17 Best Website Builders of 2024: Each Tried & Tested
Having a website is crucial for anyone wanting to create an online presence without spending much money on professional coders. Here’s a list of the best website builders in 2023, all tried and tested.
Wix
Squarespace
Webflow
Shopify
Hostinger
Website builders are becoming more popular as small to large businesses seek a more convenient way to get a website up and running. You won't need advanced technical skills or coding knowledge with website builders to design a brand-new website.
In this post, we look at the best website builders, comparing their key features, prices, and more so you can make the best choice.
Overview of Top Website Builders
-
Wix
Best Overall Website Builder -
Squarespace
Best for Powerful Design Templates -
Webflow
Best for Extensive Customization -
Shopify
Best for Online Stores -
Hostinger
Best for Budget Websites -
10Web
Best for AI Tools -
Carrd
Best for One-Page Websites -
Bluehost Builder
Best for Basic Online Presence -
Square Online
Best for Small Online Businesses -
WordPress.com
Best for Blogging -
Duda
Best for Freelancers and Agencie -
BigCommerce
Best for Built-In Sales Tools -
Jimdo
Easy to Use Builder -
Yola
Suitable for Personal Websites -
Weebly
Best Free Plan -
Site123
Simple Website Builder -
Web.com
Ideal for Beginners
What Are The Best Website Builders in 2024?
1. Wix
Best Overall Website Builder
- Free forever plan.
- Offers over 800 well-designed templates.
- Tons of functionality and tools for small businesses.
- Extensive range of plugins in the Wix App Store.
- There are bandwidth limits on the basic plans.
- Slightly expensive plans.
Wix is the best website builder on our list, with a free forever plan packed with tons of functionality. The site builder offers tools for small businesses, from restaurant ordering and appointment scheduling to music distribution and ticket sales. Plus, you can expect great website speed and SEO performance.
Wix is the best website builder for users who want full control over their design. The website builder is the most popular by market share, which means that it works great for most users. It comes with over 500 plugins and apps and is a great choice for small businesses who want to add a blog to their website. Wix is also one of the top free website builders.
Key Features
Flexible Drag-and-Drop Editor
Wix features an unstructured editor that allows you to drag and drop elements anywhere you want on the page. It offers complete creative freedom, which is something you don’t get on other website builders. You can also use the Wix ADI, which is a setup wizard that builds your site after you answer some questions, or Editor X, a complex option for professional designers.
Exceptional Templates
Wix offers amazing designs on all its templates, with pre-built layouts that make it easy to customize your website. There are templates for different industries, including online stores, blogs, photography, portfolio and design, fashion, business like tech companies or finance consulting, restaurants and food, hotels and travel, and music. As you design your templates, you get automatic site backup.
Extensive App Store
With over 500 plugins, apps, and widgets that you can add to your website or online store, Wix offers a robust app store. These include Mailchimp, QuickBooks, Google AdSense, Shippo, Craftybase, ShipStation, GetFunding, and Printful.
Social Media Tools
Wix comes with social media tools that you can use to tailor your online presence as a small business. The Wix Social Post editor and templates allow you to create Instagram and Facebook post on your website. You can create a schedule for your posts or share them at once.
Downloadable Mobile App
You can manage your site on the go with the Wix mobile app. The app is available on iOS and Android devices. While you cannot edit the design of your website from the app, you can respond to visitors through live chat, view site analytics, offer coupons and sales, manage orders, and publish content in your blog.
Pricing
- Custom Domain
- 1GB Bandwidth
- 500MB Disk Space
- 24/7 Support
- Free Custom Domain
- No Wix Ads
- 2GB Bandwidth
- 3GB Disk Space
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- 10GB Disk Space
- SEO Booster App
- Visitor Analytics App
- Priority Customer Support
- 35GB Disk Space
- Professional Logo
- Lead-Capture Forms
Depending on your needs, Wix's pricing is divided into General and Commerce. It also comes with a free forever plan. The general plans include:
- Connect Domain: This plan allows you to connect your domain, but it's not a good choice for small businesses since it still has Wix ads. It also has limited space, with 1GB bandwidth and 500MB disk space.
- Combo: Offered at $8.50 per month, this plan suits small businesses on a budget. It removes Wix ads, offers a free custom domain, and allows you to create a simple online presence.
- Unlimited: Available at $12.50 per month, the Unlimited plan offers unlimited bandwidth, which makes it suitable for fast-growing businesses. It comes with a Visitor Analytics and SEO booster app.
- VIP: This plan is suitable for businesses that want to offer a more professional look and better customer service. It allows you to add lead capture forms to your site and provides priority customer support.
The Commerce plans are more suitable if you're looking to set up an online store on Wix.
- 500+ Ecommerce Templates
- Unlimited Products
- Abandoned Cart Recovery
- Sell on Instagram, Facebook, etc.
- 20GB Storage Space
- Multiple Currencies
- Sell on Amazon & eBay
- Modalyst Dropshipping - 250 Items
- Sell Subscriptions
- 35GB Storage Space
- Priority Customer Support
- Unlimited Modalyst Dropshipping
- 50GB Storage Space
- Upload Unlimited Videos
- 500 Auto Sales Tax Calculations
Read more about Wix pricing or beautiful examples of Wix
- Business Basic: With this plan, small business owners can sell unlimited products on Instagram and Facebook. It also comes with abandoned cart recovery features.
- Business Unlimited: You can take your business to the next level with this plan, which offers multiple currencies and allows you to sell on Amazon and eBay. You can also sell subscriptions or start a dropshipping business through Modalyst.
- Business VIP: Ideal for mid-sized to large businesses, this plan allows you to upload unlimited videos and offers priority customer support.
2. Squarespace
Best for Powerful Design Templates
- Attractive templates for all kinds of websites.
- Easy-to-use e-commerce features for small online stores.
- Email marketing and business tools like scheduling, membership, social media, and SEO.
- Squarespace Extensions offers a wide range of third-party apps.
- Squarespace comes with a learning curve.
- No free plan is available.
Squarespace is an all-around website builder ideal for a small business website, portfolio, blog, membership site and online store. The highlight of the website builder is the polished and beautiful templates, paired with a flexible editor for building your dream website. It's especially a great idea for hotels, real estate, photography, and travel sites that use a lot of pictures and visual effects.
