Wix, Squarespace, & More (2022)

Choosing the best website builder can be difficult, as there are 90+ popular options to choose from.

When choosing the right builder to make a website consider price, reliability, web hosting services, technical support, site speed, SEO, features, ease of use, template design, and more.

We’ll also compare:

• The best website builders for small businesses.
• The best free and cheap options.
• The ones with the best SEO.
• The best platforms with online store capabilities.
• The best builders for agencies.
• And the best options for photographers and artists.

Let’s get started.

What is the Best Website Builder?

Using a website builder is a quick and easy way to build a presence for your brand or online business. These tools simplify your site management by combining domain registration, hosting, and site design into one platform.

If you’re not too savvy with web design and development, you’ll want to go with an easy drag and drop editor.

The choice is up to you.

Here are my top picks for the best website builder to use this year. 

1. Zyro.

Best Website Builder For Beginners And Small Businesses ($2.61 per month)

Adam’s Take

Zyro is my #1 choice for setting up websites for small businesses. They have everything you need to get your site up and running, from templates to hosting, and everything in between. Their customer service is also top-notch, giving you all the help you need to get your website looking and functioning the way you want. You can also get a free domain and up to 71% off when using the link below.

If you’re looking for a beginner-friendly website builder that won’t break the bank, Zyro might be a good fit.

They offer a wide range of templates and designs to get you started, as well as eCommerce capabilities for small businesses.

With a no-code platform, Zyro makes it easy to get the website you want without any prior experience.

You can also use their drag-and-drop editor to customize your site or get help from one of their professional designers.

Their customer support is also top-notch, being able to help you at any moment of the day, as needed.

With 24/7 customer support, you can be up and running selling online in minutes.

They also accept more than 70 payment methods.

This means that your business can get paid from anywhere in the world and with the method that works best for your customers.

Key Features:

• Their drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to customize your site without any coding required.
• Deep reporting so you can see how your website is performing and make changes as needed.
• A simple CRM to keep track of your customers and sales, allowing you to follow up easily.
• Universal payment solutions give you the ability to accept payments from anywhere in the world and with any method your customers prefer.
• Free hosting means you don’t have to pay anything to get started.
• Guaranteed uptime of 99.9%, so your site is always up and running.

User Experience:

A WISIWYG editor allows you to create a beautiful and modern website without having to code or learn design.

There are also many templates and themes to choose from, so you can easily find the perfect look for your business or blog.

Easily see updates happen in real-time so you always know what’s going on with your website.

Pricing:

Zyro offers the following pricing plans (on a monthly basis):

• Website: $2.61
• Business: $4.41
• Advanced Store: $14.31

There is also a thirty-day money-back guarantee so that you can try out the platform without any risk.

What I Like/Dislike About Zyro:

Like:

• Helpful customer service so you’re never left in the dark about what’s going on with your website.
• Easy to transfer a domain to Zyro if you ever need to.
• Easy to edit templates that allow you to change the look of your website with ease.

Dislike:

• Font size can’t be changed on certain templates which can make it difficult to read your website’s content.
• Fewer functionalities than some other website builders.
• Sometimes the user interface can be glitchy when editing or creating a new page.

Product Updates

• You can now generate invoices quickly and easily without having to input all of the information manually.
• The new smart layout feature allows you to automatically arrange your website’s content in an optimized way. This makes it easy to create a well-organized website that looks great and is easy to navigate.

Get Three Months Free & Up To 71% Off When Signing Up Through My Link.

2. Wix.

Best Website Builder for Small Business ($8.50/month)

Adam’s Take

Wix is my #2 choice when building a website the easy way. If you want a custom solution that reflects your brand, you should look no further than Wix for all your needs.

Wix is the most popular website builder on the market, with over 100 million users.

They have 500+ ready-to-use templates to design your website in any industry. These templates are mobile-optimized and have 100 fonts to choose from (or you can upload your own).

Their designs also look beautiful, with scroll effects, and advanced design features like animation and video backgrounds.

If you already have a domain on GoDaddy or want to register one at Wix.com, they make it super easy. Also, if you’d like to add e-commerce to your site so that you can sell online, plans start a $20/month.

If you’re a small business, I recommend Wix as the best online store builder. You don’t necessarily need a platform with more advanced options like BigCommerce and Shopify. Wix website owners that want to add an e-commerce store can get these great new features.

Wix is the most user-friendly website tool on the market. You can almost endlessly customize the look and feel of your site with no coding knowledge.

They also have a tool called Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) – the first artificial intelligence website builder. Wix ADI learns about your site and uses that information to design a site tailored to your specific needs.

This tool leverages AI choosing from billions of combinations of images, text, layouts, and contact forms.

Ultimately, if you’re looking for the right website builder for small business owners, Wix is your best choice.

Key Features:

• Advanced Design Features allow you to be in control of your website’s look and feel – from the colour scheme to the font style, you can customize your website to match your brand perfectly.
• Mobile Optimized means that your website will look great on any device, whether it’s a phone, tablet, or computer.
• App Market gives you access to hundreds of apps that can help you improve your website, from contact forms to live chat and more.
• Advanced SEO Tools help you make sure your website is seen by as many people as possible.
• Stunning Templates give you a professional-looking website without having to hire a designer.
• Wix Editor makes it easy to create and edit your website, without having to learn coding.

