It’s hard to make a website from the ground up for individuals. This is where a Website Builder comes in. For individuals and small business owners, making a website and hiring the developers can be potentially hard. However, we are going to talk about some of the top 9 website builders you can use. Even these builders can be tricky for beginners. There are just so many choices to choose from. So, which one is for you? We are going to be talking about some of the best website builder by going in-depth with some of the most popular website makers.
What to Expect from Website Builders?
Before going in-depth on our topic, you should know about your requirements. What is your purpose in making the website and how do you want your website to be. You can write things like blog sections, gallery, contact form, slider, online store. Moreover, if you’re unsure about it, you can always check other websites to see what they are doing and you can get inspired by them.
Most of the website builders offer a drag and drop UI to build your website. You can take advantage of the demo account before making your final decision.
You should keep in view all of your requirements before making a full-fledged website. These are some of the best website builder you can use to make websites without hiring a developer.
WordPress
WordPress is the world’s most famous popular website builder. More than 34% of the whole world’s websites run on WordPress. There are two versions of WordPress which are: WordPress.com and WordPress.org.
Therefore, self-hosted WordPress is the most popular in terms of features, scalability, simplicity, and performance. WordPress is a free and open-source website builder. It means that you have full control over your website than all other top website builders available to this date.
Unlike all other top website builders, you will need a Hosting account or you can even host an account on your server. So let’s talk about some advantages and disadvantages of WordPress.
Advantages of WordPress
The control that WordPress gives you is better and bigger than every other Website Builder. This is what makes WordPress unique. You have complete control over all your website.
Moreover, using WordPress, you can build any kind of website. You can make a social network, membership website or even an eCommerce store too.
There are thousands of free WordPress themes that you can build and further customize for your website. It has a drag and drop page builder like Divi, Elementor and Beaven builder. Using these, you can easily create your page layouts. It’s as simple as it gets.
You will also get access to more than 50,000 free WordPress plugins. Their Plugins are available in the official WordPress repository. Plugins are apps for WordPress that adds some additional features and functionality to the website.
Another advantage of WordPress is that it can be easily translated into all other websites. Therefore, if you want to create a multilingual international business website, it’s possible. That is why WordPress is by far the cheapest website builder in the market as of now.
Disadvantages of WordPress
The dashboard system can become a little complex for some people. This is because you have to get familiarized with this new system. Mostly, it is easily learned but for new users, WordPress can be a bit of a challenge.
You will also have to regularly update WordPress, plugins and even create backups in case of data loss. Even if WordPress is a free website builder you will still need a domain name and a web hosting plan. It costs $14.99 per year and for hosting it’s $7.99.
However, the fix to learn it for free is to set up your server. You can get our guide on How to set up a local server on WordPress.
2. SiteBuilder
SiteBuilder creates easy website creation which you can use to create small business websites, blogs or eCommerce stores with just a few clicks. It’s as simple as it gets. SiteBuilder is all about simplicity.
Advantages of SiteBuilder
It offers you an easy drag and drops website builder that you can use to create your website. You can start with hundreds of pre-designed templates and you can further customize then using the same simple drag and drop too.
The pre-designed templates for optimized for mobile, desktops and tablets too. Therefore, the website will look great on all of your devices.
Moreover, it has a variety of powerful features. From Website Analytics and eCommerce functionality to adding a blog and free domain, the features are endless.
Moreover. they also offer a live chat and phone support if you want any technical support. They also guide you if you’re new so it’s really simple to get started with SiteBuilder.
Disadvantages of SiteBuilder
SiteBuilder is not a free website builder by any means. They do not even offer a free trial which they should have. However, one thing is for sure, they offer a 14-day money-back guarantee in case you’re not happy with their website builder.
The support for SiteBuilder is also small, so you won’t be able to get many web developers to hire for it in the future. This is because SiteBuilder is not an open-source website builder like WordPress.
Since it does not give a lot of flexibility, I’d say that it’s hard to make a website with SiteBuilder.
SiteBuilder starts from $5 per month and ends on $10 for the eCommerce plan. These plans come with a free domain name for one year and phone support too.
3. Gater by HostGator
Gator is another popular online website builder that is created by HostGator. It is one of the world’s biggest web hosting providers. They give you an all-in-one website builder and hosting solution too. This makes Gator perfect for small businesses.
Advantages of HostGator
Gator is a fully hosted platform, therefore, you should not worry about the software updates and backup systems. Everything is updated. Moreover, you get an easy website builder that has over 200+ professional website templates. You can even customize it so that you can configure it from the builder itself.
