19 Website Builders Battle Tested (so you don’t have to)

The idea behind a website builder is that it makes your life easy. Individuals and businesses no longer need to hire a developer to develop a website. But, the biggest challenge here is to find a website builder that’s right for your needs. 

There are numerous website builders, one promises to outdo the other. But most often, no one ends up using all the features and functionalities that each website builder offers.

So how do you decide which website builder is right for your needs? We did the hard work so you don’t have to. Below are 19 of the best website builders that we battle tested in our engineering labs. You can go through the full list one by one or simple click on any of the following links to jump directly over to that specific website builder.

  1. Weebly
  2. Wix
  3. WebNode
  4. IM Creator
  5. Squarespace
  6. Jimdo
  7. WordPress
  8. Site123
  9. 1&1 MyWebsite
  10. Voog
  11. WebStarts
  12. uCraft
  13. Bookmark
  14. WebsiteBuilder
  15. Webs
  16. SiteBuilder
  17. Sitey
  18. Strikingly
  19. Mozello

#1. Weebly: A Powerful Website Builder With Some Smart Templates

Weebly is an open source SaaS that is appropriate for both growing startups and established businesses.

Core Features

This website builder lets you create a website in the old school day by offering an intuitive drag and drop interface, integrated CMS solutions and hand-coded HTML files.

Skills Required To Use Weebly

It is easy to develop dynamic, customized websites in Weebly, but you can also take the help of an efficient Weebly developer who is an expert in meeting challenges and successfully transforming them into the opportunities. The developer can provide you with the training also which is required to manage the website after it’s built and launched.

Pricing

There are no hidden costs for constructing a new website. But this builder also offers premium and eCommerce versions that are useful for big brands.

Weebly Starter: $8/mth

Weebly Pro: $12/mth

Weebly Business: $25/mth

#2. Wix: Facilitates Quick, Easy, And Powerful Website Creation

Wix is one of the most popular free website builders which specializes in developing search engine friendly HTML5 websites.

Core Features

Its website editor is advanced, user-friendly and easy-to-use. Also, it has a huge collection of website templates and lots of template categories from which you can choose the one in accordance with your specific needs.

Skills Required To Use Wix

You can create your professional website just with four simple steps that are choosing the right template, customizing your website, adding professional tools, and getting the site online.

Pricing

The free plan of Wix has some limitations, but its paid plan is a worthy choice for as it removes all the ads and lets you develop a website by using a personal domain and provides unlimited bandwidth alongside 20x the storage space.

Wix Combo: $11/mth

Wix Unlimited: $14/mth

Wix eCommerce: $17/mth

#3. WebNode: Popular For Building Dynamic Websites Quickly

WebNode is another immensely popular choice among entrepreneurs who want to create dynamic website designs. It has over 27 million customers across the globe.

Core Features

WebNode has an intuitive in-house editor which is loaded with different customized tools which let you build mobile-friendly websites rapidly. Moreover, this platform provides you with the statistics so that you can easily track the progress of your website.

One of the most striking features of WebNode is that you don’t have to deal with cumbersome ads and pop-ups because even the free package is ad free. You can use your own domain name or register for one via the WebNode directly.

Skills Required To Use WebNode

You can easily use this platform for building websites quickly if you can’t commit much time to working on a template design. This website builder has a zero learning curve but it somehow limits your creative potential in comparison to other website builders.

Pricing

Limited: $3.95/month/annual billing

Mini: $5.95/month/annual billing

Standard: $11.95/month/annual billing

Profi: $19.95/month/annual billing

#4. IM Creator: A Comprehensive Portal Comes With In-Built E-commerce Tools & Hosting Options

This website builder is a cost-efficient and ideal choice for beginners who want to develop interactive websites. This platform is highly scalable and is appropriate for both single and multipage layouts.

Core Features

IM Creator is blessed with a unique XPRS feature which allows users to make their websites using readymade blocks, each beautifully constructed and extremely compatible with the other. This builder is known for making website building simple and enjoyable. Also, it offers SEO and Google Analytics in order to fully optimize your site for search engines.

