When starting a new business, building a website can be both thrilling and overwhelming. It entails exploring new opportunities but also dealing with the technical and design aspects of creating your own website.
When thinking step by step, you will need to consider the appearance of the site, the organization of products on the page, and the creation of pages and sub-pages. Additionally, you must ensure that the checkout process functions seamlessly. All of this can be overwhelming while also selecting a website builder to bring your website to life.
There is good news for small business owners like you; affordable website builders are available, and you can choose a simple or more complex process according to your preference.
What are Website Builders?
A website builder is an online tool that enables users to create websites. Typically provided by hosting companies or other Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms, these tools offer a comprehensive set of features for constructing a website. They can be utilized for building various types of websites, ranging from basic blogs to extensive online stores offering functionality such as email marketing, social sharing, SEO, and more.
Website builders offer greater control and ownership over your website compared to certain blogging platforms such as Blogger or Medium. However, they do not provide as much flexibility and control as WordPress, a dedicated CMS. Consequently, website builders are ideal for individuals who desire sufficient control over their site to achieve their desired design and functionality, without dedicating extensive time to other technical aspects of website creation.
The Pros and Cons of Website Builders
The great thing about website builders is their ease of use and setup. There is no need to worry about the correct assembly of website components as it is already taken care of. In one place, you can obtain a custom domain name, hosting, SEO, security, pre-made template designs, a drag-and-drop visual interface, and a content management system for your pages and posts.
The downside of utilizing website builders is their potential limitations, which is the tradeoff for their user-friendly nature. These builders are simpler to use as most of the complex tasks are handled by the platform itself. Consequently, you are restricted by the platform’s set limitations regarding hosting, SEO, functionality, and design features. Moreover, to access specific functionalities, site builders usually require users to upgrade to pricier plans. Hence, it is crucial to find a platform that can adapt to your website’s growth while staying within a reasonable budget.
In most cases, despite any drawbacks, the stress-free advantages of website builders are greater than the limitations. Additionally, selecting the appropriate website builder can have a significant impact.
The best website builders for small businesses
1. Shopify
At the beginning of this process, you may believe that creating a website and engaging in online product sales require separate steps and tools. Nevertheless, there is a significant distinction between adding commerce capabilities (such as product listings, payment acceptance, inventory management, order fulfillment, etc.) to an already established website and utilizing a website builder that inherently incorporates these capabilities.
If your main focus is finding a website builder, you may not require all the extra commerce tools. However, if your aim is to establish a successful ecommerce business from the beginning, Shopify may be the ideal website builder for you.
Shopify, a subscription-based commerce tool, is ideal for online stores of any size and stage. It is designed to adapt as your business grows. Shopify assists with setting up a personalized domain name and web hosting services, provides generous storage and bandwidth allowances, and includes complimentary marketing features for social media, email marketing, website chat, and additional functionalities. Additionally, Shopify facilitates selling through various online platforms, thereby enhancing your sales opportunities and expanding your customer reach.
For most business owners most of the time, Shopify is considered one of the best site builders due to the following factors:
- Simplicity. It’s easy for anyone to get started on Shopify, and it remains easy to use as you scale. You can go underneath the hood if you want to, but you can also maintain, customize, and scale your store without learning to code.
- Performance. Shopify’s website building technology offers super-fast load times and the best-performing checkout on the web. You don’t need separate web hosting for your domain, and you don’t need to hook up a third-party checkout tool. Shopify’s built-in shopping cart is world class.
- Omnichannel. Shopify’s website builder allows you to sell wherever your customers are. Shopify is always helping merchants bring their products to new markets. We recently launched the TikTok sales channel and offer a Shop Pay plus Facebook and Instagram partnership. There’s no need for extensive add ons or plug-ins.
2. Big Cartel
If you’re an artist looking to sell your artwork online and prefer a custom domain rather than using Etsy, Big Cartel is a suitable option. It is user-friendly and straightforward to set up, and as it is developed by artists themselves, they have already taken into account all the necessary features for selling your artwork on the internet.
- Price: Big Cartel is free for up to five products, so if you’re an artist just starting to sell your work online, this could be a great option for you. After that, Platinum (50 products) is $9.99 per month and Diamond (500 products) is $19.99 per month.
- Ease of use: It’s very easy (and quick!) to set up your own website with BigCartel. If you’re looking to grow your business over time though, it’s hard to scale this to more channels than just web.
