11 Best Website Builders of 2022: Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, & More
Designing a website from scratch is no easy task. However, if you don’t want to spend years learning to code, you can take a shortcut by using a website builder. The best website builders online today are remarkably easy to use and produce professional results.
Most professional web design agencies and developers are simply out of the budget of individuals and small businesses. What’s more, hiring a web developer to build your personal site is probably overkill unless you need some kind of special functionality.
But you no longer have to settle for an ugly DIY site if you can’t afford to hire a web designer.
Modern website builders have made it possible for anyone to design an impressive website without the need for any coding or design skills.
These services will even host your site and many offer tools for eCommerce, marketing, and sales, all for a modest monthly fee.
In fact, website builders have become so popular that there are now dozens, if not hundreds to choose from. Choosing the best option for you is no easy task.
In this post, we’re going to compare some of the most popular website builders along with some up-and-coming services.
We’re going to take a look at each in turn – focusing on key features and offering our opinions – and conclude with our final recommendations.
Just want to know our conclusion without all the details?
Our experience reveals that Wix is the clear winner when it comes to website builders for beginners.
Wix stands out thanks to its remarkably intuitive builder – which anyone should be able to pick up in a matter of minutes – and wide range of customization options.
While Wix scored best for beginners, some of the other tools had features to make them more suitable for certain users:
- Best for small businesses on a budget: GoDaddy Website Builder
- Best for serious web designers: Webflow
- Best for email marketing integration: Constant Contact
- Best for agencies: Duda
- Best for building multilingual sites: Voog
However, before signing up with any site builder, it’s worth considering WordPress as an alternative.
WordPress is different from the other visual builders in this article because it’s a full content management system suitable for experienced web developers as well as beginners.
Building a site with WordPress requires a bit of a steeper learning curve than some of the other builders. However, it can’t be rivaled in terms of flexibility, design templates, and the fact that it’s completely free.
You can do anything you want with a WordPress site with pretty much no limitations. And all you’ll have to pay for is the cost of your web hosting (which is available for significantly less than the cheapest website builders). For example, Bluehost hosting starts from X a month and you can get it for even cheaper using our Bluehost coupon.
If you’re interested in finding out more about WordPress, read our guides on how to make a website and how to start a blog
Here’s a quick comparison of all the website builders we reviewed, done in July 2021.
| Monthly price (cheapest plan for an ad-free site) | Drag & drop functionality | HTML/CSS editing | Mobile-optimized | Ease of use | Overall score | |
| Wix | $8.50 | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | 10/10 | 10/10 |
| Squarespace | $12 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 10/10 | 10/10 |
| Weebly | $12 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 9/10 | 9/10 |
| Jimdo | $9 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | 6/10 | 5/10 |
| Voog | €8 (approx $9.65) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 7/10 | 7/10 |
| Webflow | $12 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 8/10 | 9/10 |
| Constant Contact | $10 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | 10/10 | 7/10 |
| GoDaddy Website Builder | $6.99 | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | 10/10 | 7/10 |
| Duda | $14 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 10/10 | 7/10 |
| Weblium | $8.25 | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | 10/10 | 8/10 |
| WordPress.org | $2.95 | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | 7/10 | 10/10 |
Let’s get cracking!
01. Wix
As far as simplicity goes, it’s hard to beat Wix. Their free plan, however, offers a rather stingy 500mb of both storage and bandwidth (and is branded with Wix ads). If you’re expecting to receive any sort of serious traffic to your website, or you want a more professional-looking site, you’re going to have to spring for one of their premium plans.
Standout Features
- Drag and drop website builder – as intuitive as Lego.
- Over 800 professionally designed and easily customizable templates.
- Hundreds of fonts, vector shapes, and icons available, all of which can be combined to create unique logos.
- Dozens of gallery layouts and a gigantic collection of stock images.
- Enables you to include video backgrounds to add a dash of life to your website.
- Fully responsive templates and designs.
- Enables you to add a blog to your website with a few clicks.
- Comes with a healthy app market (including the likes of Shopify and MailChimp) that can be used to level up your site.
👍 Pros
- Comes with Wix ADI which designs a tailor-made website just for you.
- Offers free hosting so you don’t have to worry about the technical bits.
- The mobile-optimized design allows webmasters to cater to a growing mobile audience.
- Tons of customization options on offer to help you create a truly unique website.
- Pre-integrated blog, social buttons, and Facebook Apps that enable webmasters to get the word out.
👎 Cons
- An overwhelming amount of customization options may be a bit too much for webmasters who aren’t particularly inclined towards web design.
- You can’t change templates after you’ve started building a site – you’ll need to start a new site if you want to switch to a different template.
