1. Best overall
2. Best for marketing integration
3. Best for bloggers and writers
4. Best for WordPress sites
5. Best of the rest
6. How to choose
7. How we test
8. Industry rankings
9. Website builder FAQs
Creating a site with one of the best website builder services is usually quick and easy because most offer drag-and-drop solutions that will simplify the process. A website builder (software that helps people create a website without any coding or website design experience) is a great solution for anyone who wants to put up a website quickly without investing too much money or time.
To get started, all you'll need to do is ask yourself whether you want to create a blogging site, an ecommerce platform, a portfolio website, or another type of online site. To making choosing the right one easier, our experts sign up to each website builder and create sites from scratch to compare features, ease of use, performance, as well as customer support and security. Therefore, you can rest assure that we are bringing you the most accurate, up-to-date and reliable recommendations. When it comes to choosing the right website builder for your specific needs, you'll need to take all these points into consideration, as well as pricing to fit your budget.
We review and re-review not only the top website builders on the market, but also the best web hosting providers too. We've also compared every feature you’ll need from a website builder from SEO tools and available plugins to customer service support, uptime and speed. In total, we've tested and reviewed over 160 website builders and web hosting services. Below, you’ll find 13 top quality website builders with Wix in first place as the best website builder service based on its overall performance, ease of use, template range and affordability.
Our top three website builder providers
Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
The best website builders of 2023
We've carefully picked the best website builders on the market based on overall performance, pricing, features, ease of use, range of templates, as well as additional functionalities that cater to ecommerce, SEO and more. Our test results highlight our experience using each product, what we liked most about each service and how they compare against each other.
Best website builder overall
✔️ You want a website builder that has a wide selection of templates: Wix has some of the most sophisticated templates on the market in our opinion with over 800 to choose from.
✔️ You want a site builder that takes SEO seriously: Wix SEO Assistant is a useful tool that will help you reach more people with actionable insights.
✔️ You'd like a website builder that uses Generative AI: Wix has an AI text creator to assist with building a site, quickly.
❌ You want to build an ecommerce site on a tight budget: Only premium Wix plans offer ecommerce capabilities.
❌ You'd like the option of interchangeable templates: Wix doesn't let you switch between templates once you've started, therefore if you change your mind, you'll have to start from scratch.
❌ You want unlimited storage: Wix doesn't offer unlimited storage on any of its plans.
As far as website builders go, Wix remains top-tier because it has all the qualities most people look for in a site builder. From sophisticated templates, to how easy it is to use, if it's your first time building a website, we suggest you strongly consider Wix.
Founded in 2006, Wix is is an Israeli software company that provides cloud-based web development services, allowing users to create HTML5 websites and mobile sites through the use of online drag and drop tools.
Getting started
Wix holds the number one spot for various different reasons. We tested out its website builder and found it to be extremely easy to use compared to other builders. When choosing Wix, we were given a choice of two options: WixADI or WixEditor. Wix has also recently launched a new editor that combines the abilities of WixADI and its classic editor. WixADI asks a few short questions to design the site for you using Artificial Intelligence (AI), whereas WixEditor is a drag-and-drop solution that lets you create a website completely by yourself. We found that the WixEditor takes longer than WixADI but it gave us more autonomy over our website design.
Features
We were spoilt for choice from the over 800 templates Wix has on offer, as the website builder provides several options for a wide range of color themes to choose from. We especially found it easy to drag images and videos into the Wix template we chose.
We also went ahead and purchased a domain name using Wix’s domain registration service, which gives you the option to pay for one year, two years or three years at a 6% and 12% discounted rate. Wix also has a Site Inspection tool using Google’s new URL Inspection API that allows you to examine your entire website from the dashboard.
Wix plans also come with advanced SEO tools, mobile optimization capabilities, an app market, advanced design features, unlimited fonts, and an AI text editor, to name a few.
What else you need to know
Relatively affordable, Wix offers a free plan, a Combo plan for $14 per month, an Unlimited plan for $18 per month, a Pro plan for $23 per month, a VIP plan for $39 per month, Business Basic, Unlimited VIP plans for ecommerce sites for $23, $27 and $49 per month, and an Enterprise plan for $500 per month.
Wix recently added a portfolio website builder solution with customizable layouts to simplify the process of creating professional online collections. It's available in multiple languages, lets you change the look of your site without having to go into each project page separately and update individually.
There’s a plan for almost all users, therefore, if you are looking for a website builder that provides plenty of options to choose from, Wix would be your best bet. Wix also offers a 14 day trial period, which we found useful as were given the option to get our money back if we weren't satisfied.
Read our in-depth Wix website builder review to find out why it's the best website builder on the market.
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | Not the cheapest but Wix is definitely good value for money considering all you can do with its service. | ★★★★☆ |
| Ease of use | Wix makes the whole process of creating a website straightforward and simple. | ★★★★★ |
| Features | It has plenty of features (beginners may even find the sheer amount daunting at first). | ★★★★★ |
| Templates and design | There's over 800 templates which makes finding the perfect design easy to do. | ★★★★★ |
Best for marketing integration
✔️ You want an all-in-one solution: Hostinger's website builder comes with web hosting too.
✔️ You haven't yet bought a domain name: Hostinger's service includes a free domain name for one year.
✔️ You want AI to fully design your website: Hostinger gives you the option to have a website created entirely by AI technology.
❌ You need to try before you buy: Hostinger has no free plans or free trials.
❌ You want more options of website builder plans: Hostinger only has one plan, which could be limiting depending on your needs.
❌ You have a change of heart on your template: If you choose to change your template once your site is live, it will erase all your current work.
