Squire review
A focused HTML-first editor for developers who need direct control over markup.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Squire is an open-source HTML5 rich text editor for developers embedding document composition into web applications. It is designed for content such as emails and essays, with arbitrary HTML remaining the source of truth instead of a structured internal document model. The library is self-hosted, runs on the web, and is intended to sit behind a separate user interface rather than serve as a hosted end-user product. Developers can install it through npm or load it with a script tag.
Its strongest fit is direct HTML control. Squire provides cross-browser rich text normalization, programmatic formatting for bold, italic, underline, fonts, colors and alignment, plus ordered, unordered and nested lists. It also supports nested blockquote controls, code, links, HTML insertion and retrieval, image insertion by URL, image-paste event handling, and undo and redo. For applications that need to inspect, insert or transform markup directly, this API-oriented approach keeps the editor aligned with the surrounding interface and content pipeline.
Squire also offers a practical sanitization path through DOMPurify or a custom sanitizer, which is relevant when applications accept pasted or inserted HTML. Its narrow HTML-first focus is less suitable for teams that need structured content, table editing, collaboration, or framework-specific integrations. Choose Squire when a self-hosted developer library and markup-level control are central requirements; consider a broader editor when the product needs a structured document model or built-in collaborative workflows.
Squire pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Keeps arbitrary HTML as the source of truth
- Normalizes rich text behavior across browsers
- Supports formatting, lists, images, undo and redo
- Where it doesn't
- Does not provide structured content modeling
- No built-in tables or collaboration features
- Framework integrations are not provided
Squire fact sheet, pricing and score →
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