User Experience:

With tons of apps that you can integrate into your site, and a simple drag-and-drop editor, it’s easy to create a unique website that looks professional.

Mobile optimization means that your site will look great on any device, and you can easily manage your content from anywhere.

Pricing:

Starting from $8.50 per month, you’ll find all you’re looking for, and more.

Read my full Wix review for more in-depth analysis.

What I Like/Dislike About Wix:

Like:

• Drag and Drop functionality is great for those who don’t want to learn coding.
• The variety of templates means that you can find the perfect look for your website.
• Best for building a blog because it is easy to use and has a lot of features.

Dislike:

• You have to design your site separately for mobile if you want it to look good on smaller screens.
• Sometimes, it can be hard to get things to line up properly, which can make your site look cluttered.
• Occasionally, Wix can take a long time to load a window, which can be frustrating.

Product Updates

• Sell tickets with assigned seats so your customers can choose their perfect spot.
• Advanced SMS automations let you stay in touch with your customers without lifting a finger.

Get started with Wix

3. GoDaddy.

Best For Creating A Website The Easy Way.

Adam’s Take

GoDaddy provides an easy-to-use drag and drop interface, making it simple to create a website – even if you have no prior experience. The platform also offers built-in marketing tools to help drive traffic and engagement, which is a key component to getting your website seen by potential customers. Overall, GoDaddy is an excellent choice for those looking for an all-in-one solution for creating a website.

GoDaddy used to be known as a domain registrar that provided good service at reasonable prices.

But they’ve upped their game in recent years and become a powerful website builder as well.

The platform is one of the easiest to use with its simple drag-and-drop interface.

You can make use of their templates to speed up the process or start from scratch and build something completely custom.

There are also built-in marketing tools to help drive traffic and engagement, which is something that many forget until it’s too late.

Managing all aspects of your website from a single device is also very handy.

Key Features:

• Email and social media marketing help you reach a larger audience with ease
• One-time appointments let you quickly schedule appointments and take payments all in one place
• Start selling online with GoDaddy Payments – no need for a separate eCommerce platform
• SSL certificate included to keep your site secure and boost your SEO

User Experience:

With tons of templates to choose from, you can have a website up and running very quickly.

These templates are very high-quality and are conveniently sorted into various categories.

Pricing:

GoDaddy offers these pricing plans:

• Basic: $9.99 /mo
• Premium: $14.99 /mo
• Commerce: $16.99 /mo
• Commerce Plus: $29.99 /mo

What I Like/Dislike About GoDaddy:

Like:

• A wide variety of templates allows you to get started quickly.
• The whole website development process is very straightforward.

Dislike:

• The GoDaddy platform could do with more ecommerce features to take things to the next level.

Product Updates:

• Time selectors for online appointments have been improved, which means that customers can now quickly and easily book appointments.
• New ShipEngine integration allows you to get shipping rates and generate labels right from your account.

Get started with GoDaddy.

4. Squarespace.

Best Website Design for Personal Sites ($12/month)

Adam’s Take

If you’re a fan of having a great-looking website, my suggestion would be to go for Squarespace. With beautiful sites made possible for both beginners and novices, Squarespace even provides in-built analytics to get information about your visitors.

When I think of Squarespace, my mind goes right to their beautifully designed home page. They truly know how to create beautiful, high-quality sites that look great for both small businesses and personal websites alike.

With over 100 design templates to choose from, they lead the pack when it comes to design. Squarespace templates look excellent down to every detail. The fonts, color schemes, and imagery all mesh perfectly for any website.

Besides design, their platform is great for bloggers. I tested out their WYSIWYG blog editor, and it’s very intuitive.

You drag elements like images, headings, and text onto the page and position it where you would like. They also offer multiple user permissions, Google AMP functionality, and you can schedule your posts:

A few small SEO limitations hold Squarespace back from being #1 on this list. First, my XML sitemap pulled in two versions of every page with and without a trailing slash “/.” This double indexing could potentially lead to SEO and duplicate content issues down the road. They didn’t have an easy fix the last time I checked.

Second, your blog headlines always become your meta titles, so be careful when adding your headlines for SEO. You can read more in my full Wix vs Squarespace review.

Other great features make up for these drawbacks. Their ease of use is top-notch – sites are elementary to build with their editing tools. In-built analytics tools provide steady data on-site visitors if you’re not using Google Analytics. Plus, it’s hard to go wrong with a beautifully designed website for just $12/month.

Key Features:

• Design Panel is great for those who want to have complete control over the look and feel of their website.
• Content Types give you the ability to create different types of content, such as blogs, portfolios, and more.
• Pre-Built Layouts make it easy to find a look that you love and then customize it to perfection.
• Customizable Templates allow you to change the look of your website without having to start from scratch.

User Experience:

With the ability to blog content blocks exactly where you want them, it’s easy to create a beautiful and unique blog layout.

The design panel lets you customize your site to perfection, and the pre-built layouts make it easy to get started.

You can also go into scheduling and analytics by clicking on the left-hand side menu and through one single interface, be able to see everything that’s going on with your website.

