk you through the differences between each option so you can choose the approach that best supports your business right now — without overpaying or overcomplicating the process.
New Site ($799)
For businesses starting from scratch
The New Site package is designed for new businesses that don’t have a website yet and are still figuring out their marketing and messaging. If you’re starting from zero and want to avoid the overwhelm of DIY, this is an affordable way to launch quickly with professional guidance and a proven structure.
We create your website using one of Applet Studio’s premium Squarespace templates, then customize it based on your questionnaire and business niche. This includes adapting the layout, adding additional sections where needed, and styling the template so it supports your content and goals. The focus here is speed, clarity, and getting you live without unnecessary complexity.
You’ll provide a completed questionnaire and, if available, your brand photography. If you don’t yet have photos, we’ll curate imagery that aligns with your desired look and feel. This package also includes light branding: we apply your preferred colors and fonts and create a clean, typographic logo based on your business name.
A key part of this package is hands-on support. You’ll get access to our copywriting guide, along with a two-hour screen-sharing work session where we walk you through the website, help you populate it with your copy, and explain the marketing structure behind the layout. We’ll also take care of final technical details, such as connecting your domain and setting up Google Analytics, so you can confidently launch your site and continue editing it on your own.
Existing Site ($1,499)
For businesses ready to upgrade without going fully custom
The Existing Site package is designed for emerging or established businesses that already have a multi-page Squarespace, Wordpress or Wix website. Your site is working — it’s generating traffic and leads — but the design feels outdated, misaligned, or no longer reflects where your business is today. You want a professional upgrade without rebuilding everything yourself or investing in a fully custom website and brand.
Because most businesses can’t afford downtime, we start by creating a staging site. This allows us to redesign your website behind the scenes while your current site stays live. We apply a new premium template and carefully repopulate it with your existing copy and images, adjusting layouts so your content flows naturally within the new structure. Your branding is applied in a considered, restrained way so it complements the template rather than fighting against it.
This package includes typography design and content restructuring, informed by our experience with conversion-focused layouts. We rebuild your pages on the new template — up to five pages are included — and handle seamless blog migration so nothing is lost in the process. The result is a smoother, more modern website that feels intentional and aligned, without the stress or disruption of a full custom build.
To get started, we’ll need your completed questionnaire with design and brand preferences, along with access to your existing Squarespace site. From there, we take care of the rest and guide you through a low-stress, well-structured upgrade.
Premium Site ($2,999)
For businesses that want more than a template, without going fully custom
The Premium Site package is designed for businesses that are ready for something more elevated than a standard template setup, but aren’t yet ready to invest in fully custom branding, copywriting, and strategy. You want your website to feel more intentional, more refined, and more unique — while still keeping the process efficient and the launch seamless.
With this option, we start with one of Applet Studio’s premium Squarespace templates, but go significantly further. We design a fully custom homepage, create custom hero sections for all key pages, and build additional custom sections tailored to your business and content. This gives you the strategic clarity and visual impact of a custom site, paired with the stability and simplicity of a template-based foundation.
This package includes light branding strategy, Figma prototyping, custom typography and color refinement, content migration (up to the limits outlined in the package), marketing tools setup, and a guided launch process. You get a thoughtful balance of structure and flexibility — enough customization to feel distinctive and professional, without the timeline and investment of a fully custom build.
The Premium Site package is ideal for established businesses that are upgrading their Squarespace presence, want a more custom client experience, and are ready to invest in a higher level of design — just not a ground-up custom website yet.
Fully Custom Site ($5,999+)
A strategic, one-of-a-kind build
The Fully Custom Site is our most robust offering and is designed for businesses whose needs go beyond what even our premium templates can support. This option is for clients who are ready to invest in a fully tailored website experience — one that combines deep marketing strategy, custom branding, and a truly unique Squarespace build.
We begin with research. Our team takes the time to study your niche, audience, and competitive landscape, then develops a custom copywriting and messaging strategy designed to support your specific business goals. Before any visual design is created, we build a black-and-white website prototype to establish structure, hierarchy, and flow. This ensures the site works strategically before it is styled visually.
Branding is developed from the ground up and includes creative direction, mood boarding, logo design, typography and color systems, and photography direction — including AI-assisted photoshoot planning when needed. Brand strategy elements such as messaging, customer avatars, and offer positioning are developed alongside the visuals, so the website reflects not just how your brand looks, but how it communicates and converts.
Throughout the process, you work closely with Applet Studio’s Creative Director, Olga, in a highly collaborative and personalized engagement. This is more than a design package — it’s a blend of marketing strategy, visual identity, and custom web development. Deliverables include Figma prototyping with multiple iterations, professional copywriting, a fully custom Squarespace website, custom development, and unique features that go beyond standard Squarespace functionality.
This package is best suited for businesses seeking a long-term foundation for growth and a website that is truly one of a kind.
Applet Studio Website Design Options — at a glance
New Site — For new businesses that don’t have a website yet; includes a premium Squarespace template, light branding, hands-on setup support, and a fast, guided launch.
Existing Site — For established businesses upgrading an older site; includes a new template, content and blog migration, typography and layout refinement, and a no-downtime redesign using a staging site.
Premium Site — For businesses that want more than a template without going fully custom; includes a custom homepage, custom hero sections, light branding strategy, Figma prototyping, and a polished, elevated launch.
Fully Custom Site — For businesses with complex needs and ambitious goals; includes custom branding and copywriting strategy, deep research, multiple design iterations, custom Squarespace development, and a one-of-a-kind website built from the ground up.
Why Applet Studio
Olga Kolgusheva, Applet Studio founder
Applet Studio has been a dedicated Squarespace provider for over six years. During that time, we’ve helped design and launch more than 2,000 websites, including 100+ fully custom builds for businesses at different stages of growth. This depth of experience allows us to offer clear, structured options instead of one-size-fits-all solutions.
The studio is led by Olga Kogusheva, a former journalist, marketing strategist, and designer. Our team is distributed between the United States and Europe and includes designers, copywriters, and digital strategists who work closely together across disciplines.
What sets Applet Studio apart is our approach to web design. We don’t treat design as decoration. Instead, design is a container for your marketing goals — supporting your messaging, offers, and client journey. Every package we offer is built around a thoughtful, repeatable process that has been refined through years of real-world client work.
Whether you’re launching your first site, upgrading an existing one, or investing in a fully custom build, you’re not just getting a website — you’re getting a process that’s designed to help your business move forward with clarity and confidence.
A final note
One of the biggest mistakes we see business owners make is choosing a website package that doesn’t match where they actually are. Too simple, and the site holds you back. Too complex, and it becomes expensive, overwhelming, and hard to maintain. The goal isn’t to get the biggest website — it’s to get the right one for this stage of your business. That’s exactly why these options exist.