Our Experience
Anyone can pick up Wix quickly, and with a little experimentation, produce a presentable website. Their library of templates and design tools is wide enough for an experienced designer to work wonders even within the limitations of their free plan, but for anything remotely serious, we would recommend upgrading.
As far as their editor goes, the experience couldn’t be any simpler – hence the Lego talk above – and the team behind Wix keep improving its features constantly.
Their app market includes a lot of well-known names, but some feel like stripped-down versions of the original services and the experience is mixed overall.
Who Is This Service For?
Online entrepreneurs and small business owners who would like to take charge of every aspect of their website would do well with Wix’s wide range of design templates and customization options. The platform’s user-friendly interface enables users to get their site up and running in minutes without having to modify anything in the front-end or the back-end.
- How to Create a Website Using Wix (Step-by-Step Guide)
- 40 Stunning Examples of Sites Using Wix
02. Squarespace
Squarespace doesn’t offer as many templates as Wix, but the designs are beautiful and there are plans suitable for personal sites, businesses, and eCommerce sites.
Squarespace is a great website builder for blogs, portfolio sites, podcasts, and creative industries. Its templates reflect modern web design trends and you can customize everything to a high level of detail.
Standout Features
- Simple, yet powerful building tools based on Squarespace’s block system.
- A wide collection of templates built from scratch by a professional design team.
- Fully featured editing tools that enable you to customize most aspects of your website.
- Cover pages can be easily switched between templates (this feature is also available for their other plans) and include call-to-actions from the get-go.
- All plans include premium Typekit fonts at no additional cost, as well as the best offerings from Google Fonts.
- Squarespace supports custom CSS for more in-depth personalization of your pages.
- Great blogging functionality with features like multi-user support, post scheduling, and AMP compatibility.
- Podcasts can be added as audio blocks to blog posts and syndicated to popular podcast feeds.
- Mobile apps are available to edit your site, manage eCommerce orders, and schedule appointments made through your site.
👍 Pros
- The Squarespace interface is incredibly user-friendly.
- All of the designs automatically include a mobile experience which ensures that your site looks great on all devices.
- The image manager features drag and drop functionality which significantly reduces the time you spend on uploading and adding images to your website.
- This feature-rich platform has just about everything you could possibly need from video-compatible galleries to a wide range of connected services.
👎 Cons
- Most of the design templates available require high-quality images. If you don’t have these then your site may not look as visually appealing as you might have hoped.
- Advanced eCommerce features such as multi-currency stores and shipping rate controls are limited.
- While you can use Zapier to integrate with third-party services, there are not many direct integrations compared to some other website builders
Our Experience
After working with several website building tools, Squarespace came as a pleasant surprise. Their templates stick to modern design considerations, which gives websites a professional look and feel comparable to custom solutions.
eCommerce integration was also pretty simple to deploy, which makes it a good choice for online shops launching on a budget. Squarespace supports Stripe and Paypal as payment gateways and you can also enable Afterpay.
Their editor hits the nail in the head with a perfect combination – it has an amazing number of features while remaining simple to grasp.
Who Is This Service For?
Squarespace brands itself as a website builder for creatives, and its modern templates are certainly an attractive feature. The platform is ideal for established web designers and users who want their site to be perfect down to every last pixel.
There are a plethora of customization options and features that makes it infinitely easier to modify design elements. In addition to this, Squarespace supports HTML and CSS editing allowing users to tweak their site’s appearance however they see fit.
03. Weebly
Weebly is one of the best-known names among website builders and they offer four different plans for potential customers.
Aside from the free and cheapest tiers, which are limited to 500mb of storage and branded with Weebly ads, Weebly offers two premium plans aimed at professionals and businesses. Both of these plans offer eCommerce functionality and some additional features.
Standout Features
- Weebly offers an intuitive and deceptively powerful website builder with drag-and-drop options along with more advanced features such as form builders.
- A comprehensive library of themes ranging from minimalistic to bold, with the option to customize fonts, color schemes, and most other elements.
- App center to find and add third-party integrations to your site.
- A full suite of eCommerce tools to sell products on your site.\Mobile apps to build and edit your site on the go.
- All themes were designed with responsiveness in mind.
- If you want to go a step further, you can use the advanced editor to take full control through simple HTML and CSS editing.
👍 Pros
- Weebly offers an intuitive, user-friendly interface with a drag and drop builder that’s easy to navigate through and use.
- The ability to create free sites as subdomains under weebly.com makes it a great choice for new webmasters to test out the waters.
- The platform is search engine optimized to help your content rank better on search engines.
- Weebly has built-in email marketing services available that allow webmasters to connect with their subscribers.
