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There is plenty of website-building software available in the market. It’s important to choose one that suits your requirement. There are website builders like WordPress, Wix, and Shopify which are popular and have the most users. On the other hand, emerging website builders like Zyro, and Webflow are adopting new technologies to offer advanced features.
1. Wix – Best For All. Easiest Drag & Drop Website Builder
Wix is an all-in-one solution for all types of business. Wix is not only a website builder. It is a domain name hosting provider, blogging platform, E-commerce solution, logo maker, payment processor, scheduling system, membership management, marketing automation tool, CRM, point of sale, software, and hardware provider with a multi-billion-dollar company. You can build a creative website that will be stunning and attractive to visitors. It also has robust SEO optimization settings and apps.
Wix is one of the most customizable platforms among website builders. The web elements can literally be dragged and dropped anywhere on the website. It has prebuilt sections and design elements that can be easily inserted on the website just by the drag and drop method. Wix’s website can be edited separately for mobile. This makes the website responsive to mobile devices.
They have 3 plans and they are further divided into 9 plans
Website plans: $16 to $45 – ( for a personal blog, freelancers, Entrepreneurs)
Business and eCommerce plans: $27 to $59 – (for eCommerce, restaurants, portfolio)
Enterprise plans: $500 – ( for Enterprise businesses)
Pros
Cons
Over 800+ free templates
Bandwidth and storage depend on plans
Greater customization features and separate mobile editor
Switching between the templates is not easy.
Wix ADI feature to build automated websites
You can’t set up a professional email for free. You have to pay for email hosting.
100% drag and drop
Plenty of payments methods and marketing channels
App market with over 250+ apps
2. WordPress on Bluehost – Best For Bloggers & Web Designers
WordPress (WordPress.org) is open-source software that you can install and use as your own. It has so many customization options and other features like temples, plugins, themes, etc. It does not provide any domain and hosting. We have to use third-party apps like Bluehost, DreamHost, SiteGround, etc.
WordPress has literally all kinds of themes. It has a basic editor to customize the themes but you can use plugins like Elementor and Guttenberg editor to customize the website. It offers extensive design and customization options courtesy of its plugins. There is a free plugin by WordPress to provide eCommerce features.
Pros
Cons
Free to use Platform
Manual hosting is needed.
Plenty of themes and plugins
No proper support provided
Good SEO and Blogging Features
Sites can be harmed or hacked on WordPress as it’s an open-source platform with third-party themes and plugins which might contain malware.
Extensive customization and designing option
Unlike other Website builders, WordPress doesn’t provide in-person support, but they have community forums and various blogs as a form of resources. WordPress is a free platform but additional costs may apply in the form of hosting, themes, and plugins.
Here, WordPress means, WordPress.org, the real WordPress website builder. There is WordPress.com is also available. WordPress.com is a hosting provider service, which also allows you to create websites. It is a simple website builder that is used by small businesses and bloggers, those who are not expecting any revenue from their website. You may get confused between these two. Here is the comparison of WordPress.org Vs WordPress.com.
3. Squarespace – Easy to build and design platform
Squarespace platform comes up with inbuilt hosting with unlimited storage and bandwidth on all of its plans and can access a free custom domain on all annual plans and free business email by google workspace email upon purchasing annual plans except the personal plan. The Squarespace platform is rich with lots of inbuilt features but lacks third-party integrations.
Squarespace website builder has one of the best beautiful templates for all kinds of businesses and all of them are free. They have in total four plans among which two are for eCommerce purposes. Squarespace themes are easy to customize, they provide plenty of inbuilt sections and web elements that can be inserted inside a block by the drag and drop method. They provide plenty of styling features for both blocks as well as sitewide purposes. Still, in some areas, you might need to code to add design or add new elements.
Squarespace has four plans
Personal: $19/m ($14) – for building blogs, portfolios, personal blogs, etc.
Business: $33/m ($23) – for small businesses, restaurants, local businesses, etc.
Basic Commerce: $36/m ($27) – for retail businesses
Advanced Commerce: $65/m ($49) – for medium to big businesses.
(Prices in the Bracket are applicable when you buy a year plan)
Pros
Cons
Lots of themes and templates, with good customization options
Limited third-party integrations
Faster good server response
Limited payment methods
Free custom domain in on all annual plans
No phone support
Free email from google workspace from business plan onwards.
4. Shopify – Best eCommerce website builder
Shopify is one of the Well known Ecommerce Platforms in the online markets, It’s easy to use and facilitates all kinds of businesses. It’s rich with thousands of quality third-party apps that let you add blogging, portfolio, and business website features. If your requirement is the shop with blogging & portfolio features then Shopify is a good option. The platform includes powerful inbuilt hosting along with unlimited storage and bandwidth.
Shopify has over 100+ themes that consist of 15+ free themes. The themes are mobile responsive can be customized easily and provide various sitewide designing options. One of the best facilities of Shopify has the app market which consists of plenty of page builders that allow drag and drop features.