Marketing integration capabilities is just one of the many quality features Hostinger provides. If you want a website builder that's an all in one solution and you get overwhelmed by too many options, Hostinger is the site builder for you.
In second place, the Hostinger website builder tool is an intuitive drag and drop website editor that doesn't require coding skills required. Founded in 2004, its automatic responsive design fits any screen size, including mobile devices.
Getting started
The platform's ease of use made it a breeze to create a professional website. With its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, we were able to design and customize our test site with the option to use AI capabilities. The automatic responsive design ensured that our website looked great on any screen size, catering to a diverse audience. The availability of over 100 fully-customizable, designer-made templates gave us the flexibility to choose a visually stunning layout.
Features
For $2.99 per month, Hostinger's all-in-one solution lets you build up to 100 websites and up to 100 domain-based email accounts. Other features include a free domain of your choosing and a free SSL certificate. To further increase the security of your site, Hostinger helps you to protect your site from DDoS attacks with Cloudflare-protected nameservers.
If you’re interested in ecommerce features, you’ll be glad to hear that the Hostinger site builder covers all essentials for an online store. This includes over 20 payment options and automatic tools for inventory management, plus more. If you used Hostinger’s previous site builder Zyro when it first came out, you might remember the complete absence of any ecommerce features. However, that is not the case with their latest product.
What else you need to know
We were able to upload up to 500 products to sell on our test website created with the Hostinger website builder. Like its web hosting service, Hostinger's site building tool is straightforward and simple to use.
The downside is that the site builder only has one plan and doesn't give you the option to test out the service for free. We also found that the service lacks complex image editing options. All in all though, it’s a plan worth exploring.
Read our full Hostinger Website Builder review.
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | Affordable and comes as a combo with web hosting. | ★★★★★ |
| Ease of use | Hostinger's site builder is easy to use for the most part and its dashboard is straightforward to work from. | ★★★★☆ |
| Features | It has lots of features that come as part of the website builder and web hosting combo plan. | ★★★★★ |
| Templates and design | Hostinger offers dozens of stylish templates to help you start building your website. | ★★★★☆ |
Best for bloggers and writers
✔️ You want a website builder that offers a free trial: Squarespace is yours to test for two weeks before making a commitment.
✔️ You want to create a sophisticated blog: Squarespace has a great commenting feature, multi-author functionality, and offers the ability to schedule posts.
✔️ You'd like a mobile-friendly site builder: Squarespace has four apps. All allows you to edit almost every aspect of your website from your phone.
❌ You want the ability to fully customize your site: Squarespace doesn't offer full customizability.
❌ You'll be overwhelmed by the wide range of features: Squarespace has plenty, which could be too much to handle for beginners.
❌ You're looking for a simple interface: Squarespace's isn't the easiest to navigate in comparison to its competitors.
Bloggers and writers should look no further as it may not get any better than Squarespace in that department. Squarespace makes filing entries for blogs seamless and straightforward.
Squarespace takes a more simplistic approach with its website builder. We found the dashboard of the builder to be simple and easy to navigate. We were able to pick a template and build a test site in minutes. If you are new to the website building game, or you’re a first time blogger, it’s a safe bet to pick Squarespace.
Getting started
We found Squarespace’s section-based drag-and-drop builder tool to be much easier in comparison to the other providers on the line-up. The platform comes with four pricing plans, ranging from $16 to $49 per month, but whatever tier you choose, Squarespace is bound to deliver a great-looking website or blog.
Its basic and advanced ecommerce plans advanced website analytics, Google ads credit and full access to Squarespace’s video studio app. If the section based builder is not for you, there’s detailed guides to help you navigate through the dashboard - we found this particularly helpful when we tested out the email campaign tool.
Features
Squarespace’s Blog App let us manage our test blog from a smartphone, which is great for publishing and editing content on the go. Tools that publish to, sync with, and import from social media outlets, including Twitter, Instagram, Vimeo and others, also provide a great way of ensuring your posts receive the attention they deserve.
Squarespace also has an invoice scheduling tool that lets you receive payments for bookings on your website. During our tests, the tool let us create, send, manage and track custom invoices, as well as accept payments, from the website builder platform.
What else you need to know
Unlike Wix, Squarespace doesn’t automatically keep a history of the changes we made to the website we created, which means that you cannot restore an earlier version if a mistake has occurred. This can be quite problematic and could mean you having to start afresh in some cases. Nevertheless, Squarespace will get the job done and done well, and you’ll have a variety of beautifully crafted templates.
Read our complete Squarespace website builder review for more details on pricing, ease of use, and the builder's interface.
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | Squarespace isn't the cheapest but there's the option to try it for free before committing. | ★★★★☆ |
| Ease of use | The website builder is easy to use but doesn’t give full customizability, which some could find challenging. | ★★★★☆ |
| Features | It has lots of features that come as part of the website builder and web hosting combo plan. | ★★★★☆ |
| Templates and design | Squarespace has around 110 templates for you to choose from and the designs are professional looking. | ★★★★★ |
Best for WordPress websites
✔️ You want a WordPress site: Bluehost gives you the option to build your site from the WordPress dashboard or the Bluehost Builder.
✔️ You're looking for ease of use: Bluehost lets you choose the design you want by simply entering a keyword.
✔️ You want something quick and easy: Bluehost has a user-friendly onboarding wizard to make the site building process straightforward.
❌ You're creating more than just a simple site: Bluehost's overall design is quite basic.
❌ You want an email account included: You'll have to pay extra for email if you choose to build your site with Bluehost.
❌ You have no interest in a WordPress site: Bluehost is a self-hosted WordPress site so you won't get the complete freedom that Wix or Squarespace gives you to build a regular site.