- Features: Customer support is available by email seven days a week, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET; up to five photos of each product; free themes you can customize (plus code access); make sales both online and in person; use a custom domain; offer promotions; hook up Google Analytics; shipment and inventory tracking; sales tax auto pilot; bulk editing.
- Level of customization: Use one of BigCartel’s pre-baked themes to set up your site in a pinch, or design the entire thing yourself with full code access.
- Example: Take a look at The Feebles Shop to see what a Big Cartel store looks like IRL. The Feebles Shop uses Stripe as its payment processor.
3. Wix
Wix, a well-known website builder, provides various pricing plans depending on your requirements. However, it lacks in inventory tracking and several ecommerce features can only be accessed by upgrading to the highest plan. In just a few minutes, Wix ADI, the web design intelligence system, can create a website for your business using minimal information.
However, Wix provides options for plans, subscriptions, and recurring payments, making it an ideal choice if your business involves selling products that require customer subscriptions.
- Price: Wix differentiates its standard website plans from its ecommerce plans. Because you’ll need to accept and process payments, you’ll have to go with one of its business and ecommerce plans. Business Basic is $27 per month, Business Unlimited is $32 per month, and Business VIP is $59 per month. Wix will refund the cost of any premium plan, as long as you cancel within 14 days of upgrading.
- Ease of use: The user-friendly drag-and-drop editor makes Wix an easy tool to use.
- Features: Wix websites lack inventory management tools, so if that’s something you know you’re going to depend on, you may want to look elsewhere. For full ecommerce access, you’ll want to go with the Business Unlimited or Business VIP plan, as the Basic plan is lacking in advanced features like dropshipping and tax automation. Premium features for the upper level plans include: drag-and-drop website builder; recurring payment options; 24/7 customer care; automated tax; dropshipping; search-engine-optimized pages; shopping integrations with Facebook, eBay, Instagram, and Google Shopping.
- Level of customization: Use the drag-and-drop builder to customize one of 800 templates. Every element of any template is customizable.
- Example: Check out Mantra Lovers.
4. Squarespace
Squarespace is recognized as one of the best website builders available, primarily because of its elegant and uncomplicated website themes. If you are looking to create a website rapidly with minimal customization, Squarespace is a fantastic choice. Moreover, if you offer both services and physical products, Squarespace is an excellent option for you.
If you have a day spa, you will need a website where clients can book services and buy or subscribe to the products used by therapists. Squarespace designs are already aesthetically pleasing and functional, so you don’t have to put in much effort to quickly create a beautiful website.
- Price: The Basic Commerce plan is $27 per month, and the Advanced Commerce plan is $46 per month. You can save 30% on plans by committing for one year.
- Ease of use: Squarespace is a pretty simple website builder to use, and if you need help, the company offers webinars, a help center, and a community forum.
- Features: Drag-and-drop builder; customizable templates; responsive design and image scaling; sell physical goods or services; no limit on the number of products in your shop; product catalogs; post purchase email sequences; inventory management and low inventory notifications; Stripe and Paypal integrations; subscriptions.
- Level of customization: All templates are customizable via the Squarespace editor, and if you have coding knowledge, you can also pop into the code. Keep in mind that if you do choose a Squarespace theme, you won’t be able to customize down to the page level—the styles you choose will be consistent site wide, which gives you less flexibility overall.
- Example: Fashion and accessories brand Flora Salvaje runs on Squarespace
5. GoDaddy
GoDaddy is a widely known website builder that is utilized for creating various types of websites such as portfolios, ecommerce stores, and service-based business sites. Its user-friendly drag-and-drop builder incorporates artificial intelligence to swiftly design your website. By utilizing the information you provide, your site can be customized within a matter of minutes.
A drawback of GoDaddy websites is their relatively basic designs. Although clean and modern, GoDaddy’s interface is tailored for simplistic designs. Should you wish to create an online store, you will need to utilize a separate online store builder, which comes at double the price of the main builder.
- Price: If you want ecommerce functionality, you’ll need to pay $16.99 per month for the Commerce plan or $29.99 per month for the Commerce Plus plan. You can save between 31% and 33% on your subscription by paying annually. GoDaddy also offers a seven-day free trial.
- Ease of use: GoDaddy’s website builder offers a nice and easy editing experience for beginners without coding experience.
- Features: Over 100 mobile-friendly templates; integrations with social media sites like Instagram and Facebook; multiple payment options such as Google Pay and Venmo; integrates with Square POS (point of sale) to connect retail and online businesses.
- Level of customization: All templates are customizable. GoDaddy’s designs are basic and cannot be fully customized to create unique experiences online.
