youtube.com/watch?v=nLJvniZrSp4
17 Best Website Builders: Wix, Squarespace, and More (2021)
Picking the best website builder can be difficult, because there are 74 popular options to choose from.
In this guide, I rated and reviewed the best website builders to make a web site based on price, reliability, web hosting solutions , technical support, website speed, SEO, features, ease of use, template design, and much more.
We’ll also compare:
The ideal website builders for small companies.
The best 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 quick and easy way to construct a presence for your brand or internet business. These tools simplify your site management by combining domain registrationhosting, and website design into one platform.
If you are not too savvy with web design and development, you will 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.
Wix.
Best Website Builder for Small Business ($13/month)
Wix is the most popular website builder on the current 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 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 site so you could sell online, plans start a $20/month.
If you are 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 add an e-commerce store can find these great new features.
Wix is the most user-friendly site tool on the market. You can almost endlessly customize the look and feel of your website 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 website and uses that information to design a website tailored to your specific needs.
This tool leverages AI choosing from countless combinations of pictures, text, designs, and contact forms.
Ultimately, if you’re looking for the best website builder for small businesses, Wix is your best option.
Read my full 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 are famous for speed and simplicity.
With Zyro, you may make a company website fast and easily with no programming required. Your site also loads fast due to 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 grid tool, mobile-readiness, and over one million stock pictures to select 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 choose your type of organization, then write 2-3 paragraphs describing your brand and circumstance. You then correct your AI settings and customize them based on length, experience, 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.
Another excellent features include:
Built-in search engine optimization tools to increase 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 improve website conversions and forecast visitor behaviour.
Mobile-optimized, fast-loading website layouts.
Free website design templates for different industries like creative services, startups, fashion brands, wellness companies, bakeries, and much 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 plan doesn’t 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 permits you to connect your own 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 very popular plan that is most acceptable for small and medium-sized companies.
Finally, their “Unleashed” program provides every Zyro feature and provides unlimited storage and bandwidth. At this affordable price of $3.49/month, it makes sense to go with this plan and enjoy the unlimited features if you’re planning to have a great deal of content on your website.
Overall, Zyro is best for small businesses looking to create and develop a website 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 begin with Zyro for free to test out their stage, then upgrade to a paid plan when you are ready to grow your online business.
Get started with Zyro and start 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 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 in regards to design. Squarespace templates look excellent down to every detail. The fonts, color schemes, and vision all mesh perfectly for any website.
Besides design, their stage is great for bloggers. I tested out their WYSIWYG blog editor, and it is very intuitive.
You drag elements like pictures, headings, and text onto the page and place it where you want. They also offer multiple user permissions, Google AMP functionality, and you can schedule your articles:
A few small search engine optimization limitations hold Squarespace back from being #1 on this list. To begin with, my XML sitemap pulled in two versions of each page with and without a trailing slash”/.” This dual indexing may potentially lead to SEO and duplicate content issues later on. They didn’t have a simple 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 topnotch — websites are elementary to assemble with their editing tools. In-built analytics tools provide continuous data on-site visitors if you are not using Google Analytics. Plus, it’s hard 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 costs are based on a one-year contract, and Squarespace includes a free domain. The Personal program provides a free domain name, unlimited storage and bandwidth, free SSL, and 24/7 customer service.
Overall, if you are a small business that needs first-rate web design or a blogger who wants your content to look great, Squarespace is a trusted option.
Best Free Website Builder (Free — $25/month)
Weebly powers over 530,000 domain names and is called 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, images, and content.
They also have a mobile program to track your site’s functionality on the go. And email marketing tools let you send newsletters to your subscribers from inside their tool.
They have a free program which includes 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 forced to get Weebly branding throughout your site. Additionally, the free plan only includes chat and email support, but no phone service.
Weebly’s paid plans vary from $5 to $25 per month. On the high end, their Business Plan 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 level 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 media, and developer documentation. They also have live chat, email, and telephone support.
If you’re searching for a simple website creator to get up and running, I suggest that you begin using Weebly.
Best Site 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 due to their simple dashboard and integrations with thousands of program partners.
While not every site owner needs product-selling performance, I added Shopify to the list because almost any small business could use them to install their website.
Take a salon for example.
With Shopify, not only could you set up a quick site including a blog, a map of your location, contact info, 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 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 offer mobile commerce, 100+ payment gateways, automatic carrier shipping rates, automated tax rates, and the complete 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 may choose to sell products online in the future, it’s far better to get started with Shopify instead of 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 want, including a full website, an internet store with unlimited products, site features, 24/7 support, and much 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 per month).
Some of its other Important features include:
You can edit and add content to your live website.
Invite other team members to collaborate on a single dashboard.
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 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 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 flow page builder, providing limitless customization choices.
All the templates and themes come with premade designs and content blocks. You can also customize colors, fonts, the arrangement of the webpage, 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 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 installation.
Finally, pick a theme for your website or portfolio.
You can see several how-to tutorials by Flothemes or contact the customer support team.
If you need assistance setting up the entire website, you can drop a message, and their team will do everything for you.
Flothemes will allow you to 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 display sharing sessions of 45 minutes each with experts and one SEO consultation call of 45 minutes. In general, you get six rounds of implementations.
Furthermore, 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 strategies 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 components and jump directly to adding content and personalizing your theme. It offers features like WordPress installation, site layout setup, theme installation, 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 from the Advanced Setup Package together with the tailored mockup & implementation for your homepage.
Best Site Tool with Integrated CRM Tools
HubSpot is a top-notch CRM tool that also has a full-featured CMS and website builder. Using their platform, it is possible to create website pages, blog posts, landing pages either from scratch or with their pre-built templates.
Their drag-and-drop editor uses responsive design that will help 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 marketing, get found online, and capture, engage with and understand leads.
For instance, when you make a webpage, you can add calls-to-action and forms that convert visitors into prospects. Then, when you understand your visitors, you can dynamically create content unique to website visitors based on their location, device, language, traffic origin, or some other detail you choose to catch in your HubSpot CRM.
This integrated marketing suite covers all parts of the customer lifecycle:
Types, live chat, and conversational chatbots capture leads.
Email advertising, retargeting, and messenger integrations send customized messages to your prospects.
Their contact builder, analytics tools, and list segmentation help you understand your own leads.
Personalized experiences, calls-to-action, and smart content turns leads into clients.
Overall, if you are looking for a site builder that also comes with a full-featured pair 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 Marketing Website Builder for Local Firms
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 which allows anyone to manage a website and domain name without manual coding. In other words, a site builder is a tool or software application to help you build a web site.
In the old days of the net, programmers needed to understand 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 site 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 construct 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 top website builders. As there are 74 options out there, I have condensed the list down to the very best so that you may choose the option that is right for your business or online brand.
If you are looking for the best site builder overall, I recommend you get started using 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 good choice.
What website builder do you use?