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A website builder is the best solution for personal and small businesses to begin a website without hiring a developer. However, finding the best website builder may be tricky for beginners.
In this article, we’ll help you choose the best website builder by going over the pros and cons of the most popular options.
Choosing the Best Website Builder – What to Look for?
Most website builders provide an intuitive drag and drop user interface to build your new website. You can take advantage of the trial accounts (free plans), or the beneficent money-returned assure to test drive before you are making your final decision.
Next, you want to consider your growth options. Will you be including ordinary updates on your website? Do you need a blog section? Would you be selling extra products for your website in the future?
You need to make sure that the website builder you choose is capable of handling your needs as your business grows.
Criteria for Best Website Builder
We look at several different criteria when reviewing the best website builder picks for each use case, but here the top five elements are:
- Ease of Use
- Pricing
- Design & Features
- Customer Support
- Data ownership & portability
let’s take a look at the best website builder software to start your website without hiring a developer.
Best Website Builder:
1. WordPress
WordPress is the world’s most popular website building platform. Over 43% of all websites on the internet are powered by WordPress.
WordPress is a free and open-source website builder. This means that you have maximum control over your website compared to any other online website builder on this list.
It’s important to note that there are two versions of WordPress, self-hosted WordPress CMS, and WordPress.com.
Unlike other website builders on our list, you will need a WordPress hosting account and host your own website (you can do it in under 15 minutes).
How to Create a WordPress Website?
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Pros:
WordPress offers you whole control over every aspect of your website and online presence. It can be used to build any kind of website. For examples, an eCommerce store, community forums, a social network, a membership website, a business / corporate website, landing pages, and more.
There are thousands of high-quality pre-made WordPress themes that you can use for your website’s design.
You can also use one of the popular drag and drop WordPress page builders which allow you to easily create your own custom website designs using a drag-and-drop (no coding needed).
Also, you get access to more than 59,000 free WordPress plugins.
Cons:
You will have to manage your own website, which means you will need to get learn by yourself a new system. This learning curve is easily overcome, but it does feel a bit difficult in the beginning.
Pricing:
While WordPress is a free website builder, you will need a domain name and web hosting to get your website live. However you can start a website for only $2.75 per month with Bluehost, an official WordPress recommended hosting provider. They are offering our users 69% off on web hosting that comes with a free SSL certificate, free domain name, great uptime, and 24/7 phone support.
2. Wix
Wix.com is another popular cloud-based website builder software. It offers ease of use combined with a powerful set of features to easily build your website.
Pros:
Wix Website Builder is a fully hosted platform, so you won’t have to pay for hosting. You have access to hundreds of templates to choose from for your website design. Each template is fully editable with its intuitive drag-and-drop site builder.
Wix has also built an artificial design intelligence (Wix ADI) that can design a beautiful website for you.
Wix offers a free plan with limited bandwidth and storage. However, you can use this plan to test out their website builder. It doesn’t include a domain name, so if you decide to keep your website, you might want to upgrade to a premium plan.
Cons:
Free or Connect Domain plans will show Wix branded ads on your website. You’ll need to upgrade to their Combo or Unlimited plan to remove those ads.
If you decided to move your Wix website, you will find it quite complicated to do it.
Pricing:
You can connect a domain for $4.50 per month. Their combo plan starts at $8.50 per month and will get you a free domain name. The eCommerce plan for online stores starts at $17 per month.
3. HubSpot
HubSpot Website Builder is a powerful content management platform designed for marketers and small business owners. Combine the power of their drag-and-drop website builder, marketing automation tools, and CRM.
Pros:
HubSpot is known for being one of the world’s leading marketing automation and CRM platforms in the world. Also, they created an all-in-one website builder that helps you create a website in minutes.
Cons:
The platform is suited for landing pages and simple business websites. For online stores and advanced business websites, you’re better to use WordPress.
