Is Squarespace 7.1 Going Away? What Forma Means for Your Website

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No, Squarespace 7.1 is not going away. Squarespace's new AI builder, Forma, is a separate early-stage product, and in the Circle Day keynote Squarespace said 7.1 has "a strong runway ahead" and that it will keep investing in it. If you have a 7.1 site, nothing changes today. If you are about to build one, 7.1 is still the right platform to build on.

That is the short answer. The longer one is below, because the question is a fair one. When Squarespace showed Forma at Circle Day 2026, a lot of designers in the room and watching online came away asking whether the platform they have built their businesses on was being quietly replaced. I run Altitude Design, a Squarespace Platinum Partner agency with more than 400 client builds, so I have a direct interest in the answer. Here is the evidence.

Why people are worried

At Circle Day on 21 October 2026, Squarespace introduced Forma, an AI builder that turns prompts into custom websites and apps without code. It is in beta and you can only join a waitlist for now.

The worry comes from the framing. A tool that builds sites from prompts, shown to a room of professional web designers, invites the question of what happens to the editor, the templates and the plugins that 7.1 sites rely on. Statements on stage are not the same as evidence, so below is what Squarespace said and what the evidence says.

The evidence that 7.1 is still being invested in

1. What Squarespace said in the Circle Day keynote

The Circle Day 2026 opening keynote is now on YouTube, and it is the clearest statement we have. Squarespace's president said of 7.1: "We still have a strong runway ahead of us and you should expect to see us to continue to invest to support the millions of customers that are in that environment." The product team then said they are "still investing very heavily in Squarespace 7.1" and spent most of the keynote demoing new 7.1 features:

• Stacks upgrades: solid colour, image and gradient backgrounds (Squarespace's first gradient fills, rolling out soon), whole-stack links and independent gap control.
• Block locking from the layers panel or right-click menu, and portrait video in the video block.
• A new custom code module that accepts React components, previews live in the editor and will come with a vibe coding agent.
• Drafts with autosave and version history, in development.

They also pointed out that everything announced at last year's Circle Day (animations, Stacks, the layers panel and the right-click menu) has shipped. You do not build a React code module and version history for a platform you are about to retire.

2. New 7.1 features ship every week

Squarespace sends Circle partners weekly release notes, and the weeks running up to Circle Day were full of 7.1 work:

• Video block styling (early October). On 7.1 sites, video blocks gained rounded container corners and customisable stroke weights.
• New product editor (early October). The commerce product editor was redesigned to match the site editor.
• Site styles code changes. Squarespace changed how styling data is structured to speed up page rendering and enable future improvements.
• Gallery block and Markdown block updates. Both are being reworked to support future improvements, with early access for Circle partners.
• Image Studio. AI image generation and editing inside the editor.
• Stacks. Stacks, which group blocks in Fluid Engine sections, now support background colours and images, according to Squarespace's help centre.

Nobody rebuilds a gallery block, redesigns a product editor and restructures style data on a platform they are about to retire.

3. Squarespace is still moving people onto 7.1

Squarespace's help article on moving from version 7.0 to 7.1 with the update tool was updated as recently as 15 October 2026. It says 7.1 is the most recent version and the one Squarespace's team ensures features work best on. Last year Squarespace also started giving Circle partners points for migrating client sites from 7.0 to 7.1. You do not pay people to migrate customers onto a platform you plan to drop.

4. Squarespace keeps old versions running for years

History is strong evidence too. According to Squarespace's own FAQ, three platforms are still in use today: version 5 (launched 2008), version 7.0 (2014) and version 7.1 (2020). Squarespace is even still updating custom code handling for text blocks on 7.0 sites. In the keynote, Squarespace described this as its third or fourth big platform change. Even if Forma eventually becomes Squarespace's main product, the track record suggests 7.1 sites would be supported for a very long time.