Bluehost makes it easier for those who are set on building a WordPress website. Why? Because it not only lets you build from the WordPress CMS, it also makes WordPress website integration pretty simple.
Bluehost, known for its top quality web hosting service, launched a website builder in 2021 that’s built on top of WordPress. It has drag and drop editing, live editing, mobile editing, and stock image repository.
Getting started
Thanks to the WordPress integration, we were able to set up parts of our test website using Bluehost’s website builder, and other parts using WordPress. The WordPress-friendly builder also includes over 300 templates - not quite as many as Wix but still a fair amount. There’s three site builder plans on offer - Basic, Pro and Online Store.
Priced at $2.95 per month, for a 12-month subscription, the Basic Plan renews at $9.99 per month. The Choice Plus plan is priced at $5.45 per month, for a 12-month subscription and renews at $18.99 per month, and the Online Store plan will cost you $9.95 per month for the same duration, and renews at $24.95 per month.
Features
While Bluehost's website builder isn't as seasoned or as easy to use as Wix’s overall, it still includes attractive features such as a free domain for the first year and 24/7 expert support to its website building service.
In addition to offering unlimited websites, Bluehost’s website builder includes templates for specific website types and use-cases, and gives the option to edit websites for mobile, desktop and tablets. All three website builder plans come with marketing features that we were able to test out too, and we particularly thought the call to action button offered by Bluehost is slick and a great addition to the package. For ecommerce capabilities, Bluehost has combined WordPress, WooCommerce and YITH plugins in its Online Store solution, which provides small businesses with a WordPress website builder.
What else you need to know
A few downsides to the Bluehost website builder includes the fact that the solution doesn't let you switch templates if you've started working on one and change your mind, plus there's no email account included.
We tested Bluehost’s “no questions asked” 30 days money back guarantee, and were able to get a full refund. If you are looking for a WordPress site builder but do not want to fully commit to the WordPress CMS, Bluehost may be the website builder for you.
Read our detailed Bluehost Website Builder review to find out more about its performance, pricing, ease of use and more
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | Bluehost's website builder is certainly affordable but the renewal is a bit of a jump. | ★★★★☆ |
| Ease of use | Bluehost gives you the option to work on a WordPress dashboard, which is great for users use to the CMS. | ★★★★☆ |
| Features | Its basic plan comes with free CDN and WordPress themes, while the other plans offer so much more. | ★★★★☆ |
| Templates and design | It comes with over 800 premium WordPress themes to choose from. | ★★★★★ |
The best of the rest
✔️ You want a visually pleasing website: The Friday website builder excels in visual customization.
✔️ You need an easy to use solution: Friday prioritizes simplicity and intuitive navigation, making it accessible to beginners and experienced users.
✔️ You'd like a site builder that includes everything: Friday costs a bit more but that's because all the features it offers is included in the one and only plan.
❌ You're on a really tight budget: Friday's only plan costs $25 for your first month and $50 every month after, which is pricier that most of the site builders on our list.
❌ You'd need high levels of customization: Friday's is good but limited.
❌ You prefer telephone support: Friday has a knowledge base and you're able to contact someone via email only, which may not be enough support for some.
Friday may be the new kids on the block in the website building sector, but the quality of the website building tool is one to be impressed by. This is because there's no hidden agenda with the tool, everything it says it offers, it actually does.
Created by programmers and developers, Friday is a website builder that hasn't been around as long as most of the other providers on this list, but are by no means lagging behind.
Getting started
Getting started with Friday is extremely simple because there's only one website builder package to choose from. That already eliminates the time it takes to decide what features you need and the plan to accommodate it.
Once you're in, the Friday dashboard has icons on the left hand side that simplify the website building experience once you've decided on a template. We are able to change the theme, add pages, widgets, personalize the enter site, add a blog, and make good use of the SEO tools.
Features
Friday's plan comes with AWS website hosting, global CDN, custom domain, unlimited bandwidth, SEO tools, SSL security, web analytics, a photo editor, and more.
It also comes with image optimization, a library of stock images, AI content assistant, customizable forms, multi-language websites, blogging tools, plus over 40 payment gateways.
When building your site on on the dashboard, you're able to edit in desktop, tablet and mobile view.
What else you need to know
One main thing that's worth a mention is just how easy we found it to use Friday for the very first time. It's AI assist makes the website building process even more straightforward.
What we would mention as a negative (because nothing can be 100% perfect) is that because the plan is more expensive than others on this list, those on a tight budget might not be able to commit to the $50 per month after the half price on the first month deal is over.
Read our complete Friday website builder review to find out more about its performance, pricing, ease of use and more
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | There's so much features that come with one plan that it's somewhat justifiable. | ★★★★☆ |
| Ease of use | Signing up is easy, using the dashboard is easy. | ★★★★★ |
| Features | There's so many great features that come with Friday including autosaves and restorable backups. | ★★★★☆ |
| Templates and design | Friday's templates are well designed and professional. | ★★★★☆ |
✔️ You need that extra support: During our test, we found Web.com's customer support team to be one of the most helpful - with quick response times.
✔️ SEO if your priority: Web.com doesn't take SEO lightly so your site will be in safe hands.
✔️ You want an affordable site builder: Web.com is not the cheapest but it's definitely reasonably priced.
❌ You want to try before you buy: Web.com doesn't offer such so you'll have to do your research before committing.
❌ You need a completely flexible site builder: Web.com gets the job done but it's not 100% flexible. Some might find the pre-built content blocks limiting.
❌ You prefer a completely clutter-free page editor: Web.com's isn't the slickest on the market compared to Wix.