- Weebly layouts are clean, simple, and work great on mobile devices.
👎 Cons
- Limited selection of templates with more basic designs than those offered by other services.
- Lack of customization options using the visual builder.
- Blogging features are limited.
Our Experience
In terms of website editor tools, we were impressed with Weebly. Building a website from the ground up isn’t an easy business and a lot of other services sacrifice flexibility within their editors in order to maintain visual standards, yet Weebly manages to provide a stellar builder with few compromises.
You can’t do as many customizations with Weebly as you can with other builders (for example, there are only a few button style options) but this helps to keep the design clean. It may not be the ideal choice for a web designer, but for the average individual or business, Weebly does the job and does it well.
Who Is This Service For
The intuitive interface, limited customization options, and ease of use of offer with Weebly make it a great alternative for users who aren’t particularly programming literate. The service comes with all the right functionality to set up virtually any kind of website and make quick modifications to it.
04. Jimdo
The Jimdo website builder platform powers over 25 million websites. There’s a fully functioning free plan (with ads) that includes basic features and ad-free plans start from $9 a month.
Jimdo has a different pricing structure for eCommerce sites, starting from $15 a month with no additional transaction fees. The more expensive plans include additional features such as SEO features, analytics, and premium support.
Standout Features
- An ample collection of templates to choose from as well as the option to start from scratch.
- Their templates offer a good balance between portfolio, e-commerce, personal, and business designs.
- Apps for both Android and iOS devices are available so you can edit your sites from any device.
- Tweak your site template with HTML and CSS.
- Includes a wide variety of widgets that add extra functionality to your pages, such as Google Calendars, Vimeo videos, and Soundcloud audio files.
- Integrated free image library
- Custom legal page generator
- Built-in logo creator
👍 Pros
- Jimdo templates are fully responsive and can be edited with a drag and drop editor.
- Choose to build your site with an AI-powered wizard or fully customizable template.
- Preview how your site looks on desktop and mobile devices (including both portrait and landscape orientations).
- You can switch between templates with a single click and preview how your content will look before activating the new template (more on this in the cons section).
- The platform offers plenty of third-party integrations and most of them include tutorials.
👎 Cons
- Switching templates changes the layout but not the images and logo. This is useful if you’ve already started customizing your site, but means there’s no easy way to start from scratch with a new template when you’re just getting started.
- The difference between the AI and template design modes is not obvious and it’s difficult to switch between them (more on this in “our experience” below.
- Design options and features are limited compared to other builders
- SEO features are only available to premium plans when really they should be a basic feature.
- Even in the most expensive plan, there’s a 100-product limit, making this builder only suitable for smaller online stores.
Our Experience
While at first glance the Jimdo builder seemed to be intuitive and easy to use, there are some major issues when it comes to workflow.
Jimdo can be used in two modes: Creator or Dolphin. Creator is the main design platform, which gives you full control over the content and design, and Dolphin is an AI-powered interface that will create a website for you by taking you through a wizard.
The problem is that this isn’t immediately obvious to new users and you aren’t explicitly given the choice from the outset. I only discovered these two different versions of the platform after trying (and failing) to change the template and realizing that I was in the Dolphin builder.
If you want to switch from the Creator to the Dolphin builder or vice versa, you’ll need to start from scratch with a new website and select the option for “coding experts”. This is rather misleading as you don’t actually need any coding skills and this is the only way you can choose your own template.
If you’re on one of the paid plans, you’ll actually have to cancel your subscription to start again with a different builder, which is definitely not a great user experience.
Sorry Jimdo, it’s a thumbs down from this reviewer!
05. Voog
The creators of Voog built it with the aim of the platform being the easiest way to create a website in multiple languages. It’s since evolved to add eCommerce capabilities and a suite of advanced tools for developers.
Standout Features
- Multilingual feature makes it easy to create different versions of your site in multiple languages.
- Voog includes an automatic SEO scoring tool so you can see how well each of your pages is optimized.
- You can build an online store with global shipping, dynamic pricing, and a variety of payment methods.
- Multi-user blogs with password-protected pages.
- Built-in analytics.
- Developer toolkit with code editor, database builder, and webhooks to connect to external applications.
👍 Pros
- Simple website builder means you can get a site up within minutes
- Easy to create multilingual websites (but you’ll need to supply the translated text yourself).
- Easy to use page builder with a wide range of customizations
- Includes SEO tools to optimize your site for search engines
- Everything is editable and extendible if you’re a serious web developer.
- Easy to change your theme and make design changes.
- All templates are fully responsive
- Integrated eCommerce platform
- Integrated blogging platform.
👎 Cons
- A limited selection of templates and the designs are somewhat basic.