Shopify supports 70+ payment methods, Integrates with the various logistic company to provide special shipping discounts and shipping labels, and multilingual, multicurrency features for Shopify payment users.
Shopify eCommerce plans range from $29 to $299/month, They have a lite plan to sell on other websites and social sites for $9/month, and Shopify has an enterprise plan that starts from $2000/per month.
Pros
Cons
Free and paid Themes available for all kinds of businesses
The Pricing can be one of the issues as it’s a bit high.
The support team is available 24/7
Transaction fees on each sale if payment method used other than Shopify payments.
Flexible with Small, Medium, and Large Business
Checkout Customization is available on Shopify Plus.
Easy Setup and installation of Apps
Shopify app store has over 6000+ apps.
Good analytics and reports.
5. Weebly – Best for small businesses, and retail stores
Weebly is a do-it-yourself, free website builder that allows you to set up and host your website while customizing it with a drag-and-drop editor. It started in 2006 with limited features. Now it has advanced functionalities and features. Weebly currently hosts more than 30 million websites online and receives over 250 million visitors per month. It has a free service. You will need to upgrade your plan to access more features like “using your own domain”, “unlocking unlimited storage space”, “Phone support”, etc.
Weebly has provided over 50+ themes for all kinds of websites. It has a drag and drops editor. You can just drag and drop elements like Images, Videos, Products, Maps, galleries, contact forms, etc. Weebly has provided four options to change the basic design of the website, you can change the colors, fonts, and style of the website sections. It doesn’t provide many options for customizing.
Weebly has mainly 4 pricing plans.
Free Plan: $0 /mo =>SSL Security, Shopping Cart, Unlimited Items, In-Store Pickup, Automatic Tax Calculator, Coupons, SEO, Lead Capture, Instagram feed, Community Forum, Chat & Email Support.
Personal Plan: $6 /mo =>Custom Domain, Digital Goods, Shipping Calculator, Shipping Labels, Pop-up Notifications.
Professional Plan: $12 /mo => Unlimited Storage, Advanced Site Stats, Phone Support.
Marketing automation is available in the free version itself.
Basic SEO and CMS features.
Can see page views & unique views (Statistics) in the free version.
Few payment options
Can change template while editing.
We can’t migrate or copy content when creating blog posts.
Affordable and free version available.
6. Webflow – Best for web developers
Webflow is an emerging website builder that provides excellent customization and design options. They have provided various built-in free and paid themes for all kinds of websites. Webflow offers integration with third-party apps which need to be manually installed inside the website.
Webflow is a distinctive platform that made customizing and designing easy on the websites without the requirement of coding. you can create websites from a scratch and design them the way you want. Its design dashboard resembles the photoshop editor and has an interaction tab to create various animations, effects, hovers, etc.
Webflow has provided two main plans which are site and Workspace Plans
Site plans: ($0 – $36) – for the personal blog, portfolio, small businesses
eCommerce plan ($29 – $212) – for eCommerce businesses
Workspace plans: ($0-$49) – for team collaborations
Pros
Cons
Extensive customization & designing option
Not a beginner-friendly platform
Over 200+ app integrations.
Expensive eCommerce plans
Good CMS and SEO features
Manual installation of apps required
Plenty of resources provided on using and managing Webflow
No phone and live chat support
7. GoDaddy – Best for small websites and stores
Godaddy is one of the popular domain registrars but surprisingly has good website builder features. It provides inbuilt hosting with good security. The digital marketing suite provided by GoDaddy helps in creating and managing email, social media marketing, SEO, etc. One of the downsides of GoDaddy is that it doesn’t have an app store.
Godaddy has various free themes for all kinds of businesses. It is easy to use and customize. It has several inbuilt sections which can be inserted into the blocks, they provided various styling layouts, colors, fonts, etc. for designing the website. But GoDaddy does not have a drag and drop editor.
Godaddy has 4 website builder plans.
Basic: $16.99/m ($6.99) – for basic blogs, portfolio
Premium: $26.99/m ($13.99) – Best for appointments
Commerce: $29.99/m ($14.99) – Best for eCommerce features
(Prices in the Bracket are applicable when you buy a year plan)
Pros
Cons
Plenty of themes and payment gateways
A limited number of integrations (No App Market)
Digital marketing suite for marketing
Plan Renewal fees are high
Manage and edit websites from phone, tablet, or computer.
Limited customization options
You will get Marketing automation in its free plan.
No drag and drop editor.
The website will automatically optimize for mobile devices.
8. Hostinger Website Builder – Best for small to medium businesses
Hostinger is one of the emerging website builders in the market. It’s an easy-to-use platform with plenty of features offered at the cheapest price. Hostinger “AI website generator” generates an automated website based on some of the questions. It is rich with plenty of inbuilt automation tools like AI writer, content generator, image optimizer, etc. Hostinger provides unlimited storage and bandwidth on all plans. It also offers a free custom domain upon purchasing an annual plan and free email.
