Top Website Builders 2023
The wide range of DIY web builders available to consumers makes it easier and more affordable to start a website. Below is a list of DIY website builders that we have highlighted the various features each one offers.
Before you choose a website builder to work on your site, it is important to consider the type of site you are looking for and the functionality you need. Here are some key considerations to make when choosing a website builder.
Wix – Best Website Builder Overall
Shopify – Best for Ecommerce Websites
SquareSpace – Best for General Use
WordPres.com – Best for Blogs and Content Focused Website
Weebly – Amazing Free Plan Option
Duda – Best for Work Collaboration
Table of Contents
Wix
Wix is a user-friendly website builder. It gives you complete creative control over your website. Wix is not like other builders.
It doesn't compromise power or customization for ease. Instead, it combines drag-and-drop editing tools and a wide range of features.
Pros
- Smart drag and drop editor
- Custom domain, logo and more brand tools
- Full-stack web dev tools for custom functionality
Cons
- Limited Design Flexibility
- Not Ideal for Complex Websites
Wix has been able to show itself to be the platform that does everything. Its ‘Features Score' increased 18% in our research pre-2021.
Wixx Pricing Table
This was largely due to improvements in blogging and internationalization. It's not only a great website builder but also an excellent option if you want to open an online shop. Wix offers three ecommerce-specific plans and many features to increase your sales. It's not for everyone, especially because it has a higher price and a cluttered visual editor.
There are over 800 templates available. But be careful – once your site is live, you cannot change your template.
Wix was the most recommended website builder in our testing.
Wix Features
Wix offers a free plan you can keep for as long as your wish. This is great for getting started. It has some limitations so if you want a professional website, you should consider the paid plans.
Eight premium plans are available, with prices starting at $16 per mo (billed annually). You can get rid of Wix ads and use your personalized domain name. This will also increase your storage allowances. Wix offers three dedicated ecommerce packages, starting at $27 per month (billed annually). Wix is more expensive than other alternatives, but it offers so many more features than its competitors, we believe that the price is well justified.
Wix offers over 800 templates to choose from. That's a lot, considering that they are all professionally designed. Wix's templates can be divided into different industries like “Events” or “Photography” so you can filter until you find what you are looking for.
Once your site is live you can't modify templates, so be patient.
You can easily make your website unique by simply dragging elements such as images and text boxes to the exact place you want, adding pages and deleting anything you don’t want. Wix gives you total creative freedom!
Shopify
Shopify is the best online platform for selling products and services. Shopify was founded in 2006 and has been the leading platform for online businesses looking to establish an online presence.
Pros
- Content management system
- Customizable order notes
- Customer relationship management
Cons
- Monthly Costs
- Transaction Fees
Its popularity is well-earned. Shopify is a leader in sales features with a remarkable 4.5 out 5 score according to our research. Shopify is packed with high-quality tools to help you grow your online store.
Shopify Pricing Table
Its popularity is well-earned. Shopify is a leader in sales features with a remarkable 4.5 out 5 score according to our research. Shopify is packed with high-quality tools to help you grow your online store.
We were particularly impressed by its security tools and the variety of multi-channel integrations. There are also a wealth of payment options.
Shopify is not only great for managing large inventories, but also its shipping options and customizations. You can easily add promo codes to your pages or offer discounts to customers.
Shopify is a popular choice in user testing and deserves a customer score of 4.5/5. Shopify gives you a 14-day trial for free so that you can test it out!
Shopify offers three pricing options:
- Basic – $29/month (now at a special offer of $1)
- Shopify – $79 per month
- Advanced – $299 per Month
Shopify scored only 3 out 5 in this category because it is slightly more expensive than other platforms. We think the higher price is justified when we consider the quality of its features.
Shopify does not offer a free plan. However, it offers a 14-day trial that you can use to test it before you commit to a paid subscription.
ShopifyFeatures
Shopify has a score of 3.9/5 for website features. This means that Shopify provides a lot of tools to help you build a functional website as well as something that will help you grow.
Shopify's widget and app integrations were especially impressive to us. There are over 6,000 apps in the app store. If you want to expand the capabilities of your store, there are many options.
It can be difficult to know where to begin. We've put together a list of 15 of our favorite Shopify apps to help you get started.
Shopify is also a great marketing tool. There are many built-in features like the email shout-out function and newsletter function. Its multi-channel integrations allow you to grow across multiple platforms. The vast array of marketing apps can really take things to the next level.
