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17 Best Website Builders: Wix, Squarespace, and More (2021)
Choosing the best site builder can be difficult, because there are 74 popular options to select from.
In this guide, I ranked and reviewed the best website builders to create a website based on cost, reliability, web hosting solutions , technical assistance, website speed, SEO, features, ease of use, template design, and much more.
We will also compare:
The best website contractors for small businesses.
The best free and cheap options.
The ones with the best SEO.
The best 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 fast and easy way to construct 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 are not too savvy with web design and development, you’ll want to go with an easy drag and drop editor.
The choice is all 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 available on the current market, with over 100 million consumers.
They have 500+ ready-to-use templates to design your site 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 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 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 site tool on the market. You can almost endlessly 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 site builder. Wix ADI learns on your site and uses that information to design a website tailored to your specific needs.
This tool leverages AI selecting from billions of combinations of pictures, text, layouts, and contact forms.
Ultimately, if you’re seeking the best site 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 speed and simplicity.
With Zyro, you may make a company site fast and easily with no programming required. Your website also loads fast because of the 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 images to select 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 get started with this tool, you choose your type of organization, then write 2-3 paragraphs describing your brand and context. You then correct your AI settings and customize them based on length, expertise, and creativity degree. Last, you click on the Generate button and see your distinctively created content.
Since content creation is a challenge for many site owners, this tool creates new paragraphs for you that 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 domain names.
An AI-driven logo and slogan maker.
24/7 customer support via email and live chat.
AI heatmaps to improve website conversions and predict visitor behaviour.
Mobile-optimized, fast-loading website layouts.
Free website design templates for different industries like creative services, startups, fashion brands, health businesses, bakeries, and much more.
Zyro offers three main pricing programs — 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.
Next, their “Basic” program allows 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’s most acceptable for small and medium-sized companies.
Finally, their “Unleashed” plan provides every Zyro attribute and provides unlimited bandwidth and storage. At such an affordable price of $3.49/month, it is sensible to go for this plan and enjoy the unlimited features if you’re planning to have a great deal of content on your website.
Overall, Zyro is ideal for small businesses looking to create and grow a site quickly, save money on writing and logo-making with 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 internet 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 directly 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 in regards to design. Squarespace templates appear excellent down to every detail. The fonts, color schemes, and vision all mesh flawlessly for any website.
Besides design, their stage is wonderful 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 position it where you would like. They also offer multiple user permissions, Google AMP performance, and you can schedule your posts:
A few small search engine optimization limitations hold Squarespace back from being #1 on this list. First, my XML sitemap pulled two versions of every page with and without a trailing slash”/.” This dual indexing may potentially lead to SEO and duplicate content problems 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 cautious when adding your headlines for SEO. You can read more in my whole Wix vs Squarespace review.
Other terrific features compensate for these drawbacks. Their ease of use is topnotch — websites are elementary to build with their editing tools. In-built analytics tools provide continuous data on-site visitors if you are not using Google Analytics. Plus, it’s tough to go wrong with a beautifully-designed site for only $12/month.
Monthly prices 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 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 who wants your content to appear great, Squarespace is a trusted choice.
Best Free Website Builder (Free — $25/month)
Weebly powers over 530,000 domain names and is called the simple site builder of choice for people without much technical expertise. They offer a lot of great features. If you are a blogger, you can use Weebly.com to pick a domain name and use their editor to add your text, pictures, and content.
They also have a mobile app to track your site’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 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 made to get Weebly branding throughout your site. Additionally, the free plan only comes with chat and email support, but no phone support.
Weebly’s paid plans range from $5 to $25 per month. On the high end, their Business Strategy 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 through Square and other providers.
The level of customer support you get is based on your subscription level. You can find assistance yourself in many areas, including their site, service centre, community discussion, social networking, and programmer documentation. They also have live chat, email, and phone support.
If you are searching for a simple site creator to get up and running, I recommend you begin using Weebly.
