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17 Best Site Builders: Wix, Squarespace, and More (2021)
Choosing the best site builder can be hard, because there are 74 popular choices to select from.
In this guide, I rated and reviewed the best website builders to make a web site based on cost, reliability, web hosting services, technical support, site speed, SEO, features, ease of use, template design, and much more.
We will also compare:
The best website contractors for small businesses.
The ideal free and cheap 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 website builder is a quick and effortless way to construct a presence for your brand or internet business. These tools simplify your site management by combining domain registrationhosting, and site design into one stage.
If you’re not too knowledgeable about web design and development, you’ll 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 season.
Wix.
Best Site Builder for Small Business ($13/month)
Wix is the most popular website builder available 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 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 easy. Also, if you’d like to add e-commerce to your website so you could sell online, plans begin a $20/month.
If you are a small business, I recommend 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 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 selecting from countless combinations of images, text, layouts, and contact forms.
Ultimately, if you’re looking for the best site builder for small companies, Wix is your best option.
Read my whole 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 site builder with a mission to assist local companies to tell their unique stories online.
Overall, they are best known for simplicity and speed.
With Zyro, you can create a company website quickly and easily with no programming required. Your site also loads fast due to the light frame 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 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 pick your type of business, then write 2-3 sentences describing your brand and context. Then you correct your AI settings and customize them based on length, experience, and creativity degree. Lastly, you click on the Create 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 maker.
24/7 customer support via email and live chat.
AI heatmaps to improve website conversions and predict visitor behavior.
Mobile-optimized, fast-loading website layouts.
Free website design templates for various industries like creative agencies, startups, fashion brands, wellness companies, bakeries, and much more.
Zyro offers three primary pricing programs — a free plan, a mid-tier”Basic” program at $1.99/month, and their high-tier”Unleashed” program 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” plan permits you to connect your own 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 is most acceptable for small and medium-sized businesses.
Finally, their “Unleashed” plan provides every Zyro feature and gives unlimited storage and bandwidth. At this affordable price of $3.49/month, it makes sense to go for this program and enjoy the unlimited features if you’re planning to get a great deal of content on your site.
Overall, Zyro is ideal for small businesses seeking to create and grow 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 check out their stage, then upgrade to a paid plan when you are 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 directly for their beautifully designed home page. They truly know how to create beautiful, high-quality sites that look great for both small businesses and personal websites alike.
With over 100 design templates to select 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 site.
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 on the page and position 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. To begin with, my XML sitemap pulled in two versions of every page with and without a trailing slash”/.” This double indexing could potentially result in SEO and duplicate content issues down the road. They didn’t have a simple fix the last time I checked.
Second, your blog headlines become your meta names, so be cautious when incorporating your headlines for SEO. You can read more in my full Wix vs Squarespace review.
Other terrific features compensate for these drawbacks. Their ease of use is top-notch — sites are elementary to build with their editing tools. In-built analytics tools provide continuous data on-site visitors if you’re not using Google Analytics. Plus, it’s hard to go wrong with a beautifully-designed site for only $12/month.
Monthly costs range from $12/month for their Personal 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 that wants your content to look great, Squarespace is a reliable 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’re a blogger, you can use Weebly.com to pick a domain name and use their editor to add your own text, pictures, and content.
They also have a mobile app to keep track of your site’s performance 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 includes 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 site. Additionally, the free plan only comes with email and chat support, but no phone support.
Weebly’s paid programs range from $5 to $25 per month. On the high end, their Business Plan gets you advanced 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 through Square and other suppliers.
The degree of customer support you receive is based on your subscription level. You’ll find assistance yourself in many areas, including their blog, support center, community discussion, social media, and developer documentation. They also have live chat, email, and phone support.
If you’re 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 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 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 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 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, including hosting, your own domain name, 70+ professional themes, 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. Besides, you can enjoy omnichannel selling across Facebook, eBay, Amazon, Instagram, and more.
If you’re setting up a new website and believe that you may want to sell products online in the future, it is far 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 Basic Shopify Plan should give site owners everything they want, including a full website, an internet store with unlimited products, site features, 24/7 support, and more.
If you’d like 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 key features include:
You can add and edit content to your live site.
Invite additional 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.
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 websites inside of WordPress with no need for custom coding. It’s powered by Flex block, a potent free flow page builder, providing limitless customization options.
All of the templates and themes come with premade layouts and content blocks. You can also customize colors, fonts, the structure 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 also check Flothemes cloud hosting services, starting at $26 per month.
Install WordPress.org and join it to your website hosting. Fortunately, most hosting services provide a one-click WordPress setup.
Finally, select 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 whole site, you can drop a message, and their staff will do everything for you.
Flothemes can allow you to set up your site for only $499-$1999. Besides setting up your website from the beginning, they also provide services like page load 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.
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 subjects cost a one-time $279, Flothemes offers three pricing strategies for their website setup services, including:
Simple Installation Bundle: $499
Advanced setup packages: $999
Pro Setup packages: $1,999
The Easy Setup Package helps you skip the technical parts and jump directly to adding content and personalizing your theme. It provides features like WordPress installation, website layout setup, theme setup, WordPress transfer, website launch, etc..
The Advanced Setup Package incorporates 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 contains all of the features from the Advanced Setup Package together with the tailored mockup & implementation for your homepage.
Best Website Tool with Integrated CRM Tools
HubSpot is a topnotch 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 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 list, HubSpot comes integrated with a broad assortment of marketing applications, including tools to manage email advertising, get found online, and catch, engage with and understand leads.
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 visitors, 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 in your HubSpot CRM.
This integrated marketing suite covers all parts of the customer lifecycle:
Forms, live chat, and conversational chatbots capture prospects.
Email marketing, retargeting, and messenger integrations send customized messages to your prospects.
Their contact report builder, analytics tools, and record segmentation help you understand your own leads.
Personalized experiences, calls-to-action, and smart content turns leads into customers.
Overall, if you’re seeking a website builder that also includes a full-featured set of CRM and marketing tools, HubSpot is your best choice.
The World’s Most Popular CMS
Easiest Free Website Builder for Small Websites
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 websites
Best Website Builder for Agencies and Multilingual Websites
What’s a Website Builder?
A website builder is a tool that allows anyone to manage a website 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 net, programmers needed to know HTML and CSS to create a site. Today, if you wish to code a website, 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 websites 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 greatest website builders. Because there are 74 options out there, I have condensed the list down to the top so that you can choose the option that’s right for your small business or online brand.
If you’re looking for the very best site builder overall, I recommend you begin with Wix.
For the best designs and templates, take a look at Squarespace.
If you need an e-commerce site to sell products online, Shopify is a fantastic choice.
What website builder do you use?