A website is essential if you want to be discovered online. However, most small businesses do not have the resources to hire a professional developer. These website builders allow you to create a website without paying a fortune.
These apps take care of the hard work. You don’t have to be an expert in CSS or know how to modify HTML.
Discover the top website builders that I have tested.
If you are just looking to create a landing spot for your next campaign, then a website builder may be too much. Instead, check out the best landing page builders on the market.
What is a website builder?
Website builders are tools that allow you to create a website with no coding knowledge. There are two types of website builders. An offline website builder allows you to download software and create your website from your computer. Online website builders allow you to build and modify your website right from the company’s website.
How to find out what website builder was used?
Ever wonder how your competitors are building their websites? Are you ever curious about the technology used to create amazing websites? It is always helpful to gain insight into the work of others and what they are doing.
The first option is builtwith.com. Then enter the website URL you want to check and click Lookup. Scroll down to the Content Management System section, and you will have the builder behind the website.
The second option is wappalyzer.com. Just enter the website URL you want to check and click the search icon. Check the CMS section, and will find out what website builder they used.
What makes a great website builder?
The best website builders make it easy to use, are affordable, and offer the potential for growth.
Templates or themes should be included in the builder to give you a design start point. This will make it easier to upload your own content or images and then publish quickly.
How to choose the best website builder?
The website builder is easy to use. Do you find the website builder intuitive or difficult to use? The majority of the site builders in this list are easy to use. These site builders are easy for beginners and more difficult for those who have some design experience. Some allow you to access the code, while others require some coding experience.
The website builder offers customization options. Some people don’t want a single-page website. I looked at the ease of each builder to customize. This included how many templates they have, whether they offer drag-and-drop features and whether you can change styles, colors, and elements. I have tried to clarify if there is a compromise between customization and ease of use.
The website builder provides built-in SEO tools. It’s only half of the battle to build a website. You also need to rank in search engines. I reviewed each builder’s SEO tools. These included the ability to edit meta descriptions, add an alt tag, upload or create site maps, and adjust meta tags.
Best website builders compared
| Website builder | Pricing* | Free templates |
|---|---|---|
| Wix | $16/month for website $29/month for e-commerce | 864 |
| Squarespace | $16/month for website $27/month for e-commerce | 28 |
| Shopify | $29/month for e-commerce | 9 |
| Webflow | $12/month for website $29/month for e-commerce | 45 |
| Zyro | $2.69/month for website $3.59/month for e-commerce | 120 |
| Webnode | $3.90/month for website $12.90/month for e-commerce | 421 |
| Weebly | $12.90/month for website $12.90/month for e-commerce | 50 |
| Duda | $14/month for website $21.75/month for e-commerce | 114 |
| WordPress.org | Free | 10000 |
*The prices shown are not the lowest. I have only considered plans without ads or builder branding and with the ability to connect your own domain.
What website builder is best?
- Wix – best for beginners
- Squarespace – best for portfolios
- Shopify – best for e-commerce
- Webflow – best for web designers
- Zyro – best for the budget
- Webnode – best for multilingual
- Weebly – best for simple websites
- Duda – best for agencies
- WordPress.org – best open-source
Best website builder for beginners
Wix is a user-friendly website builder. It gives you complete creative control over your site. Wix is not like other builders. It doesn’t compromise power or customization for ease. Instead, it combines drag-and-drop editing tools and a wide range of features.
It’s a great website builder and an excellent choice for anyone looking to start an online shop. The three plans are ecommerce-specific, with a number of features to increase your sales. It’s not for everyone, especially because it has a higher price and a cluttered visual editor.
Wix has 200 million users and is the largest website builder. Wix has come a long way since it was a niche product and is now almost a household name.
Start by telling Wix the type of website you would like and any extra features, such as chat, forms, blogs, or online stores. Next, choose from over 300 templates, each broken down by type. These templates look professional and can easily be modified to suit your needs.
You can edit fonts, add headings and include lists. Drag and drop sections are all possible to create the site you desire. There is no coding required. It was very easy to use. Wix offers many integrations including email so that you can launch a digital marketing campaign from your Wix dashboard.
After you have added pages and updated your copy, you can make any other adjustments to your site. A domain ending with.wixsite.com will be your free domain. It will also include a Wix logo, which is pretty standard for site builders. You can also connect your domain if you already have one.
Is Wix a good website builder?
Yes, Wix is a great website builder for beginners and small businesses. The tool is easy to use and provides an intuitive drag-and-drop builder.
Best website builder for portfolios
Squarespace is a popular website builder that’s loaded with useful features. You can build a portfolio website, an online store, blog or small business website. Although the editor is easy to use, it can take some time to find the right locations of menus and other features. It is a mix of a drag-and drop editor and a point & click editor.
Squarespace is well-known for its templates. The website builder has won numerous awards for design. The templates are modern, bold, and minimalistic and were all designed by professionals. These templates are mobile-responsive so you don’t need to create a separate site for mobile users.
Is Squarespace a good website builder?
Yes, Squarespace is a good website builder for photographers, designers, and other creators who are looking to create their online portfolios. The tool is easy to use and provides the best-looking templates on the market.
Best website builder for e-commerce
Shopify is an e-commerce website building platform. All paid plans include built-in shopping carts as well as marketing tools to help you sell online. You can only choose from nine free ecommerce templates. There are many premium templates that you can purchase, but they avearage about $100.
Shopify is the best online platform for selling products and services. Shopify was founded in 2006 and has been the leading platform for online businesses looking to establish an online presence.