If you have a demanding website, Web.com should be a builder you strongly consider and it has the power to take on high traffic sites.
Founded in 1999, Web.com has made its mark in the website builder space with its easy-to-use interface. It seems as though 150 professionally designed templates is the standard amount as Web.com also offers roughly the same number of templates as Hostinger.
Getting started
The central website building experience revolves around a system of modular elements you can simply drag-and-drop into place. We were able to customize a heading, a button, an icon, and even a text field, by dragging it and dropping it in place on our website template once we signed up.
Features
The interface also allows for blocks – pre-assembled elements such as an entire navigation bar which can just be inserted whenever needed. It’s a powerful and user-friendly interface, a potent combination. Its website builder also includes one hour of free website design support.
There is also an ecommerce functionality available – albeit with a separate plan to the basic package – allowing you to set up an online store with all the functions you’d expect (although it’s not really suitable for bigger ecommerce ventures). If you are starting out on your ecommerce website journey, Web.com’s package is $3.95 per month, which allows you to sell up to 500 products.
What else you need to know
Pricing is very affordable with Web.com, and the customer support provided is of a high quality as well, so there’s a lot to like here. In short, you can put together a smart website with a minimum of fuss, while not paying anything like a fortune for the privilege.
We were able to monitor our website performance during our tests with Web.com's simplified data dashboard, with real time traffic statistics, trend charts and its Google Analytics integration.
There’s no option for a free trial here, mind, but that said, you only have to commit for a month when signing up (the initial fee is just $1.95 – complete with a free URL, with caveats), so that’s not a high price to pay to give the service a trial run.
Read our complete Web.com website builder review for an in-depth look at all features and pricing this builder has to offer.
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | Web.com's packages are affordable but there's no option for a free trial. | ★★★★☆ |
| Ease of use | We found that Web.com's site builder is straightforward and easy to use. | ★★★★☆ |
| Features | Comes with sufficient features including one free hour of expert design support. | ★★★★☆ |
| Templates and design | 150 professionally designed templates is more than enough options to find what you're looking for. | ★★★★★ |
✔️ You need a simple way to start: HostGator's process from start to finish is easy and relatively straightforward.
✔️ You need a cheap way to start: HostGator offers some of the most competitive pricing... Value for money too.
✔️ You want to integrate your social media accounts: HostGator lets you embed content from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram directly onto your site.
❌ You want built in email marketing: Unfortunately, HostGator does not offer such.
❌ You're building a ecommerce website: HostGator would not be our choice if we were building an online store because the ecommerce features are basic.
❌ You want to create a blog: In comparison to Squarespace, HostGator lacks advance features for online blogs.
In general, HostGator's website builder is one of the most affordable on the market and it doesn't compromise on features either.
Another popular choice comes courtesy of HostGator, as we commend its website builder solution, Gator Website Builder, for its simplicity and price, both of which should appeal to small businesses.
Getting started
Gator is available in three versions. The Expert Start plan costs $3.84 ($3.46 with our special deal) a month and comes with free hosting, website analytics, free domain name registration for a year and unmetered storage. The Express Site plan comes with all that plus priority support for $5.99 ($5.39 with our special deal) a month. The Express Store plan, meanwhile, costs $9.22 ($8.30 with our special deal) a month and offers additional features like inventory management, a shipping and tax calculator, and the ability to create coupons.
Whatever plan you choose, you’ll gain access to an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface that lets you employ commonly used design elements such as images, videos, text boxes, columns, maps and contact forms.
Features
We found that Gator has over 200 web templates that are fully customizable, so it’s easy to get your website looking exactly the way you want it. There are also a sizeable number of mobile-friendly themes available to ensure that your online portal looks good on all devices.
For small businesses that might not have access to top-quality photography equipment, Gator comes with its own built-in stock photo library and a number of video tutorials are on hand if you are in need of extra support with anything.
If there’s any real downside here, it would be the lack of functionality for larger, more complex websites. There are no built-in email marketing features, for example, and blog building options are relatively basic.
What else you need to know
Still, for small businesses or anyone starting their first online project, Gator’s quick, professional and well-designed sites should work perfectly. And with 24-hour tech support on hand for all users, and free analytics solutions to let administrators know how their site is performing, there are plenty of reasons to choose Gator for website building.
Read our Gator website builder review if you need more information on this builder's features
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | HostGator has affordable plans across its portfolio. | ★★★★★ |
| Ease of use | Creating a test site using HostGator was simple because of how easy it is to navigate through its dashboard. | ★★★★★ |
| Features | HostGator comes with a good number of features including email campaigns and free SSL. | ★★★★☆ |
| Templates and design | HostGator has 4,500 templates that can be downloaded at templates.hostgator.com, but i's for people with experience using a HTML or Flash editor. | ★★★★☆ |
✔️ You are a beginner: GoDaddy can be used by almost anyone because it doesn't just cater to the tech-savvy individual.
✔️ You need extra support: We found GoDaddy's customer support team to be extremely helpful.
✔️ You want an easy to use tool: Once you find what service you're after, GoDaddy's setup process is quick and easy to follow.
❌ You need complete clarity when building: GoDaddy's homepages all look the same so it might be a little confusing when looking for the right service on their list.
❌ You're indecisive on style: GoDaddy has limited customization features when it comes to style.
❌ You want the freedom to switch between themes: GoDaddy doesn't permit such action without starting from scratch.
If you find comfort in using a website builder that has been around for a long time, GoDaddy would be your best choice. As it's been around for a while, it's had the luxury of perfecting its customer support, which is great for newbies.