Squarespace is a highly reliable website builder with a reputation for design, functionality, and simplicity. It is an all-in-one website builder that comes with a drag-and-drop interface. The ecommerce features are integrated into most plans, and you get a free custom domain on all plans.
Key Features
Beautiful and Intuitive Design Templates
Squarespace is the ideal choice for visually striking websites, as it comes with clean, modern, and mobile-friendly templates. Most templates are free; you can customize them with the intuitive editor. Squarespace allows you to build a seamless user experience with tools that adjust the smallest things. For instance, you can adjust the focal point of an image.
Business and Marketing Tools
If you're running a business or you want to manage your online presence, Squarespace comes with tools like scheduling software, social media, SEO tools, and email marketing. Since most of these tools are integrated into the professional website builder, they would work smoothly. The email marketing tools have a drag-and-drop editor and responsive features to personalize the emails.
Powerful Features and Third-Party Apps
Squarespace Extensions has different apps and plugins to add functionality to your website. You can add tools like social media sharing buttons, marketing tools, e-commerce, live chat, accounting, and email marketing. The developer-friendly features like API allow advanced users to customize a website. Other powerful features include membership management tools, appointment scheduling tools, and an all-in-one reservation system.
Easy E-commerce Tools
Squarespace might not be as advanced as Shopify when it comes to e-commerce, but the website builder tool offers easy-to-use tools for setting up a small to mid-sized online store. Most of the Squarespace plans are integrated with ecommerce features. There is a wide range of attractive templates for online stores, with tools like a built-in shipping calculator and advanced cart recovery.
Pricing
- Mobile-Friendly Websites
- 100+ Templates
- Free Custom Domain
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- 2 Contributors
- Ecommerce Functionality
- Unlimited Products
- 3% Transaction Fees
- Custom Code (CSS & JS)
- Unlimited Contributors
- 0% Transaction Fees
- Point of Sale
- On-site Checkout
- Product Reviews
- Facebook and Instagram Selling
- Abandoned Cart Recovery
- Advanced Shipping
- Advanced Discounts
- Subscription Selling
- Commerce APIs
Read more about Squarespace pricing or Squarespace ecommerce examples
Squarespace does not have a free plan but a free trial – no credit card is required.
- Personal: This plan is suitable for portfolios and personal websites and offers unlimited bandwidth. At $16 per month, it provides a free custom domain and accepts two contributors.
- Business: If you want to sell unlimited products on your website, consider this plan. This plan goes for $23 per month and allows unlimited contributors. It comes with CSS and JS for custom coding.
- Commerce Basic: Offered at $27 per month, this plan is great for mid-sized online businesses. It offers 0% transaction fees, product reviews, and Facebook and Instagram selling.
- Commerce Advanced: This plan offers advanced features for businesses, including discounts, shipping, and abandoned cart recovery. You can also sell subscriptions with this plan at $49 per month.
3. Webflow
Best for Extensive Customization
- Extensive design customization.
- Powerful CMS for designers and editors.
- Helpful tutorials and blogs for beginners.
- Over 2000 well-designed templates, some of which are free.
- It takes time to understand how to use the website builder tool.
- You need to pay for premium features to get better customization.
Webflow is the best choice for anyone who wants complete control over the website-building process. The website builder offers extensive customization, so whatever you can dream of, you can make it happen. But that means you need to consider the learning curve or hire a professional Webflow developer. It's also a great choice for freelancers and agencies in website building.
Webflow has gained much popularity as a website builder that allows you to design without limits. The site builder gives you the power of code without needing you to write code. With over 2000 modern templates, you can create a website for any business with Webflow. Remember that it might take a few days or weeks to understand Webflow, depending on your technical experience.
Key Features
Many Design Tools for Customization
Webflow is unique because it is a user interface for HTML & CSS code. That means that most of the web designs you can do with these codes, you can do it on Webflow. This offers complete control, unlike many website builders that restrict your design. The website builder allows you to add micro-interactions, parallax scrolling, and complex animations without coding knowledge.
Offers Helpful Tutorials for Beginners
Webflow knows that you will most likely need some tutorials to get started with their website builder. So, you can access Webflow University or check out their YouTube tutorials before you get started. The website also has Webflow TV and a blog to learn more.
Manage Site Visitors with CMS
Webflow has a powerful content management system, unlike most website builders. In the CMS, you can create custom fields for rich text, files, images, and more. With the CMS, you can build a custom search experience for site visitors, filter content, and pull any element or design you want from the CMS to your webpage.
Tools for Freelancers and Agencies
Web design professionals can use the Webflow Editor, which allows you to work in teams and provide websites to clients. You can also use their white-label client billing option for your agency. There are tens of plugins offered by Webflow that you can use to expand the functionality of any website, from e-commerce and workflows to content management and customer support.
Pricing
- 40+ Mobile-Friendly Templates
- 50GB Bandwidth
- Unlimited Storage
- Add Custom Code
- Site with 100 Pages
- 2000 CMS Items*
- 200GB Bandwidth
- On-site Search
- 3 Content Editors
- API Access
- 10000 CMS Items*
- 400GB Bandwidth
- Advanced Security
- 10 Content Editors
- Customer Success Manager
Webflow offers general and commerce plans depending on whether you're building a normal website, portfolio, blog, or online store. The free plan is a great way to get started. Here are the general plans to consider:
- Basic: Offered at $14 per month, this is a good choice for anyone working on a website alone. Despite being the cheapest plan, it offers unlimited storage, 100 pages, and custom code.
- CMS: This plan is a good choice for up to three content editors running a content-driven site, and it allows you to set up on-site search and API access. It goes for $23 per month, with 200GB bandwidth.
- Business: This is a suitable plan for small to medium-sized businesses running a high-traffic website with up to 10 content editors. It offers advanced security and 400GB bandwidth at $39 per month.
Check out the commerce plans if you want to set up an online store instead.