- Small number of blocks means customizations in the visual builder are limited.
- Limited number of app integrations.
- Blogging and SEO tools are not as advanced as other platforms.
- Transaction fees are charged on all sales unless you opt for the most expensive plan.
Our Experience
I wasn’t expecting too much from Voog so I was pleasantly surprised with how easy the builder is to use and how you can easily switch between the visual builder and code editing.
However, there are a limited number of “blocks” compared to other builders, so if you don’t want to get into the code you’re fairly restricted with how much you can customize your chosen theme.
Who Is This Service for?
Voog’s combination of simplicity and tools for advanced developers makes it suitable for either someone who is happy to use a template with some simple tweaks or for those who are comfortable with code.
It’s not the best option if you want to be able to completely build your own site from scratch with a visual drag and drop builder.
However, your main aim is to create a multilingual website, Voog is definitely worth a look
06. Webflow
With the “no code” movement has come a whole new breed of website builders. Webflow is an advanced website design tool that combines the convenience of a visual site builder with the flexibility and power of a clean and customizable code structure.
Standout Features
- Large library of free and paid responsive templates. You can also open sites in the Webflow user gallery in the page builder to see how they’re built and replicate design and functionality on your own site.
- Create visually impressive animation effects and interactions without code.
- Includes a fully functioning CMS so you can create, edit, and reference dynamic content right from the builder.
- Webflow University suite of courses that takes you through all the features of Webflow, step by step.
- Enthusiastic and skilled community of web designers and developers so there are plenty of tutorials online and help when you need it
- The builder produces clean, W3C compliant code in HTML5 and CSS3
- You can export the code to move your Webflow site to any other host.
- Connect Webflow CMS to external apps with Zapier to push content to your site.
- Tools for hosting and managing client sites on Webflow including in-built billing, password protection, and automatic backups.
👍 Pros
- A powerful builder with a built-in CMS and fully editable code means you have the flexibility to create any type of site you want
- Over 100 modern templates with eye-catching animation effects that you won’t see in other website builders
- Build multiple site projects under one account
- Tools for working with clients and teams
- Option to export code and move your site elsewhere
👎 Cons
- The sheer range of customization options means the builder can seem a little intimidating, and there’s a steeper learning curve than other web builders.
- Plans are on the expensive side, particularly if you just want a basic site.
- No live chat or phone support.
Our Experience
Webflow is unlike any website builder I’ve used before, and as a former web designer/developer I appreciate the complete control it offers and the clean, exportable code (also the little jokes while the builder is loading that are sure to get a chuckle out of any web designer.)
Despite its complexity, I found Webflow relatively easy to get to grips with, although certain aspects such as working with dynamic content and creating animations require some time investment.
Who Is This Service For?
Webflow’s complexity and client management tools make it suitable for web designers, agencies, and marketing teams looking to speed up the development process.
While you can simply use a template without making any customizations, this probably isn’t the best choice for someone completely new to website design. It is, however, an excellent choice for web designers who don’t want to mess around with code or work with a developer.
07. Constant Contact
Constant Contact is better known as an email marketing service but they also offer a visual website builder that you can use to set up any kind of business website or online store.
Standout Features
- Integrated Unsplash image library
- Easily set up an online store with multiple payment gateways and order and inventory management
- Intelligent website builder will automatically create a site for you based on your industry and needs
- AI-powered logo maker
- Built-in design protection so the designs look good on any device and are impossible to mess up.
👍 Pros
- Very simple to use and intuitive builder with lots of website sections and elements to choose from.
- AI-powered site builder makes it easy to have a site up within minutes without wasting time debating style choices.
- Easy to add pre-built sections that are useful for business sites such as a contact form, call to action, map, pricelist, or testimonial.
- Add a store, blog, or booking functionality to your site in seconds.
- Integrated gallery of free professional stock photography.
- Great features for integrating with your email list such as list building tools, contact management.
- Advanced mail and eCommerce marketing tools included with the more expensive plans.
- Unlimited storage for images and other website files.
👎 Cons
- Customization options are very limited
- No templates to choose from – you can change the look of your site by choosing from a handful of different layouts and adjusting the images, color scheme, and fonts. While this makes things very easy, it means that every site using the builder will come out looking pretty much the same.
- Limited blogging options
Our Experience
The Constant Contact website builder really is very quick and easy to use, with just a few minutes to enter keywords about your business and choose fonts and color schemes.
There’s certainly no time wasted browsing templates as there are no templates to choose from. The main template is adjusted simply by swapping in new images and colors. While you can change the page layout and add new sections, the design customizations are very limited.
