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17 Best Site Builders: Wix, Squarespace, and More (2021)
Picking the best website builder can be hard, as there are 74 popular choices to select from.
In this guide, I ranked and reviewed the best website builders to make a web site based on price, reliability, web hosting services, technical support, site speed, SEO, features, ease of use, template design, and much more.
We will also compare:
The ideal website contractors for small companies.
The best free and affordable options.
The ones with the best SEO.
The top platforms with online store capabilities.
The top 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 effortless way to build 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 knowledgeable about 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 season.
Wix.
Best Website Builder for Small Business ($13/month)
Wix is the most popular website builder on the current market, with over 100 million users.
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 look beautiful, with scroll effects, and advanced design features like video and animation backgrounds.
In case you already have a domain on GoDaddy or need to register one at Wix.com, they make it super simple. Also, if you want to add e-commerce to your site so you could sell online, plans begin a $20/month.
If you are a small company, 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 find 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 programming knowledge.
They also have a tool called Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) — the first artificial intelligence site builder. Wix ADI learns about your website and uses that information to design a site tailored to your specific needs.
This tool leverages AI selecting from countless combinations of pictures, text, layouts, and contact forms.
Ultimately, if you’re looking for the best site builder for small businesses, Wix is your best option.
Read my whole Wix review for more in-depth analysis.
Get started with Wix.
Best Modern Website Builder with Free Plans (free — $3.49/mo)
Zyro is a site 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 company website quickly and easily with no coding required. Your website also loads fast because of its light framework and looks great on all apparatus.
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 tool, mobile-readiness, and more than one million stock pictures to select from.
One of their standout features is their AI Content Generator, which provides SEO-friendly content ideas based on your industry and specific business type.
To begin with this tool, you choose your type of organization, then write 2-3 sentences describing your brand and circumstance. You then adjust your AI settings and customize them based on duration, expertise, and creativity level. Lastly, you click the Generate button and see your uniquely generated content.
Since content creation is a challenge for many site owners, this tool generates new paragraphs for you which can rank better in search and increase conversion rates.
Some other excellent features include:
Built-in search engine optimization tools to improve 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 behavior.
Mobile-optimized, fast-loading website designs.
Free website design templates for various industries like creative services, startups, fashion brands, health businesses, bakeries, and much more.
Zyro offers three primary pricing programs — a free plan, a mid-tier”Basic” plan at $1.99/month, and their high-tier”Unleashed” plan at $3.49/month.
Their free program doesn’t include a custom domain name but does provide 99.9% uptime, an SSL certificate, 500MB of bandwidth and 500MB of storage.
Their “Basic” plan allows you to connect your domain name, increases bandwidth and storage, and includes extra features like ad removal and integrations with tools like Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, and Facebook pixels. This is a really popular plan that’s most acceptable for small and medium-sized businesses.
Finally, their “Unleashed” plan provides every Zyro attribute and provides unlimited storage and bandwidth. At such an affordable price of $3.49/month, it is sensible to go with this program and enjoy the unlimited features if you’re planning to have a lot of content on your website.
Overall, Zyro is ideal for small businesses seeking to create and grow a website fast, save money on composing and logo-making using their AI tools, rank high on search engines, and increase conversion rates with high-quality, mobile-friendly design templates.
You can get started with Zyro for free to check out their stage, then upgrade to a paid program when you’re ready to grow your online business.
Get started with Zyro and begin 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 websites 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 appear excellent down to every detail. The fonts, color schemes, and imagery all mesh flawlessly for any site.
Besides design, their stage is great for bloggers. I tested out their WYSIWYG blog editor, and it is very intuitive.
You drag elements like images, headings, and text on the page and place it where you want. They also offer multiple user permissions, Google AMP performance, and you can schedule your posts:
A few small search engine optimization limits 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 dual indexing could potentially lead to SEO and duplicate content problems later on. They didn’t have a simple fix the last time I checked.
Second, your blog headlines always become your meta titles, so be cautious 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 topnotch — websites are elementary to build with their editing tools. In-built analytics tools provide steady data on-site visitors if you are not using Google Analytics. Plus, it’s hard to go wrong with a beautifully-designed website for only $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 domain. The Personal plan provides a free domain name, unlimited bandwidth and storage, free SSL, and 24/7 customer service.
In general, if you are a small company that needs first-rate web design or a blogger that wants your content to look great, Squarespace is a reliable option.
Best Free Website Builder (Free — $25/month)
Weebly powers over 530,000 domains and is known as the easy site builder of choice for people without much technical experience. 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, pictures, and content.
They also have a mobile app to track your website’s functionality on the go. And email marketing tools allow you to send newsletters to your subscribers from within their tool.