Skills Required To Use IMCreator

Here you are not suppose to deal with complex coding or special software skills. Its interface is very user-friendly and you can easily build e-commerce websites, blogs, and e-stores.

Pricing

Premium Plan Includes:

$ 9.95 /mo Biannual

$ 7.95 /mo 1-year

$ 6.95 /mo 2-Year

$ 5.95 /mo 3-Year

PRO & WHITELABLE Plan at $350 / Year

#5. Squarespace: An All-In-One Platform To Build Beautiful Online Presence

This website builder is blessed with powerful customization tools and classy templates. It is an ideal option for building professional websites that look beautifully designed and expensive as though the user has invested time and money on developing it. There are around 70 responsive templates grouped into 14 categories including community & non-profit, online stores, health & fitness, and art & design.

Core Features

It has a wide range of templates that cover different styles and industries. The in-house editor of Squarespace is not only rich in features but also offer integrations with a wide range of 3rd-party services (like Amazon, OpenTable, Bandsintown and more). It works on a sleek design philosophy with a clean interface and simple drag-and-drop or click-to-select design.

Skills Required To Use Squarespace

There is no need for users to have a coding experience for building a website with Squarespace because the editor offers the flexibility of inserting your own HTML code for further customization and modification of your website.

Pricing

Websites

Personal: $12 Per Month Billed Annually Or $16 Month To Month

Business: $18 Per Month Billed Annually Or $26 Month To Month

Online Stores

Basic: $26 Per Month Billed Annually Or $30 Month To Month

Advanced: $40 Per Month Billed Annually Or $46 Month To Month

#6. Jimdo: A Unique Package With A Lucrative Free Plan

This website builder is handy if you are new to the world of site development. There is no need for you to spend long hours on figuring out how to do things. This builder is time-saver and allow users to get their online presence quickly.

Core Features

Jimdo is an open source and free website builder. It’s integrated with the cloud- free backups unlimited storage and bandwidth. Also, it is a multi lingual platform that caters to the specific requirements of all the clients across the globe. The free package of this builder is a lucrative options with a range of editing tools and really cool templates.

This website builder is extremely suitable for small-scale startups or growing commercial ventures who require powerful e-commerce solutions in order to expand their customer base.

Skills Required To Use Jimdo

In order to use this website builder properly, you need to have the basic technical knowledge as it provides you with the option of tweaking the HTML/CSS source file. It is advisable to take professional help so that to develop high-end sites using Jimdo.

Pricing

Pro: $7.5

Business: $20

Platinum: $30

#7. WordPress: Integrated With A Simplified Website Builder Design & Ideal Platform For Blogging

This platform is perfect for those who need a highly customized business or personal site. It has wide range of free templates and is ideal for blogging. It has all the features of WordPress.org but it offers a simplified design for website building.

Core Features

WordPress has extensive in-built blogging features such as analytics, a search feature, display categories, comments, archiving, and many more. Also, this platform lets you develop an intuitive design for your website by enabling you to choose your settings for feature images and which blog posts should appear on your home page. Clearly, this builder is built for blogging.

Skills Required To Use WordPress

It not mandatory that you need to know the basics of coding in order to use this platform efficiently. But it is a good idea to get familiar with the basics so that you can get the most out of WordPress.

Pricing

Personal: Rs.200/Year

Premium: Rs.350/Year

Business: Rs.800/Year

#8. SITE123: An Easy To Use Website Builder With Responsive Templates & Simplistic Layouts

This website builder is one of the easiest and most user-friendly builders that is in business for more than 15 years. You can customize every aspect of your website and tailor in accordance with your specific business needs.

Core Features

All you need to do with this builder is that choose a template, edit it, and publish it online. It offers a wide range of attractive graphics and templates which you can incorporate and establish a robust web presence. It has an intuitive editor that is easy for you to get hold of. Websites built with SITE123 are capable to function smoothly on all screen resolutions and haev a high SEO ranking.

Skills Required To Use SITE123

It is easy for you to use SITE123 without any basic technical or coding language because it has ready-made templates for developing a website. You can first choose from 11 different categories (including cv, portfolio, blog, music) and then you get a default web design. You just have to edit it using the various tools.