These limitations could really be a plus point to busy business owners and people who are completely new to website building but this isn’t the builder for you if you want control over every pixel.
Who Is This Service For?
The Constant Contact website builder is aimed at businesses, especially those that are focusing on email marketing.
While it’s not the best builder around, it does the job of creating a professional site perfectly.
However the biggest downside is the lack of choice and customization when it comes to design. If you’re not bothered about having a unique template and just want to build a presentable site that integrates with your email marketing, this tool could be a good choice.
Get Started with Constant Contact
08. GoDaddy Website Builder
GoDaddy launched the new and improved version of its website builder in 2019 with the promise of advanced marketing tools for small businesses and an attractive monthly price (the cheapest on our list!) So does it live up to the hype? Here’s our overview.
Standout Features
- Create an online store and add products with buy buttons to any page of your site.
- Easily collect donations for fundraising via Paypal.
- Take one-time or recurring appointment bookings with calendar syncing.
- Manage reviews, orders, and social media from a single dashboard.
- Password-protected pages.
- Built-in tools for social media and email marketing
- Includes templates for making social media graphics
- Integrated website and social media analytics and data-driven recommendations and action plans to improve your site
- Add custom HTML or JavaScript with a code element
👍 Pros
- Very easy to use for beginners.
- Great tools for service businesses.
- Easy to set up an online store and take credit cards or Paypal payments.
- Supports additional eCommerce features including digital downloads, abandoned cart reminders, and product reviews.
- The cheapest option on our list with very affordable plans
- Dozens of template designs to choose from.
- Built-in reporting and analytics
👎 Cons
- Template designs are pretty basic and uninspiring
- Limited customization options
- Navigation is possible to one depth only, so it’s not ideal for larger sites.
Our Experience
The GoDaddy website builder is certainly very easy to use, although the designs on offer look more basic and “DIY” than some of the more design-focused builders. While a basic level of customization is possible, the templates rely on great images to look good.
However, there is a good selection of sections you can add to your site including some more unique options like COVID-19 fundraising, live video streams, and real estate listings. I also liked the multiple layout options to suit different types of content.
Who Is This Service For?
Like many of the other website builders on this list, GoDaddy has sacrificed flexibility and control for ease of use. Instead of a drag and drop builder with lots of customization options, you can stack pre-built sections to make your web pages and adjust the look by changing images, colors, and fonts.
The marketing tools and available website sections make this site builder particularly suitable for small businesses.
09. Duda
Duda was founded with the aim of helping small businesses to create better mobile websites. It’s since evolved into a platform for agencies and digital teams to quickly build sites that both look great and offer advanced features.
Standout Features
- Wide selection of modern, beautiful templates and website sections
- Import content from all over the web
- Full design control including editing by device and developer mode to directly edit HTML and CSS
- Library of free images from sources including Unsplash and GIPHY + the option to buy premium Shutterstock images from within the platform.
- Background image slider for eye-catching visuals.
- Mobile editing for making updates on the go
- Add pop-ups, CTA widgets, social media integrations, and more.
- Triggers and actions for website personalization
- Advanced eCommerce features including coupons, automated emails, delivery zones, and flexible shipping options.
- Flexible blog design options
- Built for speed and SEO
- Dynamic pages
- Team collaboration tools
- White label editor and client management tools
- Dozens of app integrations
- Global CDN to optimize site speed.
👍 Pros
- A lot of high-quality templates in different styles to choose from.
- Full control over the design and functionality of your site.
- A great option for agencies and freelancers building sites for clients.
- Collaboration tools make it easier for teams to work on a site together.
- Advanced features make it possible to build complex sites that look and work like a completely bespoke design.
- Personalization tools help to increase website conversions.
👎 Cons
- More control than the average user needs means there’s a lot to learn and it’s easy to mess up your site by mistake.
- Expensive plans.
Our Experience
From the start, it’s clear that this is a more sophisticated website builder, similar to Webflow. However, while Webflow is geared at web designers, Duda is designed to meet the needs of agencies and SaaS platforms with more tools for white labeling and working with clients.
However, this doesn’t mean that Duda is difficult to use. On the contrary, I found the builder intuitive from the start, with lots of beautiful templates that are easy to customize.
Like Webflow, Duda offers its own “university” with courses covering how to use the site builder along with other topics like SEO and marketing. However, these courses are video-only (some of which are very long) and it’s not that easy to find out how to do a specific task if you’re stuck on something.
Who Is This Service For?
Duda markets its website builder as a platform for agencies, SaaS platforms, and hosts. With white label features, tools for working with clients, team collaboration, workflow automation, custom widget builder, and more, this is a sophisticated tool that offers a lot more than your standard website builder.