Shopify is known for its ability handle large and complicated inventories. It also offers shipping options and checkout customization. You can easily add promotions to your pages or offer discounts to customers.
Is Shopify a good website builder?
Yes, Shopify is a great website builder for anyone who wants to sell online. The tool help users build their own, scalable online store with hundreds of built-in features, and tons of apps.
Best website builder for web designers
Webflow is more than a drag-and-drop website creator. Webflow combines the best of both a CMS platform with an intuitive visual editor. Webflow is quickly becoming the preferred platform for freelancers and agencies.
Webflow gives designers complete control over building responsive websites without any programming. Webflow’s CMS collection capabilities allow designers to reuse elements and create product page templates. This helps to maintain design consistency and saves a lot of time.
You can buy a template to make your website easier to create. The platform also offers an optional walkthrough to help you get to know the platform. You should be fine if you are familiar with WordPress. It might be difficult to grasp website builders if you are new.
There are many options and customizations available. You can adjust the height, fonts, buttons and more. You’ll also have all the information you need, including meta descriptions and H1s, if you are an expert in SEO.
Is Webflow a good website builder?
Yes, Webflow is a great website builder for web designers and freelancers. Webflow has a lot of features and customization options for your website.
Best website builder for the budget
Zyro is the ideal low-cost option if you are looking for a website that you can create and maintain yourself. There are only a few good website builders, but Zyro is the best and most affordable.
You don’t need to hire a developer. You don’t need to know HTML or WordPress. Drag and drop is all you need to create a stunning website. You’ll also save hundreds of dollars per year over similar services.
Zyro is a great choice for freelancers and small businesses that need a website. It can do all that Squarespace and Wix can do. It’s not perfect, but it’s much less expensive and almost as simple to use.
Drag-and-drop editing is easy to use. It includes all the elements necessary to create a website, whether it’s for personal or professional purposes. The low-tier plan has a limited number of features. Zyro also offers a tool to import existing websites to its platform. It will pull the content from your site to its site builder so that you can quickly and easily insert the content into a new design.
Is Zyro a good website builder?
Yes, Zyro is a good website builder if you are on a budget. Zyro is a website builder with one of the lowest prices on the market. The tool is ideal for personal websites or small online stores.
Best website builder for multilingual websites
Webnode lets you add multiple languages to your site, provided you choose the Profi Premium or Standard plan. Your site visitors will be able to switch between the language you have chosen and any other languages you have added after you have set it.
This is a great feature, especially if your products are sold globally.
These templates are quite standard. However, the site lacks some features you might find on other website builders. This is why many people choose to use other platforms.
It also lacks integrations. This means that you won’t be able to make improvements to the site you have built. It does however have SEO features that are equally important.
Is Webnode a good website builder?
Yes, Webnode is a good website builder for anyone who wants to set up a multilingual website as fast as possible. Webnode offers templates for simple websites or for e-commerce.
Best website builder for simple websites
Weebly is a very easy-to-use website building tool that’s ideal for people who are starting their own website. It is very easy to use and can help you get started quickly.
Weebly is an excellent choice if you want to quickly set up a website. Weebly’s signup process is very straightforward. It only asks for your name, email address and password.
For example, if you are a blogger, You can use Weebly for a custom domain and drag-and-drop page builder.
A free account allows you to get up and running quickly, but your domain will have Weebaly branding. You can however add your own domain to Weebly’s premium plans.
It’s worth noting that Weebly can also power websites that require e-commerce integration. The higher-tier plans offer unlimited storage, so it shouldn’t be difficult to build online stores with Weebly.
If you subscribe to the Pro or Business plan, all ads on Weebly will be removed.
Weebly, like other website builders also offers responsive themes. These make it easy for users to view your website from their mobile devices.
Is Weebly a good website builder?
Yes, Weebly is a good website builder for anyone building their first website. Weebly is perfect if you’re starting a blog or a simple website for free.
Best website builder for agencies
Duda is a great option for freelancers and agencies.
Duda comes with a built-in client management tool, which allows you to directly collaborate with clients.
You can even work with your team to create different pages simultaneously. One page can be worked on while the others work on another. Duda uses Amazon AWS to ensure 99.9% uptime.
The website designer can also support multilingual site design. It also offers SEO tools to international audiences, such as loading URLs that are specific to the language of the visitor depending on their location.
Duda is a great site builder that offers amazing collaboration features.
Is Duda a good website builder?
Yes, Duda is a good website builder for freelancers and agencies. Duda is perfect if you’re starting a blog or a simple website for free. Duda supports client management, multilingual site development, and collaboration features.
Best open-source website builder
WordPress.org is the free, open-source content management system (CMS). Because of its flexibility and freedom, WordPress is one of the most popular CMS platforms.
The WordPress platform is used to build the current website.
You will need to choose WordPress and a reliable web hosting provider.
There are many free themes and paid themes for WordPress.
WordPress’ site builder can be used by itself. However, it only contains the essential elements. You can install thousands of plugins to enhance the functionality of your website, many of which are free.
WordPress is the most customizable website builder. There are two downsides to WordPress. You may have to hire a freelancer to code your website or teach you how to use plugins. Because WordPress is so popular, it’s easy to find a WordPress expert.
Is WordPress a good website builder?
Yes, WordPress is a good website builder if you want to have full control over your site. Thousands of plugins and themes are available to extend the functionality of your website. WordPress has no limits.