- Example: She Moves Mountains Apparel is built on GoDaddy.
6. WordPress
WordPress, which powers more than one-third of all websites, has evolved into a robust content management system (CMS) capable of constructing virtually any type of website. It is an open-source software and can be freely downloaded. Moreover, it is self-hosted, allowing installation on any hosting provider.
Although there is an all-in-one hosted service platform available at WordPress.com, it is considerably more restrictive compared to utilizing the .org version. To gain further insight into the distinctions between the two, you can refer to this post.
WordPress is More Flexible than Other Website Builders
Unlike other hosted website builders, WordPress is not restricted by the same limitations. The customization possibilities are virtually endless, thanks to numerous WordPress plugins, themes, and integrations available for both free and paid options. With these tools, you can create a website with advanced design and functionality according to your desired specifications.
Additionally, the WordPress block editor offers the convenience of constructing websites through a drag-and-drop builder with its visual interface. Alternatively, you can utilize a visual page builder such as Divi that allows for the creation of personalized layouts and impressive designs even without coding expertise, thanks to a vast collection of ready-to-use templates.
There is a wide range of WordPress plugins available to enhance the functionality and capabilities of your WordPress website. One example is WooCommerce, which can be used to incorporate comprehensive eCommerce features into any WordPress site at no cost. Other top-notch plugins include those for SEO optimization, eCommerce, memberships, speed optimization, and so on.
A common drawback of using WordPress versus other website builders on this list is that it requires a steeper learning curve and more technical knowledge to get everything set up. You’ll be carrying more responsibilities when managing and maintaining your site. However, once the work is done, you have complete control over every aspect of your site.
The overall expense of setting up a full website on WordPress will vary based on additional factors such as hosting and any premium themes or plugins required, despite the fact that WordPress itself is free software.
- Blocks-based editing for easy creation of complex page layouts
- Exhaustive library of plugins and themes both natively and in third-party marketplaces
- Excellent native blogging platform with a commenting system and social media integration
- Powerful eCommerce capabilities with the WooCommerce plugin
- Works with popular drag-and-drop page builders like Divi to give you thousands of pre-made layouts and powerful design options.
7. Hostinger
Hostinger is a hosting provider that has all the necessary features for website creation. Their website builder has a variety of templates that can be customized for different website categories including business, portfolio, eCommerce, and more. These templates can be modified with various elements such as colors, fonts, images, and more to create a distinctive website. Additionally, the builder provides advanced design tools like a color palette generator, background image remover, and shape divider tool.
The Hostinger platform offers a website builder that is distinct from Zyro, Hostinger’s standalone website builder platform. Both website builders are essentially identical, but they provide slightly different features and cater to different audiences.
When it comes to SEO, Hostinger’s website builder offers integrated SEO optimization tools that enable users to personalize meta tags, descriptions, and other SEO elements. Additionally, the platform grants users access to Google Analytics and other SEO analytics tools to facilitate monitoring their website’s performance.
Hostinger’s website builder is equipped with AI tools that facilitate the fast and effortless creation of a website. An illustrative example is the AI Writer tool, which can produce website content based on user input. Additionally, the AI Heatmap tool offers valuable insights into user interactions with the website. Furthermore, their AI logo maker allows users to create a logo within seconds.
- Uncomplicated drag-and-drop builder with interesting modules
- Simple eCommerce builder and features
- Code editor for advanced customization and coding
- Image editor for basic image editing and optimization
- Blogging tools, including a built-in blog editor
- Contact form builder for creating custom forms
8. Weebly
Weebly is a widely recognized website builder that is praised for its user-friendly interface and strong eCommerce platform, which has made it a favored option among small businesses, entrepreneurs, and individuals.
The Weebly website builder offers a variety of themes and pre-made layouts to help you get started designing different types of websites. Whether you want to create an online store, portfolio, personal brand, event site, or blog, this platform has you covered. With an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface, you can customize your page’s design and add various content elements such as forms, testimonials, PDFs, and even Instagram feeds.
Weebly’s eCommerce features make it an exceptionally strong builder for online stores due to its tight integration with Square. This integration with Square POS greatly enhances the capabilities of online shops created on the Weebly platform. By seamlessly incorporating the Square POS into the Weebly ecosystem, your website can swiftly connect with various payment gateways such as PayPal, Stripe, and Square.
Weebly enables users to arrange and incorporate products in their store, along with images, descriptions, prices, and shipping options. If you operate a food-based business, Weebly offers the feature to generate a menu PDF.
