Creating a website has never been easier thanks to the wide variety of user-friendly website builders available today. Whether you’re looking to create a simple personal site, an online store, or a full-featured business website, you can now do it yourself without needing any coding skills.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the top 10 website builders of 2023 based on factors like ease of use, features, templates, pricing, and more. We’ve tested and reviewed all of these website builders extensively to provide you with an unbiased overview of the best options currently available. Read on to find the perfect website builder for your needs!
1. Wix
Wix is one of the most popular and robust website builders on the market today. With over 200 designer-made templates spanning categories like business, photography, retail, and more, you’re sure to find a look you love. Drag and drop editing makes customizing templates a breeze. Add your own images, videos, and text to make each page your own. Wix has an intuitive editor with great design flexibility.
For more advanced users, the Wix ADI feature will create a website for you in under 10 minutes based on questions about your business. No design or technical skills required! You also get free hosting, a free custom domain name for a year, top security, and 24/7 support. Wix pricing starts at $14 per month for the most basic plan.
2. Squarespace
Squarespace is another very popular website builder known for its beautifully designed templates. There are over 100 industry-specific templates to choose from, all responsive and optimized for mobile. Integrated ecommerce powers online stores, while powerful blogging and social media integration cater to publishers and influencers. Squarespace also has superb content management tools for managing pages, posts, images, and more.
The intuitive, drag and drop editor makes designing and editing sites simple. Numerous built-in extensions and integrations are also available to further extend functionality. Squarespace includes free hosting, a custom domain, and 24/7 customer support. Pricing starts at $12 per month. Overall, it’s one of the most elegantly designed builders.
3. Weebly
Weebly makes it super easy for anyone to create a website, blog or online store. Boasting over 40 million sites built, Weebly features an intuitive drag and drop site editor. There are modern templates optimized for any type of site including blogs, small business sites, and e-commerce stores. Weebly’s integrated SEO tools make it easy to optimize web pages for search engine visibility.
There are also powerful marketing and conversion tools built-in to drive traffic and increase sales. Weebly handles all the technical work in the background, so no coding is required. Pricing starts at $6 per month for basic sites, while more advanced plans start at $12 per month. Weebly is an excellent choice for users with no design experience looking for a quick and painless way to create a site.
4. Webflow
Webflow offers incredible design flexibility that can’t be matched by most other website builders. The flexible grids and layout system allows for pixel-perfect designing. Designers will love the fine-grained controls for typography, spacing, transforming elements, and more. There’s also animation support and interactions without code. Webflow sites are responsive and adaptive out of the box.
While Webflow has a steeper learning curve compared to other builders, it delivers incredible creative freedom in the easiest drag and drop frontend web design tool available. Support for CMS, ecommerce, blogging, SEO, and hosting mean you can build full-featured professional sites. Pricing starts at $12 for basic sites and $16 for ecommerce sites per month. Overall, Webflow sets the standard for modern web design without code.
5. Shopify
Shopify is the leading ecommerce website builder made for just about anyone looking to sell products or services online. It provides everything you need to create and customize an online store including secure payment processing, shipping and fulfillment, taxes, and more. Shopify offers hundreds of professional templates, extensive customization options, and fully scalable hosting.
Shopify also has a mobile app so you can manage your store from anywhere. Robust analytics help you track inventory and sales. There are also plenty of add-ons and integrations to further extend functionality like marketing tools, live chat, and more. Shopify pricing starts at $29 per month for basic stores. It’s the best ecommerce website builder in terms of features and scalability.
6. WordPress
WordPress powers over 40% of all sites on the web today. This open source CMS is incredibly versatile capable of powering blogs, business sites, magazines, online stores, and much more. WordPress is highly customizable with a huge library of free plugins and themes available. Themes allow you to easily customize the design and layout of your site. Plugins add all sorts of extra features and functionality without code.
While WordPress offers more flexibility and control than typical website builders, there is a steeper learning curve. WordPress requires setting up web hosting and maintaining the software. However, the large community provides ample tutorials and support to help you get started. Pricing can range from $0 to hundreds per month depending on your hosting plan, plugins, themes, and other customizations. Overall, WordPress offers the most flexibility and customization options by far.
7. Duda
Duda is a fully customizable drag and drop website builder packed with powerful features. It caters to agencies, freelancers, and small businesses allowing them to create sites exactly how they want without limitations. Duda’s advanced design editor provides pixel-level customization for ultimate design flexibility. You get fine-grained control over spacing, sizing, colors, and more.
The integrated tools like forms, live chat, analytics, and CRM make managing sites and driving leads easier. Duda can also integrate with WordPress. Robust ecommerce features allow you to sell online. Duda provides responsive sites, free SSL certificates, hosting, and 24/7 customer support. Pricing starts at $14 per month when billed annually. Duda is perfect for creative agencies, developers, and marketing professionals.
8. Gator
Gator Website Builder makes it easy for small businesses to build professional websites. Featuring an easy to use drag and drop website editor, you can choose from 50+ industry-specific templates. Customize colors, images, text, and more to craft the perfect site. Built-in SEO tools help optimize for search rankings. Integrated marketing automation helps convert more leads. There are also capabilities for booking appointments, events, contact forms, and taking online payments.
Gator provides responsive designs optimized for any device. Host your site on their managed servers getting unlimited bandwidth and storage. Expect exceptional uptime and unlimited premium support 24/7. Pricing starts at $3.50 per month when billed annually. Gator offers a streamlined website builder for small business owners without design skills.
9. 1&1 Ionos
1&1 Ionos provides powerful yet easy to use website building tools perfect for beginners. Choose from over 150 responsive industry-specific templates and customize them to match your brand. The drag and drop Site Builder makes designing pages a cinch. Extend functionality further with integrated marketing tools, email marketing, payment processing, appointment booking, and more.
24/7 personalized support helps you with any issues or questions. 1&1 Ionos handles all the technical aspects like security, backups, speed optimization, and mobile responsiveness. You simply focus on creating your site. Pricing starts at $4 per month for basic sites. For online stores, pricing starts at $10 per month. Overall, 1&1 Ionos makes website creation accessible for any skill level.
10. GoDaddy
GoDaddy is the world’s largest domain registrar and one of the most popular website hosting providers. Their website builder feature offers an easy way for anyone to build a site with minimal effort. Select from easy to customize templates and just drag and drop to create web pages in a few clicks. Extend functionality with ecommerce, email marketing, payment processing, and booking capabilities.
GoDaddy provides integrated SEO tools, responsive designs, fast hosting, and security features. Their website builder is straightforward and ideal for very simple sites. For more advanced options, you can install WordPress on GoDaddy hosting plans starting at $5.99 per month. Helpful 24/7 support is available by phone and chat. Overall, GoDaddy is a reputable option for basic websites and online stores.
Putting It All Together
All of the website builders we covered make it possible for anyone to create a website or online store without advanced coding and design skills. However, there are important differences across the various platforms in terms of features, flexibility, ease of use, templates, and pricing.
When choosing the right builder for your needs, make sure to factor in your budget, the type of site you want to build, your design capabilities, and the functionality you need. Those needing lots of design control and flexibility would do best with Webflow or Duda.
Ecommerce sites are best built using Shopify or WordPress. Beginners looking for a completely straightforward and simple builder should consider options like Wix, Weebly, or Gator. Ultimately, the builder you choose will depend on your unique needs and preferences.
Take your time, try out free trials of multiple platforms, read reviews, and assess each builder closely before making your choice. The good news is there are now many excellent options available. With the right website builder, you can create the professional online presence you need to succeed without having to master complex web design and coding skills.