- 100 Ecommerce Templates
- 2000 CMS Items*
- 500 Ecommerce Items*
- 2% Transaction Fee
- 10000 CMS Items*
- 5000 Ecommerce Items*
- 10 Content Editors
- 0% Transaction Fee
- 10000 CMS Items*
- 15000 Ecommerce Items*
- 15 Content Editors
- 0% Transaction Fee
Read more about Webflow pricing
- Standard: This plan is suitable for small online stores, as it only allows 500 e-commerce items. It's a good choice if you're running an e-commerce store alone but consider the 2% transaction fees.
- Plus: Store owners running a fast-growing business should consider this plan, which allows 5000 e-commerce items. It allows for 10 content editors, and there are no transaction fees.
- Advanced: Perfect for big businesses, this plan costs $212 monthly and accommodates 15,000 e-commerce items. It also allows 15 content editors and removes transaction fees.
4. Shopify
Best for Online Stores
- Multichannel selling and a wide range of e-commerce tools.
- Hundreds of themes from third-party sources.
- Massive app store for expanding your site functionality.
- Customizable with an intuitive website builder.
- The website is packed with features that make it intimidating for beginners.
- It does not have a drag-and-drop editor.
Shopify remains the undefeated website builder for online stores and businesses in 2024. The site builder is highly scalable and ideal for small businesses, fast-growing stores, and large e-commerce stores like Heinz, Kylie Cosmetics, Allbirds, etc. If you need a website builder to make an online store, you can't do better than Shopify.
Shopify is the best website builder for online stores, whether you're shipping physical products or selling digital items. It simplifies building an online store with tools for shipping, payments, marketing, reporting, inventory management, tax, and sales channels. It also comes with a massive app store, so you can seamlessly expand the functionality of your website.
Key Features
E-Commerce Specific Tools
Since Shopify is built for e-commerce, it's no surprise that the website builder comes with a range of tools to run your online store. Shopify offers live chat, POS systems, dropshipping, email marketing, product reviews, delivery route planning, inventory management, and more. It also offers multichannel selling for Facebook, Etsy, Google, TikTok and more.
Automatic Payments and Shipping Rates
One of the highlights of Shopify is that it shortens the time it takes to get your online store up and running. It offers Shopify Payments, so you don't have to connect to a third-party processor. If you still want to, you can add over 100 third-party payment tools to your store. Another tool is Shopify Rates & Taxes, which offers automatic shipping rates for your store.
Massive App Store
Regardless of what you want to add to your store, you will properly find it in the Shopify App Store. The website builder platform offers over 10,000 plugins that you can use to expand the functionality of your store. There are widgets for adding banners to your store or integrations to dropship from AliExpress. You can also add upsells to your shopping cart, live chat options, product reviews, and more.
Tons of Themes Compatible with Shopify
The official Shopify Theme Store does not have a lot of themes, and most of them are paid. But they are all optimized for e-commerce and high performance. If these themes are insufficient, other theme marketplaces feature thousands of Shopify templates.
Pricing
- 100+ Templates
- Unlimited Products
- International Commerce
- 24/7 Support
- Shopify POS
- Ecommerce Automations
- up to 88% Shipping Discounts
- Standard Analytics Reports
- 5 Staff Accounts
- 1% Fees for 3rd Party Payments
- 0.5% Fees for 3rd Party Payments
- Lower Credit Card Fees
- 15 Staff Accounts
- Advanced Analytics Reports
- Duties and Import Taxes
Read more about Shopify pricing and Shopify reviews
Shopify offers three pricing plans depending on the size of your store. For the Basic plan, you will first get three months for $3.
- Basic: If you're starting a small store, you should consider this plan at $29 per month. It offers unlimited products, Shopify POS, and international commerce.
- Shopify: This plan is suitable for fast-growing stores managed by up to five people. It offers up to 88% shipping discounts, automation, and 1% fees on third-party payments.
- Advanced: Available at $299 per month, this plan is great for large businesses. It reduces the third-party payment fees to 0.5% and will provide an advanced analytics report.
5. Hostinger
Best for Budget Websites
- Easy to set up your website with drag-and-drop builder.
- Includes AI features for simple website design.
- It offers free domain and SSL.
- There is no transaction fee for e-commerce users.
- There are no advanced features.
- There is only one pricing plan, so it's unsuitable for high-traffic websites and stores.
Hostinger is the perfect choice for business owners, bloggers, and individuals who want to build a professional website on a budget. The beginner-friendly website offers good value for your money and simple tools, but it lacks advanced features that you might need for a complex website.
The Hostinger Website Builder is the best option for people looking for cheap and simple website-building solutions. It has become one of the top website builders in 2024, with a solid drag-and-drop editor, freebies, and unlimited features. It also comes with AI assistance, so you can get your website up and running quickly.
Key Features
Simple Website Design Tools
Hostinger website builder offers a drag-and-drop website editor that you can benefit from, making it easier to set up your website. You can choose the grid layout and drag-and-drop the elements in a grid or turn the grid off and drop the elements where you please. There is also a good selection of 150 templates in categories like portfolio, business, fashion, services, photography, and more.
AI Tools
One of the best parts of Hostinger is the AI features that make it easier to set up your website. AI Writer will come up with exciting website copy for your web pages. Then, AI SEO focuses on improving your visibility across search engines. The AI Heatmap is provided to predict user behavior.
Great Value For Your Money
It's hard to find a website builder as cheap as Hostinger, especially one that offers quality services. The website builder starts at $2.99 monthly and offers a free domain, free SSL certificate, free email, and unlimited bandwidth. You can also build up to 100 websites on one account.
Language Switcher Tool
If you want your business website or blog to reach a wider audience, consider using the language switcher on the Hostinger website builder. It automatically translates the website content into the language of your choice.
Pricing
- 140+ Mobile-Friendly Templates
- Custom Free Domain
- 100GB Storage
- Unmetered Traffic
- Sell up to 500 Products
- 20+ Payment Solutions
Read more about Hostinger pricing or Hostinger review
Hostinger offers a single plan starting at $2.99 per month but eventually costing $8.99. It offers a custom-free domain and unmetered traffic. To set up a small online store, you can sell up to 500 products and connect over 20 payment processors.
6. 10Web
Best for AI Tools
- Impressive AI features for building a site from scratch.
- Top security and backup features.
- Includes tools for collaboration and agencies.