- Sell physical products, services, or food online for pickup or delivery
- Accept reservations or bookings
- Automatically sync with Square POS
- Provides a selection of form templates for surveys, events, and more
- Manage communications with customers through Facebook Messenger, text and email alerts
- Create pop-ups with pop-up builder
9. Duda
Duda is specifically designed for businesses and agencies that aim to create and manage multiple websites for their clients. With its focus on agencies and designers, Duda provides a variety of pricing plans to fulfill your requirements.
Duda offers users the ability to create custom templates or import templates from other sources, unlike many other featured builders. This allows users to have a great amount of flexibility in designing their website and guarantees that it will be unique.
Duda’s builder offers a collection of pre-designed widgets that can be customized according to your preferences. This feature aids in the prompt creation and modification of websites for both yourself and your clients. Additionally, the builder permits the adjustment of global colors, fonts, and the styling of content elements such as images and buttons.
Duda provides a greater variety of powerful SEO tools compared to most builders. The builder allows you to access and modify redirects, SSL, as well as integrate with Google Analytics. Additionally, you have the option to enable local business schema and integrate with the WooRank app to enhance your site’s SEO capabilities.
Duda enables the creation of different kinds of eCommerce stores, such as those for memberships and physical products. It provides convenient management options for products, shipping, and payments. If you choose to sell memberships, Duda also offers a separate interface to handle the specific details associated with building a membership site.
One distinct characteristic of Duda is its capability to enable users in collecting content from their clients. You can directly gather, arrange, and incorporate content received from your clients into the websites constructed using Duda’s builder.
- Builder allows for pixel-perfect mobile-optimized design
- Global styling across custom fonts, colors, and modules
- Decent library of pre-made templates and content widgets
- eCommerce functionality for online stores, appointments, digital products, and memberships
- White-label agency and team collaboration features
- Built-in website analytics and reporting tools
10. Webflow
Webflow is a popular choice for designers and developers because it is a multi-faceted website builder. The platform offers eCommerce functionality, responsive templates, web hosting, and collaborative features. With Webflow, users can create fully responsive websites with the ability to add custom CSS and HTML. This makes the builder attractive to those who are familiar with coding.
Webflow is primarily designed for advanced users who possess a strong grasp of website design and development, despite being a drag-and-drop website builder. However, it does provide a variety of free and paid templates to assist users in initiating their projects.
Webflow, while not having as many eCommerce features as other builders, provides reliable tools for constructing an online store. For instance, it enables the utilization of Stripe and PayPal for payment processing. Additionally, users can establish a personalized shopping cart and checkout page, as well as customize emails and invoices sent to customers.
Webflow offers greater flexibility compared to other website builders for individuals involved in website building. Nevertheless, this increased flexibility may require a higher level of technical expertise for creating intricate designs. Nonetheless, Webflow does make the building process more approachable for novices by providing a brief 2-minute tutorial at the initiation of their first site-building experience.
- Powerful drag-and-drop website builder
- Custom HTML and CSS
- Integrates with Mailchimp, Google Shopping, Facebook, and Instagram
- Has eCommerce and CMS functions
- WebP support
- Pre-built interactions and After Effects Lottie integration
11. IONOS
IONOS provides a web hosting and website builder service that includes several features for constructing and overseeing a website. Building a website with IONOS is a simple process due to its pre-made templates, drag-and-drop editor, and content management capabilities. Additionally, the inclusion of a blogging platform and social media integration features prove to be advantageous. Although the mobile-responsive templates can be personalized, the number of available templates is somewhat limited when compared to other website builders.
IONOS’s SEO capabilities are what sets it apart. The website builder ensures clean and well-structured code that adheres to SEO best practices. This includes semantic HTML and the ability to customize meta tags and descriptions for every page and post. Additionally, IONOS offers a site map generator and an SEO analyzer tool.
When it comes to eCommerce, the website builder depends on WordPress’ WooCommerce and the Ecwid platform, which may not be optimal for individuals looking for a genuine eCommerce experience.
The IONOS website builder offers a notable feature – the ability to create websites in multiple languages with multilingual support. When visiting your website, visitors can choose their preferred language from a dropdown menu, and the content will be translated accordingly. You have the option to use automatic translation via Google or upload your own translations using the builder. Additionally, the IONOS website builder provides a search engine optimization (SEO)-friendly structure for multilingual websites. This enables search engines to comprehend the various language versions of your website and index them individually.