Pricing:

Monthly prices range from $12/month for their Personal plan up to $40/month for their Online Store (Advanced) plan. Monthly costs are based on a one-year contract, and Squarespace includes a free domain. The Personal plan provides a free domain name, unlimited bandwidth and unlimited storage, free SSL, and 24/7 customer support.

What I Like/Dislike About Squarespace:

Like:

• SEO is very easy with the Squarespace interface. You can add in your keywords and set up page titles with ease.
• The font packages are great for those who want to have a more professional looking website.
• There are beautiful pre-designed layouts that make it easy to get started, and then you can customize them to perfection.

Dislike:

• Can’t access the html code directly which if you want to make more advanced changes, you won’t be able to do so.
• Not a one -size-fits-all platform, so if you’re looking for something that is very specific, you might not be able to find it here.

Product Updates

• Mobile Version of Logo so you can have a consistent look across all devices.
• Styling For Header so you can change the color, font, and size of your header to match your branding.

Overall, if you’re a small business that needs first-rate web design or a blogger that wants your content to look great, Squarespace is a reliable choice.

Get started with Squarespace.

5. Weebly.

Best Free Website Builder (Free – $26/month)

Adam’s Take

If you’re interested in having a website builder with an integrated marketing solution, then Weebly should be your #1 pick. With both marketing and SEO catered for in the packages they offer, Weebly is great for bloggers that want to attract the right audience to their site.

Weebly powers over 530,000 domains and is known as the easy website builder of choice for people without much technical expertise. They offer a lot of great features. If you’re a blogger, you can use Weebly.com to pick a domain name and use their editor to add your text, images, and content.

They also have a mobile app to track your website’s performance on the go. Marketing and SEO tools let you market your website so it can be found by your tagete audience.

They have a free plan which comes with 500 MB of storage, a free SSL certificate, and a domain with Weebly branding. You can use a custom domain with this plan but are forced to have Weebly branding throughout your site. Also, the free plan only comes with chat and email support, but no phone support.

Key Features:

• Build a Blog that reflects your style and personality, and is easy to share with your friends and followers.
• The App Center has tons of great apps that you can add to your website to improve its functionality.
• Design Tools allow you to customize the look and feel of your website without having to learn to code.
• Sell Your Products Online through the ability to turn your website into an online store.

User Experience:

I like that you can see what your site looks like on both desktops and mobile, which means that you can make sure that your site looks great no matter where it’s being viewed.

The app center is really helpful because you can add features and functionality to your site without having to code or learn design.

Whether you’re looking for a minimalistic look or something more complex, Weebly has a template that can work for you.

Pricing:

Weebly’s paid plans range from $5 to $26 per month. On the high end, their Business Plan gets you advanced e-commerce functionality, a free domain, and $200 of Google ad credits.

Their e-commerce features include product options/variants, coupon codes, inventory management, a shipping calculator, shipping labels, and the ability to accept payments through Square and other providers.

The level of customer support you receive is based on your subscription level. You can find assistance yourself in many areas, including their blog, support center, community forum, social media, and developer documentation. They also have live chat, email, and phone support.

What I Like/Dislike About Weebly:

Like:

• The ability to preview links is really helpful because you can make sure that they’re going to the right place before you publish your site.
• The prebuilt options are great for those who want to get started quickly,
• The drag and drop widgets make it easy to customize your site without having to learn coding.

Dislike:

• A little more tutorial or help would be great for those who are just starting out.
• Some layount elements are not as customizable as I would like, which can limit what you’re able to do with your site.
• Custom objects or views would be a great addition to make Weebly even more powerful.

Product Updates

• Embed a Buy button on your website so that visitors can purchase your products directly from your site.
• Announcement banners let you highlight important news and announcements on your website.

Get started with Weebly.

6. Shopify.

Best Website Builder for Ecommerce ($29/month)

Shopify is a popular ecommerce platform used by over 800,000 online businesses to sell products online. They were founded in Canada in 2004 and quickly became a powerhouse due to their simple dashboard and integrations with thousands of app partners.

While not every website owner needs product-selling functionality, I added Shopify to the list because almost any small business could use them to set up their website.

Take a salon for instance.

With Shopify, not only could you set up a quick website including a blog, a map of your location, contact info, and appointment scheduling (with an app), but you could also sell hair care products online. This creates not only a website but another online source of revenue for your business. 

Shopify has a lot of features you’d come to expect from other tools on this list, including hosting, your own domain name, 70+ professional themes, a free SSL certificate, and marketing and SEO features.

They also offer mobile commerce, 100+ payment gateways, automatic carrier shipping rates, automatic tax rates, and the full checkout experience. Plus, you can enjoy omnichannel selling across Facebook, eBay, Amazon, Instagram, and more.

If you’re setting up a new website and think that you may want to sell products online in the future, it’s better to get started with Shopify rather than another tool that doesn’t take online shopping as seriously.

They offer three plans ranging from $29/month to $299/month. The $29/month Basic Shopify Plan should give website owners everything they need, including a full website, an online store with unlimited products, blog features, 24/7 support, and more.

If you’d like to give Shopify a try, they offer a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.

