2023’s Best Website Builder: Reviews of Top 8 Platforms

Do you want to build a website, but you’re not sure where to start? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. In this blog post, we’ll be helping you choose the best website builder available to match your needs and budget.

Why is this important for you? Well, whether you’re thinking of starting your own small business, setting up an online store, or launching a cool new personal project, having a website is a powerful way to share your ideas with the world.

You might be thinking, “building a website sounds hard!” But, that’s where website builders come in. They’re designed to make it easy for anyone to create a website, even if you don’t know how to code and have no experience.

When using a website builder, you can pick a design you like, drag and drop things where you want them, and in no time, you’ll have a website that looks professionally made. With that, you will be able to focus on creating content instead of wondering how to solve some technical issues. 👍

The thing is, not all website builders are created equal. Some are better for selling things online, while others give you more freedom to customize the design of your site. To help you figure out which one is best for you, we’ve tested the most popular ones out there. We’ve looked at what those website builders can do, how easy they are to use, and how much they cost.

So, come along as we journey through the best website builders of 2023. We’ll give you all the information you need to pick the one that’s right for you and get started on creating a fantastic website. Let’s get building!

But first, a quick summary for those in a hurry:

1. Wix (www.wix.com)

A good all-around builder with affordable prices

• Overall rating: 5/5
• Templates: ✅ 800+
• Blogging tool? ✅
• Ecommerce functionality? ✅
• Free plan? ✅
• Paid plans from: $16.00 / month

Wix is a versatile, user-friendly website builder that lets you start crafting a site for free. With its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, AI-powered design tool (Wix ADI), and diverse templates, building a website becomes very approachable for everyone.

Whether you’re making a basic site or serious online store, Wix has you covered. It’s also a tool designed to grow with your evolving needs. There are different tiers based on the scale of your site or budget.

Plus, Wix is also a fairly popular website builder of the bunch. The current numbers say that it runs 2.3% of all websites. ^[1].

How it works

To launch your Wix site, you first need to sign up for a free account. Then, Wix will ask you a few questions to simplify the website creation process. This is great because it means you get an experience that’s tailored specifically to you:

Then, you can:

• Let the WIX AI create a website for you (an especially unique feature). Basically, you’ll answer more questions, and then the AI will actually pick a template for you based on your answers.
• Choose a template from the 800+ templates available, if you’d rather pick the template yourself.

Want to learn more about Wix? Check out our Wix review or our Wix tutorial.

Ease of use and time investment

No matter whether you choose the WIX AI or your own template, you’ll eventually land in the Wix editor to finish out customizing your site.

The Wix editor gives you a great deal of control over your site, but it also feels significantly more overwhelming than Squarespace’s editor because it presents so many options at once.

If you’ve built a few websites before, you might like all those options. But if this is your first time using a website builder, you might struggle with the learning curve:

If you want more functionality, you can add in 250+ apps from the Wix App Market.

Pros and cons

👍

• Very easy to set up by anyone.
• Offers design flexibility and many apps for functionality.
• WIX AI tools are cool because they build most of your website for you.

👎

• Wix won’t let you switch to another template if you have already built your site with a specific template.
• When it comes to extra functionality, you are limited to what’s in the Wix store. You cannot install third-party tools.

Pricing

Wix offers a limited free plan with Wix ads and a Wix subdomain. Paid plans with your own branding and no Wix ads start at $16.00 per month. But serious businesses should spring for the $22.00 per month plan, at a minimum.

2. Squarespace (www.squarespace.com)

The best website builder for creatives (and others)

• Overall rating: 5/5
• Templates: ✅ 65+
• Blogging tool? ✅
• Ecommerce functionality? ✅
• Free plan? ❌
• Paid plans from: $16.00 / month

By the numbers, Squarespace is the most popular website builder, as well as the most popular hosted content management system. It powers 2.0% of all websites on the Internet according to W3Techs ^[1].

Squarespace includes great-looking templates for a variety of niches, as well as an easy onboarding process that makes it easy to build a website even if you have no technical skills.

If you want to learn more, you can check out our Squarespace review or our Squarespace tutorial.

How it works

To get started, Squarespace has you pick a base template from the 65+ available templates. The templates are divided by category and, as a general rule, have great modern, minimalist looks:

Once you choose your base template, you’ll need to create a Squarespace account (it’s free to start – so you can test things out with no credit card required).

And as soon as you create your account, Squarespace launches you into the editor so that you can customize your site.

Not sure about Squarespace? Read these:

• Squarespace vs WordPress
• Squarespace vs Wix
• Best Squarespace Alternatives

Ease of use and time investment

Because Squarespace has you start from one of the pre-made templates, you don’t need to worry about building your website’s design from scratch.