- A wide range of widgets, including galleries, forms, and social media icons
- Customizable headers and footers for consistent branding
- Integration with Google Analytics for advanced tracking and reporting
- Image editing tools for resizing, cropping, and optimizing images
- Advanced customization options with CSS and JavaScript editing
- Secure payment processing through PayPal and Stripe integrations
12. Web.com
Web.com is a website builder platform that is both affordable and easy to use, ideal for individuals seeking to quickly and effortlessly create a website. The interface allows users to customize templates efficiently by utilizing a drag-and-drop feature, making it a breeze to align the website with one’s branding and style. Additionally, the drag-and-drop website builder simplifies the process of creating a mobile-friendly website. With a variety of pre-designed building blocks, access to an expansive library of 2 million stock photos, and the ability to incorporate custom code blocks, all the necessary resources are available to construct an ideal website.
Web.com guarantees that websites will appear visually appealing on all devices due to their responsive templates. In addition, Web.com offers around-the-clock customer support via phone, email, and chat. There is also an option for users to engage the assistance of a personal website designer in order to design a tailored website.
Web.com also provides eCommerce capabilities that enable users to establish an online store complete with a shopping cart and checkout system. This characteristic is advantageous for small businesses desiring to commence online sales without the need for a separate e-commerce platform investment.
- Free Domain and SSL for one year
- 150+ responsive templates
- Advanced eCommerce features
- Connect to Quickbooks and Xero
- Sell on Facebook and Instagram
- Simple Google site verification with monthly SEO checks and to-do lists
- Built-in customer relationship management (CRM)
13. Google Sites
Google Sites is a website builder offered by Google at no cost, enabling users to construct simple websites and engage in real-time collaboration with others. Designed to be user-friendly and uncomplicated, the platform features a drag-and-drop interface that does not require any coding knowledge. It provides various elements for use on websites, including textboxes, images, image carousels, table of contents, social links, and spaces.
Google Sites has a distinct quality of being closely integrated with Google’s range of products. By using Google Sites, you have the ability to easily incorporate your Google Calendar, extract videos from YouTube, and link your site to your Google Analytics accounts.
Google Sites is a good option if you’re looking to build the most basic of websites. Creating a complex website with advanced customizations (like eCommerce) is not available with this tool. Google Sites is an excellent choice for building the most basic of sites, but better, free options are available, like Wix.
Google Sites offers an exciting collaboration feature, allowing you and your team to effortlessly work on your website just as you would edit documents in Google Workspace. As Google Sites is a Google product, it also provides the same reliable version control as Slides, Sheets, and Docs.
- Easily connect with Google Drive, Analytics, Slides, Docs, and other Google products.
- Powerful collaboration features allow you and your team to work on your site in real time.
- Build-in announcement banner builder
- Build an unlimited amount of mobile responsive websites
- Connect easily to Google Domains for custom domain names
- Pull assets directly from your Google Drive, Google Photos
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Before we conclude, let’s address some of the frequently asked questions regarding website builders. If there is something we overlooked, please leave your question below, and we will provide a response.
What is the best website builder?
What is the best free website builder?
Is using a website builder worth it?
Using a website builder can be beneficial, especially for individuals or small businesses that are new to website creation or prefer a do-it-yourself approach. The simplicity of website builders and the availability of ready-made templates eliminate the need for technical expertise or prior experience in web design. Additionally, website builders are cost-effective and facilitate the prompt development of a polished website without the need to enlist the services of a web designer.
What are the cons of using a website builder?
When using a website builder, the main disadvantages include a lack of design customization, the possibility of ending up with a generic or unoriginal site, and limitations in terms of functionality and scalability. Although website builders are user-friendly, they do have certain limitations. Additionally, hidden costs may arise with website builders, such as charges for premium features or additional functionality. Furthermore, building your website can be time-consuming, but this can be avoided by hiring a professional to handle the task.
How much does it cost to build a website?
platform offers a basic plan for as low as $10 per month, whereas a complex and customized website can require an investment of several thousands of dollars.
Has a free plan, but the paid plan of starts at $10 per month. Similarly, Shopify’s paid plan, which provides more advanced eCommerce features, begins at $37 monthly and can go up to $399 per month.
How do I build a website from scratch?
In order to construct a website from the beginning, adhere to the following sequential procedures: pick a domain name and web hosting, opt for a website platform, design and personalize the website, generate and circulate content, and enhance search engine functionality. Additionally, you will be required to conduct tests and initiate the website, as well as regularly maintain and update it.