- User-friendly drag-and-drop interface.
- It's not suitable for complex websites.
10Web stands out from other website builders for 2024 with its AI features. You can get AI-generated images and content for business websites, e-commerce stores, and personal websites within minutes. You also get access to fully automated hosting and everything you need for running a website, all in one place.
10Web is an all-in-one website builder with hosting, especially for developing WordPress websites. The website builder platform is known for its speedy AI tools that generate content for your website within minutes. It also features a page booster for enhancing the website performance on the search engine.
Key Features
Impressive AI Website Builder
10Web has an impressive AI-powered website builder that beginners can use. This is coupled with a drag-and-drop editor for moving elements around. You will answer some questions, and the AI tool will generate images and content for you. You can also input the URL of a website you like, and the tool will create something similar for you.
AI E-commerce Tools
If you're building an online store with 10Web, the AI tool can generate product descriptions and pages for you. It can also develop content and website copy for your online store, and you can customize it to meet your needs. The website builder platform allows you to manage shipping, customers, orders, taxes, and products from a single place.
Security and Backup Features
10Web is known for its robust backup and security system, which many website builders ignore. You can create backup copies of your website to use later. You can also migrate your website to this platform. There are features for malware and DDoS protection.
Workspace Feature
If you're working with a team, 10Web comes with collaborative features. You can invite clients or team members to work on the website with you, assign roles, manage permissions, and streamline communication.
Pricing
- AI Website Building
- 25K Visitors
- 10GB Storage Space
- 24/7 Live Chat
- 75 GB of Auto Backups
- 60K Visitors
- 15GB Storage Space
- WordPress Multisite
- 250 GB of Auto Backups
- 180K Visitors
- 50GB Storage Space
- Priority Support
10Web comes with three pricing plans and a 7-day free trial.
- Personal: This plan is ideal for individuals building a small-scale website, as it only accepts 25k visitors. It features 10GB of storage space and all the AI tools.
- Premium: High-traffic website owners should consider this plan, which accepts 60k visitors. It also stores 75GB of automatic backups and multiple websites.
- Agency: Freelancers and white-label agencies should consider this plan, as you can build websites for 180k visitors. The automatic backup offers 250 GB of space and priority customer support.
7. Carrd
Best for One-Page Websites
Whether creating a website for an event, a portfolio, a business card, or a personal site, you should consider Carrd for your one-page site. Despite the little time and minimal effort, you need to create a one-page website, Carrd comes with animations, diverse templates, forms, widgets, and more to enhance your website.
Key Features
Purposeful Design Elements
All the templates and animations on Carrd are designed for one-page websites. The templates come in various styles, like forms, landing pages, movie posters, event invitations, business cards, and portfolios. You can also animate the content on a single page.
Comprehensive Icon Library
Carrd comes with a library of over 100 icons and buttons that you can add to your one-page site. These include icons for Instagram, Facebook, email, phone, Twitter, Canva, PDF, Bitcoin and more.
Easy to Use for Beginners
The user interface of Carrd is intuitive and simple, so it's easy for those who aren't tech-savvy but want to create an online presence. You can easily add text, content blocks, elements, and buttons. There is also an instruction overlay that helps you get started.
Affordable Site Builder
Carrd is one of the cheapest website builders on our list, allowing you to build a site for as low as $9 per year. But remember that you can only build one-page sites, so it's unsuitable for more complex sites.
Pricing
Carrd offers three pricing plans and a free forever plan if you don't mind the ‘Made by Carrd' branding.
- Pro Lite: This plan is ideal for creating a business card or portfolio website without forms or widgets. It allows you to upload large images and videos and publish up to three sites. You can also set up slideshows and QR codes.
- Pro Standard: With the mid-tier plan, you can start building your customer base. It accepts 10 websites, and you can embed third-party widgets, contact and signup forms, and direct code. It also allows collaboration or transferring the site's ownership to another Carrd user.
- Pro Plus: Consider the top-tier plan if you want more power over your website design. It offers developer-friendly features like advanced forms, meta tags, local fonts, download sites, and redirects. You can build up to 25 sites.
8. Bluehost Builder
Best for Basic Online Presence
- Beginner-friendly website builder with onboarding wizard.
- Convenient drag-and-drop builder.
- It offers access to WordPress plugins and themes.
- It is suitable for blogging.
- It does not have a free plan.
- The section-based approach limits the drag-and-drop builder.
If you want to create a basic online presence for your business or brand with a no-frills website builder, consider the Bluehost Builder. The reliable website builder is powered by WordPress.com, offering the otherwise complicated platform in a drag-and-drop form.
Bluehost Builder is the best website builder in 2024 for beginners and anyone who wants to quickly set up an online presence for their brand. The website builder is based on WordPress, a popular CMS system that powers millions of websites. You can access all the WordPress themes and analytics with the Bluehost Builder. This is combined with the free hosting services from Bluehost.
Key Features
WordPress Made Easy
Bluehost is built on top of WordPress, providing you with a full WordPress admin dashboard and WordPress plugins. It also provides WordPress themes. The highlight is that, rather than using the complicated WordPress platform, Bluehost feels like a no-code website builder. You can control all the WordPress elements using the Bluehost drag-and-drop interface.
User-Friendly Website Builder
Bluehost is a perfect choice for beginners who aren't sure about what they want from their website. The WordPress site builder comes with a user-friendly setup wizard that will automatically choose a template based on what your site is about. It also helps you figure out the colors, logo, and typography. It also features a section-based drag-and-drop editor for making your WordPress website.
Blogging Features
In true WordPress fashion, the Bluehost Builder is an ideal choice for blogging. It features built-in blogging support for designing your pages and uploading your content. It also has a WordPress website editor for managing your blogs.
Comprehensive WordPress Dashboard
While Bluehost features its website builder dashboard, you can click the WP Admin button to visit the regular WordPress dashboard. The dashboard allows you to edit content, install plugins, manage your users, and other settings. But the WordPress plugins won't be as seamless on your Bluehost website.