GoDaddy, founded in 1997, may be one of the most straightforward web builders around, boasting a hugely intuitive publication process and simple editing tools. This means that even if you’ve never built a website before, setting one up should only take a few minutes.
Getting started
For individuals looking for a more in-depth experience, the GoDaddy Websites + Marketing solution provides a detailed analysis of how your site is performing. The analytics tool delivers a comprehensive set of metrics that compares how your online presence is performing against other websites in your field. So far, the tool has certainly proved successful, with customers experiencing an 18% increase in business revenue within 12 months of using it, GoDaddy claims.
Features
Of course, challenges arise with even the most impressive online platforms and the GoDaddy Website Builder is no exception. Fortunately, GoDaddy’s support is among the best around. We found ourselves using GoDaddy's extensive PDF guides, (like Squarespace) which covers a multitude of questions and troubleshooting topics, and 24/7 tech support is also available. Moreover, the community forums are a great resource and it’s likely that someone there will be able to respond to your query. A live chat feature is also available on weekdays, although, during our tests, the provider didn't provide the most timely help and gave us limited solutions.
In terms of pricing, GoDaddy is very competitive, offering four website builder pricing tiers. The prices range from $6.99 per month for the Basic plan, up to $29.99 per month for the Ecommerce package. As you would expect, the ecommerce plan comes with everything you need to start a full-featured online store, with the cheaper plans offering slightly reduced functionality as you work your way down.
What else you need to know
We did find that the lack of an app market means some of the site builder features lack depth. It does mean, however, that all features are built in-house and so are fit for purpose. If you’re on the lookout for a website builder that is both affordable and boasts great support, then GoDaddy may be the right choice for you.
Read our GoDaddy website builder review for an in-depth look at its blogging and shopping features and more
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | With the price range mentioned above, GoDaddy is on the affordable scale of site builder services. | ★★★★☆ |
| Ease of use | GoDaddy is easy to use and comes with lots of help. | ★★★★★ |
| Features | GoDaddy comes with a decent amount of features to start a website for the first time. | ★★★★☆ |
| Templates and design | GoDaddy has professional templates but that aren't so easy to locate. | ★★★☆☆ |
✔️ You want a site builder that has great templates: IONOS has a lot of sophisticated template designs to choose from.
✔️ You're a small business: IONOS has several features that small businesses might find useful when getting a website off the ground.
✔️ You need in-built SEO tools: As ranking is important for your site visibility, using a builder that prioritizes SEO makes a difference.
❌ You want a more current interface: IONOS' is quite dated in our opinion.
❌ You need a free trial: IONOS has no free plans either so keep that in mind.
❌ You need something a little more straightforward: IONOS can be a little confusing for beginners.
IONOS has great themes, great templates and overall, the design options on offer for your website are top quality stuff.
Europe’s largest web hosting provider, IONOS, currently hosts more than 12 million domains and represents a great choice if you are looking to create a serious, professional website to promote your business.
Getting started
While the lack of a free plan is disappointing (although you do receive the first month free), the paid options are reasonable enough, starting at $84 for the full year, which works out at $7 per month - although you can't pay monthly for this price. We were able to gain access to the MyWebsite Now or MyWebsite Creator packages. MyWebsite Now comes with a domain, email address and an expansive image library, but lacks some of the more advanced functionality that you get with the Creator plan.
Features
Where IONOS really comes into its own, though, is with regard to its choice of themes. We were spoilt for choice as its inspirational templates are organized by industry and type, so it’s easy to find the right layout for your website, regardless of whether you are based in the retail, tourism or real-estate sectors. Some of the templates are more image-focused, while others cater to text-heavy sites. Regardless, they are all easy to implement; no coding knowledge is required whatsoever and templates can be adjusted easily using a drag-and-drop editor.
Small businesses are also likely to be enticed by IONOS’ multilingual translation, which can translate a site’s content into 62 different languages. It is even possible to have up to 25 different languages on a site at any given time. This makes IONOS a great choice in terms of its scalability: as a business grows, this website builder is more than equipped to facilitate international expansion.
What else you need to know
Targeted content is also an option – so businesses can set up their website to present special offers to new visitors, for example. So if you’re looking for a scalable website builder with a great selection of themes, then IONOS is definitely worth considering.
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | It's afforable but the cheap price doesn't last forever. | ★★★★☆ |
| Ease of use | IONOS is fairly easy to use and we generally didn't struggle to create our test website. | ★★★★☆ |
| Features | Comes with all the features you need to create a functioning site. | ★★★★★ |
| Templates and design | We enjoyed using IONOS' pre-built sections and color schemes. | ★★★★☆ |
✔️ You want an all in one solution: Elementor includes everything you need to create a website all in one place.
✔️ You want managed storage for WordPress: Your WordPress website may need it.
✔️ You need variety: Elementor's drag & drop editor has more than 100 widgets for a range of designs.
❌ You want some freedom with the freebies: Some of Elementor's free plugins can be limiting.
❌ You have plenty of websites: Elementor wouldn't be our choice based on some of the more powerful site builders in our line up.
❌ You're a beginner: Elementor is not the most complex to use but it's equally not the easiest.
Elementor is another provider that offers an all in one solution, therefore, if you're looking to have everything in one place, you might need to take a closer look into Elementor.
Elementor is rather different in that it’s actually a plugin for WordPress which functions as an easy-to-use website builder. There’s a free version which is impressively capable considering it costs nothing, as well as premium products.
Getting started
The interface is a dead simple and streamlined affair allowing you to drag-and-drop whatever elements you want into place, while seeing what the results look like in real-time. We set up our test site in minutes and did not run into any complications while doing so. There are a bunch of widgets and pre-designed templates on offer, and as you might expect, you get a lot more content with the paid-for plans (even the basic ‘Essential’ package has 300+ templates).