There are many marketing apps that can help you increase your customer reach, whether it's by creating customized popups with Kevy or sending targeted emails to Klaviyo.
It is important to remember that although many apps offer a free plan for some, most will require you to pay an additional fee. These costs can quickly add up, so you will need to account for them when calculating your monthly expenses.
Shopify offers 86 themes that you can choose from. All of them are professional and high-quality.
You can choose from a variety of colors to make each theme work for your brand. All themes are mobile-responsive, which means that your customers can easily view your online store wherever they are.
Shopify offers nine themes for free. Each template costs between $150 and $350. The free themes look great, but the paid themes have more features and aesthetics.
Shopify's customizability is less than Wix. However, there are still many options to personalize your site.
Shopify's customizability was something we were especially impressed by. You can filter your results by size and color as well as price range, vendor and product style. This will make your product pages look more appealing and provide a better user experience.
Shopify comes with additional design features such as an image editor and a library full of high-quality stock photos.
SquareSpace
Squarespace is a professional website builder with a lot of features for creatives and small businesses. Although Squarespace is not the most intuitive builder available, it's easy to learn and use. It just takes a little more patience than Wix.
Pros
- Industry-leading website templates & design fonts
- On-brand email campaigns and social tools
- Third-party extensions support
Cons
- Limited Customization
- Limited E-commerce Features
Squarespace's template designs are where it shines. They are the best available on the market and are ideal for creatives who need a visually striking website. This is especially important considering that there are more than 1.8 billion websites online as of January 2021. Squarespace offers a wide range of features that will give your website the power it requires. This is not about style over substance.
Squarespace has the best knowledge center available. You'll find text, image and video guidance as well as seamless onboarding and clear navigational signs and guidance.
Squarespace offers a free 14-day trial. You can also sign up for premium plans starting at $16 per monthly if you like the free trial.
Squarespace Pricing Table
Squarespace offers a 14-day trial that is completely risk-free. There are four premium plans available, with prices ranging from $16-$49 per month (billed annually). Advanced ecommerce features are available with the highest two plans.
The platform also saw growth in pricing as a result our website builder ratings. Although it is not the most affordable builder, its features make it a worthy choice.
SquareSpace Templates Gallery
Squarespace offers the highest quality website builders on the market. It creates stunning websites with its sleek, sophisticated and modern templates. Squarespace is ideal for creatives who want to customize their site.
Even after you publish your site, you can change your template easily. You can also work on multiple templates at once.
It is a great platform for customization and design. Squarespace is still the best website builder in terms of providing all the necessary attributes to help you create a beautiful online presence you can be proud to display.
It also has has a wide range of features that are all created in-house. You can be sure of high quality and security and have everything you need at your fingertips.
Squarespace Extensions can be used to connect with third-parties like ShipStation, Quickbooks and Printful to improve your site's performance. Squarespace Extensions are a great way to grow your site without having to upgrade your plan.
Squarespace is also committed to expanding the range of its features. It has received a 4/5 rating from our research in the ‘Value For Money' category and it also scored 1.4 stars higher in the old rankings.
WordPress.com
WordPress.com is a great website builder that offers some of the most beautiful designs available. The interface is simple and can take some getting used too, especially if your experience with more complicated website building tools. After you have completed the initial learning phase, you will be able to create beautiful responsive-design websites in no matter how much time.
Pros
- Free and premium options available
- Marketing tools available
- Good blogging features
Cons
- Complexity for Beginners
- Security Concerns
WordPress.com's interface is a great mix of accessibility and complexity, but it is best for those who have a basic understanding of computer programs.
WordPress.com Squarespace can be quite expensive, with some essential ecommerce features reserved for the most costly plans. However, it offers unlimited bandwidth and storage as well as fully responsive designs and a great support team that responds quickly (during its somewhat limited business hours).
WordPress.com Pricing Table
WordPress.com's ad-supported free account level includes 3GB of storage, dozens of themes, and a preinstalled SSL certificate. The Personal plan costs just $4 per month with an annual commitment, and adds a custom domain name, a limited selection of themes, and 6GB storage. It also removes WordPress ads, but not all WordPress branding. Personal doesn't offer any way to monetize your site, but does include SEO, spam protection, social sharing, site stats, and email and live chat customer support.
WordPress.com Builder
Squarespace offers the highest quality website builders on the market. It creates stunning websites with its sleek, sophisticated and modern templates. Squarespace is ideal for creatives who want to customize their site.