Pricing
- Bluehost-Certified Themes for WP
- WordPress-Optimized Hosting
- Drag-and-Drop Page Builder
- Free Domain Name
- Unlimited Websites
- Free Daily Backups for 1st Year
- 40GB SSD Storage
- Yoast SEO Free
- Unlimited Products
- Store Analytics
- 100GB SSD Storage
- Multiple Payment Options
Read more about Bluehost pricing or Bluehost review
Bluehost comes with four pricing plans and impressive discounts on your first payment.
- Basic: This plan suits anyone making a single website or blog. It comes with WordPress-optimized hosting, a free domain name, WP themes, and a drag-and-drop builder.
- Choice Plus: This plan offers more security and privacy features if you expect more traffic and user data. It offers free daily backups, unlimited websites, and Yoast SEO.
- Online Store: Those setting up an online store can consider this plan, which accommodates unlimited products. You can receive store analytics and connect multiple payment options to your site.
- Pro: Consider this plan if you simply want more space and web resources. It offers 100 GB of SSD storage and optimized web resources.
9. Square Online
Best for Small Online Businesses
- Easy to use for small online businesses.
- Comes with business tool integrations like POS and scheduling.
- Strong e-commerce platform for payments and shipping.
- Generous free plan.
- Limited customization in the design.
- The plans are quite expensive.
If you want a simpler version of Shopify to run your small online store, you should consider using Square Online. The beginner-friendly website builder is ideal for online stores and restaurants and is packed with e-commerce and marketing tools.
Square Online is a flexible platform for online stores, food trucks and restaurants, physical boutiques, and vendors. The website builder is simple to use and less complicated than Shopify. If you're a restaurateur, you can manage tables and food deliveries. The website builder also has appointment features, so you can use Square Oline for your salon, spa, or construction business.
Key Features
E-commerce and Business Tools
Square Online has e-commerce tools for running your retail store, restaurant, or small online business. You can easily add products and manage your inventory, even if you have a brick-and-mortar store. You can use Square as your payment processing option or add PayPal, which is quite limited. Square Online also provides multiple shipping options and a tax calculator.
SEO and Marketing Tools
The website builder comes with search engine optimization tools that will be helpful for any small business. There are also pop-ups to advertise your promotions, make announcements, verify your age, and offer coupons. You can also email your clients about order confirmations, shipped, canceled and refunded items, item reviews, and abandoned carts.
Generous Free Plan
The Square Online website builder also has an amazing free plan. The free plan allows you to sell in person, over the phone, online, and with your brick-and-mortar business. But you have to consider the processing fees and Square ads.
Ideal for Appointment Management
The website builder provides staff management tools, online booking, and automatic appointment reminders. Square Online offers scheduling tools you can manage from a mobile app, online payments, client management, and marketing features.
Pricing
Square Online offers a free plan and two paid plans that you can choose from.
- Plus: This plan is advanced for restaurants, retailers, and appointment-based businesses. It has advanced POS features, inventory tools, and retail reports.
- Premium: If you want a bespoke online store plan, consider the Premium plan. But you need to consider the processing fees.
10. WordPress.com
Best for Blogging
- WordPress.com offers multiple blogging options, including themes.
- Features a robust content management system.
- Allows you to transfer your site to another web host.
- You can easily monetize your blog from the Premium plan.
- It does not have photo editing tools.
If you want to set up an amazing blog or business website, consider WordPress.com. The website builder has excellent blogging features, with WordPress themes and plugins; you can customize the features extensively. WordPress also has a blog CMS system for managing posts, pages, comments, and authors.
WordPress.com has made a name for itself as one of the best and most powerful website builders. It's a great choice for sites with a lot of content, especially if you are running a blog. WordPress.com is a traditional website builder, so it might seem outdated, but it offers hundreds of themes and advanced design customization.
Key Features
Hundreds of Themes to Customize
WordPress.com offers over 250 themes. Although many themes are blog-focused, you can also find business-related themes and other templates. You can customize your theme and use the advanced design customization feature, although it's only available on higher plans. You can also get specific themes like scrapbooking and travel for your WordPress site.
Easily Monetize Your Blog
The website builder makes it easy for you to monetize your blog. WordPress.com allows you to accept recurring subscription payments for your content, and if you use the higher plans, you can add ads to your website.
Third-Party Integrations
WordPress.com has third-party integrations, including GSuite and Google Analytics. The plugins include Yoast SEO, WP Rocket, WPForms, WooCommerce, Elementor, Akismet, Sucuri, MonsterInsights, and more.
Full Content Management System
If you want to run a blog on WordPress, you can use the CMS. It includes search functionality, user management, rich text editors, media libraries, and version control. WordPress websites enjoy fast hosting, a robust theme selection, and multiple plugins.
Pricing
- Lots of Free Themes
- 24/7 Email Support
- 6GB Storage
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- No Ads
- Premium Themes
- 24/7 Chat Support
- 13GB Storage
- Add Custom CSS
- WordAds Monetization
- Install Plugins & Themes
- Built-in SEO Tools
- 200GB Storage
- Stronger Security & Performance
- Integrated Elastic On-Site Search
- Unlimited Products
- Inventory Management
- Frictionless Checkout
- Top Shipping Carriers
- Accept Payments in 60+ Countries
WordPress.com offers four pricing plans and a free plan for setting up your blog or business website.
- Personal: This plan is suitable for small blogs and personal websites. It removes WordPress ads and offers 6GB of storage and unlimited bandwidth.
- Premium: If you want to monetize your blog, consider this plan. It comes with WordAds monetization, and you can add custom CSS.
- Business: You can expand the functionality of your website with this plan. It allows you to install plugins and themes and gives you built-in SEO tools.
- Commerce: This plan is ideal for you if you want to set up an online store on WordPress.com. You get unlimited products, inventory management, and top shipping carriers.
11. Duda
Best for Freelancers and Agencies
- There is a wide range of apps and widgets, or you can build one.
- Easy to use with highly specific templates.
- Client management features and white-label tools.
- AI content editor for creating website copy.
- The templates have strict limits that affect customization.
- The plans are expensive and per website.
Duda is a solid website builder for anyone who wants to get professional-looking sites up and running quickly. The website builder was created specifically for digital marketing agencies, making it ideal for freelancers, teams, and agencies that want to provide professional services without learning how to code. But it's slightly more expensive than some competitors.
Duda is a popular website-building platform directed towards freelancers and agencies providing web design services to businesses. The website builder is a great way to build feature-rich and responsive websites, all hosted on services provided by Amazon Web Services. With Duda, you can import content, reuse templates and elements, and customize extensively to create professional looking websites for clients.
Key Features
Advanced Template Designs
One of the highlights of Duda is the professionally designed and highly specific templates. Aside from broad categories like online stores, events, business, travel, portfolio, and services, you can find templates for church communities, optic stores, shoe stores, etc. The templates come with pre-filled sections and a drag-and-drop tool, but you can reuse multiple designs and elements across multiple projects.
Client Management Suite
Duda has project management tools for handling client projects. It has one dashboard to manage all client sites, templates, and elements in one place. Rather than communicating through emails, the web builder comes with integrated Site Comments. This allows the client to drop comments directly on the website page. You can also automate client content collection and grant permissions.
Marketing for Businesses
Duda also comes with different marketing tools that businesses can use. Some tools include white-label sales decks, support portals, lead-generating landing page templates, white-label handouts, and email header images. But on the downside, it does not have some marketing features like newsletters.
AI Content Assistant
You can eliminate writer's block with the Duda AI tool. The website builder has an AI Content Assistant to provide suggested text within seconds. After asking some questions about the purpose of your site, it would create high-quality content.
Pricing
- 120+ Templates
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- Unlimited Storage
- Email Support
- Edit HTML and CSS
- 4 Content Editors
- Users Permissions
- Comments for 100 Users
- 4 Websites
- Build Custom Widgets
- 10 Content Editors
- Chat & Phone Support
Duda offers a 14-day free trial and three pricing plans to choose from.
- Basic: This plan is suitable for creating a single website for personal use or their business. It provides unlimited bandwidth storage and email support.
- Team: Suitable for freelancers, this plan accepts up to four content editors and allows you to set user permissions. You can also edit sites with HTML and CSS.
- Agency: If you're running a website-building business with up to 10 team members, consider this plan. You can build custom widgets, export sites, and create dynamic pages.
12. BigCommerce
Best for Built-In Sales Tools
- No transaction fees from the cheapest plan.
- Smooth multichannel selling for e-commerce businesses.
- Great built-in and free sales features.
- Robust SEO and marketing support.
- Pricing plans are based on your annual sales limit.
- It's not easy to set up.
BigCommerce has built itself as an enterprise-focused e-commerce website builder, which is probably why it is packed with sales tools. However, small businesses and online retailers can consider using this, especially since the website builder offers extreme scalability. It also features impressive multichannel integration and advanced SEO tools.
BigCommerce is suitable for ambitious e-commerce stores that plan to scale fast, stores that sell through other platforms like Etsy, Instagram, and eBay, and well-established ecommerce websites. All the plans offer unlimited goods and services and unlimited accounts for staff. There are also different blogging and reporting tools that your ecommerce website can take advantage of.
Key Features
Quality Product and Inventory Management
On BigCommerce, you can sell and manage different products, including physical, digital, and service-based. You can also sell subscriptions through third-party apps. It comes with Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, eBay, and even Walmart Marketplace for multichannel selling.
Reporting Functionality
It's easier to run your online business with the reports provided by BigCommerce. The website builder offers customer reports, finance reports, sales reports, and marketing reports, depending on your plan.
Sales Tools and Extras
BigCommerce offers a wide range of sales tools and extras that would come in handy. Some include email marketing, abandoned cart recovery, shipping options, POS tools, 65+ integrated payment gateways, and more. There is also an app store with 600+ apps. This might seem less than Shopify, but remember that BigCommerce has more built-in tools, reducing the need for third-party integrations.
Extensive Designs for Online Stores
Aside from having a wide range of templates to pick from, this web builder offers great customization with a drag-and-drop interface. Their tool, Store Design, is a visual merchandising feature that allows you to pick out sections of the page and customize them. You can easily customize everything, from the background colors to the navigation arrow colors.
Pricing
- 200+ Store Templates
- 24/7 Chat & Phone Support
- No Additional Transactions Fees
- Unlimited Bandwidth & Storage
- Annual Sales Limit - $50k
- Clients' Credit Cards Storage
- Abandoned Cart Saver
- 5 Storefronts & Inventory Locations
- Customer Segmentation
- Annual Sales Limit - $180k
- Google Customer Reviews
- Price Lists for B2B & B2C
- 8 Storefronts & Inventory Locations
- Filtering with Custom Product Filters
- Annual Sales Limit - $400k
BigCommerce features three pricing plans and a 15-day free trial.
- Standard: Ideal for new e-commerce stores, this plan has an annual sales limit of $50k. It offers unlimited bandwidth and storage with no additional transaction fees.
- Plus: With a fast-growing online store, you should consider this plan with five storefronts and an abandoned cart saver. It has an annual sales limit of $180k.
- Pro: Established businesses and online stores can use this plan, which allows you to receive Google customer reviews. It offers filtering, price lists for B2B and B2C, and eight storefronts.
13. Jimdo
Easy to Use Builder
Jimdo is a well-known website builder that appeals to those who don't want to put in too much effort when building a business or personal website. The low price is also appealing to some. Unfortunately, the website builder has not remained competitive with top options like Wix and Squarespace. It does not have blogging-specific features, design features, or basics like marketing and search engine optimization.
Key Features
Easy to Use
Jimdo is a simple and easy-to-use website builder, although it's not very intuitive. Although it has a few templates, the drag-and-drop builder is easy to use. You can save time using their AI tool, ADI Builder, to design your site from scratch.
No-Commission E-commerce
The website builder has e-commerce functionality like adding payment methods and product galleries to your site. There are no commission fees on your sales. But Jimdo is better for advertising your products if you own a brick-and-mortar store than selling online.
Third-Party Apps
Jimdo attempts to compensate for its lack of features with a wide range of third-party apps. You can add booking, contact forms, live chat, PDF, gallery, and other tools and widgets to your site. The Jimdo Smart Apps also allows you to add interactive content from platforms like Google, Twitter, Canva, and more to your site.
