We’ve built and managed hundreds of websites over the last decade using just about every website platform for various projects and use cases.
Based on our experiences, Wix is the best website builder for most people because it’s easy for anyone to use, affordable, and versatile enough for just about any type of website. You can create your personal blog, company site, landing page, or web store in no time at all on the Wix platform.
You can choose from more than 700+ pre-made templates or leverage Wix’s ADI tool to automatically build your website in a matter of minutes.
Its drag-and-drop interface is suitable for everyone, even complete beginners. Plus, you can create any type of website including an online store, a blog, or a business site. And Wix’s proactive monitoring and work on their infrastructure’s security and optimization means a pain-free experience once your site goes live.
That said, Wix is not right for everyone and so we have included several more of our top picks for the best website builders to consider.
The 5 Best Website Builder Options to Consider
- Wix – Best website builder for most users
- Squarespace – Best website builder for creatives
- Shopify – Best ecommerce website builder
- WordPress – Best for bloggers and content creators
- Weebly – Best free website builder
Website Builder Reviews
#1 – Wix — The Best Website Builder for Most
Wix strikes just the right balance between usability and design flexibility.
It lets you create anything you want, regardless of your web building experience and expertise. Even if you have not designed, coding, or web development skills, you can easily build a professional looking website in less than an hour – even faster if you use the Wix ADI.
Wix ADI can seriously accelerate the otherwise time-consuming process of creating websites. Simply answer a few questions and choose the pages you want to display, after which the AI software will take over to give you the website of your dreams.
You can also take an even easier way out.
Wix has over 975 professionally-designed templates. Pick one that fits your version, add the pages you need, and you’re done. You can also use the drag-and-drop builder to customize further if needed.
Regardless of your method, you’ll have an entirely functional website ready in just a few clicks.
All of Wix’s templates are responsive, SEO-optimized, and completely customizable. Add new sections, remove undesirable sections, control global colors, drag things wherever you want them—do whatever you like.
Because of its flexibility, you can build any type of website. Think: an ecommerce store, a blog, a creative portfolio, restaurant menus, or scheduling tools.
Wix also offers more than a dozen business tools for specific use cases like online ordering for restaurants, appointment booking for service providers, event management tools, and a robust blogging engine for bloggers. Most of them operate on a freemium model with free basic features.
Regardless of your chosen plan, you get dozens of features to design your site, extend its functionality, and share your message. This includes elements you likely don’t want to deal with yourself. All Wix sites boast rock-solid security and reliability because of the work they’re constantly doing on the backend.
Between data security (including secure payment gateways and site data encryption), server upkeep and optimization across their dozens of data centers (upon which they store multiple backups of your site data), 24/7 monitoring and incident response, and utilizing the most reliable cloud infrastructure (including AWS and Google Cloud), you’ll never have to worry about security vulnerabilities or site uptime on Wix.
You can actually use Wix completely for free. Build and launch your site without paying a dime—provided you’re okay being stuck with a Wix subdomain that looks long, messy, and unprofessional. This is fine if you’re building in preparation for later popularity, but once you start getting traffic, we recommend upgrading to a paid plan.
Pricing for a personal website starts at just $16 per month. That unlocks a custom domain (which is free for your first year if you get one through Wix) and removes native Wix advertising from your site. There are other plans ranging from $18 to $39 per month that add more storage space and features.
If you want to accept online payments, you’ll need to upgrade to a Business and Ecommerce plan starting at $23 per month. Those plans also come with a robust set of selling and marketing tools to help your online business.
Sign up for a free account to get started with Wix today!
#2 – Squarespace — Best Website Builder for Creatives
If you’re an artist, musician, designer, photographer, or another type of creative that relies heavily on visuals to sell your work, Squarespace is the way to go.
Its templates and overall design aesthetic are perfect for image and video-heavy businesses looking for fun and creative ways to showcase their portfolios.
Whether you’re looking for a place to display your work or you want an easy way to sell it, Squarespace is an all-in-one website builder that comes with everything you need.
Getting started is just about as easy as it gets, too. Because all you have to do is choose a template you like, customize it using a drag-and-drop builder, and smash the publish button.
It can’t get any easier.
While the drag-and-drop site editor is one of the easiest we’ve ever used, you do sacrifice a lot of design freedom and flexibility. Squarespace’s pre-built templates are beautiful and ready to go out of the box so the limited customization doesn’t mean settling for a less-than-perfect website.
Once you get up and running, Squarespace gives you tools to turn your website into a marketing machine that sells your services and products for you.
