NY-based Squarespace is announcing the launch of version 5 (v5) of their online publishing platform today. Squarespace v5 is a total rewrite of the platform and is "completely different" than previous versions. Squarespace is a hosted publishing platform focusing on blogging similar to Wordpress' hosted version. There's a new user editing interface which allows complete control inside of a Web browser. There are a variety of widgets including search and data collection. The Squarespace team has invested in the backend architecture as well and is using Peer1 in NYC for hosting.

Squarespace is different than most other hosted blogging platforms as there is no free option available. All Squarespace clients pay for their usage and Squarespace Founder Anthony Casalena explains that this is part of the contract between the client and Squarespace. He says that people put their money in and expect a high level of service or will leave. By charging all clients, everyone is treated at the same level and it has helped the team to put their priorities in place. By charging clients for their usage, Squarespace doesn't have to worry about the drop in online advertising fill-rates and pricing. Without a free version, their total users will always be lower than other free services, but their revenue per user should always remain higher.

I spoke with Casalena this morning who tells me that the company has grown to seven employees and he has also brought in Dane Atkinson as the new Squarespace CEO. I can never seem to get Anthony to share any stats but he did say that Squarespace is generating revenue in the "multi-million dollar" amount yearly and that the business is "more than supported" by their paying customers. Casalena also noted that the customer makeup is evenly split between companies and individuals.

I am going to try to get over to their offices next week for an in-person demo and also get Anthony's thoughts on the new crop of commenting services on the market and how they differ from what Squarespace offers. Check out our Squarespace interview with Casalena along with my thoughts on free vs. paid services.

Here are some screenshots of the new Squarespace v5: