5 Best Free Website Builders in 2023 (The Definitive List)
If you want to build a reliable website without spending money, the best free website builders are ideal. Since finding a website builder with a generous plan is rare, our review covers the best five options.
Wix
Squarespace
Webflow
GoDaddy
Nowadays, it’s rare to find a website builder that offers a generous free plan. Most free plans are meant to get you hooked to the website builder, and you might realize that all the important features are locked behind the paid plans.
This guide looks at the best website builders with a generous free plan. These site builders allow you to create a usable site without spending money. But remember that if you want advanced design features, more storage, or a custom domain, you might need the paid plans later.
Overview of Top Free Website Builders
-
Wix
Best Overall Website Builder -
Squarespace
Best for Free Templates -
Webflow
Best for Extensive Customization -
GoDaddy
Best for Beginners -
Weebly
Best for Small Online Store
List of the Best Free Website Builders
1. Wix
Best Overall Website Builder
Wix is an all-in-one website builder that offers all you need to launch an attractive website for free. The website builder is popular among entrepreneurs, bloggers, and small business owners. With its free plans, you get a wide range of in-demand features.
A wide range of design templates and tools exist, with a drag-and-drop interface and preset sections for an organized site. Furthermore, the free plan offers SEO features and email marketing tools to take advantage of.
Key Features
Design Control with Drag-and-Drop Tool
There are hundreds of attractive free Wix templates ideal for all kinds of local businesses and blogs. The Wix Editor has a drag-and-drop interface to place design elements anywhere on the page. Although all templates are structured, you have more creative freedom than other website builders.
Blogging Capability
If you’re considering starting a blog, you can do that on Wix for free. The free plan allows you to design your blog and make posts with pictures, graphics, and embedded videos. You can also build a subscription list and update your subscribers with the free tier. There is also an option for live chat to communicate with website guests.
Free Apps
If you want to expand the functionality of your Wix site, you can take advantage of the Wix App Market. Wix offers different free apps, and you can start using them from the free plan. There are apps for social media integration, event calendars, advanced forms, and more.
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
Wix offers a generous free plan. But to get better features or expand your website, you can consider their general or commerce plans.
The Wix General plans include:
- Connect Domain: This plan is only suitable if you want a simple brand online presence and already have a custom domain. It lets you connect your domain and offers 1GB bandwidth and 500MB disk space.
- Combo: If you don’t have any ads on your professional business website, you’ll have to use the Wix Combo plan. It has a free domain, 2GB bandwidth, and 3GB disk space.
- Unlimited: Websites with higher traffic can use the Unlimited plan. It offers unlimited bandwidth and 10GB of disk space. It also helps you increase traffic with Visitor Analytics and SEO Booster apps.
- VIP: With the VIP plan, you can build a reliable customer base, as it offers lead capture forms for collecting customer information. It also offers a professional logo and priority customer support.
- 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
You must upgrade to the Commerce plans on Wix to sell online
- Business Basic: Suitable for small-scale online stores, this plan offers over 500 e-commerce templates and unlimited products. The plan allows you to sell on Instagram and Facebook and offers abandoned cart recovery.
- Business Unlimited: This plan is great for fast-growing online stores, as it supports multiple currencies and selling online on Amazon and eBay. You can still sell subscriptions.
- Business VIP: Large businesses can consider this plan, as it offers unlimited Modalyst dropshipping. You can upload unlimited videos, and you get priority customer support.
2. Squarespace
Best for Free Templates
Squarespace is an all-in-one website builder and one of the best options for those looking to launch a site for free. The website builder is known for its stunning template designs, making it an ideal choice for portfolios, personal sites, and artistic websites.
If you’re considering using Squarespace, remember that it is only free for 14 days. After that, you’ll have to use the paid plans. Squarespace also allows you to provide members-only content and offers appointment-scheduling tools.
Key Features
Intuitive Drag-and-Drop and Grid Editor
Squarespace has a drag-and-drop interface and a grid editor that is easy to use and learn. The grid editor ensures that your website design is organized. You can also use the Fluid Engine, which allows you to move blocks and page elements anywhere.
Attractive and Diverse Templates
Squarespace is known for its attractive and customizable templates. The website builder offers over 240 templates, and over 200 of them are free. You can use the free themes for photography, portfolio, entertainment, online stores, home décor and small business websites. You can also switch templates at any time.
Social Media and Email Marketing
The website builder offers social media and email marketing tools in the free trial and paid plans. It allows you to share content on social media with built-in tools. There are also integrations and extensions for managing your social media presence and a drag-and-drop editor for creating social media-friendly content. The email marketing tools allow you to nurture your audience via email. You can access real-time analytics to check your email campaign and customize your templates.
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 offers a 14-day free trial and up to a 30% annual discount. Once the free trial is done, you can upgrade to the premium plan.
- Personal: This plan is great for small websites like personal portfolios. It provides a free custom domain, unlimited bandwidth, and two contributors.
- Business: If you want to sell online through Squarespace, consider this plan. It comes with e-commerce functionality and unlimited products. There are also unlimited contributors and custom coding.
- Commerce Basic: This plan is great for fast-growing online stores, especially if you want to avoid fees on online transactions. It accepts Facebook and Instagram selling, on-site checkout, POS systems, and product reviews.
- Commerce Advanced: For a more advanced online store, consider this plan. It offers advanced shipping and discounts and abandoned cart recovery. You can also sell subscriptions and get access to commerce APIs.
3. Webflow
Best for Extensive Customization
Webflow offers the best customization options for a free website builder, with seamless onboarding.. If you want your website to look professional without spending money, you can consider Webflow.
The website builder has attractive, industry-wide templates and a section block editor. It’s a good choice for experienced builders, freelancers, and agencies, but only if you consider using the paid plans. The free plan is a great choice for individuals who want to create a simple website.
Key Features
Creative Freedom with Attractive Templates
Webflow offers extensive creative freedom and complete control, even on the free plan. You can access attractive free templates and customizable features, including advanced micro-interactions, parallax scrolling, and animations.
Efficient Onboarding and Navigation
Webflow is not an easy-to-use website builder, but it makes it easier for beginners with a convenient onboarding process. There is a virtual design assistant that helps you understand how everything works before designing your site. You can also visit Webflow University to learn more about the website builder. Webflow also provides short keys and right-clicking for easier navigation when website building.
Backups and Security
Webflow takes its security and backups very seriously. The site builder offers automatic backups, so you can save and restore your site data at any time. The plans also offer free SSL certificates.
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
The Webflow free plan is suitable for hobby and staging sites and small local business sites. It offers 50 website pages, 1GB bandwidth, and a Webflow.io domain. The Webflow General plans include:
- Basic: This plan is suitable for personal and small business websites. It offers unlimited storage and custom code, and you can build a site with 100 pages.
- CMS: If you want to manage a site with more than one person as a freelancer, consider this plan. It allows 3 content editors, on-site search, and 200GB bandwidth.
- Business: Agencies or growing businesses can consider using this plan, which accepts 10 content editors. It offers advanced security and a customer success manager.
- 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
If you want to set up an online store, you should use the Webflow Commerce plans.
- Standard: Build a small-scale online store on this plan, which allows 500 e-commerce and 2000 CMS items. But it comes with a 2% transaction fee.
- Plus: For a fast-growing online store that multiple people manage, you can use this plan. It accepts 5,000 e-commerce items and 10 content editors. Also, there are no transaction fees.
- Advanced: Large-scale online stores can use this plan. It allows you to sell up to 15,000 e-commerce items and accepts 15 content editors. Further, you don’t have to pay transaction fees.
4. GoDaddy
Best for Beginners
GoDaddy is a great website builder for entrepreneurs and do-it-yourselfers who want to create a new and simple website without spending too much time. If you want an attractive website for your business or a storefront, the GoDaddy ADI technology will take care of it instantly.
The site builder offers a free plan with attractive templates, social and email marketing, and visitor analytics. You can even set up an online store and receive payments without buying any paid plans. The free plan is limited to one website; you can’t connect it to a custom domain name.
Key Features
Easy to Set Up Your Site
GoDaddy shortens the setup process for your website with artificial intelligence. The ADI feature will ask you certain questions and provide you with a template and website design based on that. You can design the website as you see fit.
Blogging Features
GoDaddy is a great choice to set up a blog. It’s also ideal for adding a blog to your business website or online store. The website builder lets you set up a blog and add features like blog commenting and category management.
Paid Extras and Tools
Although there is a free plan, you get extra tools if you pay. For instance, a digital marketing suite offers a wide range of marketing tools. These include search engine optimization, social media management, content creation, email marketing, social and email analytics, and paid search. You also get an appointment or service scheduling app on the paid plans for free. It allows you to set recurring appointments, email reminders, and payments.
Pricing
- Drag-and-Drop Editor
- 100+ Mobile-Friendly Templates
- Integrated Website Chat
- 24/7 Support
- Send 25000 Emails per Month
- Social Media Toolkit
- Paid Advertising Toolkit
- Get Google Ads Credits
- Sell 5000 Products
- Discounts on USPS Shipping
- Gift Cards, Coupons, Sales Badges
- External Channels Selling - 50 orders/mo
- Unlimited Products
- Send 100000 Emails per Month
- Auto Sales Tax Calculation
- External Channels Selling - 1000 orders/mo
Read more about GoDaddy pricing
The free plan on GoDaddy offers many templates, and you can set up an online store and start taking payments. Then, there are four paid plans.
- Basic: This plan is suitable for personal websites and sites for small businesses. It offers a drag-and-drop editor and integrated website chat.
- Premium: This plan is ideal if you want to build a stronger customer base. It offers a social media and paid advertising toolkit, and you can send 25,000 monthly emails.
- Commerce Basic: Suitable for small stores, this plan allows you to sell 5,000 products. It allows you to provide customers with gift cards, sales badges, and coupons and supports external channels selling.
- Commerce Plus: Fast-growing and large businesses can use this plan, which allows for unlimited products. You can build a strong customer base as it supports 100,000 emails per month. It also offers auto sales tax calculation.
5. Weebly
Best for Small Online Store
Weebly is known as a beginner-friendly website builder that makes it easy for anyone to set up a professional website or ecommerce store. With the drag-and-drop editor, it does not have a steep learning curve and offers a generous free plan. Weebly’s free plan is loaded with e-commerce features but also comes with a free SSL certificate, SEO features, lead capture and Instagram feed, and reliable customer support. It is more generous than most free website builders.
Key Features
Responsive Themes and Templates
Weebly comes with over 50 free templates, including those for online stores, small businesses, portfolios, personal sites, blogs, and events. The themes are highly customizable, with a reliable site editor that offers control over your design. The drag-and-drop editor allows you to move sections around easily. All templates are compatible with mobile devices. You can consider premium templates for more unique designs.
Easily Create an Online Store
Weebly allows you to create an online store from the free version. The website builder offers all you need to get started, including shopping carts, inventory management, an automatic tax calculator, and a quick shop. You can sell products with no limit from the free plan. But you must consider that you cannot connect a custom domain, and there would be Weebly ads.
Weebly App Center
Weebly comes with an app center that offers free and paid tools. The app center is available for all plans, including the free plan. You get apps to boost sales, connect social media, boost traffic, show live sale notifications, accept donations, and more.
Pricing
- 60+ Mobile-Friendly Templates
- Sell Unlimited Products
- SEO Tools
- Chat & Email Support
- No Weebly Ads
- Free Domain
- Unlimited Storage
- Phone Support
- PayPal Payments
- Request Reviews via Email
- Abandoned Cart Recovery Emails
- Priority Support
Read more about Weebly pricing
Weebly offers a generous free version with a wide range of e-commerce features. But you must consider that there is no custom domain, and your site will have Weebly ads.
- Personal: Suitable for small online stores and personal sites, this plan allows you to connect to a custom domain if you have one. It allows you to sell unlimited products and offers SEO tools.
- Professional: If you want a website or online store with no ads and you don’t have a domain, you can consider this plan. It offers a free domain and unlimited storage.
- Performance: This plan is ideal for larger online stores, allowing you to collect payments through PayPal. It also offers email tools for request reviews and abandoned cart recovery.
Look for These Features in a Free Website Builder
Getting a free website builder might seem tempting, but it’s important to consider several factors before you choose the right one for you. These free plans come with limited features, but there are some factors that you should not compromise on. Ensure your website builder meets all these expectations:
Simple Domain Name
If you’re using the free plan on a website builder, you won’t be able to connect a custom domain name or get a free domain. But, most website builders come with a long and complex domain name which would make your website look unprofessional. It’s important to check the domain name before launching a free website.
Minimal Ads
Having a website with too many ads will not look good to your prospective visitors. It’s important to check if the website builder has intrusive ads on its free plan before signing up.
Affordable Paid Plans
After a while, you might want to upgrade to the paid plans and get more benefits. So, ensure that the free website builder has affordable premium plans that you can take advantage of down the road.
Enough Storage
Free plans on website builders offer limited storage space and would place a cap on how much content you can upload to the site. It would especially be hard to upload high-quality videos to a free website. So, ensure there is enough space on the free plan.
Ease of Use
Even if a website builder is free with sufficient features, if it is difficult to use, there is no point. Ensure that the site builder is convenient, especially if it has a drag-and-drop interface.
Free SSL Certificate
Many website builders offer an SSL certificate, although it’s rare to have this feature on a free plan. If you don’t have an SSL certificate, your website will appear as ‘Not Secure’ to visitors. If the free website builder does not offer this feature, consider buying it separately.
E-Commerce Features
If you want to set up an online store, you should look for a website builder with ecommerce features. Ensure the site builder comes with ecommerce functionality and allows you to sell physical and digital products, and subscriptions.
How Do I Create A Free Website?
If you want to create a free website, you should follow the steps below.
- Firstly, identify the purpose of your website. Are you creating a blog, online store, portfolio, or website for a small business? It could be as small as a one page website or a photography portfolio or as large as an e-commerce store or the online page for your business.
- Next, you should choose a domain name and web hosting provider. Website builders offer free hosting, and many will also provide a custom domain name on the premium features. If you’re creating a free website, you need to get your domain name or use the complex subdomain the site builder provides.
- Choose a website builder with a generous free plan. Consider the themes and design options, business and SEO tools, security and backup, visitor analytics, and third-party tools.
- You can start customizing your website with the templates and design tools. Choose the best theme for you and customize it with the available tools.
- Use the available SEO tools to optimize your website for search engines. You should also familiarize yourself with the marketing tools to promote your website.
- Publish your site and maintain it regularly. Your site will be live and available for visitors. Ensure you update the content and features consistently.
Is It Worth Upgrading to a Paid Plan?
It is worth upgrading to a paid plan if you want more than a simple site to showcase your business or products, or sell services. Free plans can be generous, but if you want more, you will have to choose one of the paid plans. Also, paid plans are not always expensive and can cost as little as $4.5 per month.
Here are some advantages of upgrading to a paid plan:
- More Control Over Branding: If you want more control over your branding and you want to choose your domain name, you should consider an upgrade.
- Removes Ads: A paid plan will be ideal if you no longer want ads on your site, as the free version displays ads. Upgrading your plan will give you an ad-free site.
- Sell More Professionally: You should consider getting a paid plan if you want an online store with many products. Although a website builder like Weebly offers unlimited products on the free account, you will still have ads and no custom domain, and your site won’t look professional online.
- Link A Custom Domain: A paid plan allows you to link your custom domain or you can even get a free custom domain if you don’t already have one. It would make it easier for visitors to type out your site name,
- Access to Advanced Features: If you want access to advanced features like paid apps, plugins, and additional features, you must upgrade to a paid plan. A paid plan would offer advanced analytics, APIs, and coding features. It would also increase your storage and bandwidth.
FAQ
There are several free website builders that you can use. Most website builders offer free plans, so you don’t have to upgrade to the paid plans. However, they are usually limited as they don’t come with custom domains and are usually packed with the website builder’s branding and ads.
Many free website builders come with SEO tools but are not as advanced as paid plans. Free websites are bad for SEO because they are slow. But website builders like Wix and Weebly would be good for SEO, even on the free plan.
Yes, Wix is free. There is a free forever plan that you can use without paying. It allows you to publish your website and does not have a time limit. The free plan offers 500MB of storage space but has limits like the Wix ads.
Yes, free website builders are good. If you choose the best website builders with free plans like Wix, you can set up a simple online presence or basic online store without spending any money. It does not require coding and will only take a couple of minutes.
Yes, you can upgrade your website in the future. The website builders allow you to upgrade from the free to the paid plans at any time. You can also use a website builder like Squarespace, which offers a free trial. After 14 days, you can upgrade to the paid plans.
You don’t need to buy web hosting with a free website builder. Website builders offer hosting as part of their services, whether it’s a free or paid plan.
You can build your website for free. Whether for a portfolio or personal site, a blog, an online store, or a small business website, you can build your own site without spending a dime.
WordPress.org is free since it is an open-source software. But you must pay for the domain, hosting, premium themes, and plugins. Also, WordPress.com is a website builder with a free plan, so you can use that, too. But you’ll most likely benefit from the paid plan instead.
Pick One Of These Free Website Builders
If you want to create a website without spending a dime, you can select one of our best free website builders. Remember that these free site builders are limited in their features and functions. You can consider using the free website builder temporarily until you need more advanced features for your business.
Here are our top five free website builders:
Wix
Squarespace
Webflow
GoDaddy
Weebly
We suggest making the most of the free plan to experiment with the website builder and understand how it works. If you’re serious about your website and want to increase your online visibility, upgrade to the paid plan afterward. But if it’s a hobby, a free plan would make do.