Get started with Shopify.

7. HubSpot Content Management System.

Best Website Tool with Integrated CRM Tools ($45- $3200/month)

HubSpot is a top-notch CRM and marketing software that also has a full-featured CMS and website builder. Using their platform, you can create website pages, blog posts, landing pages either from scratch or with their pre-built templates. 

Their drag-and-drop website builder uses responsive design to help you create webpages that look great on any device. Where HubSpot stands out is its personalization and integrations.

Unlike other tools on this list, HubSpot comes integrated with a wide range of marketing software, including tools to manage email marketing, get found online, and capture, engage with and understand leads. 

For example, when you create a webpage, you can add calls-to-action and forms that convert visitors into leads. Then, when you understand your visitors, you can dynamically create content unique to site visitors based on their location, device, language, traffic source, or any other detail you choose to capture in your HubSpot CRM. 

This integrated marketing suite covers all parts of the customer lifecycle:

• Forms, live chat, and conversational chatbots capture leads.
• Email marketing, retargeting, and messenger integrations send personalized messages to your leads.
• Their contact report builder, analytics tools, and list segmentation help you understand your leads. 
• Personalized experiences, calls-to-action, and smart content turns leads into customers. 

Overall, if you are looking for a website builder that also comes with a full-featured set of CRM and marketing tools, HubSpot is the best choice.

Get started with HubSpot.

8. Elementor.

Best for using drag and drop to create websites ($49- $999/year)

Designed to empower the website creator that wants versatility, Elementor boasts a dynamic visual editor. Users can leverage the platform’s intuitive drag and drop interface to customize or tweak their website.

This way, Elementor users can easily design and create stunning, professional WordPress websites at scale. 

As a WordPress website builder, Elementor users can choose from thousands of pre-designed, fully responsive website templates. They can also leverage Elementor’s popular Hello theme.

A webpage’s equivalent of a blank canvas, Hello is a ‘super’ WordPress starter theme; it’s lightweight, minimalistic, and blank theme and can be customized to fit any design concepts or end-user needs.

Just as important, Elementor enables you to control every aspect, design element, and website functionality with custom code.

With 4.3% of all websites built with it, Elementor has a vast and powerful network of web creators. Sharing their knowledge on numerous social media platforms, users can find new sources of inspiration and hacks en route to creating their perfect site.

Elementor users can choose to host their website on a WordPress hosting provider. Alternatively, they can subscribe to Elementor cloud, and have the website building platform host the website for them.

An average hosting plan will set you back between $4-$16 per month and comes with an SSL option to keep your site secure and a Content Delivery Network that decreases page loading times.

Pricing:

Users can leverage Elementor’s free version or choose from a variety of subscription plans. With the free plan, you can access the platform’s drag & drop editor, mobile editing, and Elementor’s Hello theme (the fastest theme on WordPress).

Elementor’s subscription packages will see you gain access to all of the website builder’s widgets, features, and plugins.

These range from $49 per year to more inclusive and comprehensive subscription packages tailored to professional web developers (starting at $199 per year).

Professional web developers will likely find the Expert (25 pro websites for $199 per year), Studio (100 pro websites for $499 per year), or Agency (1,000 pro websites for $999 per year) plans best fit their needs.

Overall, Elementor is the best choice for those looking to benefit from a comprehensive, WordPress website without having to be bogged down by code.

Even inexperienced web developers can leverage Elementor’s widgets and its powerful editor to build stunning, dynamic websites at scale.

9. Ucraft.

Best New Multi-functional Website Builder with Built-In Tools (Free – $69/month)

Ucraft is a popular landing page builder that recently launched a great multi-functional website builder. They offer a lot of useful tools – a blogging platform, landing page creator, logo maker, and ecommerce functionality. 

A small business could use Ucraft to create a logo, launch their new website, and start selling products online. 

Ucraft has over 80 pre-designed responsive website templates that cover niches like fashion, photography, restaurants, ecommerce, agencies, sports, business, events, and plenty of others. They also have over 100 pre-designed blocks you can add to pages to include things like CTA buttons, forms, footers, testimonials, etc. 

If you’re looking to create a completely free website, they offer a free plan that lets you: 

• Connect your domain name.
• Obtain SSL security.
• Create up to 15 pages.
• Add basic site elements.
• Add Google Analytics.
• Access to 24/7 support.

Their free sites all have Ucraft branding and limitations. If you’re looking to create a professional website, you can get started for $10/month and this gives you some new features.

These include the removal of Ucraft branding, unlimited web pages, SEO tools, design tools, and blogging tools. You can also invite multiple team members to edit your site, add integrations, and get started with ecommerce. 

I also really like their logo maker, which lets you add custom icons, text elements, and shapes to create your logo. 

Overall, if you’re a small business looking for a website builder that has a lot of built-in tools to help you create logos, landing pages, or sell products online, Ucraft is a great choice. 

Get started with Ucraft.

10. Webflow.

Best For Professional Designers (starts at $12 per month).

Webflow is a California-based website builder that helps you build, build, launch, and host websites.

The Webflow designer tool leverages semantic HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript to build a site that aligns with your requirements. You can either drag and drop HTML elements or choose pre-designed elements like sliders, tabs, background videos, etc.

