Jan 27 (Reuters) - Website building and hosting company Squarespace Inc said on Wednesday it had confidentially submitted paperwork for a stock market listing with the U.S. securities regulator, joining a host of tech firms betting on another record year for capital markets.

Squarespace, which was founded in 2003 by Chief Executive Officer Anthony Casalena in his dorm room at the University of Maryland, did not specify whether it would go public through a direct listing or a traditional initial public offering (IPO).

A company spokeswoman declined to comment beyond the short statement. (https://prn.to/3prgMZg)

In a direct listing, no shares are sold in advance, as is the case with IPOs. The company's share price in its market debut is determined by orders coming into the stock exchange. Advocates argue it is a better to way to price new stock than an IPO.

Squarespace was valued at $1.7 billion at the end of 2017, when private equity firm General Atlantic invested $200 million in the company, according to research firm PitchBook.

New York-based Squarespace competes with Wix.com Ltd and GoDaddy Inc. (Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)