The thing is, not all website builders are created equal. Some are better for selling things online, while others give you more freedom to customize the design of your site. To help you figure out which one is best for you, we’ve tested the most popular ones out there. We’ve looked at what those website builders can do, how easy they are to use, and how much they cost.
So, come along as we journey through the best website builders of 2024. We’ll give you all the information you need to pick the one that’s right for you and get started on creating a fantastic website.
📚 Table of contents
- Overview of best website builders
- Wix
- Squarespace
- Weebly
- Shopify
- Bluehost website builder
- WordPress.com
- Web.com
- Strikingly
- Website builder FAQ
- Self-hosted WordPress
Let’s get building!
Top website builders available right now 🏆🏗️
Before we get into the heavier analysis, we wanted to give you an overview of the options we’ll be covering in more detail below:
Tool | Editor Rating | Blog | Ecommerce | Templates | Free Plan | From |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wix | 5/5 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ 800+ | ✅ | $17.00 |
Squarespace | 5/5 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ 65+ | ❌ | $16.00 |
Weebly | 4.5/5 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | $12.00 |
Shopify | 4/5 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ 140+ | ❌ | $24.00 |
Bluehost Website Builder | 4/5 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ 11,000+ | ❌ | $1.99 |
WordPress.com | 4/5 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | $4 |
Web.com | 3.5/5 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ | $4.95 |
Strikingly | 3.5/5 | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ 25+ | ✅ | $8 |
1. Wix (www.wix.com)
A good all-around builder with affordable prices
- Overall rating: 5/5
- Templates: ✅ 800+
- Blogging tool? ✅
- Ecommerce functionality? ✅
- Free plan? ✅
- Paid plans from: $17.00 / month
Wix is a versatile, user-friendly website builder that lets you start crafting a site for free. With its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, AI-powered design tool (Wix ADI), and diverse templates, building a website becomes very approachable for everyone.
Whether you’re making a basic site or serious online store, Wix has you covered. It’s also a tool designed to grow with your evolving needs. There are different tiers based on the scale of your site or budget.
Plus, Wix is also a fairly popular website builder of the bunch. The current numbers say that it runs 2.9% of all websites. [1].
How it works ⚙️
To launch your Wix site, you first need to sign up for a free account. Then, Wix will ask you a few questions to simplify the website creation process. This is great because it means you get an experience that’s tailored specifically to you:
Then, you can:
- Let the WIX AI create a website for you (an especially unique feature). Basically, you’ll answer more questions, and then the AI will actually pick a template for you based on your answers.
- Choose a template from the 800+ templates available, if you’d rather pick the template yourself.
Want to learn more about Wix? Check out our Wix review or our Wix tutorial.
Ease of use and time investment ⏲️
No matter whether you choose the WIX AI or your own template, you’ll eventually land in the Wix editor to finish out customizing your site.
The Wix editor gives you a great deal of control over your site, but it also feels significantly more overwhelming than Squarespace’s editor because it presents so many options at once.
If you’ve built a few websites before, you might like all those options. But if this is your first time using a website builder, you might struggle with the learning curve:
If you want more functionality, you can add in 250+ apps from the Wix App Market.
Pros and cons ➕/ ➖
👍
- Very easy to set up by anyone.
- Offers design flexibility and many apps for functionality.
- WIX AI tools are cool because they build most of your website for you.
👎
- Wix won’t let you switch to another template if you have already built your site with a specific template.
- When it comes to extra functionality, you are limited to what’s in the Wix store. You cannot install third-party tools.
Pricing 💰
Wix offers a limited free plan with Wix ads and a Wix subdomain. Paid plans with your own branding and no Wix ads start at $17.00 per month. But serious businesses should spring for the $29.00 per month plan, at a minimum.
2. Squarespace (www.squarespace.com)
The best website builder for creatives (and others)
- Overall rating: 5/5
- Templates: ✅ 65+
- Blogging tool? ✅
- Ecommerce functionality? ✅
- Free plan? ❌
- Paid plans from: $16.00 / month
By the numbers, Squarespace is the most popular website builder, as well as the most popular hosted content management system. It powers 2.1% of all websites on the Internet according to W3Techs [1].
Squarespace includes great-looking templates for a variety of niches, as well as an easy onboarding process that makes it easy to build a website even if you have no technical skills.
If you want to learn more, you can check out our Squarespace review or our Squarespace tutorial.
How it works ⚙️
To get started, Squarespace has you pick a base template from the 65+ available templates. The templates are divided by category and, as a general rule, have great modern, minimalist looks:
Once you choose your base template, you’ll need to create a Squarespace account (it’s free to start – so you can test things out with no credit card required).