Plus, you can use a CSS-based system to make changes to multiple elements at the same time. It also lets you add custom codes to any page in the <head> or before the </head> of any web page.

The ability to create reusable symbols like navbars, footers, signup forms, etc., also helps you design your site quickly.

You also get over 100 free and paid customizable templates for different business, portfolio, and blog types.

Webflow also puts special emphasis on the visual aesthetics of the site. You can create animation effects like parallax, precise reveal animations, progress bars, etc., and add them to your web pages. For that, it provides over 20 pre-built interactions, animations, and triggers.

Additionally, Webflow works as a content management system that lets you add content directly, import CSV files, or via API. You can even integrate other data sources with Webflow’s CMS.

The tool also comes with built-in SEO tools. Some SEO features include auto-generated XML sitemaps, alt tags for images, semantic code, fast page loads, mobile-friendliness, customizable metadata, etc.

You also get specific eCommerce tools if you’re interested in building this type of site. For instance, Webflow provides customizable product fields to highlight product features, images, and other information. The website builder also helps you create a checkout process, customize your homepage and gallery layout, upload your logo, etc.

Webflow also provides you with web hosting from Amazon Web Services and Fastly. The hosting meets HTTP/2 standards that help your site load faster.

You can even buy your domain directly from GoDaddy and Google Domain and connect it to your Webflow site.

Some of its other key features include:

• You can add and edit content to your live website.
• Invite other team members to collaborate on a single dashboard.
• Add up to 100 pages to your website.
• 99.9% uptime guaranteed and SSL certificate.
• Automated backup.
• Custom fonts available.
• Create custom 404 pages.
• Contact customer support via email, Webflow community forum, and help center.
• Integration with Zapier lets you connect with tools like Slack, MailChimp, and Asana.
• You can add up to 3,000 products to your website with eCommerce support.

Pricing:

Webflow offers two types of plans. The Site plans help you connect your custom domain, collaborate with other members, and enable checkout for your eCommerce site. On the other hand, the Account plans allow you to add your logo, add more projects, create a team dashboard, and more.

Site Plans:

• Basic: $12 per month
• CMS: $16 per month
• Business: $36 per month
• Enterprise: Custom-pricing

Account plans:

• Starter: $0 per month
• Lite: $16 per month
• Pro: $35 per month

Get started with Webflow.

11. Flothemes

Best WordPress Themes for Photography and Creative Websites ($279 one-time).

Flothemes is a company that provides customizable WordPress themes. These templates help you build websites inside WordPress without the need for custom coding. It’s powered by Flex block, a powerful free flow page builder, providing un limited customization options.

All of the templates and themes come with premade layouts and content blocks. You can also customize colors, fonts, the structure of the page, and more.

Flothemes help you build your website in a few steps, including:

• Register a domain name and hosting service provider for your site. You can also check Flothemes cloud hosting services, starting at $26 per month.
• Install WordPress.org and connect it to your website hosting. Luckily, most hosting services provide a one-click WordPress installation.
• Finally, pick a theme for your website or portfolio.
• You can watch several how-to tutorials by Flothemes or contact the customer support team.
• If you need help setting up the entire site, you can drop a message, and their team will do everything for you.

Flothemes will help you set up your site for just $499-$1999. Besides being great for beginners, they also provide addvance features such as page load speed optimization, SEO, styling, etc. Plus, you get two screen-sharing sessions of 45 minutes each with experts and one SEO consultation call of 45 minutes. All in all, you get six rounds of implementations.

Additionally, Flothemes provides features like SSL implementation, WordPress installation, Typography, color scheme stylization, and more. You also get complete design freedom, SEO options, and a dashboard.

Pricing:

While their themes cost a one-time $279, Flothemes offers yearly payment plans as well:

• Starter Package: $29 per month (paid yearly)
• Pro Package: $39 per month (paid yearly)

12. WordPress.com.

The World’s Most Popular CMS ($4/month)

Since its release in 2003, WordPress has quickly become the most popular content management system (CMS) in the world – hosting over 75 million websites.

There are two options. You either choose a web host and create a WordPress site on WordPress.org or use their self-hosted WordPress.com website builder.

Read my full comparison of Wix vs. WordPress for more detailed information.

With WordPress.com, you can create a website for anything – a blog, a local business, an online store – the options are limitless. With their free plan, you get a website, access to 3 GB of storage, and customer support. When you upgrade to one of their five paid plans, you get access to more advanced features, plugins, and priority support.

WordPress.com also has its Jetpack essential features built-in, which includes basic SEO, social sharing, and site analytics. The popular, all-in-one Jetpack plugin covers all kinds of functionality from SEO and analytics to security and marketing.

Paid plans range from $4 per month for a simple blog set up to $45 for full e-commerce functionality. Most users opt for their Premium Plan at $8 per month, which gives you everything you need to design, edit, and control your website’s content.

Overall, it’s a simpler, stripped-down version of WordPress with fewer features but higher ease of use. If you want to test out WordPress but aren’t quite ready to use your own separate hosting, give the WordPress website builder a try.

Get started with WordPress.

