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17 Best Website Builders: Wix, Squarespace, and More (2021)
Choosing the best website builder can be hard, because there are 74 popular options to choose from.
In this guide, I rated and reviewed the best website builders to create a website based on cost, reliability, web hosting services, technical support, website speed, SEO, features, ease of use, template design, and much more.
We’ll also compare:
The ideal website contractors for small businesses.
The ideal free and cheap choices.
The ones with the best SEO.
The best platforms with online store capabilities.
The top builders for agencies.
And the best choices for photographers and artists.
What is the Best Website Builder?
Using a website builder is a fast and easy 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 savvy with web design and development, you’ll want to go with a simple drag and drop editor.
The choice is all up to you.
Here are my top picks for the best website 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 site in any industry. 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 innovative design features like video and animation backgrounds.
If you already have a domain name on GoDaddy or want to register one at Wix.com, they make it super simple. Additionally, if you’d like to add e-commerce to your website so you could 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 find these excellent 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 named Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) — the first artificial intelligence site builder. Wix ADI learns on your site 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 looking for the best site builder for small companies, Wix is your best choice.
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 website builder with a mission to assist local businesses to tell their unique stories online.
Overall, they’re famous for simplicity and speed.
With Zyro, you can create a company site quickly and easily with no programming required. Your site also loads fast due to the 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 tool, mobile-readiness, and more than one million stock pictures to choose from.
One of the standout features is their AI Content Generator, which offers SEO-friendly content ideas based on your industry and specific business type.
To get started with this tool, you pick your type of organization, then write 2-3 paragraphs describing your brand and circumstance. Then you adjust your AI settings and customize them based on duration, experience, and creativity level. Last, you click on the Generate button and see your uniquely generated content.
Since content generation is a challenge for many website owners, this tool generates new paragraphs for you which can rank better in search and increase conversion rates.
Another excellent features include:
Built-in search engine optimization tools to improve your search rankings.
A free SSL certificate and custom domains.
An AI-driven logo and slogan manufacturer.
24/7 customer support via email and live chat.
AI heatmaps to increase website conversions and predict visitor behaviour.
Mobile-optimized, fast-loading website designs.
Free website design templates for various industries like creative services, startups, fashion brands, health businesses, bakeries, and more.
Zyro offers three main pricing plans — a free plan, a mid-tier”Basic” program 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” program 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 suitable for small and medium-sized businesses.
Finally, their “Unleashed” plan provides every Zyro feature and gives unlimited bandwidth and storage. At this affordable price of $3.49/month, it makes sense to go with this program and enjoy the unlimited features if you plan to get a lot of content on your site.
Overall, Zyro is best for small businesses seeking to create and grow a site quickly, save money on composing 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 free of charge to test out their platform, then upgrade to a paid plan when you’re ready to grow your online business.
Get started with Zyro and begin building your website today.
Best Website Design for Personal Sites ($12/month)
When I think of Squarespace, my mind goes directly to their beautifully designed home page. They truly know how to create 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 in regards to design. Squarespace templates look excellent down to every detail. The fonts, color schemes, and vision all mesh flawlessly for any site.
Besides design, their platform 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 functionality, and you can schedule your posts:
A few small SEO 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 double indexing may potentially result in SEO and duplicate content problems later on. They didn’t have a simple fix the last time I checked.
Secondly, your blog headlines become your meta names, so be careful when incorporating your headlines for SEO. You can read more in my whole 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 continuous data onsite traffic if you’re 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 Personal 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 plan provides a free domain name, unlimited storage and bandwidth, free SSL, and 24/7 customer service.
In general, if you are a small business that needs first-rate web design or a blogger who wants your articles to appear 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 website builder of choice for people without much technical experience. They offer a lot of great features. If you are a blogger, you can use Weebly.com to select a domain name and use their editor to add your text, images, and articles.
They also have a mobile program to track your website’s functionality on the go. And email marketing tools let you send newsletters to your subscribers from within their tool.
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 name with this plan but are forced to have Weebly branding throughout your website. Additionally, the free plan only comes with chat and email support, but no phone service.