Hostinger website builder offers over 150+ themes which include themes for an online store, blog, One page, Portfolio, etc. These themes are easy to customize with drag and drop functionality. It has a smooth 100% drag & drop feature inside the section. The content from one section can’t be dragged and dropped into another section You can change sitewide styles like colors, fonts, buttons, etc.
Ease of Use : Easy
Hosting : Inbuilt, unlimited storage & bandwidth
Page Editor : 70% Drag & Drop
Server Response : 200-230ms
Pricing : $2.61 – $15
Themes : 150+
Level of Customization : good
Support : 24/7 (Email, live chat)
Trial Period : No
Apps/Plugins : 30+
Ecommerce Function : from $4.99
SEO : 4/5
Hostinger has four plans
Website: $2.90 /mo. – for a personal blog, Portfolio websites
Business: $4.90 /mo. – for basic eCommerce features
Online Store: $8.90 /mo. – for selling online with professional eCommerce tools
Advanced Store: $15.90 /mo. – for businesses with powerful marketing tools
Pros
Cons
Easy to use and customize
Only a few handfuls of integrations.
150+ templates for all websites
No free trial provided
AI tools for automation
Economical plans with good discounts
9. Jimdo – Good for basic websites
Jimdo is one of the cheapest and easy-to-use platforms. It’s been used mostly in European countries and in Japan. Jimdo is easy to use thanks to its ADI “Jimdo Dolphin” Which will create a website based on some of the questions’ answers. Jimdo lets you create a website with and without the need for coding.
Jimdo offers only a few themes. The editor is easy to use and create the website. It has a block-based editor which has various layouts for Slideshow, gallery, contact, Menu, List, Columns, etc. After inserting these layouts you will get options for multiple design layouts. Although the customizations are limited as compared to other website builders it’s good for small websites.
Jimdo dashboard & Settings
Jimdo has Ecommerce features for local and international businesses. It’s very good for small businesses as it advertises local listing on platforms like Google, Facebook, Instagram, etc. Jimdo has good features for International businesses but those are mostly focused on European countries maybe because they have more users from these countries.
Ease of Use : Easy
Hosting : Inbuilt, limited storage & bandwidth
Page Editor : Block-based editor
Server Response : 630-660 ms
Pricing : $0-$24
Themes : 15+
Level of Customization : Basic
Support : 24/7 (Email, Phone)
Trial Period : Free Plan
Apps/Plugins : No
Ecommerce Function : from $18
SEO : 4/5
Jimdo has 2 plans.
Website Plans: ( $0 to $14) – for personal websites and business websites
Online store plans: ($18 to $24) – for Online stores and more.
Pros
Cons
It’s a beginner-friendly platform.
Limited templates, and payment gateways.
“Jimdo Dolphin” ADI feature to build a website fast.
Fewer customization options.
Economical plans.
Customer support is not good
Good for small businesses.
Jimdo doesn’t have an app store
FAQs
When do you use website builder and when not to use it? When to give your project to web designers?
Almost all web programs are available as ready-made web functions in website builders like Wix & WordPress. Website Builders are becoming popular in 2022. You can make a website with no code using easy drag and drop ready-made web elements & functions. Nowadays people don’t hire a website developer or web designer to create a website. If you hire one, it will cost you heavily & the surprising thing is, most web designers even web developers use website builders, because it is time saver & most of the time the purpose or requirement will be satisfied! If you need any further support, then the WebsiteBuilderly team will give you 20 minutes of free support!
What if you can’t make your website according to your needs and dreams using website builders?
If you can’t do what you want, then just go to the Wix App Market. If no app satisfies your needs, then go to the Wix freelance marketplace or Wix freelance services. They will solve your issues or they can even create a new program or app for you! It costs less than hiring traditional web designers but, at the same time, you get the latest advanced technologies. Recently Wix introduced their own rapid web development platform, Corvid. It helps software engineers or Wix freelancers or any programmers to create any type of website that doesn’t exist before!
Nowadays, what is the percentage of websites created using website builders?
Most individuals, small businesses, corporate businesses, or even ‘corporate websites’ are created using website builders. (I gave proof with examples below). More than 98% of all websites in the world are created without code (codes are automatically generated in the backend).
How easy is it to make a website using Website Builders?
If you use Wix, then creating & designing a website is easier than photoshop. Other website builders are also easier than most people think.
What type of people usually use website builders?
Website builders are becoming popular in 2022. School kids, business owners, artists, scientists & everyone else, are launching their own websites in just 1 hour using site builders without coding and no technical web development knowledge! So why not you?
Should I download website building software?
No, It works fine on the browser itself. No one downloads website builder software and there is no worthwhile downloadable software available anyway. Online site builders are faster, efficient & popular. Out of 220 million live websites in the world, 200 million+ or 98.7% of website owners have created their own website online with no skill.