13. SITE123.

Easiest Free Website Builder for Small Websites (Free – $12.80/month)

SITE123 is a simple website builder that offers users a free plan to test out a new site. When you sign up, you get a free subdomain, 500 GB of storage, and 1 GB of bandwidth. You can also connect your own domain (or purchase one within their dashboard) with premium plans as low as $12.80/month.

They boast a stable uptime of 99.97%, over 200 design templates to choose from, and e-commerce plans starting around $22/month. Once you sign up, you can quickly pay via PayPal or credit card and get set up in minutes.

They are known as SITE123 because of the three simple steps to create a website:

1. Select your website type
2. Upload your content
3. Publish your site

Once your site is live, they also have SEO tools to optimize your titles, meta descriptions, and other items needed to improve your rankings.

Their Advanced, Professional, and Gold plans all come with email accounts and you can buy additional email accounts separately from the plans. And if you aren’t happy with your current plan, you can easily switch or upgrade your plan and only pay the difference.

If you’re looking to build a new website with SITE123, you register a free domain name, choose a basic plan, and use their site builder. With this site comes unlimited bandwidth, add-ons, contact forms, and advanced features that help you rank on search engines.

Overall, SITE123 is best a drag and drop builder for people that don’t have a web designer and want to get into website building without coding knowledge.

Get started with SITE123.

14. Hibu.

Best Digital Marketing Website Builder for Local Businesses ($99)

Hibu is an internet service company founded in 2001. They’re best known for their integrated digital marketing solutions for small and medium-sized businesses. They help with features outside of your standard small business website builders – website design, local listings management, online reviews, display advertising, and SEO services.

Users find their local listings and SEO services most helpful. For a local business, building your online presence across places Google My Business, Yahoo, Bing, Yelp, Yellow Pages, and social media is paramount to developing visibility.

On the digital marketing front, Hibu has provided websites with over 800 million visits, 225 million ad clicks, and over 6 million phone calls – pretty impressive.

When you sign up with Hibu, a team of digital marketing experts meet with you and provide one-on-one customer service. This support is perfect if you don’t have the know-how on using HTML, CSS, and hosting services. With partners like Google, Facebook, Bing, and Yahoo, they can quickly develop a website strategy for your business.

They don’t show pricing on their website, but Hibu pricing typically involves a $100/month fee and an initial set-up fee of $499 to $599.

If you run a local business and need help with web design, support, and visibility across local listings, Hibu is your best choice.

15. Jimdo.

A Personalized Website with the Power of AI (Free – $9/month)

Jimdo allows you to create a website in as little as 3 minutes by asking questions about your business and leading you to the right design choices.

Instead of static templates, Jimdo uses flexible content blocks that can change based on user behavior. If you’re a small business, they also automatically create navigation menus and pages to fit your industry. For example, a local restaurant will automatically get a map page with its logo, address, text blocks, hours, and more.

If I had to sum up Jimdo in one word, it would be automation. Automatic SEO syncs up your Google Search Console in three clicks. Content blocks build web pages faster than older page builders. AI asks you questions and makes a website based on your specific industry vertical.

They have a free plan available with limited features and on-site ads. When you upgrade to their $9/month plan, you get your domain free for the first year, a completely ad-free site, advanced SEO features, and analytics reporting.

If you need stock photos, Jimdo uses AI to build your site images from their image library, which can be quite helpful. They also have easy social media integrations, navigation menus, and page designs that fit your industry. Ultimately, I’d say the AI is similar to Wix ADI but slightly better.

Here are the steps to create a website with Jimdo:

1. Create a free Jimdo account.
2. Answer a few questions and Jimdo gathers your business information from Facebook and Google.
3. Choose a pre-made design. Jimdo will use photos and text you already have from your listings and can provide more personalized content.
4. Make any final edits and finishing touches.
5. Publish your new website.

If you’re someone looking to build a website in under 3 minutes with the power of AI, Jimdo is an excellent choice for you.

Get started with Jimdo.

16. BigCommerce.

Best for Large Online Stores 

BigCommerce is not your typical website builder but instead a powerful ecommerce platform that also has excellent website functionality and zero transaction fees.

I added BigCommerce to this list because of its very advanced feature set. These features include best in class SEO (URL structure, site speed, uptime), conversion rate-optimized themes, and 600+ product options.

If you’re looking to build a website and might sell products one day, BigCommerce has more advanced functionality than other tools on this list.

If you’re looking to add shopping cart software to your website, look no further than BigCommerce. First, I love their free themes because conversion rate optimization is a top priority with your web pages.

Sites look great, load fast, and optimize conversions. I currently use their BigCommerce for WordPress plugin to sell digital products on my WordPress site, and the speed is fantastic. Instead of bogging down hosting companies by sharing resources, BC4WP uses an open-source API, allowing front end content on WordPress and a back-end commerce engine on BigCommerce:

I originally installed the WooCommerce plugin (and their three extra necessary plugins) and was not a fan of their shopping cart or checkout pages. They were poorly designed, CTA buttons were in strange places, and I realized my sales would suffer because of the user experience.

By switching to BigCommerce, I’ve increased my conversion rate substantially.

Get started with BigCommerce.