And as soon as you create your account, Squarespace launches you into the editor so that you can customize your site.
Not sure about Squarespace? Read these:
Ease of use and time investment ⏲️
Because Squarespace has you start from one of the pre-made templates, you don’t need to worry about building your website’s design from scratch.
Instead, you’ll basically just use Squarespace’s drag-and-drop editor to:
- Edit the existing template data
- If desired, add new content, like more text, images, a newsletter form, etc.
Editing content is as simple as typing on the page:
And you can add new content by inserting new “blocks”:
All in all, you get a good deal of control without a huge time investment.
Pros and cons ➕/ ➖
👍
- It comes with a rich package of features and integrations – one of the most generous on the list.
- It provides a variety of templates with modern, unique, and gorgeous designs.
👎
- It doesn’t come with an app marketplace. Even though it’s strong when it comes to its set of features, you can’t install extra functionality if you ever need it.
Pricing 💰
Squarespace starts at $16.00 per month, billed annually. A small business will likely want the $23.00 per month plan, though.
3. Weebly (www.weebly.com)
A solid option for all types of sites
- Overall rating: 4.5/5
- Templates: ✅
- Blogging tool? ✅
- Ecommerce functionality? ✅
- Free plan? ✅
- Paid plans from: $12.00 / month
Recently acquired by Square for $365 million in April 2018, Weebly is a long-standing website builder that helps you create both standard websites and ecommerce stores (the ecommerce aspect will likely become more prominent with Square’s involvement) [2].
Weebly currently powers 0.5% of all the websites on the Internet [1]. If you want a deeper look, we have a full Weebly vs Wix comparison post.
How it works ⚙️
Like the others, you get started with Weebly by signing up for a free account.
From there, you can choose from a variety of themes (the exact number depends on what type of site you’re building – e.g. a store vs a business site):
Ease of use and time investment ⏲️
Once you select your website theme, Weebly will launch you into the editor. If you want to edit existing content, you can just click on the live preview. And if you want to add new content, you just drag it over from the options on the left:
Again, Weebly’s editor doesn’t go quite as deep as Wix. But it does a good job of keeping things simple while still giving you enough control to customize your site.
And if you need additional functionality, you can connect to the Weebly app store.
Pros and cons ➕/ ➖
👍
- The editor is straightforward, easy to grasp, and has drag-and-drop functionality.
- It comes with third-party integrations.
- You get SSL certificates in all plans, including free.
👎
- The editor’s features are basic – a good fit for a simple website. If you need a complex one, you won’t find advanced capabilities in Weebly.
- It offers only around 50 templates.
Pricing 💰
Weebly has a branded free plan. After that, paid plans start at $12.00 per month.
4. Shopify (www.shopify.com)
The best website builder for ecommerce stores
- Overall rating: 4/5
- Templates: ✅ 140+
- Blogging tool? ✅
- Ecommerce functionality? ✅ – it’s Shopify’s main strength
- Free plan? ✅
- Paid plans from: $24.00 / month
Shopify is a bit of a twist because it’s focused exclusively focused on ecommerce, rather than helping you create a multipurpose site. By the numbers, Shopify powers 4.5% of all websites on the Internet, which makes it the second most popular way to make a website (only after WordPress, which has a whopping 43.5% market share) [1]. It’s also the second most popular way to build an ecommerce store, behind WooCommerce.
Basically, it’s not the best website builder overall, but it’s probably your best option if you’re serious about creating an ecommerce store.
If you want to learn more, you can check out our Shopify review or our Shopify tutorial.
How it works ⚙️
Shopify operates on similar principles to the other website builders, but with a slightly different process.
Once you sign up for a free Shopify account, you’ll need to provide a little bit of information. From there, it will drop you into the Shopify dashboard:
This is where you’ll:
- Choose a theme
- Add products
- Install apps for more functionality
Ease of use and time investment ⏲️
Because Shopify is focused on ecommerce, it’s going to take you a bit more time to set up your store than a regular website builder.
In addition to the information above, you’ll also need to set up payment gateways, configure tax rates, and perform other housekeeping actions.
Shopify tries to make things as easy as possible, though. For example, the Theme Customizer/editor makes it easy to tweak your store. And even though it’s focused on ecommerce, you can still add other functionality, like a blog.
The only downside, though, is that there’s no “inline editing”. That means, unlike all the other website builders, you can’t just click on text to edit it:
Pros and cons ➕/ ➖
👍
- It is easy to set up and work with for any casual user.