14. Yola
Suitable for Personal Websites
Yola is a free website builder that offers access to ecommerce features through Ecwid. The free plan is a suitable choice for personal websites and hobbies online. This is especially true since the paid plans cost similarly to top options like Wix and Squarespace but do not have the same quality features. However, the free plan has less than ten templates, and in general, the builder lacks blogging features and mobile-friendly templates.
Key Features
Switchable Templates
Yola has some decent templates, although many of them are outdated. If you unlock the paid plans, you get more templates. While editing your site, you can switch to a different template, and all your edits will still be available. You can edit these templates with the drag-and-drop interface.
Ecwid Store Builder Widget
Since Yola is integrated with the Ecwid widget, you get a neat e-commerce platform. The online store allows you to sell physical or digital products, integrate with UPS and FedEx, and accept multiple payment methods. But you need to consider the additional cost of the widget.
SEO Functionality
Yola offers solid SEO functionality, only available on the most expensive plan. This is disappointing since most site builders offer this feature from the cheapest plan. The features include traffic reporting, keyword usage, full-site search optimization scan reports, and automatic SEO monitoring.
15. Weebly
Best Free Plan
- Free forever plan and cheap paid plans with generous features.
- Free SSL security.
- Includes ecommerce functionality on all plans.
- Limited customization options.
- The free plan and the cheapest plan come with ads.
Weebly is the ideal website builder for those who don't want to spend money on their brand-new website. The tool offers drag-and-drop features and an easy-to-use platform at a cheap price. But, if you want better customization and functionality, consider other options like Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress.
Weebly is a drag-and-drop website builder that offers easy use when creating a professional website. It's one of the simplest website builders on the market, but it seriously lacks customization options and does not offer as many themes and features as its competitors. Since Square acquired Weebly, it has gone downhill from being the best free website builder.
Key Features
Weebly App Center
The Weebly App Center allows you to add a wide range of features to your site, and you won't have to code. Free and paid apps are available, with options for FAQs, callout boxes, social media, sales channels, campaigns, customer reviews, and more.
Basic Analytics on All Plans
Weebly provides basic analytics on all plans. You can track how many people have visited your site, how many pages they have viewed, and where they came from. You also get advanced stats on the Professional plan.
Email Marketing and SEO
Weebly offers an email marketing tool to send newsletters, automated emails, and promotions to your subscribers using customizable templates. There are also SEO features for ranking higher in search engines, like meta tags, page-specific descriptions, alt tags, and meta descriptions.
16. Site123
Simple Website Builder
Site123 is a user-friendly website builder with a nice list of features, including mobile-responsive templates. It's ideal if you want to build a personal website or a simple site to give your business a good online presence. Site123 also has a free plan, but it's less generous than Wix's. Most of the customizations and features require paid plans.
Key Features
Mobile-Responsive Templates
Site123 features over 180 templates, with categories like business, event, online store, blog, or restaurant. You can scroll through the templates page to find the ideal one, and you get access to mock-ups of how the template looks before you choose one.
E-commerce Features on Paid Plans
If you want to open a simple store with Site123, consider using the paid plan. It offers store features that allow you to accept online payments, display unlimited products, and process unlimited orders. You can send up to 10,000 marketing emails to customers.
Plugins and App Market
The paid plan also offers access to plugins and an app market to expand the functionality of your site. But many of these are paid for and might not be worth it. Some plugins include Google Analytics, Drip, Zendesk, Facebook Chat, and Hotjar.
17. Web.com
Ideal for Beginners
- Instantly publish a website with free tools.
- Affordable pricing plans.
- Round-the-clock customer support.
- Poor billing and cancellation policy.
- Poor password security.
- The free SSL is only available for the first month.
Web.com is suitable for those new to website building who don't want all the bells and whistles of better site builders. It is straightforward to create basic sites, but the website editor is a bit chunky, and it has unreliable billing practices.
Web.com has gone through some improvements over the years, making it easy and quick to build a website. It is a solid and reliable website builder, but would only be suitable for basic and personal sites. Also, aside from the cheap introductory price, the website builder is pretty expensive and not worth the price.
Key Features
Easy to Customize Your Templates
It's pretty easy to build a website on Web.com, even if you don't have any tech or design skills. The drag-and-drop website builder allows you to customize every aspect of your website. You get free stock images and can choose to design from scratch.
Ecommerce Functionality
You get access to advanced ecommerce features on the higher plans. You can build a mobile-responsive store, connect to major shipping carriers like UPS, DHL, USPS, and FedEx, and track products stored in multiple locations.
Social Media Integrations
Web.com allows you to integrate different social media apps, including Instagram, Pinterest, and Disqus. You can showcase your Instagram feed or link your social media profiles.
How to Pick the Best Website Builder
If you're thinking of creating a website with a website builder, you should consider several factors. There are some important steps to take when making the ideal decision for your business concerning your website builder.
Check Your Budget
The first thing you should do is consider the cost. Most people opt for a website builder because they don't want to spend much money on hiring professional developers. Most website builders come with a free plan, which costs between $5 and $200 per month, depending on the plan. You must also consider extra costs like domain registration, hosting, pictures, and plugins.
Consider Your Needs
You also have to keep your needs in mind. Do you have any experience in design? Are you building an online store or business website? What kind of media will you include? For instance, if you don't have any experience, Webflow is not an ideal choice since it's a bit complicated. Furthermore, Shopify is a suitable choice for online stores.
Check the Themes and Ease of Use
Consider how many themes are available and the extent of the customization. Some website builders come with limited or outdated themes, and you don't want to invest in a website builder only to be limited by the design options. You should also check for ease of use, especially if you have never used a website builder.
Look for SEO and Marketing Features
Check if the website builder has all the necessary SEO and marketing features. You want to enhance the online presence of your business, and you can do so with different SEO elements and marketing tools for social media and email.
Check the Customer Support
Ensure that the website builder has a wide range of resources and customer support before you choose it. Even an intuitive website builder will have a learning curve, and if you want to take advantage of the features, you need all the resources you can get.
Best Tips to Create Your Website With A Website Builder
If you're thinking of creating a website with a website builder, there are some helpful tips you can keep in mind. It's important to know how to design a website to enhance the online visibility of your business and keep visitors hooked. Here are some helpful tips:
- Create a simple site plan and ensure the navigation menu is short.