17. Pixpa.

Great for Photographers and Artists ($7/month)

Pixpa is a website building platform tailored for creative professionals and is best for photographers and artists.

They offer a 15-day trial period where you can see if it suits your needs or not.

Like many other platforms, you don’t need to learn coding to build a website. Their theme designs keep photographers, artists, and designers in mind. The image-friendly themes will suit you if you are a creative professional.

All themes work well on mobile devices as well, and they have more than 35 to choose from.

If you are a blogger, then their multi-blog feature on a single website might attract you. There are even many gallery layout options in Pixpa, which allows you to display your images in many different ways. You can manage the SEO data for each page as well.

The fully-featured e-commerce integration offers you to sell physical and digital goods, as well as the services you offer. If you are a photographer, then you can sell your images through galleries, instead of using the store.

Pixpa provides customer service 24/7 through email and chat. There is no direct helpline number where you can call and ask questions. However, the knowledge base is quite comprehensive.

Pricing:

Pixpa is priced quite reasonably with their monthly plan starting at $7, which increases if you want to sell more products and add more space for original files.

The basic plan gives you 2 GB of space, and you can add up to 10 products to your e-commerce store. Although, after the first year, you will have to pay for the domain name separately to the service provider.

Overall, Pixpa is a good option if you are a creative professional on a budget. Their software is best if you want to manage your website, client galleries, and blog all in one place.

Get started with Pixpa.

18. Designmodo.

Best for startups that want to create bootstrapped sites (Free).

Designmodo is a design tool that helps you design your websites and emails.

The website builder provides three sub-products, namely Designmodo Slides, Postcards, and Startup. While Designmodo Slides and Startup help you build websites, Designmodo Postcards is for creating email newsletters.

Used by massive companies like Nike, Adobe, GoDaddy, NASA, Ikea, and Microsoft, Designmodo Slides helps you create static and animated website templates on your own.

You can use pre-made website templates and slides for your website. You get to choose from over 200 slides, 118 website templates, and 30 panels. Setting up elements like sidebar, dropdown, Contact form, navigation, popups, and buttons is also easy.

Moreover, it leverages easy-to-understand programming languages like HTML, CSS, and JS. You can change the code whenever you like without harming your website load speed or tempering other parts of your live website.

On the other hand, DesignModi Startups is a startup theme designer tool that can help you create bootstrap websites. It comes with over 300 pre-designed blocks and a drag-and-drop builder to build your site and landing pages.

Besides, Designmodo creates optimized sites for all devices, including mobile phones, tablets, and desktops. It’s also compatible with all retina devices.

What’s more, you don’t need to edit the backend system to make changes. The custom theme builder allows you to edit and add content visually.

Designmodo Startup also integrates with Google Fonts – which helps you choose whatever font style you want. Unlimited website styles and the ability to write semantic HTML codes automatically also come in handy to build a website for your startup.

The fact that Designmodo comes with an email builder is also a plus point since it helps you integrate your website and email marketing process. The email builder creates email newsletters that are compatible with platforms like Gmail, iPhone mail app, Outlook mail, etc.

The email builder also comes with its own drag-and-drop builder to create newsletters. You can either build your email from scratch or choose from over 100 pre-built customizable email templates.

Other key features include:

• Their software also helps you with project management.
• It offers unlimited effects and slides.
• Extensive customer support and automatic updates.
• Export your complete website (with images, text, and styles) into your system.
• It integrates with various third-party tools like Trello, Slack, MailChimp, etc.
• It provides a freemium plan.

Pricing:

They provide different plans for its two products – Designmodo Slides and Designmodo Startups:

Designmodo Slides:

• Free: $0 (no credit card needed)
• Business: $21 per month (billed annually)
• Agency: $29 every month (billed annually)

Aside from the Demo plan, all of the plans offer 200+ slides and templates, project management, support & updates, and more.

Designmodo Startups:

• Starter: Free plan
• Quarterly: $89 per quarter
• Annually: $249 per year

All of the plans (including the Free plan) offer full access to all of the features and free Sigma sources. Paid plans also offer unlimited exports and priority support.

19. Duda.

Best Website Builder for Agencies and Multilingual Websites ($14/month)

Duda is a website builder that’s been around since 2008 and stands out for its multi-language capabilities. It also has some nice-looking themes, good SEO features, and is optimized for speed. 

They’re a good tool for agencies too. With client management tools, agencies can white-label the software and send clients website previews and resolve comments.

Another interesting feature is Dynamic Pages.

Teams can speed up the website building process by multiple pages based on one design and content stored inside the editor.

Duda hosts their websites on Amazon AWS and boasts an impressive 99.99% uptime. Its also pretty flexible and extensible, with developer tools and integrations with their API. 

Multi-language capabilities allow you to create sites in over 55 different languages. You can also improve your international SEO with language-specific URLs based on geo-targeting.

Duda’s basic plan starts at $14/month and provides one website hosted on AWS and email support. 

Their agency plan is $59/month and provides four websites, priority support, dynamic pages, access to team and client management tools, and all other features. 

Overall, they’re a good website builder for agencies that build a lot of small websites and have international customers. 

What is a Website Builder?