Instead, you’ll basically just use Squarespace’s drag-and-drop editor to:

• Edit the existing template data
• If desired, add new content, like more text, images, a newsletter form, etc.

Editing content is as simple as typing on the page:

And you can add new content by inserting new “blocks”:

All in all, you get a good deal of control without a huge time investment.

Pros and cons

👍

• It comes with a rich package of features and integrations – one of the most generous on the list.
• It provides a variety of templates with modern, unique, and gorgeous designs.

👎

• It doesn’t come with an app marketplace. Even though it’s strong when it comes to its set of features, you can’t install extra functionality if you ever need it.

Pricing

Squarespace starts at $16.00 per month, billed annually. A small business will likely want the $23.00 per month plan, though.

3. Weebly (www.weebly.com)

A solid option for all types of sites

• Overall rating: 4.5/5
• Templates: ✅
• Blogging tool? ✅
• Ecommerce functionality? ✅
• Free plan? ✅
• Paid plans from: $12.00 / month

Recently acquired by Square for $365 million in April 2018, Weebly is a long-standing website builder that helps you create both standard websites and ecommerce stores (the ecommerce aspect will likely become more prominent with Square’s involvement) ^[2].

Weebly currently powers 0.5% of all the websites on the Internet ^[1]. If you want a deeper look, we have a full Weebly vs Wix comparison post.

How it works

Like the others, you get started with Weebly by signing up for a free account.

From there, you can choose from a variety of themes (the exact number depends on what type of site you’re building – e.g. a store vs a business site):

Ease of use and time investment

Once you select your website theme, Weebly will launch you into the editor. If you want to edit existing content, you can just click on the live preview. And if you want to add new content, you just drag it over from the options on the left:

Again, Weebly’s editor doesn’t go quite as deep as Wix. But it does a good job of keeping things simple while still giving you enough control to customize your site.

And if you need additional functionality, you can connect to the Weebly app store.

Pros and cons

👍

• The editor is straightforward, easy to grasp, and has drag-and-drop functionality.
• It comes with third-party integrations.
• You get SSL certificates in all plans, including free.

👎

• The editor’s features are basic – a good fit for a simple website. If you need a complex one, you won’t find advanced capabilities in Weebly.
• It offers only around 50 templates.

Pricing

Weebly has a branded free plan. After that, paid plans start at $12.00 per month.

4. Shopify (www.shopify.com)

The best website builder for ecommerce stores

• Overall rating: 4/5
• Templates: ✅ 140+
• Blogging tool? ✅
• Ecommerce functionality? ✅ – it’s Shopify’s main strength
• Free plan? ✅
• Paid plans from: $24.00 / month

Shopify is a bit of a twist because it’s focused exclusively focused on ecommerce, rather than helping you create a multipurpose site. By the numbers, Shopify powers 4.1% of all websites on the Internet, which makes it the second most popular way to make a website (only after WordPress, which has a whopping 43.1% market share) ^[1]. It’s also the second most popular way to build an ecommerce store, behind WooCommerce.

Basically, it’s not the best website builder overall, but it’s probably your best option if you’re serious about creating an ecommerce store.

If you want to learn more, you can check out our Shopify review or our Shopify tutorial.

How it works

Shopify operates on similar principles to the other website builders, but with a slightly different process.

Once you sign up for a free Shopify account, you’ll need to provide a little bit of information. From there, it will drop you into the Shopify dashboard:

This is where you’ll:

• Choose a theme
• Add products
• Install apps for more functionality

Ease of use and time investment

Because Shopify is focused on ecommerce, it’s going to take you a bit more time to set up your store than a regular website builder.

In addition to the information above, you’ll also need to set up payment gateways, configure tax rates, and perform other housekeeping actions.

Shopify tries to make things as easy as possible, though. For example, the Theme Customizer/editor makes it easy to tweak your store. And even though it’s focused on ecommerce, you can still add other functionality, like a blog.

The only downside, though, is that there’s no “inline editing”. That means, unlike all the other website builders, you can’t just click on text to edit it:

Pros and cons

👍

• It is easy to set up and work with for any casual user.
• It provides the full package of ecommerce features, including marketing, user interface, and design.

👎

• It can become expensive if you want to expand your business and integrate advanced ecommerce features.
• If you are an experienced user who wants to tweak the online store yourself, Shopify doesn’t leave much room for custom code or unique improvements.

Pricing

Shopify’s plans start at $24.00 per month. For more detail, we have a post that’s dedicated to explaining Shopify pricing plans.