They have a free program which comes with 500 MB of storage, a free SSL certificate, and a domain name with Weebly branding. You can use a custom domain with this plan but are made to have Weebly branding throughout your site. Additionally, the free plan only comes with chat and email support, but no phone support.
Weebly’s paid programs vary from $5 to $25 per month. On the high end, their Business Strategy gets you innovative e-commerce performance, a free domain, 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 via Square and other providers.
The degree of customer support you get is based on your subscription level. You’ll find assistance yourself in many locations, including their site, service center, community forum, social networking, and programmer documentation. They also have live chat, email, and phone support.
If you are looking for a simple website creator to get up and running, I recommend you begin using Weebly.
Best Site Builder for Ecommerce ($29/month)
Shopify is a popular 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 program partners.
While not every site owner needs product-selling performance, I added Shopify into the list because any small business could use them to set up their website.
Have 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 a program ), 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 listing, including 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, automatic carrier shipping rates, automated tax rates, and the full checkout experience. Plus, you can enjoy omnichannel selling across Facebook, eBay, Amazon, Instagram, and much more.
If you’re establishing a new website and think that you might choose to sell products online in the future, it’s better to begin with Shopify instead of another instrument that doesn’t take online shopping as seriously.
They offer three plans ranging from $29/month to $299/month. The $29/month Fundamental Shopify Plan should give site owners everything they need, 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 offer a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.
Best For Professional Designers ($16 a month).
Some of its other Important features include:
You can add and edit content to your live website.
Invite other group members to collaborate on a single dash.
Add up to 100 pages to your site.
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 centre.
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.
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 sites inside of WordPress with no need for custom coding. It is powered by Flex block, a powerful free stream page builder, providing limitless customization choices.
All of the templates and themes come with premade layouts 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 site. You can even check Flothemes cloud hosting services, starting at $26 a month.
Install WordPress.org and connect it to your website hosting. Luckily, most hosting services provide a one-click WordPress setup.
Finally, select a theme for your site or portfolio.
You can watch several how-to tutorials by Flothemes or contact the customer support team.
If you need assistance setting up the whole 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 setting up your site from the beginning, they also offer services like page load speed optimization, SEO, styling, etc.. Plus, you get two screen sharing sessions of 45 minutes each with specialists and one SEO consultation call of 45 minutes. All in all, you get six rounds of implementations.
Furthermore, 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 subjects cost a one-time $279, Flothemes offers three pricing plans for their website setup services, including:
Simple Setup Package: $499
Advanced setup packs: $999
Pro Installation packs: $1,999
The Easy Setup Package can help you skip the technical parts and jump straight to adding content and personalizing your theme. It offers features like WordPress installation, site layout setup, theme setup, WordPress transfer, site launch, etc..
The Advanced Setup Package incorporates full assistance with site setup, styling & launching, site speed optimization & an search engine optimization consultation. Additional features include typography & colour scheme stylization, SSL implementation, speed optimization, etc..
Pro Installation Package contains all of the features from the Advanced Setup Package along with the tailored mockup & implementation for your homepage.
Best Site Tool with Integrated CRM Tools
HubSpot is a topnotch CRM tool that also includes a full-featured CMS and website builder. Using their platform, you can create website pages, blog posts, landing pages from scratch or with 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 assortment of marketing software, including tools to manage email advertising, get found online, and catch, engage with and understand prospects.
By way of instance, when you create a webpage, you may add calls-to-action and forms that convert visitors into leads. Then, when you understand your traffic, you can dynamically create content unique to site visitors based on their location, device, language, traffic source, or some other detail you choose to capture on 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 customized messages to your leads.
Their contact report builder, analytics tools, and record 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 includes a full-featured set of CRM and marketing tools, HubSpot is your ideal 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 Site Builder for Agencies and Multilingual Websites
What’s 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 website builder is a tool or software program to assist you build a website.
In the old days of the web, programmers needed to understand HTML and CSS to create a website. Today, if you wish to code a site, there’s a steep learning curve — you want to have extensive knowledge of JavaScript and PHP. Not so with site builders.
These tools help everyone from small companies and bloggers to information websites and ecommerce businesses easily create sites 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 website builder?
Can I get a free site for my company?
There you have it — my list of the greatest website builders. Because there are 74 choices out there, I’ve condensed the list down to the top so that you can choose the option that’s perfect for your business or online brand.
If you’re looking for the very best website builder overall, I recommend you begin with Wix.
For the best designs and templates, check out Squarespace.
If you will need an e-commerce site to sell products online, Shopify is a fantastic choice.
What website builder do you use?