- It provides the full package of ecommerce features, including marketing, user interface, and design.
👎
- It can become expensive if you want to expand your business and integrate advanced ecommerce features.
- If you are an experienced user who wants to tweak the online store yourself, Shopify doesn’t leave much room for custom code or unique improvements.
Pricing 💰
Shopify’s plans start at $24.00 per month. For more detail, we have a post that’s dedicated to explaining Shopify pricing plans.
5. Bluehost Website Builder
A website builder that builds you a WordPress site the easy way
- Overall rating: 4/5
- Templates: ✅
- Blogging tool? ✅
- Ecommerce functionality? ✅
- Free plan? ❌
- Paid plans from: from $1.99 / month
Bluehost Website Builder is a bit different from the other website builders on this list because it is not a standalone platform. It is based on WordPress.org, which means that it helps you create a website with WordPress.
If you ask me, that’s actually a perk. Why? Because starting a website on WordPress.org by yourself might not be the easiest thing to do. So Bluehost does the job for you by offering all the resources you need in one place.
How it works ⚙️
To start a WordPress website with Bluehost Website Builder, you first need to pick a pricing package. Then, choose your domain name, fill out the details about your account at checkout, and submit.
During the setup wizard, choose the Bluehost Website Builder as the main website building method and follow the instructions.
At the end of the setup, you can enter your dashboard. From there, you can manage your WordPress sites: create pages, customize the design, install plugins and themes, and add content.
To customize a site’s design, you can use the Bluehost Website Builder’s drag-and-drop editor. Add pre-built templates and customize every section to your liking via the visual interface.
Ease of use and time investment ⏲️
The Bluehost Website Builder editor is intuitive and simple enough for the casual user. You can use the left-side menu to insert elements, create menus and pages, customize the design, and check settings.
You can drag and drop elements to create your own pages either from a pre-built template or by putting together existing sections. Each element is customizable via the right sidebar.
You can also choose to customize your entire site using WordPress’ default block editor or customizer by clicking on the WP Admin icon in the left menu. This method is as easy to use as the Bluehost drag-and-drop editor. You just click on a block and customize its elements via the right sidebar.
Pros and cons ➕/ ➖
👍
- You can start a WordPress website the easy way – in just a few minutes – without having to deal with the classic and more burdensome installation from scratch.
- You get access to the full WordPress dashboard.
- It comes with over 11,000 free WordPress themes for any niche and industry + even more premium themes.
- It’s cheap.
👎
- You cannot change the layout of a section template, so it doesn’t offer the same flexibility as other website builders.
- The designs of the templates in the editor are basic.
- You don’t get a free domain in the cheapest plan.
Pricing 💰
The pricing plans for Bluehost Website Builder start at $1.99 per month for one basic website. If you want more websites, security, more storage, free CDN, or ecommerce features, prices vary from $3.99 to $13.95 per month.
6. WordPress.com (wordpress.com)
The best website builder for people who want flexibility
- Overall rating: 4/5
- Templates: ✅
- Blogging tool? ✅
- Ecommerce functionality? ✅
- Free plan? ✅
- Paid plans from: $4 / month
WordPress.com is a service that gives you an easy way to create a website built with the open-source WordPress software. WordPress powers 43.5% of all the websites on the internet, and WordPress.com gives you the simplest way of getting into the WordPress ecosystem [3].
The open-source WordPress software, AKA WordPress.org, is free software that you can install on your own web hosting. It’s a great way to make a website, but it’s not quite a “website builder” because you’re the one responsible for installing and maintaining the software.
WordPress.com is a service based on WordPress that brings a more website builder-like experience to WordPress by handling all of the setup and maintenance for you. But, as long as you pay for the WordPress.com Business plan, you still get access to pretty much all of the flexibility of WordPress, including the ability to install your own themes and plugins *.
With the ability to install plugins, you can add pretty much any feature to your site. You can even create a WordPress-powered ecommerce store powered by the WooCommerce plugin.
* You need to pay for the Business plan to be able to install plugins – you can’t install plugins on the cheap/free plans.
How it works ⚙️
Unlike self-hosted WordPress, you can get started with a website powered by WordPress.com just by registering for an account.
From there, WordPress.com will launch you into a simple setup wizard where you can add details for your site, choose a theme, and make some other basic choices:
Once you’ve done that, you can manage your site from a dashboard area like this:
Again, if you’re paying for the WordPress.com Business plan, you also have the option to install custom plugins to further tweak your site.