5. Bluehost Website Builder

A website builder that builds you a WordPress site the easy way

• Overall rating: 4/5
• Templates: ✅
• Blogging tool? ✅
• Ecommerce functionality? ✅
• Free plan? ❌
• Paid plans from: from $2.75 / month

Bluehost Website Builder is a bit different from the other website builders on this list because it is not a standalone platform. It is based on WordPress.org, which means that it helps you create a website with WordPress.

If you ask me, that’s actually a perk. Why? Because starting a website on WordPress.org by yourself might not be the easiest thing to do. So Bluehost does the job for you by offering all the resources you need in one place.

How it works

To start a WordPress website with Bluehost Website Builder, you first need to pick a pricing package. Then, choose your domain name, fill out the details about your account at checkout, and submit.

During the setup wizard, choose the Bluehost Website Builder as the main website building method and follow the instructions.

At the end of the setup, you can enter your dashboard. From there, you can manage your WordPress sites: create pages, customize the design, install plugins and themes, and add content.

To customize a site’s design, you can use the Bluehost Website Builder’s drag-and-drop editor. Add pre-built templates and customize every section to your liking via the visual interface.

Ease of use and time investment

The Bluehost Website Builder editor is intuitive and simple enough for the casual user. You can use the left-side menu to insert elements, create menus and pages, customize the design, and check settings.

You can drag and drop elements to create your own pages either from a pre-built template or by putting together existing sections. Each element is customizable via the right sidebar.

You can also choose to customize your entire site using WordPress’ default block editor or customizer by clicking on the WP Admin icon in the left menu. This method is as easy to use as the Bluehost drag-and-drop editor. You just click on a block and customize its elements via the right sidebar.

Pros and cons

👍

• You can start a WordPress website the easy way – in just a few minutes – without having to deal with the classic and more burdensome installation from scratch.
• You get access to the full WordPress dashboard.
• It comes with over 11,000 free WordPress themes for any niche and industry + even more premium themes.
• It’s cheap.

👎

• You cannot change the layout of a section template, so it doesn’t offer the same flexibility as other website builders.
• The designs of the templates in the editor are basic.
• You don’t get a free domain in the cheapest plan.

Pricing

The pricing plans for Bluehost Website Builder start at $2.75/month for one basic website. If you want more websites, security, more storage, free CDN, or ecommerce features, prices vary from $4.95 to $13.95 per month.

6. WordPress.com (wordpress.com)

The best website builder for people who want flexibility

• Overall rating: 4/5
• Templates: ✅
• Blogging tool? ✅
• Ecommerce functionality? ✅
• Free plan? ✅
• Paid plans from: $4 / month

WordPress.com is a service that gives you an easy way to create a website built with the open-source WordPress software. WordPress powers 43.1% of all the websites on the internet, and WordPress.com gives you the simplest way of getting into the WordPress ecosystem ^[3].

The open-source WordPress software, AKA WordPress.org, is free software that you can install on your own web hosting. It’s a great way to make a website, but it’s not quite a “website builder” because you’re the one responsible for installing and maintaining the software.

WordPress.com is a service based on WordPress that brings a more website builder-like experience to WordPress by handling all of the setup and maintenance for you. But, as long as you pay for the WordPress.com Business plan, you still get access to pretty much all of the flexibility of WordPress, including the ability to install your own themes and plugins *.

With the ability to install plugins, you can add pretty much any feature to your site. You can even create a WordPress-powered ecommerce store powered by the WooCommerce plugin.

* You need to pay for the Business plan to be able to install plugins – you can’t install plugins on the cheap/free plans.

How it works

Unlike self-hosted WordPress, you can get started with a website powered by WordPress.com just by registering for an account.

From there, WordPress.com will launch you into a simple setup wizard where you can add details for your site, choose a theme, and make some other basic choices:

Once you’ve done that, you can manage your site from a dashboard area like this:

Again, if you’re paying for the WordPress.com Business plan, you also have the option to install custom plugins to further tweak your site.

You can find a WordPress plugin for literally any feature imaginable – check out some of the most popular plugins to get some ideas.

Ease of use and time investment

While the self-hosted WordPress software is a little more complex than your average website builder, the WordPress.com service does a good job of simplifying things.

The setup wizard can have you up and running with a working website in just a few minutes. For simple sites, that might be all you need.

If you want to go more in-depth, you can consider installing a page builder plugin like Elementor, which will give you access to a visual, drag-and-drop design experience like this:

Unlike self-hosted WordPress, you won’t need to worry about security or maintenance when you create your site with WordPress.com.

Pros and cons

👍

• You can use the WordPress block editor to create posts and pages – which has a simple, visual interface.
• You can install thousands of third-party plugins and themes if you upgrade to the Business plan.

👎

• It’s not the most straightforward platform when it comes to editing and customizing your site as it might require additional research beforehand.