- Consider your target audience.
- Create a logo for your brand and ensure it has a transparent background.
- Purchase your website domain name to set your business apart.
- Check the mobile-friendliness of your site before launching.
- Use different icons and plugins to enhance the functionality of your site.
- Use high-quality photos and videos.
- Ensure your color combinations are easy on the eyes.
- Use an easy-to-read font.
- Break up the text into small pieces rather than having long paragraphs.
- Don't cram content together, but leave white space.
- Take advantage of the SEO settings.
- Treat your website as a work in progress and continue making changes.
Best Website Builders for Different Use Cases
Not all website builders are suitable for your business or purposes. Below, we look at the different use cases and the ideal website builders.
The best website builder for a portfolio is Squarespace, as it comes with visually attractive templates, photo galleries, and modern design elements. You can check out Squarespace portfolio examples for inspiration.
The best website builder for small business owners is Wix, as most website builders are targeted towards small businesses. Business owners use Wix websites to showcase their brands. You simply need to check if the builder has the necessary tools. Other options for your small business website include Shopify, Square Online, and Webflow.
The best website builder for bloggers is WordPress. You can monetize your blog with the paid plans, get access to the CMS, and use third-party plugins. Starting a WordPress blog will be a piece of cake.
The best e-commerce website builder is Shopify. Shopify is the best choice for small, fast-growing, and large online stores. It comes with all the sales, marketing, payment, shipping, product, and inventory tools you might need. Check out inspiring Shopify stores before getting started.
This might be subjective depending on your needs, but Squarespace is widely known for its templates and themes. It comes with stunning templates with features like video backgrounds and animations. Paid WordPress templates are also a good idea.
Wix is the best website builder for ease of use, but Square Online is the easiest to build an online store. Both allow you to drag and drop elements in predefined lines, which is also restrictive.
The best website builder for basic websites is the Bluehost Builder. It allows you to set up a site with minimal effort. Carrd is an ideal choice for one-page basic websites, and the Hostinger Website Builder is also a good option.
Webflow is the website builder with the most customizable designs. There's a steep learning curve to consider, but once you go past it, there is no limit to what you can customize.
There is no best website builder for SEO, as all the options on this list have SEO functionality. If you want more advanced SEO features, consider Squarespace and Wix. But it's also important to know how SEO works before getting started.
Costs & Pricing Plans of Leading Website Builders
Website builders have a similar pricing model, with free features like custom domain name or SSL. You can pay monthly or per month billed annually. Here are some common questions about website builder's costs and pricing.
The starting price of leading website builders is $16 per month, although some go as low as $2.99 per month. You can save money and get freebies by choosing the annual plan. If you're on a budget, the Hostinger website builder is suitable.
Many website builders come with a money-back guarantee. For instance, Wix and Squarespace offer a 14-day guarantee, while Webflow offers a 30-day guarantee.
There are good free website builder plans if you simply want a website for your hobby or portfolio and cannot afford the paid plans. The free plans come with large, annoying ads, complicated subdomains, and no custom domain. You can use the best free website builders before you upgrade.
Website builders are worth it, especially to create an online presence for your brand. If you're working with a tight budget, there are cheap website builders like Hostinger that you can use with good features. You can also start with free website builders before moving to the paid plans.
There are no hidden costs, but you must consider some pricing tricks. For instance, Wix advertises a per-month rate but is actually paid per month billed annually. Some plans also come with introductory pricing, which would get expensive after the first payment.
Building a website can cost up to $200 upfront, considering the website building fees, third-party plugins, custom domain names, and more. If you hire web designers, it can cost up to $6,000 upfront.
Website Builders FAQs
It depends on the complexity of your website and your budget. If you're going to code your website, you will spend a few thousand dollars on a professional coder. You can also hire web designers to build a site for you on a website builder to save costs.
The best website builders are usually scalable regarding pricing plans and resources. But keep in mind that you're limited to your plan. For instance, you cannot use more bandwidth than what is provided by your plan.
Switching your website to another builder is difficult unless you're manually copying the text and images. Webflow and WordPress will allow you to do so, but most website builders are not designed to allow moving their sites from server to server.
A website builder is a tool that allows you to create your own website without writing a line of code. It provides you with templates and design tools to build a website and launch it online. Website builders mean you don't need to hire a professional web designer.
WordPress is a content management system and not a website builder. If you want a website-builder-like experience, you should use WordPress.com. WordPress.com is built on top of WordPress and offers templates and a drag-and-drop editor. But WordPress.org is more complicated and is an open-source software.
WordPress is free, along with many of the add-ons. The only catch is that you must pay for a web host and domain. Also, some of the best themes and plugins are paid for.
You can create your own website for free with the best free website builders. The free tools allow you to set up and launch a website but have limited space and bandwidth, ads, and few features. You can also consider free e-commerce platforms to keep your store running.
You can get a free domain name if the website builder offers it for free. Wix and Hostinger offer a free domain name on the paid plans. You can also get a free custom domain name by purchasing a web hosting plan.
You need to buy a web hosting account to build a website. If you are building a website with a website builder, you get access to their hosting service. So you won't have to pay extra for hosting. Hostinger and Bluehost are website builders that provide web hosting services.
Wix is better than WordPress regarding user-friendliness and intuitive editor, but WordPress offers more advanced customization options. If you want to build a site without technical expertise, Wix is a suitable choice. It is one of the top WordPress alternatives.
Website Builder Comparison: Launch Your Website, Blog or Online Store
The best website builders would be useful if you're looking to launch your personal or business website, blog, or online store. Ensure that the website builder meets your needs, and look out for specific features like third-party plugins, multilingual features and customer support.
Here are the top five website builders of 2024 to choose from:
Wix
Squarespace
Webflow
Shopify
Hostinger
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Martin Luenendonk
Martin loves entrepreneurship and has helped dozens of entrepreneurs by validating the business idea, finding scalable customer acquisition channels, and building a data-driven organization. During his time working in investment banking, tech startups, and industry-leading companies he gained extensive knowledge in using different software tools to optimize business processes.
This insights and his love for researching SaaS products enables him to provide in-depth, fact-based software reviews to enable software buyers make better decisions.