You can find a WordPress plugin for literally any feature imaginable – check out some of the most popular plugins to get some ideas.
Ease of use and time investment ⏲️
While the self-hosted WordPress software is a little more complex than your average website builder, the WordPress.com service does a good job of simplifying things.
The setup wizard can have you up and running with a working website in just a few minutes. For simple sites, that might be all you need.
If you want to go more in-depth, you can consider installing a page builder plugin like Elementor, which will give you access to a visual, drag-and-drop design experience like this:
Unlike self-hosted WordPress, you won’t need to worry about security or maintenance when you create your site with WordPress.com.
Pros and cons ➕/ ➖
👍
- You can use the WordPress block editor to create posts and pages – which has a simple, visual interface.
- You can install thousands of third-party plugins and themes if you upgrade to the Business plan.
👎
- It’s not the most straightforward platform when it comes to editing and customizing your site as it might require additional research beforehand.
Pricing 💰
While WordPress.com does have a free plan and some cheap plans, we don’t recommend those plans if you’re looking for a full-featured website builder.
Instead, you should pay for at least the Business plan, which unlocks the full flexibility of the WordPress software. It costs $25 per month if paid annually or $33 per month if paid monthly.
7. Web.com
A straightforward website builder that’s ideal for small business owners
- Overall rating: 3.5/5
- Templates: ✅
- Blogging tool? ✅
- Ecommerce functionality? ✅
- Free plan? ❌
- Paid plans from: $4.95 / month (renew at $15.99 / month)
With promotional prices starting at just $1.95 per month (billed monthly), and regular prices at $15.99, Web.com is a great option if you’re wanting to try out an AI-powered website builder. Unfortunately, though, there are no free plans or free trials.
Web.com provides a quick and easy way for those with little to no experience to create websites. You can choose from hundreds of industry-organized templates that are relatively easy to customize. Meanwhile, all plans come with a free email, domain, and SSL certificate.
Additionally, with the ecommerce plans, you can safely sell products on your site, on social sites, and on marketplaces like Etsy and eBay. But, the drag-and-drop editor is fairly limited, so if you have a more complex site (or a blog), you’ll be better off with one of the other options on this list.
How it works ⚙️
Web.com doesn’t offer a free account or free trial, so you’ll need to pay before you can start building your site. From there, you can choose to build your website yourself or via an Artificial Intelligence (AI) website builder.
At which point, you’ll be redirected to choose a pre-built template from the hundreds of templates that Web.com offers. You can filter templates based on your exact industry:
Although, it’s important to note that there isn’t a ton of variety between the templates. And, some industries only have one or two layouts to choose from.
Ease of use and time investment ⏲️
After you pick a template, you’ll be able to edit it using the intuitive drag-and-drop editor. This works in a similar way to other website builders we’ve discussed, with a left-hand sidebar that contains all the components you might need.
Then, you’ll see a preview of your website to the right of the screen that updates in real-time as you edit. However, there are limitations to the builder.
Since the templates are laid out in rows, you can’t move items anywhere you want. So, if you try to move components outside these boundaries, they’ll snap back into place which can be frustrating if you want complete creative freedom.
Pros and cons ➕/ ➖
👍
- Cheap introductory offer (only $1.95 for the first month).
- Excellent customer support.
- Free email, domain, and SSL certificate with all plans.
👎
- No free plan or free trial to test the builder.
- Can’t switch templates easily after initial selection.
- Unable to drag-and-drop items outside row boundaries.
Pricing 💰
With Web.com, there are four plans to choose between (with the price of each heavily discounted for the first term). To use the website builder, you’ll pay $19.99 a month but you’ll get the first month for $1.95.
Or, if you sign up for a yearly contract, it costs $15.99 a month, and you’ll pay $4.95 a month for the first year. However, if you intend to sell products, you’ll need at least the Online Store plan which costs $29.99 a month with a yearly contract ($13.95 for the first year).
8. Strikingly (www.strikingly.com)
A good basic option for simple websites
- Overall rating: 3.5/5
- Templates: ✅ 25+
- Blogging tool? ✅
- Ecommerce functionality? ✅
- Free plan? ✅
- Paid plans from: $8 / month
Founded in 2013, Strikingly is much younger than the other website builders on this list. It’s probably not a great option if you’ve already built a few websites and like to tinker. But if you just want a tool to build a basic website, its simple editor keeps things uncomplicated.
How it works ⚙️
To get started, you sign up for a free Strikingly account. Then, it drops you into an interface where you choose from the many available templates:
Ease of use and time investment ⏲️
Once you select your template, Strikingly dumps you straight into the editor. This free website builder tool is a lot simpler than Wix. And while, to be honest, it does look a little dated, it’s actually pretty intuitive for most of the things a small business needs.