Pricing:
You can get started for free, and as your business grows you can choose from the package that best suits your needs.
paid plan prices start from $25 per month for the Starter plan which gives you all their business tools including website builder, marketing hub, sales tools, and business operation tools.
HubSpot is a great choice for small businesses who’re looking for an integrated website builder platform.
4. Gator by HostGator
Gator is a popular online website builder created by HostGator, one of the largest web hosting providers. The Gator builder is an all-in-one website building which makes it a perfect website builder for small businesses.
Pros:
Gator is a fully hosted platform, so you don’t have to worry about the software, updates, or backups.
Gator also gives you access to a stock photo library, so you can find and add beautiful photos to your website.
All paid plans include a free custom domain name for your website. The eCommerce plan also comes with the ability to set up an online store and sell your products online.
Cons:
Unlike some of the other options on the list, Gator doesn’t have a free plan. They also do not offer a free trial.
Pricing:
Gator offering plans start from $3.46 per month for Starter, $5.39 per month for premium, and $8.30 for an eCommerce plan.
5. BigCommerce
BigCommerce is a popular eCommerce website builder that allows you to easily create an online store that scales. It comes with all the essential features built-in.
Pros:
BigCommerce is a fully hosted e-commerce solution, so you don’t have to worry about website speed, security, or updates. They manage the server and technical side, so you can focus on growing your business.
BigCommerce has an integration with WordPress which allows you to leverage the flexibility of WordPress while taking advantage of the headless eCommerce power of BigCommerce.
Also, BigCommerce integrates with all payment gateways including Stripe, PayPal, Apple Pay, Square, Amazon Pay, Visa Checkout, Chase Pay, Ayden, and more.
The best part is their dashboard that lets you see the metrics to help you grow your business with confidence.
Cons:
BigCommerce pricing is a bit higher than other website builders on the list.
Pricing:
BigCommerce comes with a 15-day free trial for all plans. Their basic plans at $29.95 per month come with all the essential features you will need. The plus plan costs $79.95 per month for more conversion optimization features. And the pro plan costs $299.95 per month and includes all the advanced features you might need.
6. Squarespace
Squarespace is a popular professional website builder known for its great designs and ease of use.
Pros:
Squarespace comes with enterprise-grade infrastructure for hosting your website. This secure platform lets you focus on growing your business without worrying about hosting.
Squarespace also has an eCommerce plan which allows you to add an online store to your website.
Cons:
Squarespace offers limited integrations with third-party services which can be an obstacle to growing your business.
Pricing:
Squarespace websites start from $14 per month and $23 per month. Their online stores start from $27 and $49 per month.
7. Weebly
Weebly is simple website builder software with tons of great designs and features. It includes a beautifully designed page builder that allows you to modify your website without learning any coding skills.
Pros:
Weebly is a fully hosted platform, so you don’t need to install and manage any software. They take care of hosting your website and managing all the software that runs in the backend.
Weebly also comes with built-in support for eCommerce. This allows you to easily create an online store and start selling.
Also, Weebly is consistently rated among the best DIY website builders for beginners.
Cons:
Weebly offers a fully hosted platform, so you are limited by the features they offer. You cannot hire a developer or designer to add a new feature to your website.
Weebly will show ads on your site on both Free and Personal plans. You have to upgrade to their Professional plan to remove ads.
Pricing:
Weebly comes with a very basic free plan. Their paid plans start from $5 per month billed annually. The pro plan costs $12 per month, and their business plan costs $25 per month.
Conclusion:
Are website builders worth it?
Yes, website builders in general are an extremely cost-effective way to create a website. Instead of paying thousands of dollars to hire a web developer, you can use the drag-and-drop interface offered by site builders. create your website for a low monthly cost.
How can I get a free domain name?
Here are the best website builder platforms that offer a free custom domain:
Which is the best website builder for SEO?
WordPress is the best website builder for SEO. We use it to build all our websites, and we’re not alone.
Here is the Best SEO WordPress Plugins.