The Pro plans also boast more features, and they support running across multiple websites, as well as providing premium tech support (or live chat for the top-end subscriptions). You get a lot of editing tools here, and there’s a seriously impressive amount of customization to hand for your website creations.
Features
Similar to Wix, even the free option is pretty well fleshed out, as mentioned, and comes with 30+ templates (and 40+ widgets, though the full range is 90+). The freebie route may deliver enough functionality for some, and for those who’ll need more, it’s still a great way of checking out what you’re letting yourself in for before stumping up any cash (no credit card details are needed for signing up to the free plan, either).
The main downside with Elementor is that compared to some rivals, such as Bluehost or Squarespace, the premium pricing isn’t so competitive if you’re running lots of websites – but the basic Elementor plans which support one or three sites are great value if that’s all you need.
What else you need to know
Elementor also has an all-in-one website builder kit, which enables seamless WordPress website creation. Elementor Cloud Website let us build our test website faster using a single end-to-end solution that includes a code-free builder, web hosting, and gave us the ability to connect domain names at no extra cost.
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | It costs a fairly decent amount but there are cheaper site builders. | ★★★★☆ |
| Ease of use | Easy to use generally but beginners may find navigating a little confusing. | ★★★★☆ |
| Features | Has the necessary features for a WordPress website. | ★★★★★ |
| Templates and design | Elementor has a huge library of ready-to-edit website designs and wireframes. | ★★★★☆ |
✔️ You're looking for value for money: It's not the best on the list but it's certainly value for money.
✔️ You're interested in mobile optimzation: Jimdo optimizes sites for all mobile devices with its dedicated mobile editor view.
✔️ You want a tool that's easy to use: Jimdo is straightforward and simple.
❌ You want a lot of features and tools to play with: Jimdo offers the basics but gets the job done.
❌ You want to build a blog: Jimdo's features are not as accommodating for blogging sites like Squarespace.
❌ You want the best option for SEO: Jimdo has a few SEO features missing, such as alt text, so keep that in mind.
If your site prioritizes imagery, Jimdo might just be the website builder you need. The option to have unlimited storage space is there also, which helps photography sites.
Jimdo made our best list for a number of different reasons, but we particularly enjoyed the range of clean and flexible templates it has on offer. The professional and modern styles available make Jimdo a great website builder for designers, photographers or anyone else who wants to display their portfolio online.
Getting started
Some pros of using Jimdo include its speed as well as simplicity. First off, users have a choice between going with Jimdo Creator or Jimdo Dolphin. Creator has more than 100 templates broken down into four categories (Business, Store, Portfolio, and Personal) and there are plenty of customization options. Dolphin, on the other hand, gives you an AI-created website. There is also a collaboration with Facebook, which allows you to sell your products directly on Facebook and Instagram.
Features
The platform even comes with its own Logo Designer that helped us make our brand recognizable. All we did was enter our business and selected a starting point for our logo design. Then, we customized our icon and layout, chose a color and font, and that was it.
Another useful design feature from Jimdo that we appreciate is the way that website colors automatically harmonize with an uploaded logo or image. This means that garish color clashes become a thing of the past – that's great for businesses where looking good is part of the brand.
What else you need to know
Furthermore, Jimdo comes with a host of tips and support documents that helped us create our test website, similar to GoDaddy and Squarespace. These documents include a number of examples of existing photography websites created using the platform, along with tips on how to build a successful website.
In terms of price, there is a free plan that comes with no time limit but will force you to have a Jimdo sub-domain and advertising. We did notice that there was a lack of fancy features, but if you want a quick, straightforward way of launching a great-looking site, you’ll struggle to find a better website builder than this.
Read our full Jimdo website builder review for more information on the builder's features and getting started
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | On the more expensive side and not enough features to justify it. | ★★★☆☆ |
| Ease of use | Beginner-friendly and easy to set up. | ★★★★★ |
| Features | Jimdo has less features overall than its competitors. | ★★★☆☆ |
| Templates and design | Templates allow more creative control over the design of your site. | ★★★★☆ |
✔️ You plan on building a big online store: BigCommerce is specifically designed for just that.
✔️ If you have some experience launching an ecommerce site: BigCommerce is advanced (in our opinion) so prior knowledge would be essential.
✔️ You're interested in cross-platform selling: BigCommerce lets you sell through the likes of Amazon, Facebook and more.
❌ You're looking for simplicity: For basic online stores, we wouldn't recommend BigCommerce (especially if you're a beginner) because it's not the easiest to set up.
❌ If you want to control your store from a mobile app: BigCommerce has no native mobile app.
❌ If you want the full experience on a tight budget: There's no abandoned cart feature with BigCommerce's Standard plan.
Any business or individual looking for a helping hand to create a large online store, BigCommerce is a very capable contender.
While many website builders offer some form of ecommerce functionality, some are certainly better than others – and BigCommerce may just be the best around. Founded in 2009, the company’s platform includes online store creation, search engine optimization, hosting, and marketing and security from small to Enterprise sized businesses.
Getting started
First of all, the platform made it easy for us to build a store that looks good, with its drag-and-drop visual editor, fully-customizable themes, mobile optimization, and checkout customization. We also received plenty of support once we were ready to make our site live and hypothetically start selling. BigCommerce lets users sell physical, digital, and service-based products without needing to use an app and doesn’t lock sellers into a single payment plan, giving them more than 65 different payment gateways to choose from.
