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17 Best Website Builders: Wix, Squarespace, and More (2021)
Choosing the best website builder can be hard, as there are 74 popular options to choose from.
In this guide, I ranked and reviewed the best website builders to create a web site based on cost, reliability, web hosting solutions , technical assistance, site speed, SEO, features, ease of use, template design, and much more.
We’ll also compare:
The ideal website contractors for small businesses.
The best free and cheap choices.
Those with the best SEO.
The top platforms with online shop capabilities.
The best builders for agencies.
And the best options for photographers and artists.
What’s the Best Website Builder?
Using a site builder is a quick and easy way to construct a presence for your brand or internet business. These tools simplify your website management by combining domain registration, hosting, and site design into one platform.
If you’re not too savvy with web design and development, you will want to go with a simple drag and drop editor.
The choice is up to you.
Here are my top picks for the best site builder to use this year.
Wix.
Best Website Builder for Small Business ($13/month)
Wix is the most popular website builder on the market, with over 100 million consumers.
They have 500+ ready-to-use templates to design your website in any business. These templates are mobile-optimized and have 100 fonts to choose from (or you can upload your own).
Their designs also appear beautiful, with scroll effects, and advanced design features like animation and video backgrounds.
In case you already have a domain on GoDaddy or need to register one at Wix.com, they make it super simple. Additionally, 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 urge Wix as the best online store builder. You don’t necessarily require a platform with more advanced options like BigCommerce and Shopify. Wix website owners that want to bring an e-commerce store can get these excellent new features.
Wix is the most user-friendly site tool on the market. You can almost always customize the appearance and feel of your site with no coding knowledge.
They also have a tool named Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) — the first artificial intelligence website builder. Wix ADI learns on your website and uses that information to design a site tailored to your specific needs.
This tool leverages AI choosing from countless combinations of pictures, text, layouts, and contact forms.
Finally, if you’re seeking the best website builder for small companies, Wix is the best choice.
Read my full Wix review for more in-depth analysis.
Get started with Wix.
Greatest Modern Website Builder with Free Plans (free — $3.49/mo)
Zyro is a website builder with a mission to assist local companies to tell their unique stories on the web.
Overall, they’re best known for simplicity and speed.
With Zyro, you can create a business site fast and easily with no programming required. Your site also loads fast due to its light frame and looks great on all devices.
With a powerful set of tools, Zyro helps grow your online business with pre-made design templates, AI-driven text, an intuitive drag-and-drop grid tool, mobile-readiness, and more than one million stock images to choose from.
One of their standout features is their AI Content Generator, which offers SEO-friendly content ideas based on your industry and specific business type.
To begin with this tool, you pick your type of organization, then write 2-3 sentences describing your brand and circumstance. You then correct your AI settings and customize them based on length, expertise, and creativity level. Lastly, you click the Generate button and see your uniquely created content.
Since content creation is a challenge for many website owners, this tool creates new paragraphs for you that can rank better in search and increase conversion rates.
Another excellent features include:
Built-in SEO tools to increase your search rankings.
A free SSL certificate and custom domain names.
An AI-driven logo and slogan manufacturer.
24/7 customer support via email and live chat.
AI heatmaps to increase website conversions and forecast visitor behaviour.
Mobile-optimized, fast-loading website layouts.
Free website design templates for various industries like creative services, startups, fashion brands, health businesses, bakeries, and much more.
Zyro offers three main pricing plans — a free plan, a mid-tier”Basic” plan at $1.99/month, and their high-tier”Unleashed” plan at $3.49/month.
Their free plan does not include a custom domain name but does provide 99.9% uptime, an SSL certificate, 500MB of bandwidth and 500MB of storage.
Next, their “Basic” program allows you to connect your domain name, increases bandwidth and storage, and includes extra features like ad removal and integrations with tools such as Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, and Facebook pixels. This is a very popular plan that’s most suitable for small and medium-sized companies.
Finally, their “Unleashed” plan provides every Zyro attribute and gives unlimited storage and bandwidth. At such an affordable price of $3.49/month, it is sensible to go for this plan and enjoy the unlimited features if you plan to get a great deal of content on your site.
Overall, Zyro is ideal for small businesses seeking to create and grow a site quickly, save money on writing and logo-making using their AI tools, rank higher on search engines, and increase conversion rates with high-quality, mobile-friendly design templates.
