Website builders are online tools that make building your own website quick, easy, and hassle-free. They offer a more budget-friendly option than hiring a web designer, and best of all, you don’t even need to know how to code! Here are our top 6 picks for website builders and best website hosting services.
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#1. Wix
Best All-Round Website Builder
Pricing range: free – $500 per month
Wix is an extremely beginner-friendly website builder that gives you total creative control over your site. Unlike some other builders, it doesn’t sacrifice power or customizability for ease – instead, it combines simple drag-and-drop editing tools with a huge range of features.
It has a free plan, and eight premium plans starting at $14 per month. You get over 500 templates to choose from, but choose carefully – you can’t switch your template once your site goes live.
In our testing, Wix received the highest “likely to recommend” score from our users – so our advice is, if you’re unsure about which website builder to use, give Wix a spin for free and see how you get on.
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#2. Squarespace
Best for Creatives and Quality Designs
Pricing range: $12 – $40 per month
Squarespace is a sophisticated website builder that has a lot to offer creatives and businesses alike. It’s not the easiest to use builder on the market, but it still won’t take long to get used to – it just needs a little more time and patience than Wix.
Where Squarespace really shines is its template designs – they’re the best on the market, and are perfect for creatives who want a visually impressive website (and standing out is important, since as of January 2021 there are over 1.8 billion websites on the internet!). It’s not a case of style over substance, however – Squarespace also has a huge range of features to give your site the power it needs.
Squarespace also has a 14-day free trial. If you love the trial and want to sign up, there are four premium plans to choose from, starting from $12 per month.
#3. Weebly
Best for Small Businesses and Portfolios
Pricing range: free – $26 per month
Weebly is a simple website builder that nevertheless packs a powerful punch when it comes to features – especially ecommerce and blogging. It’s pretty easy to use, but is also more limited than its competitors in terms of design and customizability.
It has a free plan, and three paid plans ranging from just $6 up to $26 per month (billed annually). These cheap starter plans makes Weebly one of the most affordable website builders on the market.
#4. SITE123
Best for Help and Support via Live Chat
Pricing range: free – $12.80 per month
SITE123 gets back to basics to bring you a super simple and beginner-friendly website builder. It’s best for those with no tech experience, as it can quickly become limiting if you ask too much from it.
SITE123 makes it easy to create simple websites. Thanks to its live chat support and straightforward design, you can publish your website without wasting a moment.
Brilliant customer support is this website builder’s main strength. The live chat feature means you can easily get help if you get stuck while creating or editing your website. If you’re a beginner or are looking to set up your site fast, SITE123 is a safe choice.
However, it’s not a powerful builder – it lacks advanced features, and isn’t a scalable option for growing a website. Still, with a free plan and great support, SITE123 is a perfect choice for first-time builders.
#5. Strikingly
Best for Value for Money
Pricing range: free – $49 per month
Strikingly is another beginner-friendly website builder that specializes in one-page websites. It also provides the best value for money out of all the website builders we tested!
It’s not ideal for complex websites, but Strikingly’s free plan includes some great basic features, making it popular with bloggers and freelancers. That said, you might find the one-page design and basic level of customization limiting if you have grand plans for your site.
If you want to use a personalized domain name, you’ll need one of Strikingly’s three premium plans, which range from $8 to $49 per month (billed annually).
#6. Duda
Best for Lending a Creative Hand
Pricing range: $14 – $74 per month
Duda is a clear winner for anyone in search of website design that’s pure, polished, and simple.
The builder https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/ is easy to use, giving you drag-and-drop functionality combined with structured and stylish templates. This makes it perfect for anyone who cares about design, but isn’t ready for total creative freedom over their site.
There are over 90 templates to choose from, covering a range of industries from business to lifestyle. You get creative control over customization, but within the template’s limits – you’re still largely guided by your chosen design.
These features make Duda ideal for web designers creating multiple websites for clients – in fact, that’s what Duda was originally built for!
The main drawback of Duda is that it’s the most expensive website builder on our list, with prices starting at $14 per month. Still, there’s a 14-day free trial for you to have a go on.
Best Web Hosting Providers
DreamHost
Dreamhost
- Shared hosting starting at $2.59 a month
- WordPress hosting starting at $2.59 a month
- Managed virtual private server hosting starting at $10 a month
- Dedicated servers starting at $149 a month
- Cloud hosting starting at $4.50 a month
- Email hosting starting a $1.67 a month
SiteGround
SiteGround
- Shared hosting starting at $7 a month
- WordPress hosting starting at $7 a month
- E-commerce hosting starting at $7 a month
- Managed cloud hosting starting at $110 a month
- Reseller hosting starting at $10 a month
- Enterprise hosting options
(sources: websitebuilderexpert.com, cnet.com)