Best Website Builder for Ecommerce ($29/month)
Shopify is a popular 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 site owner needs product-selling performance, I added Shopify to the list because almost any small business could use them to set up their site.
Take a salon for instance.
With Shopify, not only could you set up a quick website including a site, 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 list, including hosting, your own domain name, 70+ professional topics, a free SSL certificate, and marketing and SEO features.
They also offer mobile commerce, 100+ payment gateways, automated carrier shipping rates, automatic tax rates, and the complete checkout experience. Besides, you can enjoy omnichannel selling across Facebook, eBay, Amazon, Instagram, and much more.
If you’re establishing a new website and think that you may choose to sell products online in the future, it is better to get started with Shopify rather than another tool that does not 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 complete website, an internet store with unlimited products, site features, 24/7 support, and more.
If you want to give Shopify a try, they offer a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.
Best For Professional painters ($16 a month).
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 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 through email, Webflow community forum, and help centre.
Integration with Zapier lets you connect with tools like Slack, MailChimp, and Asana.
You can add up to 3000 products on your website with eCommerce support.
Best WordPress Themes for Photography and Creative Websites ($279 one-time).
Flothemes is a business that provides customizable WordPress themes. These templates help you build sites inside of WordPress without the need for custom coding. It is powered by Flex block, a potent free stream page builder, providing limitless customization choices.
All of the templates and themes include premade layouts and content blocks. You may also customize colors, fonts, the structure 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 also check Flothemes cloud hosting services, starting at $26 a month.
Install WordPress.org and join it to your web site hosting. Luckily, most hosting services offer a one-click WordPress setup.
Finally, select a theme for your website or portfolio.
You’ll be able to watch several how-to tutorials by Flothemes or contact the customer care team.
If you need assistance setting up the whole website, you can drop a message, and their team will do everything for you.
Flothemes can help you set up your website for just $499-$1999. Besides setting up your website from the start, they also provide services like page load speed optimization, SEO, styling, etc.. In addition, 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.
Furthermore, Flothemes provides features like SSL implementation, WordPress setup, Typography, color scheme stylization, and more. You also find 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 Installation Bundle: $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 motif. It provides features like WordPress installation, website layout setup, theme installation, WordPress transfer, website launch, etc..
The Advanced Setup Package incorporates full assistance with website setup, styling & launching, site speed optimization & an SEO consultation. Additional features include typography & color scheme stylization, SSL implementation, speed optimization, etc..
Pro Setup Package contains all the features in the Advanced Setup Package along with the tailored mockup & implementation for your homepage.
Best Website Tool with Integrated CRM Tools
HubSpot is a top-notch CRM tool which also includes a full-featured CMS and website builder. Using their platform, you can create website pages, blog posts, landing pages either from scratch or using their pre-built templates.
Their drag-and-drop editor 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 listing, HubSpot comes integrated with a wide range of marketing software, including tools to manage email advertising, get found online, and capture, engage with and understand prospects.
For instance, when you create a webpage, you may 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 origin, or any other detail you choose to capture in your HubSpot CRM.
This integrated marketing suite covers all parts of the customer lifecycle:
Types, live chat, and conversational chatbots capture prospects.
Email advertising, retargeting, and messenger integrations send personalized messages to your leads.
Their contact report 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’re looking for a site 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 Websites
Best Digital Advertising Website Builder for Local Businesses
A Personalized Website with the Power of AI
Best for Enormous Online Stores
Great for Photographers and Artists
Best for startups that want to create 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 site builder is a tool or software program that will help you build a website.
In the old days of the net, programmers needed to know HTML and CSS to make a site. Today, if you want 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 businesses and bloggers to news 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 website builder?
Can I get a free website for my company?
There you have it — my list of the top website builders. Because there are 74 options out there, I have condensed the listing down to the top so that you can choose the option that is perfect for your business or online brand.
If you’re looking for the very best site builder overall, I recommend you begin 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?