Pricing

While WordPress.com does have a free plan and some cheap plans, we don’t recommend those plans if you’re looking for a full-featured website builder.

Instead, you should pay for at least the Business plan, which unlocks the full flexibility of the WordPress software. It costs $25 per month if paid annually or $33 per month if paid monthly.

7. SiteBuilder (www.sitebuilder.com)

The most affordable website builder on this list

• Overall rating: 3.5/5
• Templates: ✅
• Blogging tool? ✅
• Ecommerce functionality? ✅
• Free plan? ❌
• Paid plans from: $4.95 / month

With promotional prices starting at just $4.95 per month, and regular prices at $10, $12 and $18, SiteBuilder is one of the most affordable website builders on this list.

How it works

SiteBuilder doesn’t offer a free account or free trial, so you’ll need to pay before you can start building your site.

From there, you can choose a pre-built template from the hundreds of templates that SiteBuilder offers, including a nice category filter to help you find the perfect template:

Ease of use and time investment

After you pick a template, you’ll be able to edit it using SiteBuilder’s simple visual editor. It offers a grid-less drag-and-drop approach. That is, you’ll be able to drag elements anywhere on your site – you’re not constrained by a grid:

If you want, you can also add a blog or ecommerce functionality, depending on your plan.

Pros and cons

👍

• It’s cheap.
• It has plenty of modern templates to choose from, which you can filter by niche and industry.

👎

• The builder has customization limitations. You can’t customize a template much and you also can’t add custom coding to most parts of the site.

Pricing

SiteBuilder’s regular plans start at $10 per month, but they offer 50% off your first billing cycle, which lets you get started for as little as $4.95 per month.

8. Strikingly (www.strikingly.com)

A good basic option for simple websites

• Overall rating: 3.5/5
• Templates: ✅ 25+
• Blogging tool? ✅
• Ecommerce functionality? ✅
• Free plan? ✅
• Paid plans from: $8 / month

Founded in 2013, Strikingly is much younger than the other website builders on this list. It’s probably not a great option if you’ve already built a few websites and like to tinker. But if you just want a tool to build a basic website, its simple editor keeps things uncomplicated.

How it works

To get started, you sign up for a free Strikingly account. Then, it drops you into an interface where you choose from the many available templates:

Ease of use and time investment

Once you select your template, Strikingly dumps you straight into the editor. This free website builder tool is a lot simpler than Wix. And while, to be honest, it does look a little dated, it’s actually pretty intuitive for most of the things a small business needs.

One especially handy feature is built-in spots that suggest adding a specific element. For example, on the template I chose, it suggested adding a button to the hero section:

Strikingly’s editor definitely sacrifices some flexibility for ease of use. But if you don’t have a ton of experience and just want to build a great-looking small business site, that may well be enough for you.

Pros and cons

👍

• It has a feature that suggests optimal places to add various elements to a template.
• You can create unlimited sites in the free version.

👎

• It’s one of the most basic website builders on this list. You don’t have too many customization options.
• You get only five pages and one product per site in both the free version and the first paid plan.

Pricing

Strikingly has a free plan if you’re ok with using a Strikingly subdomain. After that, paid plans start at $8 per month.

Website builder FAQS 🙋

As we finish out our collection, let’s run over some common questions you might have…

Nothing doing? WordPress.org might still be the best website builder for you

Couldn’t find the best website builder for you in the list above? You can always stick with the tried-and-true self-hosted WordPress approach (c’mon, we’re a WordPress blog – you didn’t think we’d go the whole post without one mention of WordPress, right?).

As we mentioned in the WordPress.com section, WordPress is the most popular way to build a website in existence, powering 43.1% of all the websites on the Internet ^[3].

There are some good reasons for that, too:

When you build your website with self-hosted WordPress, you have 100% control over your website, which is something that even the best website builder can’t match. It’s also easy to customize because you have:

• A huge library of WordPress plugins to add new functionality. There are over 58,000 free plugins alone.
• Tens of thousands of WordPress themes, which dwarfs any of the template lists you’ll find at a website builder.

Now, if you just want a super simple site, you might not actually need all that functionality. But if you want an easy-to-use platform that gives you the flexibility to do anything you want, none of these tools can beat WordPress.

If you’re interested in learning more about using WordPress to build your site, here are some resources to get you started:

• How to use WordPress for local business
• How to start an online store with WordPress
• The best WordPress page builder plugins – these add easy drag-and-drop editing that approximates the website builder editors you saw above.

Have any other questions about picking the best website builder for your business? Leave a comment and we’ll try to help out!

* This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and then purchase the product, we’ll receive a small commission. No worries though, you’ll still pay the standard amount so there’s no additional cost on your part.