Even after you publish your site, you can change your template easily. You can also work on multiple templates at once.
It is a great platform for customization and design. Squarespace is still the best website builder in terms of providing all the necessary attributes to help you create a beautiful online presence you can be proud to display.
It also has has a wide range of features that are all created in-house. You can be sure of high quality and security and have everything you need at your fingertips.
Squarespace Extensions can be used to connect with third-parties like ShipStation, Quickbooks and Printful to improve your site's performance. Squarespace Extensions are a great way to grow your site without having to upgrade your plan.
Squarespace is also committed to expanding the range of its features. It has received a 4/5 rating from our research in the ‘Value For Money' category and it also scored 1.4 stars higher in the old rankings.
Weebly
Weebly, another flexible website builder from the Squarespace and Wix family, is also available. It is great for solopreneurs and freelancers who want a website with a way to invoice for their services.
Square, the company behind Weebly's point-of-sale software, powers Weebly.
Pros
- Recommended by WordPress
- Free Domain for the 1st Year
- Money Back Guaranteed
Cons
- Limited Additional Services
- Lack of Advanced Hosting Options
Square, the company behind Weebly's point-of-sale software, powers Weebly. This means that if you sell products in person, such as at a farmers market, you can easily integrate your POS sales to your website.
We spoke to users from musicians who used Weebly directly to sell their music to fans to bloggers and LinkedIn coaches who offered coaching sessions via her website. A website designer used Weebly as a way to attract new clients to her site.
The web designer stated, “I chose Weebly years ago to design all my websites with the idea that it would be simple enough for my clients to update their websites.”
Weebly Pricing Table
Weebly is easy to integrate with third-party tools you will need for your website, such as Google Analytics or Mailchimp.
Drag-and-drop is the best way to build a website. It's easy to use and doesn't require any technical knowledge. You get what you see.
Email, SEO, site analytics and shipping are all available to you in the ecommerce plan. An online store can even have a product search. This is something I love. This function is essential if you have many products or services.
You can also add badges to your products or services when they go on sales or when stock is low for a particular item. This is a great way for your products to create scarcity and make customers want to buy.
It is easy to set up. It's WYSIWYG-based, so I can change products, prices and descriptions as well as digital assets such logos, product images and banner images. After signing up, it took me less than five minutes for me to set up a basic store.
Weebly Features
Weebly allows users to create simple websites and sell products and services.
We recommend Shopify for most ecommerce users, but consultants, freelancers and solopreneurs who need a simpler set of services might want to consider Weebly.
Squarespace is similar to Weebly, but Weebly lacks the flexibility and customization of WordPress. However, Weebly is much more user-friendly than WordPress from day one.
Bottom line: Weebly is a great option for anyone who runs a business.
Jimdo
Jimdo allows you to start designing your website without even signing up. Jimdo's complimentary account is generous, according to industry standards. Your site's storage is limited to 500MB and bandwidth at 2GB. Jimdo allows you to have multiple sites, such as Duda Wix ($14 per month for a Combo Plan at Wix), (Opens in new window), and Weebly.
Pros
- Automatic SEO Features
- Very good for portfolio websites
- Detailed statistic and reports
Cons
- Limited Design Flexibility
- Limited Features
The Pro ($7.50 per monthly, billed annually), and the Business ($20) tiers take Jimdo branding off your site. They also include custom domains and allow you to increase commerce limits, increase site stats, and increase storage caps to 5GB and unlimited. Premium support and online store functionality are included in the Business plan. Site builders charge $25 per month or more for business-level features. Jimdo's annual fee is $240. This is a great deal.
Jimdo Pricing Options
Jimdo now offers two options to build your website: the standard site builder or the Dolphin AI-and Wizard-driven simple site builder. Jimdo claims that this allows you to create a website in three minutes. Dolphin allows you to enter the name of your company as the first step.
Dolphin will then show you the possible businesses it found online content about. You can click on the one you like, or skip to the next step if it isn't. Jimdo next asks you about the purpose of your website, such as whether it promotes a business, an event or portfolio or sells goods and services online. Next, you can choose from a more detailed list that includes options like Bakery or Fast Food. For images, you can connect to your Instagram account. This is great, but I would like to see Flickr and Facebook also here. You can choose from Modern, Elegant, Playful and so forth. Jimdo will give you the choice to either register a domain name or transfer an existing one. If you don't have one, you can purchase one at namecheap.com for 66 cents. Jimdo will assign you an address at the jimdosite.com domain if you don't pass that along.