A website builder is a tool that allows anyone to manage a website and domain name without manual coding. In other words, a website builder is a tool or software program to help you build a website.

In the old days of the web, programmers needed to know HTML and CSS to create a website. Today, if you want to code a site, there’s a steep learning curve – you need to have extensive knowledge of JavaScript and PHP. Not so with most website builders. 

These tools help everyone from small businesses and bloggers to news sites and ecommerce businesses easily create websites in minutes.

How Do You Choose the Best Website Builder? [Infographic]

What is the Best Website Builder for Small Business?

The best software for small businesses will give you everything you need to get set up quickly. The builder needs steady uptime so that your site doesn’t go down, and should provide email accounts for your employees.

Local small businesses also need unique website features like maps and directions, store hours, the ability to share coupons, photo galleries, social media integrations, and more.

While most of the software tools on this list cover the basics that small business websites need, there are a few that rise above the rest.

Here are my picks for the best website builder for small businesses:

1. Wix.

Wix is my #1 choice as they are the easiest and most feature-rich platform on the market for small businesses and have some of the best themes.

Businesses can easily connect their domain to Wix.com, choose a theme for their site, add in their information, and click publish.

While Wix isn’t quite as easy to use as basic editors like Hibu or SITE123, the themes and SEO features make it a standout for companies looking to build an online presence.

Here are some unique features that make Wix a great choice for small businesses:

• Easily get found online by syncing your Google My Business page.
• You can connect to Google Search Console so that Google can automatically index your site. You’ll start showing up in search results within minutes. 
• Use their built-in scheduler to book appointments. 
• You can create and send invoices right in one place.
• Quickly build your customer email list with built-in email marketing tools.
• Add custom forms like contact forms, surveys, quizzes, and polls to collect website visitor information.

Overall, Wix makes it easy to build a solid business website in a single afternoon. Although I’m a blogger and use WordPress for this site, I’ve built small business websites for friends and family and always use Wix.

2. SITE123.

If you’re not tech-savvy and just want a simple website so that people can find your business online, SITE123 is a good choice for you.

Due to their three-step simplicity when starting a website, almost anyone business owner should be able to get a simple 3-5 page website up with their software.

While I recommend one of the two above, if you need to get something up quickly, SITE123 makes it easy.

3. Hibu.

Hibu is my #3 choice for businesses because of its digital marketing features. The key to getting traction as a local business is to have a strong online presence on Google, Facebook, and all local directories. And not just that.

You also need to take steps to improve your local rankings and know that Google determines local rankings based on relevance, distance, and prominence.

Hibu knows this and helps in all aspects of digital marketing, including local listings management, online reviews, social media marketing, search engine marketing (SEM), and search engine optimization (SEO).

What is the Best Ecommerce Website Builder?

The best e-commerce website builders offer both easy ways to drag and drop content on your site, as well as robust e-commerce features like product pages, shipping integrations, product options, coupons, payment gateways, and more.

Here are my picks for the best e-commerce website builder:

1. Wix.

Wix has strong online selling capabilities and is super easy to use. They also score points for some nice looking ecommerce themes.

Here are the simple steps to create your ecommerce website with Wix:

1. Log in to your Wix account. 
2. Choose from one of over 500 ecommerce website themes.
3. Customize the design of your store.
4. Add your products to your online store.
5. Connect your payment provider of choice and configure your shipping settings.
6. Pick a custom domain for your new site. 
7. Publish your site and start selling online. 

Make sure to check out my guide to the best ecommerce platforms for more information.

2. Shopify.

Shopify is my #2 pick for building an online store as their app partner directory and ease of use allow almost anyone to launch a website quickly. They have an excellent blend of online store functionality with website features.

With over 70 themes to choose from and native blog functionality, you can create a website and add products in minutes.

3. BigCommerce for WordPress.

BigCommerce is a fantastic platform and has strong backend functionality, but it’s behind Shopify on this list because it’s not a website builder at heart. It is built more for advanced online stores with high sales volumes, not for someone simply looking to build a website.

While the backend features are strong, some overall website features are lacking, with few themes to choose from, somewhat difficult to use drag-and-drop tools, and limited blog features.

If you want to build a content-rich website, I recommend the BigCommerce for WordPress plugin. You can install the plugin from your WordPress dashboard and sync products to your WordPress site via the BigCommerce API.

This combo allows you to have all of the features of WordPress with a powerful ecommerce engine powering your store and not slowing it down.

Website Builders FAQ.

Wrap Up.

There you have it – my list of the top site builders. As there are 74 options out there, I’ve condensed the list down to the very best so that you can choose the option that is right for your business or online brand.

• If you are looking for the best website builder overall, I recommend you get started with Zyro.
• For a builder that gives you the best online web presence, check out Wix.
• If you need an e-commerce website to be easy to use, check out GoDaddy.

What website builder do you use?

Further Reading on AdamEnfroy.com: If you want more control over your own website on WordPress and go with your self-hosted solution, you can read my reviews on the best web hosting.

If you want to sell products online, check out my reviews of the best ecommerce platforms. And if you just need to publish a simple landing page, read my reviews of the best landing page builders.

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Last Updated on August 23, 2022 by Adam Enfroy