Weebly’s paid programs vary from $5 to $25 per month. On the high end, their Business Plan gets you advanced e-commerce performance, 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 via Square and other providers.
The degree of customer support you receive is based on your subscription level. You can find assistance yourself in many locations, including their blog, 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 suggest that you get started with Weebly.
Best Website Builder for Ecommerce ($29/month)
Shopify is a favorite ecommerce platform used by over 800,000 online companies so sell products online. They were founded in Canada in 2004 and quickly became a powerhouse because of their simple dashboard and integrations with thousands of program 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.
Have a salon for example.
With Shopify, not only could you set up a quick site including a site, a map of your location, contact info, and appointment scheduling (with a program ), but you might also sell hair care products online. This creates not only a website but another online source of revenue for your business.
Shopify has a great deal of features you’d come to expect from other tools on this list, including hosting, your own domain name, 70+ specialist topics, a free SSL certificate, and marketing and SEO features.
They also supply mobile commerce, 100+ payment gateways, automated carrier shipping rates, automated tax rates, and the full checkout experience. Plus, you can enjoy omnichannel selling across Facebook, eBay, Amazon, Instagram, and more.
If you’re establishing a new website and think that you might want to sell products online in the future, it is better to get started with Shopify rather than another instrument that doesn’t take online shopping too.
They offer three plans ranging from $29/month to $299/month. The $29/month Fundamental Shopify Plan should give website owners everything they want, 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.
Best For Professional Designers ($16 a month).
Some of its other key features include:
You can add and edit content to your live website.
Invite additional team 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 care through email, Webflow community forum, and help centre.
Integration with Zapier enables you to connect with tools like 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 help you build websites inside of WordPress with no need for custom coding. It is powered by Flex block, a powerful free flow page builder, providing limitless customization choices.
All the templates and themes include premade layouts and content blocks. You may also customize colors, fonts, the arrangement of the webpage, and more.
Flothemes help you build your site 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 per month.
Install WordPress.org and connect it to your website hosting. Luckily, most hosting services provide a one-click WordPress setup.
Finally, pick a theme for your website or portfolio.
You can watch several how-to tutorials by Flothemes or contact the customer care team.
If you need assistance setting up the entire site, you can drop a message, and their team will do everything for you.
Flothemes can allow you to set up your site for only $499-$1999. Besides setting up your site from the start, they also offer services like page loading speed optimization, SEO, styling, etc.. Plus, you get two display 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.
Additionally, Flothemes provides features like SSL implementation, WordPress installation, Typography, color scheme stylization, and much more. You also find complete design freedom, SEO options, and a dash.
Pricing:
While their subjects cost a one-time $279, Flothemes offers three pricing strategies for their site setup services, including:
Simple Setup Package: $499
Advanced setup packages: $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, website layout setup, theme setup, WordPress transfer, website 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 Setup Package includes all of the features from the Advanced Setup Package together with the tailored mockup & execution for your homepage.
Best Site Tool with Integrated CRM Tools
HubSpot is a top-notch 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 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 broad assortment of marketing software, including tools to manage email advertising, get found online, and catch, engage with and understand leads.
For instance, when you make a webpage, you may add calls-to-action and forms that convert visitors into prospects. Then, when you know your visitors, you can dynamically create content unique to website 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 prospects.
Email advertising, retargeting, and messenger integrations send customized 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 clients.
Overall, if you’re looking for a site builder that also includes a full-featured pair of CRM and marketing tools, HubSpot is the ideal alternative.
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 which allows anyone to manage a site and domain name without manual programming. In other words, a website builder is a tool or software application that will help you build a web site.
In the old days of the web, programmers needed to understand HTML and CSS to make 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 website builders.
These tools help everyone from small businesses and bloggers to information sites and ecommerce businesses 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 website for my company?
There you have it — my list of the top website builders. As there are 74 options out there, I’ve condensed the list down to the very best so that you may choose the option that is perfect for your small business or online brand.
If you’re looking for the best website builder complete, I recommend you begin with Wix.
For the best designs and templates, take a look at Squarespace.
If you need an e-commerce website to sell products online, Shopify is a fantastic choice.
What site builder do you use?