What was the result? The result? The site even included photos of the local bagel shop that I tested. Although the copy was adequate, it did not exaggerate Dave's Bagels quality and charms. Some menu items had boilerplate copy that required editing. The site has a responsive design and even a GDPR-compliant cookie warning.
Jimdo Features
Modern site builders are conscious of creating responsive and mobile-friendly sites. Jimdo's Settings panel has two options for you: Mobile View or Mobile Express Page. Mobile templates can be activated to allow menus and purchasing to work on mobile phones. Your videos won't work if you don't activate a mobile template. Navigation will also be difficult.
After activating a mobile template, the site worked quickly and well on my iPhoneX. Slideshows look great and have a full-screen option. Mobile Express allows you to add important information such as address and hours of operation to your mobile site. However, I miss the ability of other builders to add a mobile splashscreen image.
Mobile site building also includes the actual creation of your site using a mobile device. Jimdo was among the first to launch an iPad app. Weebly has an app web designer and Wix only allows you to manage your online store transactions. Jimdo's app, while intuitive and well-designed, offers fewer content types that Weebly's.
Duda
Duda's main selling point is its simplicity. You can quickly and easily create attractive websites that will look great on smartphones, tablets, desktops, and other devices using the website builder. Duda allows you to create beautiful websites even if your technical or design skills are not as advanced as those at the higher tiers.
Pros
- Robust API options available
- 99.9% uptime, 1-Click SSL and 24/7 support.
- Exceptional core web vitals results
Cons
- Limited Beginner-Friendliness
- Pricing
The powerful and elegant Duda is an Editor's Choice choice for website builders. It features many templates and strong ecommerce tools.
Duda used to let users create websites for free in the past. This was similar to Editors Choice Wix. Today's Duda does not offer a free tier. However, you can try the service for 14 days free. There are three paid tiers, powered by Amazon Web Services. They focus on creating collaborative websites. Basic is a monthly fee of 19 dollars, or $14 per month if you bill annually). This allows one user to create one website. Basic only allows you to contact customer support via email.
Duda Pricing Table
You can choose from over 100 modern, attractive templates to start a new website. Duda offers many other options for sorting your search. You can filter by color or by category, such as Online and Travel, Restaurant & Food and Blog. Duda wants to show all it has, not Squarespace or other website builders that offer questionnaires to narrow down your search.
A panel will appear when you click on a thumbnail of a template to show you how it looks on a tablet and phone. The panel lets you see how the template appears on each of three devices simultaneously: tablet, smartphone and desktop. This is a better option than many website builders. Strikingly shows only one preview. However, you can shrink your browser window to see how it will look when it is smaller.
Duda Features
Duda comes with a complete sales system that includes shopping carts and checkout pages similar to those offered by Squarespace, Wix and Weebly. PayPal buy buttons can be inserted into any page of a site. You can also add printable coupons to site visitors and create customer accounts. Duda users can add a 10 page web store to any of their websites, provided they have paid for the eCommerce addon. It's easy, straightforward, and well-guided.
Duda creates a new page with a demo catalogue when you add a store to the eCommerce section. It also displays a Help box that explains how to set it all up. The tooltip tour will explain your store page, shopping cart and search features, as well as store management options. You can add products, configure shipping and payment options on a separate Store Control Panel Page. SSL security is automatically used for credit card transactions.
Conclusion
Creating a website can be a daunting task, so it’s important to find a website builder that is easy to use. Look for platforms that offer step–by–step tutorials and easy–to–follow instructions. This will make the process much easier and help you build a great website quickly.
The cost of a website builder can vary greatly, so it’s important to consider the cost when making your decision. Many website builders offer free plans, but they may not include all the features you need.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to your needs, preferences and budget. I hope this guide was helpful and I wish you happy hunting!
Frequently Asked Questions
Website builder software is ideal for novice web designers or small businesses that need a simple and easy–to–use solution for creating their web presence. It is an ideal choice for those who lack the technical expertise and time to design a website from scratch.
Website builder software typically offers a variety of features, including drag–and–drop site design and editing, WYSIWYG (What you See Is What You Get) editors, an image library, hosting, domain registration, and more. It also usually offers tools that facilitate site optimization and search engine submission.