Duda isn’t really intended for building personal or small business sites, it’s more a tool for agencies and freelancers who build lots of sites. This is reflected in the fact that it’s the most expensive option on our list for even the most basic plan.
10. Weblium
Weblium is one of the new breeds of AI-powered website builders. It automatically adjusts your design as you make changes so that font sizes and spacing are always in proportion. This is a handy feature for people who don’t have web design experience but still want to try their hand at site building without the worry they’ll mess up their site.
When you sign up to Weblium you’ll get access to over 250 templates and an integrated image library so you won’t need to go anywhere else for design assets or inspiration.
Make sure to use our Weblium coupon to get a discount on plans if you decide to use it as your website builder.
Standout Features
- Large library of modern templates suitable for many types of business and website including landing pages, portfolios, online stores, event websites, and online business cards.
- Smart designs supervisor that automatically adjusts your site as you edit the template
- Media gallery with over 100k images
- In-built integrations with 3rd-party apps for email marketing, live chat, automation, and more.
- Integrated analytics and marketing performance tools
- Shared editing with team members
- Affordable plans
- Exclusive landing page option with a one-off fee
- Pop-up templates with multiple triggers and transition effects
👍 Pros
- Smart design tools mean it’s difficult to make a mistake and mess up your site
- Unlimited storage for website assets
- Landing page templates included
- Interactive animation effects to create eye-catching designs
- Error control system catches web copy mistakes as you type
- Mobile-first approach means sites that load fast and look great on mobile devices
- A white-label platform for resellers
- Easy to make customizations and resize and rearrange elements
- Large library of pre-built blocks that you can style as you wish
👎 Cons
- Ecommerce tools and features are limited
- No option to directly edit HTML and CSS
- No option to export site so you’re tied to Weblium’s hosting and services
- Limited number of direct integrations, although you can use Zapier to link with unsupported services.
- Limited knowledge base and tutorials. There is no suite of training videos like you get with many other builders.
Our Experience
Weblium is not as well known as some of the other website builders on this list but its large library of templates and ease of use make it worth considering, especially as it offers some of the cheapest plans and is great value for money considering the features you get.
The builder is easy to use and offers more customization options than many of the more basic builders. There’s no need to worry about ending up with a carbon copy site.
While there is certainly room for improvement, Weblium is a pretty new company and the builder has only been around for a few years. Hopefully the service should continue to improve and evolve.
Who Is This Service For
Weblium’s affordability and features make it suitable both for individuals and small businesses who want to set up their own site and for marketing teams and freelancers building sites for clients. It’s a particularly useful tool for building highly converting landing pages.
However, as it’s not possible to directly edit HTML and have full control over the design of the site, this isn’t a tool for serious web designers.
11. WordPress
WordPress is better known as a blogging platform and CMS rather than a website builder, but I’d be remiss to not include it in this list. The Gutenberg block editor means you can now build pages in WordPress just as you would with any visual website builder, and WordPress offers more features and flexibility than any other option on this list.
WordPress is available in two versions – WordPress.org which is free CMS software that you run on your own website hosting, and WordPress.com, which is a fully hosted blogging platform that you’ll pay a monthly fee for. Self-hosted WordPress is a better option for most people, so that’s the version I’m concentrating on in this overview.
Standout Features
- Thousands of free and premium themes available.
- Thousands of free and premium plugins available to add functionality
- 100% customizable with code so you can make your site look and work exactly as you want.
- Drag and drop page builder plugins convert WordPress into a visual website builder
- Advanced blogging platform with tools for scheduling posts, viewing revisions, and controlling who sees your content.
- Easily embed content from YouTube, social media, and other sources
- Supports multiple users with different permissions
- Can be used as an advanced eCommerce platform for selling products online.
- Easily installation and updates
- Import content from other blog services.
👍 Pros
- Full-blown content management system with thousands of plugins to extend its functionality means it’s powerful enough to build any kind of site
- Gutenberg blog editor allows you to build pages with blocks of different types of content.
- As WordPress is open-source software, it’s completely free to download. There are thousands of free themes and plugins available too.
- Updated regularly by a passionate and responsive development team
- Highly flexible and customizable
- Easy to import and export content
- Easy to change your site’s design without affecting the content
- Easily move your site to a different hosting service
- WordPress sites are naturally SEO-friendly and you can use an SEO plugin to optimize your site further.
👎 Cons
- A steeper learning curve than other website builders can be intimidating for beginners
- You need to set up and manage your own hosting
- No direct customer support so you’ll need to rely on the WordPress community if you need help
- You must manage all backups, security, and updates yourself (unless you’re using a managed WordPress hosting service)
- It’s easy to mess up your site if you attempt to make customizations and you don’t know what you’re doing
- Installing a poorly coded plugin could break your site or leave it open to security threats
Our Experience
I’ve been using WordPress to build sites for years so it’s difficult not to be biased. But no other web builder offers the features and flexibility that WordPress offers.