Features
Offering great scalability, a host of built-in features, fantastic SEO tools, and the ability to sell across multiple channels, BigCommerce is geared towards big brands that have plenty of customers to satisfy.
In terms of drawbacks, BigCommerce can use complex terminology at times that might make it a little confusing for inexperienced website builders and its design interface can take some getting used to. Having said that, it’s still not a bad choice for smaller retailers, as it has a staggered pricing plan dependent on how many sales your site generates. There’s also a free 15-day trial available, with no credit card details required.
What else you need to know
Overall, with more built-in sales tools and more scalability than its competitors, BigCommerce is a great choice for online retailers that have significant sales figures or smaller brands that are planning for major expansion.
Read our detailed BigCommerce review for more details on pricing, features, and ease of use
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | On the more expensive side compared to other ecommerce site builders. | ★★★☆☆ |
| Ease of use | Not the easiest to use and can be complex to get started with. | ★★★☆☆ |
| Features | Great features for ecommerce stores and no additional transaction fees. | ★★★★★ |
| Templates and design | There are professional templates and themes for almost every type of online store. | ★★★★☆ |
How to choose the best website builder services for you
There is great variety in terms of both the number and type of website builder available today. Some specialize in email marketing and others offer a first-rate ecommerce solution; some value simplicity, while others deliver so many customizable features that it could overwhelm a novice website creator.
When deciding on a website builder, therefore, it’s important that you have a clear plan in your own mind first. Think carefully about what sort of website you are looking to create – whether text or images will be the main focus, what sort of design you have in mind and, crucially, how much you want to pay.
Once you’ve come up with a mental framework for your prospective site and have a rough idea of your budget, you can start to look at your options. Whether you’ve used a website builder before will also be important to determine how comfortable you will be using some of the more complex platforms on offer.
You should also consider whether you’re likely to do most of your website editing from a mobile or desktop device. Most web builders offer mobile-responsive templates, but not all allow you to edit the mobile version without changing the desktop site too.
Choosing a website builder can seem complicated, but fortunately most come with free trials so you always have the option of changing your mind.
How we test the best website builder services
In the same way we test web hosting services, our reviewers also sign up and purchase plans from website builders and go through the same process a beginner would when creating a website for the first time.
We look at the features offered, ease-of-use, pricing, functionality, support and other add-ons like blogging and ecommerce capabilities. A key feature we look for in a website builder is if it offers you a free trial period to make up your mind and have a feel of the website builder before making a more permanent commitment.
Once our reviewers sign up to each website builder, they create a website to get an accurate depiction of what you can expect. We have tested and reviewed all website builders listed above.
Because nothing can be 100% perfect, we made sure to dig out the positives and negatives of each website builder so that you have a clear understanding of what to expect.
TechRadar's website builder rankings
There are so many other website builder services on the market that offer great services, some you may have heard of and some you may not have.
Either way, our top 21 rankings below deserve an honorary mention. This list is filled with popular website builder services and see some honorable mentions too.
| Provider | Summary |
|---|---|
| 1. Wix | The best website builder for overall performance and our top pick in most cases. |
| 2. Hostinger Website Builder | The best for marketing integration and a solid all-in-one solution. |
| 3. Squarespace | If blogging is what you need, Squarespace has you covered. |
| 4. Bluehost Website Builder | Best for all things WordPress website related. |
| 5. FridayWebsite Builder | Best for website building with Artificial Intelligence. |
| 6. Web.com Website Builder | A great option of you're looking for a user-friendly site builder. |
| 7. Gator Website Builder | A great website builder for features and add-ons. |
| 8. GoDaddy website Builder | A website builder that gives a little extra when it comes to customer support. |
| 9. IONOS MyWebsite | For a unique set of themes, IONOS has you covered. |
| 10. Elementor | An all in one solution with great plugins to match. |
| 11. Jimdo | A great and simple site builder for photographers. |
| 12. Network Solutions Website Builder | A site builder that accommodates mobile exceptionally well. |
| 13. BigCommerce | The best choice for big online stores. |
| 14. Weebly | The best choice for smaller online stores. |
| 15. Shopify | The best choice for a professionally-looking online store. |
| 16. Bandzoogle | A great choice for music websites and musicians in general. |
| 17. Duda | A flexible website builder packed with a ton of features. |
| 18. WordPress.com | A great choice if you're looking for a top quality CMS. |
| 19. Zenfolio | A good portfolio website builder service. |
| 20. Ucraft | A website builder that has an easy-to-use interface. |
| 21. DreamHost | A site builder that's great for small businesses. |
Best website builder FAQs
What is a website builder?
A website builder is a tool that enables the construction of a website (or multiple websites) without the need for coding. Website builders are for individuals and businesses that are looking to build, manage and maintain a website.
The tool is usually preferred by those who want to create an online presence for themselves or their business but are not necessary skilled website developers.
Online website builders usually require customers to sign up with a web hosting company, and most provide drag-and drop functionalities to make website building quick and efficient. With a good quality website builder, you can create basic personal web pages or social network content or business and ecommerce websites.
This can be done using a template or made from scratch which most builders give you both options.
Website builder vs web design software?
Website builders and web design software certainly have plenty of overlap. Both can be used to create beautiful, professional looking websites that have all the features that your business needs. The key difference lies in how they are delivered and how much prior knowledge is required to use them. In general, website builders are online platforms, often available in free versions, and which place a great deal of emphasis on simplicity, usually offering drag-and-drop editors. Web design software, on the other hand, is usually a bit more complex, with some geared towards experienced programmers and offering the option of coding a site line-by-line.