Pricing

Premium: $10.80/Month

#9. 1&1 MyWebsite: A Robust All-Round Offering But Not Pocket-Friendly

This website builder has a powerful drag-and-drop editor loaded with professional and offers a wide range of highly customizable templates. Its editor gives you the freedom to make potential adjustments and tweaks in your website. This builder is well-known to streamline the entire process of website development.

Core Features

One of the most unique features of 1&1 MyWebsite is that it allows the users to point to their old website in order to import media content from there straight into their new site. This feature saves a lot of time for the users. It is an ideal alternative for building multilingual websites.

Skills Required To Use 1&1 MyWebsite

This website builder promises to provide you with a robust web presence in no time even if you have no coding knowledge. In case you need any support during the development, it has a 24*7 customer support hotline.

Pricing

Basic – $0.99/month for 1 month then $9.99/month (Plan price for 12 months)

Personal – $2.99/month for 2 months then $6.99/month(Plan price for 12 months)

Plus – $9.99/month for 3 months then $19.99/month (Plan price for 12 months)

Bundled Offer: Plus+rankingCoach Pro – $19.99/month for 12 months then $29.99/month

#10. Voog: A Powerful Site Builder With A Free 30 Day Trial Offer

Voog is popular for providing the experts with powerful low-level control that is required to build high-end websites. This builder is a mess-free platform known for enabling the users build awesome websites with a creative flow.

Core Features

One of the most striking features of Voog is that it has a handy system that lets users create versions of every single page for different languages that visitors can access by hitting a flag icon to choose a different language. Also, it has a easy-to-use and sparse editor. Voog has a different way to add e-commerce to the websites.

Skills Required To Use 1&1 Voog

This website builder is an ideal platform for skilled developers as well an inexperienced users. The programmers can utilize a wide assortment of tools to exercise their coding skills. On the other hand, for inexperienced users there are a variety of templates and simple drag and drop customization tools that enable them to build great tailor-made websites.

Pricing

Standard: € 6 per month billed annually or €8 monthly

Plus: € 10 per month billed annually or €14 monthly

Premium: € 39 per month billed annually or €50 monthly

#11. WebStarts: The Best Organized & Simplest Website Builder

This website builder provides the users with website building options that cover all the basic features and functions efficiently. WebStarts allows users to see how their content would look to the end users while designing a website. The websites build with this builder are accessible and visible on all devices.

Core Features

WebStarts has a blank canvas editor that can be customized the way in which users want. The website builder is WYSIWYG platform as it provides the users with a list of content elements that they can drag and drop on a pre selected template. Also, because of the grid view design of the interface everything is kept clean and organized. It can be used to build contact forms, beautiful portfolios, web stores, and blogs.

Skills Required To Use WebStarts

It is easy to create awesome sites using WebStarts even if you have no coding skills. You just have to select a design, get a custom domain, and drive massive traffic to your website.

Pricing

Pro – $4.89/month

Pro Plus – $7.16/month

Business – $19.99/month

#12. ucraft: Best Suited For Creative Folks Who Have An Eye Detail & Artistic Designs

This website builder features a block based framework that means that the websites are built by stacking blocks vertically on top of another. It has a wide range of customizable templates and images that are visually appealing. This website builder is new to the business but established a strong presence among entrepreneurs and programmers.

Core Features

You get around 32 themes and 13 landing pages from which you can choose the best for your site. ucraft allows users to build blogs, forms portfolios, and e-stores. All stores are integrated with giant platforms like Paypal, and Intercom in order to ensure high performance. Also, it allows users to create newsletters and integrate them with Google Docs or MailChimp.

Skills Required To Use ucraft

Even if you have a zero website building experience, you can easily master this website builder. You just have to register yourself or use your social media account in order to sign up for the platform and build feature-rich custom websites.