You don’t need to be a skilled coder or designer to make a great site in WordPress either. There are hundreds of thousands of themes you can use and the Gutenberg block editor means it’s easy and quick to build your own pages.
It’s true that WordPress is not as easy to use as a visual website builder when it comes to design. However, there are now dozens of drag-and-drop page builder plugins for WordPress that you can use to design every page on your site visually.
Getting your own hosting and setting up WordPress shouldn’t put you off either. Many hosts, like Bluehost, offer a one-click WordPress install so you can get a WordPress site up and running within minutes.
Who Is This Service For?
WordPress is for Everyone! This is way more than just a blogging tool. You can build any kind of site in WordPress including business sites, online stores, forums, landing pages, and pretty much anything else you can think of.
WordPress can seem a little intimidating for beginners but there are literally thousands of video and text tutorials to talk you through everything from the basics to advanced development.
The WordPress community is also a very friendly and helpful bunch so help is never far away when you need a hand.
WordPress is also a tool for serious designers, developers, and teams. It’s the platform of choice for thousands of web design and development agencies all over the world. In fact, over 40% of all the websites on the internet are powered by WordPress.
Get Started with WordPress.org
🤔 Which Solution is Right for You?
Any of the top 3 rated builders: Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace would make a great choice for any beginner looking for the easiest way to make a nice website.
Many of the other builders are targeted at specific needs, so if you work in a team, are marketing-focused, need a multilingual website or anything other than a basic website, it’s a good idea to check out some of the other options.
All of these tools offer free trials, so we’d encourage you to take advantage and try out the services that appeal to you to see which one suits your needs best.
And we still recommend WordPress as offering the best combination of power, flexibility, and value for money if you’re willing to put in a bit of time initially to get to grips with it.
Many people who start out their site on a basic website builder end up moving to WordPress at a later date, which is more hassle than starting there in the first place – something to keep in mind.
However, there’s no doubt that visual website builders are becoming more sophisticated, and no-code tools like Webflow are offering a serious alternative to WordPress and other code-based CMS software.
There’s no one-fits-all solution when it comes to website building, so try out a few options and find the one that suits your needs.
If you’ve had experience using any of these builders or have anything else to add to the discussion, we’d love to hear your opinion in the comments!
It depends on how many product items you are intending to sell. If you are looking at a handful of products or even up to maybe 20, Squarespace, Weebly and Jimdo have good e-commerce features that can help you with that. Squarespace Weebly has really great looking template designs that you can choose from so that really helps make your website look great and stylish.
Thanks for the feedback, Aradawara!
Hi Dev,
I’ve used Wix before a switched to wordpress and I must say that I didn’t like Wix at all. I had a hard time getting the right “look” for my website. The editor was hard to use.
Glad I made the switch. I haven’t personally used any of the ones you mentioned but I’ve heard good things about squarespace and weebly.
Hi Robert!
Did you try any of the premium plans? Those have a lot more options. I’m a big fan of WordPress, though, so I say you did well in switching. 🙂
Cheers,
Tom
Hi Tom,
I tried the premium plan but I didn’t like it. I found it difficult to customize my website. It was very tedious, maybe they have changed over the past couple years. I went with WordPress and haven’t looked back since! 🙂
WordPress does everything I need and more. So many plugins, so many possibilities 🙂
Hi Robert,
Yes, it’s not easy to compete with WordPress – but these 4 do put up a good fight. 🙂
Thanks for commenting!
Cheers,
Tom
I agree a lot of the website builders are template based. I used Squarespace for a while now but to have a more creative approach with it, is hard. I want something more customized towards my own individual vision.
Hi Tom,
I’ve been using Virb for at least 4 years now. I started when there were few options and back then Virb was a great one to post photos of my collections. (I’m a fashion designer). I loved it because of it’s easy photo posting and versatility in customizing the look of the site. If I had something to sell, there’s the option of linking with Etsy or I just linked my Square Up store page.
One thing that is an issue with Virb is that I need to check back often to make sure that everything is working properly. It seems there are constant updates that come without warning and disable linked software (like google analytics) and then it’s an all day project of going through help instructions I don’t really understand. It seams that every 4 months I need to fix something.
I think they are trying to keep it inexpensive and flexible with the add-ons but it seems to make for more potential issues than not. But with my business, I don’t always have things for sale but I do need a site to show my past and present work for reference, so the flexibility of not having to pay for a online store is really nice.