You can also edit any item on a page with the drag and drop interface. To add images or videos or even photo galleries and other apps, you can do it by simply dragging it all across the website.
Gator also gives you access to the stock library photos, it’s a built-in feature that you can use to add some beautiful photos all over your website. They don’t sell your data nor show any of the ads on the website.
Disadvantage of HostGator
Gator is not free. It doesn’t even offer a free trial. Moreover, it’s the same that you cannot hire a developer to help you modify the design or even add new features to the website.
Therefore, flexibility is pretty limited. It starts at £3.84 per month and for the eCommerce plan, it’s $9.22. It is one of the cheapest paid website builders on our list.
Gater can easily be used for small businesses with limited items or even a photo gallery that you can use to showcase your products. However, it is not flexible in terms of power when it comes to website builders like WordPress.
4. Constant Contact
It is an Intelligent AI-powered website builder that can help you in building a custom website in just a matter of minutes. Therefore, if you are from a non-techy background, you should probably give it a go.
Advantages of Constant Contact
Constant contact is also known as the world’s most popular email marketing service. After they got a whim about problems of small businesses, they decided to create the world’s first Artificial intelligence website builder that can help you in fulfilling your demands in just a matter of minutes.
You can use their AI wizard to create a completely new and custom website with some suggestions too. It has a drag and drop website building control which makes it even easy to customize the website’s layout. You have over 550,000 images that are free in the library to choose from. You can make the website stunning and beautiful with those free images.
All the templates are mobile-friendly and they look really good on all the devices. It is a hosted website so there’s no hassle, unlike other website builders. Moreover, you can also avail of their 24/7 chat, phone support, and email support which is just perfect for small businesses.
There are some other features such as logo makers, capture forms, eCommerce and analytics.
The best thing about Constant contact is that it’s a free website builder. It means that you can create a website, blog or online store for free. Their free plans are better compared to other website builders.
It lets you create an online store and sell products easily. If you see other websites makes on the list, you’ll notice that their eCommerce plans are paid only. They have an affordable plan too which starts at $10 per month. It gives you a free domain and access to some super powerful features. It is one of the best professional website builders on our list.
Disadvantages of Constant Contact
Development support for Constant contact is currently very small. There are no third-party plugins or extensions that you can use to have some new features of your website. If you want to connect to a custom domain, you will have to upgrade it to their paid plan. But they do give you a free domain name once you upgrade. Their business plans cost $20 per month which gives you access to some powerful eCommerce features. If you are a small business, then Constant Contact is a great choice for you.
5. Shopify
Shopify is another popular eCommerce website that is specifically designed to run an online store and eCommerce websites. It has over 1 million active users and over 40 billion products have been sold on Shopify’s platform.
Advantages of Shopify
It is all in one hosted solution so you don’t necessarily have to worry about managing software or keeping backups and installing the update. That is because Shopify itself does it for you. It has a dedicated payment solution called Shopify Payments. Moreover, you can also add 3rd party payments to open the gate for payments.
Shopify comes will a full inventory management system, unlimited product posting, analytics, and marketing solution to have it all under one website builder. You won’t even have to add coding to the website. It has an intuitive drag and drop interface and Shopify makes it easy to create a fully working eCommerce store. They also allow you to sell products at your location with all of the flexible features available.
Moreover, you can even integrate Shopify into WordPress which allows you to make the most badass duo of these two website builders.
Disadvantages of Shopify
The price of Shopify is surely hight than other website builders in our list. If you want to move the website away from Shopify it will be pretty difficult to do. The basic plan will cost you $29 per month and the most advanced on is $229 per month which is quite a lot. There is a Shopify lite plan too it’s for $9 per month. However, it’s pretty much useless. But if you want an experience that excels in all departments, Shopify is a perfect solution for you.
6. Weebly
Weebly is an easy website builder with a lot of great designs. It is especially for b2b web design professionals. It has a beautiful and exquisite page builder that allows you to create a website with no coding skills.
Advantages of Weebly
It is a fully hosted plan, therefore, you don’t need to worry about the management part. Weebly will take care of everything for you. It has a ton of website designs to choose from and they are fully editable on the Weebly live page editor
Moreover, it comes with in-built support for eCommerce. This allows you to create an online store to start selling products easily. Every Weebly site comes with built-in features for forms, sliders and photo galleries too. This allows you to add extra features without any complicated setup process. Weebly is rated among one of the best DIY website builders for beginners.