Pricing

Website: $6/mo. – Billed Monthly & $72/yr. – Billed Annually plus other benefits

eCommerce: $13/mo. – Billed Monthly & $156/yr. – Billed Annually plus other benefits

Pro: $39/mo. – Billed Monthly & $375/yr. – Billed Annually plus other benefits

Unlimited: $79/mo. – Billed Monthly & $730/yr. – Billed Annually plus other benefits

#13. Bookmark: A Responsive & User-Friendly Web Development Platform

Bookmark is a cloud based website builder and an ideal alternative for first-time users. With this builder you can create websites specifically tailored to suit the unique requirements of any business and market expectations. Bookmark provides the users with free domain registration services but they are allowed to create only 10 pages under a single domain.

Core Features

One of its unique feature is that this platform is powered by an artificial intelligence design assistant called AiDA. This builder offers regular analytics tools, SEO tools, plug-ins, and CRM solutions. Its interface has a dashborad and an intuitive in-house editor. Users get a chance to choose from 19 pre-existing themes and professional templates. Also, the Focus menu offers a wide range of readymade content blocks for managing video graphics, contacts, CTA, and checklists. It’s easy to integrate social media platforms to your website so that to expand your customer base.

Skills Required To Use Bookmark

Anyone with zero coding knowledge even can use Bookmark and build great customized websites. This website builder provide the users with the ability to make changes on the fly and one-on-one support. Bookmark empowers its users with unparalleled simplicity that is not offered by any other website builder.

Pricing

Professional – $14.99/month or $11.99/month (annual billing)

Business – $29.99/month or $24.99/month (annual billing)

#14. WebsiteBuilder: An Smart Option For Both Established Businesses & Startups To Build Mobile-Friendly Websites

This is the best choice for both professionals and amateurs. WebsiteBuilder offers customizable layouts, colorful templates, and attractive graphics. It allows users to edit the website and publish the updates live once the website is launched.

Core Features

WebsiteBuilder has an intuitive interface that can be used to upload the content. Also, it is possible by tweaking the HTML/CSS coding. It has over 10,000 templates combinations from which the users can choose the most appropriate one. The quick and simple analytics tools, e-commerce solutions, social media integration features, CRM features, SEO improvement tools, and one click launch process makes it a highly potent choice for website creation and marketing.

Skills Required To Use WebsiteBuilder

It is very easy to build a website using this builder. There is no need for you to have coding knowledge just you have to choose a template, customize it in accordance with your specific needs and publish your website.

Pricing

Premium: $4.61* /month

Business: $5.38* /month

eCommerce: $9.23* /month

#15. Webs: A Bunch Of Templates & Graphics That Can Be Tweaked To The Specific Business Needs

Webs is the best example of a WYSIWYG and DIY software useful for building awesome websites. It is well-known for developing websites that are mobile-friendly and accessible on all the browsers. This builder has a point and click framework that is appropriate for rapid web development. Also, it offers free web hosting and free domain registration services.

Core Features

Here everything is completely controlled and customized by the users. It not only takes care of website designing but also helpful in promotion. Some of its main features are SEO tools, social network integration, email marketing solutions, and robust support from Google Analytics. With the help of Webs, you can easily create professional and beautiful portfolios, blogs, and web stores.

Skills Required To Use Webs

This website builder offers a great and intuitive drag-and-drop feature that can be easily used by anyone who lacks the basic coding and technical knowledge. You just have to create an account for yourself, choose a website title, choose a template, choose the pages of the website, and finally create it.

Pricing

Starter (Great for Basic Sites): $ 5 .99 /MONTH

Enhanced (Perfect for Businesses): $ 12 .99 /MONTH

Pro (Ideal for Online Stores): $ 22 .99 /MONTH

#16. SiteBuilder: An Ideal Option For Entrepreneurs To Build Websites & Stores In Minutes

SiteBuilder provides its users with a range of packages, all offering ad-free and free hosting services. The visual style of the available 1000+ templates is simple yet distinct. These templates serves as a starting point for every project whether it be a basic site, or multi-page company presence.

