Website Platforms for Therapists: WordPress vs. Squarespace vs. Wix vs. Astro
Every comparison of website platforms treats this like a features decision. It isn't, not for you. You're choosing how much of your week goes to fighting your own website instead of seeing clients — and how exposed you are if something on that site ever goes wrong.
None of the four platforms below are "HIPAA compliant" in any certified sense. No website platform is. That's a claim to be suspicious of if anyone makes it to you. What differs between them is how easy it is to build something HIPAA-conscious, and how much ongoing risk the platform itself introduces.
Four Platforms, Scored Honestly
| WordPress | Squarespace | Wix |
Astro
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIPAA posture | Depends entirely on plugins and who configured them. Real risk if a plugin adds a chat widget or analytics script that logs form data insecurely. | Locked-down template environment reduces some risk, but you have limited control over what third-party scripts run. | Similar to Squarespace — closed system, limited configuration control. | Built from scratch with nothing running that you didn't put there. No plugin ecosystem to introduce silent risk. |
| Maintenance burden | Ongoing — plugin updates, security patches, the occasional "an update broke something" call. | Low — Squarespace handles the platform, but you're limited to what their editor allows. | Low, same tradeoff as Squarespace. | Near zero. No plugins to update, no patch treadmill. |
| True 3-year cost | Hosting + premium plugins + theme + the hours spent maintaining it, which are real even if they're not itemized on an invoice. | Predictable monthly fee, but you're renting — nothing to show for it if you leave. | Similar to Squarespace. | One build cost, then near-zero ongoing platform cost. You own the code outright. |
| Editing experience | Full control, but the learning curve is real for a non-technical owner. | Genuinely easy for a non-technical owner to edit text and images. | Similarly easy, drag-and-drop. | Built for the owner to touch only what they actually need to touch — everything else is handled. |
| Ownership if you leave your designer | Full ownership — it's your WordPress install, take it anywhere. | You don't own anything portable. Leaving means rebuilding from zero on a new platform. | Same as Squarespace — no portability. | Full ownership of the actual code, plus a handoff document so any developer can pick it up. |
How to Do This Right, Regardless of What You Choose
If you take nothing else from this page, take this section — it applies no matter who builds your site.
No PHI ever touches your contact form. Name, email, phone, a general message field. Nothing that asks about symptoms, diagnoses, or treatment history. That information belongs in your practice management system, reached through a secure, separate booking link — never collected on the public site itself.
Telehealth booking routes through your EHR, not a generic scheduler bolted onto the site. A generic calendar tool wasn't built with clinical data handling in mind. Your practice management platform was.
Schema markup, done correctly, actually matters here. It's how Google understands that you're a licensed mental health professional, in a specific location, offering specific services — and it's a meaningful part of why some therapist sites show up in local search and others don't. More detail on the blog.
Testimonials need a real alternative, not a workaround. Most therapists can't legally or ethically use client testimonials the way other businesses do. Aggregated anonymous observations and clearly labeled fictional case studies do the same trust-building work without the risk. Full breakdown on the blog.
Where Astro Fits
We build on Astro, and it's fair to ask why, given the table above clearly shows WordPress, Squarespace, and Wix all have legitimate use cases.
Astro wins on three things that matter specifically to a therapist: nothing runs on your site that wasn't deliberately put there, which matters more when privacy is part of your professional obligation. There's no plugin-patch treadmill, which matters when your week is already full. And you get full portability — the code is yours, handed off with documentation, not rented from a platform you'd have to rebuild on if you ever left.
It's not right for everyone. If you want to open the editor yourself every week and move paragraphs around without ever calling anyone, Squarespace or Wix will feel more comfortable day to day. If you already have a developer relationship and want maximum flexibility, WordPress remains a legitimate, powerful choice in the right hands.
What isn't legitimate is a platform choice made because it's the default everyone else in your field happened to pick.