You can get started with Zyro for free to test out their platform, then upgrade to a paid plan when you’re ready to grow your internet business.
Get started with Zyro and start building your site today.
Best Website Design for Personal Sites ($12/month)
When I think of Squarespace, my mind goes right for their beautifully designed home page. They truly know how to make 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 in regards 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 stage is wonderful for bloggers. I tested out their WYSIWYG blog editor, and it’s very intuitive.
You drag elements like pictures, headings, and text onto the page and place it where you would like. They also offer multiple user permissions, Google AMP performance, and you can schedule your posts:
A few small SEO limitations hold Squarespace back from being #1 on this list. To begin with, my XML sitemap pulled two versions of every page with and without a trailing slash”/.” This double indexing could potentially result in SEO and duplicate content problems later on. They didn’t have an easy fix the last time I checked.
Second, your site headlines always become your meta titles, so be cautious when incorporating your headlines for SEO. You can read more in my full Wix vs Squarespace review.
Other terrific features make up for these drawbacks. Their ease of use is top-notch — websites are elementary to build with their editing tools. In-built analytics tools provide steady data onsite traffic if you are not using Google Analytics. Plus, it’s tough to go wrong with a beautifully-designed website for just $12/month.
Monthly costs range from $12/month for their private plan up to $40/month for their Online Store (Advanced) plan. Monthly prices are based on a one-year contract, and Squarespace includes a free domainname. The Personal program provides a free domain name, unlimited bandwidth and storage, free SSL, and 24/7 customer service.
Overall, if you are a small company that needs first-rate web design or a blogger who wants your articles to appear great, Squarespace is a reliable choice.
Best Free Website Builder (Free — $25/month)
Weebly powers over 530,000 domain names and is known as the easy site builder of choice for people without much technical expertise. They offer a great deal of great features. If you’re a blogger, you can use Weebly.com to select a domain name and use their editor to add your own text, images, and content.
They also have a mobile program to track your website’s performance on the go. And email marketing tools allow you to send newsletters to your subscribers from inside their tool.
They have a free program 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 get Weebly branding throughout your site. Additionally, the free program only includes chat and email support, but no phone service.
Weebly’s paid plans range from $5 to $25 per month. On the high end, their Business Plan gets you innovative e-commerce functionality, a free domainname, and $200 of Google ad credits.
Their e-commerce features include product options/variants, coupon codes, stock management, a shipping calculator, shipping labels, and the ability to accept payments through Square and other suppliers.
The degree of customer support you get is based on your subscription level. You’ll find assistance yourself in several areas, including their site, service centre, community forum, social networking, and programmer documentation. They also have live chat, email, and phone support.
If you are looking for a simple site creator to get up and running, I recommend you begin with Weebly.
Best Website Builder for Ecommerce ($29/month)
Shopify is a favorite ecommerce platform used by over 800,000 online businesses so 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 into the list because any small business could use them to set up their site.
Take a salon for example.
With Shopify, not only could you set up a quick website including a blog, a map of your location, contact information, and appointment scheduling (with an app), but you might also sell hair care products online. This creates not only a website but another online source of revenue for your company.
Shopify has a great deal of features you’d come to expect from other tools on this list, such as hosting, your own domain name, 70+ professional topics, a free SSL certificate, and promotion and SEO features.
They also supply mobile commerce, 100+ payment gateways, automated carrier shipping rates, automated tax rates, and the complete checkout experience. Plus, you can enjoy omnichannel selling across Facebook, eBay, Amazon, Instagram, and much more.
If you’re setting up a new website and believe that you may choose to sell products online in the future, it’s better to get started with Shopify instead of another instrument that doesn’t take online shopping too.
They offer three plans ranging from $29/month to $299/month. The $29/month Basic Shopify Plan should give website owners everything they want, including a complete website, an internet store with unlimited products, blog features, 24/7 support, and much more.
If you want to give Shopify a try, they give a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.
Best For Professional painters ($16 a month).
Some of its other Important features include:
You can edit and add content to your live site.
Invite other group 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.
Customer support via email, Webflow community forum, and help center.
Integration with Zapier lets you connect with tools such as Slack, MailChimp, and Asana.