Core Features

SiteBuilder has a user-friendly canvas editor that is loaded with variety of templates, customizable layouts, and attractive images. These tools enhances the visual appeal of the websites. Moreover, it offers the e-commerce functions, SEO tools, and smart CRM solutions that help the users in building great websites. It has a responsive and one-click interface that can be used to build blogs, portfolios, stores, and custom made forms.

Skills Required To Use SiteBuilder

There is no need for you to have any prior coding knowledge or HTML and programming experience in order to use SiteBuilder efficiently. All you need is to have a sound access to the internet and you can easily build and edit your website with SiteBuilder from anywhere.

Pricing

Pro: $3.84/MO (Regularly $7.68)

Premium: $5.99/MO (Regularly $11.98)

eCommerce: $9.22/MO (Regularly $18.45)

#17. Sitey: A Wonderful Free HTML5 Website Builder Appropriate For Entrepreneurs & Budding Businessmen

This is an ideal option for businesses who want to setup a professional website or a store in order to expand their brand globally. Sitey offers a wide range of templates that are suitable for both mobile and desktop platforms which further boosts the reach of a website.

Core Features

Its drag-and-drop interface is interactive, easy, and fun to use. This interface has a wide range of editing tools that can personalize the look and feel of a website. Also, the interface is flexible and surprisingly easy to handle. The in-house editor is intuitive and lets users create blogs, portfolios, and custom made forms. The web stores launched by this builder has have a robust email support and come with Paypal integration along with several analytical tools.

Skills Required To Use Sitey

It is very easy to use Sitey even if you have a zero coding knowledge. You just have to choose the appropriate template and customize it in accordance with your specific needs.

Pricing

Starter: $ 4.61  / MO* (Billed Annually)

Pro: $ 6.14  / MO* (Billed Annually)

E-commerce: $ 9.99  / MO* (Billed Annually)

#18. Strikingly: An Easy To Use Builder That Is Known For Creating Simple Stylish One Page Websites

Strikingly has its major focus on getting users online easily, quickly, and cheaply. This is the reason why it doesn’t offer the same level of creative control as other builders. But this is the best alternative for building one page sites by choosing a pre-formed design.

Core Features

One of the most unique features of this website builder is that it allows the users to edit the template as many times as they wish once the site is live. Also, it is one of the top free website creators for blogging comprising of all the features required such as add comments and social bookmarking.

Skills Required To Use Strikingly

Strikingly can be used to build professional looking sites for small business owners, independent practitioners, and freelancers. One can easily use this builder without any coding knowledge but in some cases professional help is required.

Pricing

Pro: $ 20 / month (USD Billed monthly)

Pro: $ 16 / month (USD Billed yearly)

Pro: $ 14 / month (USD Billed every 2 year)

Limited: $ 12 / month (USD Billed monthly)

VIP: $ 49 / month (USD Billed yearly)

VIP: $ 43 / month (USD Billed every 2 years)

#19. Mozello: A Comprehensive Builder That Lets Users Create Multilingual Websites For Free

This website builder is developed and maintained by privately owned company based in Latvia, Europe. The sole motive of this builder is to enable users create beautiful websites without the need for learning technical details and going through the tedious and time-consuming process of web development.

Core Features

The main features of Mozello include, blog, SEO options, 500 MB of storage, and online store. There is only an advertisement that is placed as a link in the footer, so most visitors won’t see it. Also, there are ton of design customization options that allow users to build tailor-made sites easily.

Skills Required To Use Mozello

Mozello is a great alternative for amateurs who don’t have any coding or HTML experience but want to build beautiful sites. This platform is very simple that lets users create feature-rich mobile-friendly sites.

Pricing

Premium: $7/month

Premium Plus: $14/month

So, all these website builders have their own advantages but it’s crucial for you to take a note of what you really want to get out of your site in order to ensure your needs will be met by one of these builders.



Author: Dr Vinati Kamani
Dr Vinati Kamani writes about emerging technology and its application across industries for Arkenea. Dr Kamani is a medical professional and has worked as a dental practitioner in her earlier roles. She is an avid reader and self proclaimed bibliophile. When Vinati is not at her desk penning down articles or reading up on the recent trends, she can be found travelling to remote places and soaking up different cultural experiences.