What Forma actually is, and why it is not 7.2

Forma is best understood as a new product alongside 7.1, not a new version of it. Squarespace's page describes it as an AI app builder for websites and apps, and it carries a beta label and a waitlist. In the keynote, Squarespace called it "AI native" and said Circle partners are "in the earliest part of the alpha", with things expected to break. There is no pricing, no documentation and no migration path from 7.1, because nothing has been announced that needs one.

Squarespace also already has an AI route into 7.1: Blueprint AI, which generates a normal 7.1 site you edit in the drag-and-drop editor. I have compared the two in Forma vs Blueprint AI.

What to do if you have a Squarespace 7.1 site

• Nothing urgent. Your site keeps working and your plan does not change.
• Check your custom code. This is the one genuinely time-sensitive item, and it has nothing to do with Forma. Squarespace is changing how Markdown blocks handle custom code, and plugin makers such as Redesignee report that scripts placed in Markdown blocks no longer run after the update. The Circle opt-out window for the change ends on Monday 26 October 2026. If you or a plugin put scripts in Markdown blocks, move them into Code blocks or code injection. Our guide to adding plugins to Squarespace shows the right places to put code.
• Keep a backup. Squarespace does not give you a full restorable backup of your site. Our guide on how to back up a Squarespace website covers what to save.

What to do if you are about to build a new site

Build on 7.1. Forma is a waitlist with no launch date and no published feature set, and a business website needs to go live, take enquiries and be easy to update now. Choosing an alpha product for a live business is a risk without a clear reward.

If you want a head start, a well-made premium template saves a lot of time. Our best Squarespace templates in 2026 guide picks the strongest options, and the template directory lets you filter by industry. If you want to compare platforms before you commit, see our honest comparisons of Squarespace vs Webflow, Squarespace vs Framer and Squarespace vs Wix vs WordPress.

What this means for web designers and agencies

At Altitude Design we are carrying on building client sites on 7.1, quoting as normal and not telling any client to wait. Here is how I am thinking about it:

• Sell the outcome, not the tool. Clients pay for a site that brings in business and that they can run themselves. That holds whatever the build tool is.
• Learn Forma when you can. Join the waitlist (see how to join) and test it on an internal project, so you can answer client questions from experience.
• Watch the handover question. The thing that makes Squarespace worth recommending is that non-technical clients can edit their own sites safely. Whether Forma keeps that is the detail I am waiting for most.

What would change my view

I will update this article if any of these happen, because each would be a real signal:

• Squarespace announces a migration path from 7.1 to Forma
• New templates stop being released for 7.1
• The weekly release notes stop including 7.1 editor features
• 7.1 plans change price or features to push people towards Forma

None of these have happened, and the Circle Day keynote pointed the other way. Until they do, 7.1 is the platform to build on.

Frequently asked questions

Is Squarespace 7.1 being discontinued?

No. There has been no announcement that 7.1 is being discontinued. At Circle Day 2026 Squarespace said 7.1 has a strong runway ahead and that it will keep investing in it, and it demoed several new 7.1 features. Forma, its new AI builder, is a separate early-stage product.

Is Forma Squarespace 7.2?

No. Forma is presented as a new AI builder for websites and apps, not a new version of the 7.1 platform, and there is no migration path from 7.1 to Forma.

Do I need to move my Squarespace site to Forma?

No. Forma is a beta with a waitlist. Your 7.1 site keeps working as normal and nothing in Squarespace's announcement asks you to move it.

Is Squarespace 7.0 still supported?

Yes. Squarespace's own FAQ says version 5, 7.0 and 7.1 sites are all still in use, though it recommends 7.1 because new features are built for it. It provides an update tool to move 7.0 sites to 7.1.

Should I wait for Forma before building a new website?

I would not. Forma has no launch date, pricing or published feature set. A business website built on 7.1 today can go live straight away and be updated by you or your team.

Will my templates and plugins stop working?

Not because of Forma. Templates and plugins built for 7.1 keep working on 7.1 sites. Separately, check any custom code placed in Markdown blocks, because Squarespace is changing how those blocks handle scripts.

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