You can add up to 3000 products on your site with eCommerce support.
Finest WordPress Themes for Photography and Creative Websites ($279 one-time).
Flothemes is a business that offers customizable WordPress themes. These templates enable you to build websites inside of WordPress without the need for custom coding. It is powered by Flex block, a potent free flow page builder, providing limitless customization choices.
All of the templates and themes come with premade designs and content blocks. You may also customize colors, fonts, the arrangement 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 website. You can also check Flothemes cloud hosting services, starting at $26 per month.
Install WordPress.org and connect it to your website hosting. Fortunately, most hosting services provide a one-click WordPress setup.
Finally, pick a theme for your site or portfolio.
You’ll be able to watch several how-to tutorials by Flothemes or contact the customer support team.
If you need help setting up the whole website, you can drop a message, and their team will do everything for you.
Flothemes will allow you to set up your website for only $499-$1999. Besides setting up your website from the start, they also provide services like page load speed optimization, SEO, styling, etc.. Plus, you get two display 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 much more. You also get complete design freedom, SEO options, and a dashboard.
Pricing:
While their themes cost a one-time $279, Flothemes offers three pricing plans for their website setup services, including:
Simple Setup Package: $499
Advanced setup packages: $999
Pro Setup packages: $1,999
The Easy Setup Package can help you skip the technical parts and jump directly to adding content and personalizing your theme. It provides features like WordPress installation, site layout setup, theme setup, WordPress transfer, site launching, etc..
The Advanced Setup Package includes full assistance with site setup, styling & launch, site speed optimization & an search engine optimization consultation. Additional features include typography & colour scheme stylization, SSL implementation, speed optimization, etc..
Pro Installation Package includes all of the features in the Advanced Setup Package along with the tailored mockup & execution for your homepage.
Best Website Tool with Integrated CRM Tools
HubSpot is a topnotch CRM tool which also has a full-featured CMS and website builder. Using their platform, it is possible to create website pages, blog posts, landing pages from scratch or using their pre-built templates.
Their drag-and-drop editor uses responsive design to assist you create webpages that look great on any device. Where HubSpot stands out is its personalization and integrations.
Unlike other tools on this listing, HubSpot comes integrated with a wide range of marketing applications, including tools to manage email marketing, get found online, and capture, engage with and understand leads.
By way of instance, when you make a webpage, you can add calls-to-action and forms that convert visitors into prospects. Then, when you understand your traffic, you can dynamically create content unique to site visitors based on their location, device, language, traffic origin, or any other detail you choose to catch on your HubSpot CRM.
This integrated marketing suite covers all parts of the customer lifecycle:
Types, live chat, and conversational chatbots capture leads.
Email marketing, retargeting, and messenger integrations send personalized messages to your prospects.
Their contact builder, analytics tools, and list segmentation help you understand your own prospects.
Personalized experiences, calls-to-action, and smart content turns leads into customers.
Overall, if you are seeking a site builder that also includes a full-featured pair of CRM and marketing tools, HubSpot is the best choice.
The World’s Most Popular CMS
Easiest Free Website Builder for Small Sites
Best Digital Advertising Website Builder for Local Businesses
A Personalized Website with the Power of AI
Best for Large Online Stores
Great for Photographers and Artists
Best for startups that want to make bootstrapped sites
Best Website Builder for Agencies and Multilingual Websites
What is a Website Builder?
A website builder is a tool that allows anyone to manage a site and domain name without manual programming. In other words, a site 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 make a site. Today, if you wish to code a website, there’s a steep learning curve — you need to have extensive knowledge of JavaScript and PHP. Not so with website builders.
These tools help everyone from small businesses and bloggers to news sites and ecommerce companies easily create websites in minutes.
How much does it cost to build a website?
Is Wix better than WordPress?
How much does a website cost monthly?
Does Google have a site builder?
Can I get a free site for my company?
There you have it — my list of the greatest website builders. As there are 74 choices out there, I’ve condensed the listing down to the very best so you may choose the option that’s right for your business or online brand.
If you’re looking for the best site builder overall, I recommend you begin using Wix.
For the best designs and templates, take a look at Squarespace.
If you will need an e-commerce site to sell products online, Shopify is a fantastic choice.
What site builder do you use?