One especially handy feature is built-in spots that suggest adding a specific element. For example, on the template I chose, it suggested adding a button to the hero section:
Strikingly’s editor definitely sacrifices some flexibility for ease of use. But if you don’t have a ton of experience and just want to build a great-looking small business site, that may well be enough for you.
Pros and cons ➕/ ➖
👍
- It has a feature that suggests optimal places to add various elements to a template.
- You can create unlimited sites in the free version.
👎
- It’s one of the most basic website builders on this list. You don’t have too many customization options.
- You get only five pages and one product per site in both the free version and the first paid plan.
Pricing 💰
Strikingly has a free plan if you’re ok with using a Strikingly subdomain. After that, paid plans start at $8 per month.
Website builder FAQ 🙋
As we finish out our collection, let’s run over some common questions you might have…
How can I choose the best website builder?
When it comes to choosing the best website builder for your situation, you should consider the following details:
- Complexity – are you willing to use a tool that’s a little more complex in order to get more flexibility? Or would you rather keep things simple, even if it means sacrificing some flexibility?
- Features – what features do you need your website to have? Do you need ecommerce? An appointment booking system? Membership functionality? All of these key details might push you in one direction or another.
- Design interface – do you want full drag-and-drop design or are you happy to just choose a template and add your own content?
- Budget – how much money are you willing to spend?
Your answers to those questions should hopefully make it clearer which is the top website builder for your needs.
How much does a website builder cost?
What you’ll pay obviously depends on the builder in question. On the low end, you can get started for as little as $5-$10 per month.
For a site with more functionality (like appointment bookings), you should expect to pay at least ~$20+ per month.
For an ecommerce store, you should expect to pay at least ~$30+ per month.
Which website builder is the easiest to use?
All of these website builders are easy to use because that’s the entire point. However, if you want a simple web design software option, Weebly is a great place to start. It’s not as powerful as other platforms, but it does do a great job of keeping things simple.
What is the best value website builder?
Weebly is the best value website builder for simple sites because of its very low prices. Wix and Web.com can also be good options as they also have pretty affordable plans (especially for the first term).
What is the best website builder for ecommerce?
If you’re building a serious ecommerce store, Shopify is definitely the best website builder for you. The WordPress.com ecommerce plan is another good option, as it makes it easy to create a store using the WooCommerce WordPress plugin.
For very simple stores, Squarespace and Wix can also get the job done.
If nothing caught your eye, then self-hosted WordPress might be the best website builder for you 💡
Couldn’t find the best website builder for you in the list above? You can always stick with the tried-and-true self-hosted WordPress approach (c’mon, we’re a WordPress blog – you didn’t think we’d go the whole post without one mention of WordPress, right?).
As we mentioned in the WordPress.com section, WordPress is the most popular way to build a website in existence, powering 43.5% of all the websites on the Internet [3].
There are some good reasons for that, too.
Advantages of using self-hosted WordPress for building your website
When you build your website with self-hosted WordPress, you have 100% control over errrythaang, which is something that even the best website builder can’t match. It’s also easy to customize because you get access to:
- A huge library of WordPress plugins to add new functionality. There are about 59,650 free plugins alone.
- Roughly 12,200 WordPress themes, which dwarfs any of the template lists you’ll find being offered by website builders.
Now, if you just want a super simple site, you might not actually need all of that functionality. But if you want an easy-to-use platform that gives you the flexibility to do anything you want, none of these tools can beat WordPress.
⚡ This is where Bluehost comes into play. It is a great solution for the web hosting needs of most WordPress sites. Not only is it affordable (from $1.99 per month), but it also ensures that your site is going to be accessible and fast-loading. Bluehost guarantees nearly 100% uptime, offers good customer support, and even includes a free domain for the first year. It’s the perfect blend of cost-efficiency and quality for those looking to use WordPress for a live site.
Additional resources for self-hosted WordPress
If you’re interested in learning more about using self-hosted WordPress to build your site, here are some helpful articles to get you started:
- How to use WordPress for local business
- How to start an online store with WordPress
- The best WordPress page builder plugins – these add easy drag-and-drop editing that approximates the website builder editors you saw above.
Have any other questions about picking the best website builder for your business? Leave a comment and we’ll try to help out!
Or start the conversation in our Facebook group for WordPress professionals. Find answers, share tips, and get help from other WordPress experts. Join now (itβs free)!