One of SquareSpace’s best features was “Post by Email”. It was limited to blog posts, but was a really useful feature. Unfortunately they announced that it will soon be removed.
Ah that sucks, I hope they listen to their customers, and bring that feature :).
Hi Tom,
This post ended up becoming extremely lengthy, so hopefully you don’t mind! It would be a pity to see it get deleted lol 🙂
I stumbled upon this Article through another blog site I happened to be reading, and, being a seasoned Web Designer myself, my curiosity naturally got the best of me.. I have a very biased view when it comes to “Website Builders” and the like, as many (or rather, most) of them are very lacking in flexibility, and often produce sub-par code behind the scenes (which, I should add, you aren’t able to edit whatsoever in many cases).. However, this isn’t to say there aren’t a few really great “Drag-and-Drop” style Website Builders out there – there are.. Unfortunately though, they are very seldom mentioned in Articles such as these, and I find that to be quite a shame.
Back when I first began my journey into Web Design, I used Adobe Dreamweaver for Web Design.. Err, actually scratch that – Adobe hadn’t even purchased the Dreamweaver Software yet at that point – back then, Dreamweaver was made by a Company by the name of “Macromedia”.. Ah yes, the good ol’ days! But I digress.. As the years passed, Adobe Dreamweaver slowly became antiquated, producing sub-par Code, and lacking support for the newest technologies in Web Design.. So, I began Coding by hand – everything from scratch. I did this religiously, and grew to become perfectly comfortable Coding Websites entirely by hand. In fact, over the many years I have been doing Web Design by hand, it has actually been a very educational experience, and I can honestly say I would not be where I am today without having gone through the true learning process of writing raw code for all of my Web Design projects. There is simply NO replacement for the flexibility that Coding by hand provides – the professional results it produces – or the satisfaction it brings you upon looking at a beautifully designed finished product..
HOWEVER, with all of that having been said – about a year ago I stumbled across what I can only describe as the holy grail of “Website Design” platforms – a platform unlike any other I have come across to date.. It is a Web-based “drag-and-drop” Designer similar to the rest in this list – but there is one key difference that stands out: It is in many ways tailored to appeal to the advanced Web Designer, giving you ultimate flexibility in adjusting things the exact same way they are adjusted in Code – only it’s done using a graphical interface – and yes, you can EXPORT the Code Bundle IN FULL (HTML, CSS, JS, etc), and it is ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL.
Personally, I use the platform for mock-ups – but it is extremely robust and fully capable of just about anything you can possibly imagine throwing at it – including Animations, Interactions, and much much more.. The name of this beautiful, beautiful platform? Webflow! So if you made it this far, and read this entire boring lengthy post in anticipation (or possibly frustration), first pat yourself on the back, and then go sign up for a Webflow account and enjoy it in all of it’s glory.. It’s Free to get started, but they also have additional paid options available as well (with some pretty neat features included with some of the plans, I must admit)..
Not only will you gain the ability to produce more robust, professional-grade websites than any of these other “solutions”, but you will do it all using a drag-and-drop builder with an interface that encourages learning actual terminology while you build your site.. For example, instead of just dragging and dropping a rectangle onto the screen and then resizing it by dragging the edges, you would do the same thing in Webflow by dragging a similar type of block onto the canvas – except you would resize it by clicking it (which brings up all of the options for the object you have currently selected) and then entering an actual Width and Height in a real measurement – and with all REAL Coding-style options at your fingertips for that object, such as Padding and Margin around that block, and so much more.. All of the options available for the elements you put onto the page canvas are related to the real options available in Code..
I can’t express enough how superior the Webflow platform truly is to all of the other more popular platforms available out there, but I highly suggest you give it a shot.. If you are just starting out, they have tons of videos to get you started if you feel it’s needed – and for the more seasoned Web Designers like myself, it is an amazing tool for mock-up designs, drafts, or even final draft full Websites.. It’s truly one of a kind.. And NO, I DO NOT “work for this Company” – so that should speak volumes to how truly passionately I actually truly feel about this platform lol, it just flipped the script for me completely and changed my entire workflow ever since I found it, and I truly do feel this passionately about it.. So again, go give them a visit..
I genuinely wish all of you new Website Designers the best of luck, and I hope this helps get you off on the right foot when it comes to building your first or next Website! Thanks Tom, and sorry for the long post guys and gals! Haha. Anyhow, let me know what you think if anybody decides to check it out – and enjoy your new toy 🙂
Studio2bDesigns – I know this is an old thread but I was glad I stumbled across it. I just started using Webflow based on your post and was quite impressed with how cool it was. Thanks for taking the time to write this review!