Disadvantages of Weebly
- It is a fully hosted platform. Therefore, you are locked to a certain level of flexibility. You cannot hire developers to add new functionality to your website.
- It costs you 3% of the transaction fee on every purchase that will be made through your website. You can avoid them by upgrading to the pro plans.
- There is a very basic free plan for WEbbly.however paid plans cost $8 per month. and the pro one is $12. On the other hand, it’s $25 per month for the business plan.
7. Squarespace
Squarespace is known for its elegance and professional website building capabilities. It has great designs and it is easy to use.
Advantages of Squarespace
Squarespace is secure because it comes with an enterprise-grade infrastructure for hosting your very own website. Therefore, you don’t need to worry even a little about the hosting. It includes a ton of designs to just start with. These designs are ready for all the types of content you want to put in. They are fully editable and Squarespace even gives you an option to use multiple templates for the same website at the same time. Therefore, it’s pretty flexible. Moreover, adding content is easy in Squarespace too. You just need to point anywhere on the website and start typing. With the use of Drag and drop controls, you can create your layouts in just a matter of minutes.
it also has an eCommerce plan which allows you to add an online store to the website. It has a nice interface to manage all of your products and stuff related to that.
Disadvantage of Squarespace
There is limited functionality in terms of third party service. This can become a bit harder in your growing business. The eCommerce plan has a really limited amount of payment options. It only allows Stripe, Apple Pay, and Paypal. You cannot pay for any other service.
The pricing starts from $12 per month to $40 per month. Squarespace is too elegant and perfectly design a website builder that allows you easy to use the feature. It can be a perfect choice if you want to build a website.
8. Wix
Wix is a popular cloud-based website building software. It offers ease of use with a set of powerful features that you can use to build your website.
Advantages of Wix
Wix is a fully hosted platform, therefore you don’t have to pay for any hosting or worry about anything. You also have access to tons of templates that you can choose for your website. It is fully editable and has a cool drag and drop interface.
There are dozens of free and paid apps that you can install on your website. These applications allow you to add some new features that are not present by default. Some of the apps are created by Wix while others are created by third-party developers.
Wix offers a free plan but with limited bandwidth and storage. But you can still test their drag and drop website builder. Therefore, it does not have a domain name, if you want to keep the website, you will have to upgrade to a premium plan.
Moreover, you also get free SSL for the Wix plans therefore, there are no security issues for the website itself.
Disadvantages of Wix
Free domain plans will contain some of the Wix ads that will be shown on your website. Therefore, you will need to upgrade to their combo or the unlimited plan to remove these ads. You will have difficulty in moving your ad too.
Their connect domain plan costs $9.16 per month and lets you connect a custom domain name. Therefore you will have to buy a domain name separately.
Wix has a free limited plan with Wix branded subdomain too. You can connect the domain for $9.16 per month even use. The combo plan starts at $14.95 per month and it will get you free domain name too. Moreover, the eCommerce plan costs around $26.25 per month.
9. Godaddy Website Builder
GoDaddy is one of the best and largest domain names and hosting providers in the whole world. They also offer an online website builder with hosting included.
Advantages
It has simple and easy to use controls to create professional-looking websites. Moreover, it has pre-loaded blogs that you can use through the drag and drop interface. You can customize different layouts.
It also has a photo library with professional images from Getty photography that you can use on your website. Moreover, you can also upload your image galleries too.
GoDaddy website builder works on smaller screens too. Therefore, the website will look good on the mobile phone, tablet or desktop.
Disadvantage
It has the least flexibility in our list. It also has fewer features and design options to choose from. Moreover, it is very difficult to move your website from GoDaddy to any other website too.
Personal Plans costs you around $5.99 per month and
it moves up to business plus plan for $14.99 per month.
Go Daddy website builder can only be used to make a basic website with just a few pages. It is not supposed to be used for a fully-fledged website designing.
What is the Best Website Builder?
After comparing all these website builders, we think that WordPress is the best as it beats every other website builder in terms of performance, ease, price, and flexibility.
It is also a perfect choice for beginners as well as business websites too. WordPress is used by most top brands too. This is due to the flexibility it provides. If you want to make a website then WordPress is our number one choice for you.
The constant contact website builder is also good. You can start a free blog, business, website or even an online store too.
Moreover, Gator is best for a premium website builder platform. This is because of the popular web hosting company. IT provides a bunch of cool features that you might need to start a business.