Another key difference between web design tools, such as Adobe Dreamweaver, and website builders, like Squarespace, is the price. Web design tools are often more expensive and there may not be a free option like there is with most website builders. Although web design tools will try to offer an intuitive experience, it’s probably a good idea to have some coding knowledge before giving them a try. Ultimately, whether a website builder or web design software is right for you will largely depend on your level of experience and also what sort of site you need. In most cases, a simple website builder will be sufficient, but if you want to tinker a little more, there’s no harm in trying a web design solution.
Free website builders vs paid website builders, which is better?
Why pay for a website builder when you can get one for free? Well, as is often the case, you usually get what you pay for. That isn’t to say, however, that there aren’t some great free website builders out there. Many free builders still come with all the features that you need to create fantastic online portals – customizable templates, intuitive drag-and-drop editors, marketing tools, and mobile optimization. Having a clear idea of how you want your website to look and conducting thorough research is key to avoiding paying more for a website builder than you need to.
It is true, however, that some features are less commonly included in free website builders. Ecommerce tools, for example, often have to be paid for and there are a number of other features that are usually excluded from free plans. Free website builders are often accompanied by advertisements that you will have no control over – you might not mind this but they can sometimes be intrusive. What’s more, they can make your site look unprofessional. Similarly, free website builders won’t give you a dedicated web address, which can also affect your credibility. Fortunately, many paid website builders have free trials that let you try before you buy.
How much does a website builder cost?
There is no straightforward answer to the question: “How much does a website builder cost?” For businesses that are satisfied with simple templates and are happy to put up with ads and a generic URL, website builders can be found that don’t cost anything at all. Of course, most brands would not be content with a free solution, which can deliver sites that look unprofessional. The good news is that there are some very effective website builders out there that are reasonably priced. Most work through a monthly billing system, with costs for entry-level plans sometimes as little as $6 a month.
One thing that all website administrators should be aware of, however, is how much website builders charge for additional features. Even if your basic web builder package is cheap, costs can quickly escalate if you have to buy add-ons for security, e-commerce functionality, and marketing tools. It is important that businesses have transparency when it comes to the expenses related to their website, so it’s probably a good idea to research prospective platforms thoroughly before making your choice. It’s also important to factor in whether your website builder is scalable: will it remain suitable as your business expands and how will costs increase?
How hard is it to build a website?
It may sound like a daunting prospect, but building a website is not necessarily difficult – although of course that all depends on how hands-on you want to be, the type of website you want, and your level of experience. Fortunately, many website builders are designed to appeal to the absolute beginner, coming with drag-and-drop editors that mean no coding experience is required at all. In fact, most web builders will have you up and running with a fully functioning site in under an hour. Alternatively, individuals with greater financial resources could hire a professional web designer to build their website for them.
For those that are willing to take on the website building process themselves, the level of difficulty involved will depend on what website builder they choose. Although all of them are relatively intuitive, some come with extra features that may require some knowledge of the website-building process to implement. Fortunately, most platforms come with decent levels of support, including how-to guides and video tutorials. It is worth mentioning, however, that many of the simplest website builders come with limited customization. For anyone that truly wants complete control over their site, some coding experience, as well as prior knowledge of HTML, will come in helpful.
WordPress vs a website builder: Which one is better for building a website?
Using WordPress or a website builder are both great options for anyone looking to build a website but each comes with its own advantages and drawbacks. Different from a website builder, WordPress is actually a content management system, or CMS, and is used to power 39% of the web. Since it was first launched, WordPress has added a number of features beyond its basic CMS offering, providing themes, add-ons, and ecommerce functionality. Novice website builders, however, may find that WordPress has something of a steep learning curve. The language can be quite technical and users may even need to adjust the odd piece of code in order to get a plugin to work.
While WordPress does offer both live chat and email support, less experienced users may find that a website builder is more welcoming. Most website builders pride themselves on their ease-of-use, with many using drag-and-drop editors that allow individuals to have their webpage up and running in a matter of minutes, even if they have no web building experience. Both WordPress and website builders come with several different payment plans to choose from and both are capable of producing fantastic looking sites. Neither approach could be said to better than the other, but website builders are certainly simpler to use in most cases.
Website builder vs web hosting: What’s the difference?
Most online users probably think of websites residing at their respective web address. In reality, websites need to be stored in a physical location as well, on servers somewhere. Web hosting refers to the provision and maintenance of these physical servers. Every website needs a web hosting provider in order to run the physical infrastructure that they depend upon to remain online. Complicating things somewhat is the fact that there are different types of web hosting available. Shared hosting is perfect for smaller sites as they share resources with other webpages in exchange for reduced fees. Dedicated hosting is more expensive but comes with more customization options, higher bandwidth, and better security.
In its simplest form, a website builder only provides the tools to design a web page and is not involved with the physical web hosting at all. However, many website builders also offer web hosting - although an additional cost may be applied. Of course, for anyone that does not use a website builder to create their online portal, they’ll need to source their own web hosting provider separately. Put in the most straightforward terms, a website builder affects how a website looks, while web hosting tells you where a website is physically stored.
What is the best website builder for beginners?
The best website builder for beginners is Wix. This is simply down to the fact that Wix's website builder is extremely straight forward and easy to use. Wix also has regular offers and discounts for beginners. Building a web store with Wix is very simple as you won't need any coding experience. Wix is also the best small business website builder for these very same reasons.
If it's your first time building a website, you will want to commit to a website builder that's effortless to use. Wix fits the bill, letting you build and publish a website in minutes. Wix also has an artificial design intelligence (ADI) system that will ask you some broad questions about the type of website you want to create. Wix will then give you a website shell tailored to the type of website you want to create, based on the answers you give to the questions.
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