With features like a video maker, social media marketing tools, email marketing functionality (and a drag-and-drop email builder), and SEO tools to appointment scheduling. Adding engaging areas to your website is a breeze. And once you’re done with that. Easy to add checkout links, and full ecommerce functionality, gets your site ready to pay you back in no time.
That’s why Squarespace is a one-stop shop for creatives.
Squarespace pricing starts at $12 per month for the entry-level plan, making it a cost-effective way to get your portfolio online and start attracting new clients or projects.
However, if you want built-in ecommerce functionality, business plans start at $18 per month.
It’s important to note that Squarespace keeps 3% of every transaction on the basic ecommerce plan. But you can upgrade to a higher tier to avoid those transaction fees if they become too expensive.
Sign up for a 14-day free trial to take Squarespace for a test drive today!
#3 –Shopify — The Best Website Builder for Ecommerce
When you’re slicing up a whole pizza, what’s the better tool to use—a regular old knife or a pizza cutter?
It’s kind of like that with ecommerce. Sure, you can build your web store with any old site builder that includes selling features. But why wouldn’t you just go with Shopify, a website builder whose sole focus is ecommerce?
Start with a site builder that’s every bit as intuitive as most of the other options on our list. And Shopify is no slouch when it comes to providing a wide variety of professional site templates. Whether you want to build from scratch or get your store off the ground as quickly as possible, Shopify has you covered.
Shopify has a mix of free and paid themes for everyone. From minimalist styles to big imagery, grid style, 3D products, and large inventories, you’ll be able to find exactly what you’re looking for.
Whichever one you start from, simply customize it with your branding and add your products, then you’re all set.
Once you build your online store, Shopify makes it easy to sell from anywhere. In addition to your website, you can sell via social media, online marketplaces, and even in-person with Shopify POS software.
As an all-in-one solution, you can even use Shopify to find a business name and create your brand identity using their free tools.
You can customize your site and soup up your ecommerce offerings and service with the over 3,200 integrations and features available on the Shopify App store.
If you need some extra assistance, you can connect with a Shopify expert to help set up your store or get everything optimized for search engines. You’ll also benefit from award-winning support 24/7.
Shopify has three plans, starting at $39, $105, and $399 per month, respectively. You’ll have to pay extra for some app integrations and themes.
The only real downside of using Shopify as a website builder is the fact that it’s so niche-specific. It’s only made for building ecommerce websites.
If you’re starting an ecommerce business, set up a Shopify account and try it for free.
#4 – WordPress.com — Best for Bloggers and Content Creators
WordPress is the most popular CMS platform in the world. It powers more than one-third of the entire Internet, and we use it here at Crazy Egg.
With that said, there are two versions of WordPress—an open-source version and an all-in-one site builder. You can learn more about the former at WordPress.org (that’s what we use here because it comes with advanced customization capabilities).
The latter is what you’ll find at WordPress.com, and it’s the option that’s easier on first-timers and people in a rush to create a blog or simple website.
It comes with everything you need to launch your website out of the box, including web hosting, a free domain for the first year, and dozens of free themes to choose from.
The lower pricing tiers are a bit limited, but they’re an excellent place to start if you’ve never built a website before. In fact, the free forever plan comes with included hosting and dozens of themes to use (but you’ll have to pay for a custom domain if you want one). It’s an excellent way to take the platform for a test drive before investing.
The tiers that cost you $4 – $45 per month are where things start getting more interesting. You get much more room to customize your site and the ability to use features like ecommerce functionality, social media integration, and advanced customer support.
On the Business Plan ($25/month) and higher, you can install plugins to add unique tools and functionality to your website.
There are more than 50,000+ plugins you can use, making the possibilities endless. From integrations with your other software to ecommerce, SEO tools, and automatic translations, there’s seriously a plugin for everything.
Plus, you also get unlimited premium themes with more advanced customization options and design control.
With WordPress, you can easily create new blog posts with the Gutenberg editor. Post them now or schedule them to go live whenever you’d like, then monitor each post’s performance with easy-to-understand analytics.
All of this can be yours without ever having to touch a line of code.
Head over to WordPress now to try out the free-forever plan or choose the right paid plan for your needs.
#5 – Weebly — The Best Free Website Builder
Weebly is another well-known and popular website builder. Like most of the options on our list, you can use it to create a website for free.
But Weebly’s free plan goes above and beyond other free plans on the market. Just for signing up, you’ll get a free SSL certificate, 500 MB of storage, free hosting, SEO tools, lead capture forms, live chat support, and email support.
Unfortunately, the free website builder is branded with a Weebly subdomain. So it’s not a long-term solution. But it’s a great option for those of you who are just starting out.
Weebly has a drag-and-drop site builder, which makes it easy for anyone to create and customize a website from scratch.
You’ll benefit from features like site search, custom fonts, video backgrounds, and an image editor.
Weebly also gives you custom HTML/CSS and Javascript access. So if you have a developer or want to make changes to your site’s code, you’ll have that option.
If you look at the other choices on our list, Weebly can be described as a blend of all four. It’s very good for basically every category. It has the drag-and-drop functionality of Wix, ecommerce capability like Shopify, beautiful designs like Squarespace, and HTML access like WordPress.
But head-to-head, I don’t think Weebly really edges out any of these particular platforms in a specific category.
If you’re a beginner and want to start building a website for free, Weebly is a top option to consider, even though the free version has some limitations. Honestly, beginners may not even notice such limitations at first. However, they may have some disappointment with the limitations if their websites grow quickly.
Beyond the free tier, pricing plans with Weebly start at just $6 per month. In fact, its lowest-priced tier has some impressive features when compared to competitors. Beginners who don’t need all the bells and whistles will appreciate the low prices found with Weebly’s basic subscription tier.
Methodology For Choosing The Best Website Builder
All website builders are not created equally. So how can you find the best website builder for your unique situation?
There are certain factors that you should look for when evaluating a prospective platform. I’ll explain the methodology that we use and recommend here at Crazy Egg. You can weigh these elements according to your personal needs.
Ease of Use
Creating a website from scratch doesn’t need to be challenging. If you don’t have any development or design experience, you’ll definitely want to go with a drag-and-drop site editor.
Wix will be your best option here. But Squarespace, Shopify, and Weebly all have drag-and-drop builders as well. To get this type of building functionality with WordPress, you’ll need to install a plugin. But it will ultimately fall short if you’re comparing it head to head with a platform like Wix.
Overall, Wix will be the easiest option. You can use AI technology to automatically build a custom website for you. The entire process takes just a few minutes.
Customization
The process of creating a website using a site builder is pretty standard from platform to platform. You’ll start with a theme and template before making custom changes from there.
While these themes and templates will give you the flexibility to add images, text, videos, and other content, there will always be some level of restriction in terms of what you can customize.
For most of us, that’s not a problem. But if you want total control for complete customization and content management, WordPress will be the best option to consider.
Website Type
What type of site are you creating? The answer will depend on which website builder will accommodate your needs.
Shopify is the clear winner for ecommerce sites. For portfolios and sites for creative professionals, use Squarespace. WordPress is the best option for bloggers and content websites.
Small businesses and everyone else will lean towards Wix. If you don’t like Wix for some reason, Weebly is a good runner-up for beginners that need simplicity.
Support
When it comes to something as important as your website, customer support is crucial. If your site is having problems and you need assistance, you’ll want to get in touch with someone who can solve your issue as soon as possible.
Most website builders offer 24/7 customer support. But to get the most out of that support, you’ll need to be on a premium plan. Weebly offers email and live chat support with all free plans, but you won’t get that benefit from every platform.
If you want an extensive knowledge base with self-help guides, tutorials, and access to forums, WordPress is perfect for you. But they don’t have the traditional type of customer support you’d get from Wix or Shopify.
Pricing
Building a website doesn’t need to be expensive. In fact, three of the five options on our list (Wix, WordPress, Weebly) allow you to create a website for free—all five let you start for free.
A free website builder is not a long-term solution. It’s a great way to get started, but you’ll definitely need to upgrade if you want to build a legitimate website.
The price will depend on the features required to run your website. For example, plans for ecommerce functionality cost more than plans for a basic personal site.
Look beyond the cost of your website builder subscription for any additional costs that will be incurred. For example, with WordPress, you’ll need to get a domain name and web hosting service from other providers. With Shopify, you might have to pay for a theme or apps that you’re integrating with your online store.
Summary
Ready to build a new website? It all starts with choosing a website builder. For most users, Wix is an excellent place to start. Plus, you can try it out for free before you pay to see if it’s a good fit.
However, each website builder on the market today is unique. The right choice for you might not be the best for me. Whether you’re starting a blog, ecommerce site, online portfolio, personal site, small business website, or anything else, there’s an option for you on this list.
Use the methodology that I’ve described in this guide to find the best website builder for your needs.
- Wix – Best website builder for most users
- Squarespace – Best website builder for creatives
- Shopify – Best ecommerce website builder
- WordPress – Best for bloggers and content creators
- Weebly – Best free website builder
