Tag: Homepage Featured

$5/month (billed annually)

Sell via social media and messaging apps
Don't need a full website
Good starting point for new sellers

Limited scalability

Best for small businesses

Basic

$29/month (billed annually)

Sell unlimited products
Multichannel selling options
24/7 chat support

Most popular plan

Best for established stores

Grow

$79/month (billed annually)

5 staff accounts
Get shipping insurance
USPS discounts available

Best for large businesses

Advanced

$299/month (billed annually)

Enhanced support
Bigger checkout capacity
Custom reports and analytics

Best for industry leaders

Plus

From $2,300/month (3-year plan)

Priority 24/7 support
Unlimited staff accounts
Customizable plan

Shopify is our top-rated ecommerce website builder, offering unmatched sales features to support your online store, such as multichannel integration and a customizable checkout.

In this review, I’ll take a closer look at Shopify’s pricing, features, and templates, so you can see exactly why Shopify is the best option for selling online.

Badge showing Shopify as the best for ecommerce in our 2025 research

Key Takeaways 🔍

Shopify has the best sales features for online stores
The builder is more suitable for growing or complex inventories
Shopify makes regular updates and improvements to its platform
Shopify’s plans range from $29 to $299 per month
There’s no drag-and-drop editor
Shopify comes with additional costs, such as templates and domain names

I’ve updated this Shopify review page following the rollout of our 2025 research and rankings. Shopify remains our top choice for online stores, but I’ve made sure all of our copy and recommendations are accurate and up-to-date. For example, Shopify’s middle plan (previously known as the Shopify plan) has been renamed to the Grow plan. I’ve also added additional first-hand insights to talk about my experience using Shopify.

Shopify Pros & Cons

Shopify

Best for selling physical products

Outstanding

4.8

For established stores
For expanding businesses
For complex inventories

Free trial available

Paid Plans: $29 - $299 / month

Pros

Multichannel selling
AI tools for product set up
100+ payment options

Cons

Limited store customization
Not for very new businesses
Additional costs for apps

Shopify Review

Need a quick summary of Shopify? I’ve collected Shopify’s best and worst features below:

What I Like

✔️ The best sales features on the market, offering unlimited products and powerful tools from the cheapest plan

✔️ Shopify gives you advanced control over your storefront

✔️ Shopify Sidekick offers 24/7 business support

✔️ The AI-powered Shopify Magic tool supports businesses with content creation

✔️ Over 8,000 Shopify apps to choose from, giving you the flexibility to add functionality to your site

What I Dislike

❌ Shopify is reliant on third-party apps to complement its built-in features

❌ The section-based editor is straightforward to use but limits your creative freedom

❌ There are only a handful of free templates to choose from

❌ Its plans are expensive and the free trial is short – there are better budget-friendly options

Our Shopify review video gives you a clear summary of the builder’s key features, drawbacks, pricing, and more:

My Experience With Shopify

There’s no need to enter credit card details when signing up to Shopify – I could join for free with just an email address. After that, I found the onboarding process simple and really quick, asking three general questions about my business and website:

Where would you like to sell? – I could pick all applicable answers, such as “An online store” or “Social media”
Select your business type – to share if my business is new or already established
What do you plan to sell first? – for example, products I make myself or digital products

Shopify onboarding question asking users "where would you like to sell?" — I only had to answer three simple questions to get started with Shopify. Source: Website Builder Expert

The only variation in this onboarding journey will be if you select that you already run an existing business – Shopify will ask an additional question about where you’re currently selling (e.g. Wix or Amazon).

Author's Testing Notes

I was surprised to see no AI website builder or design support at this stage since this is a pretty standard feature on most platforms nowadays. Both Wix and Squarespace offer AI builders to help you get online quickly and easily, plus the onboarding questions are used to customize your site and backend experience. With Shopify, I couldn’t see how my responses were applied or used in any way, which made the process feel fairly pointless.

Shopify has added an AI store setup tool so you can generate a custom template, but this feature is only available once you’ve finished the initial onboarding journey.

Emma Ryan Lead Writer

How I Added Products

Following the setup process, I was immediately launched into the Shopify dashboard, where I was presented with a 10-step checklist to help me finish building my online store. This put me at ease right away since I could follow the recommended steps to help me get started.

Shopify encouraged me to add my products first, putting customizing my website to the side for the time being. It’s an unusual switch within the industry, but one that makes sense considering Shopify’s focus on selling.

Shopify product page in the backend — I used Shopify Magic to help generate my product descriptions, speeding up the process of adding my store’s inventory. Source: Website Builder Expert

I had no trouble adding new products to my Shopify store – all I had to do was fill out a form, add product imagery, set variants, and assign categories where relevant.

I also used Shopify Magic, a built-in AI tool to help me generate and tweak my product descriptions. I could simplify or improve existing copy, and even change the desired tone of voice to something more “Expert,” “Playful,” or “Persuasive,” for example.

Customizing My Store

Once I added all of my products, I moved on to the next step: customizing my website. All new stores are given the “Dawn” theme as a default (which I found very basic), but I could switch to an alternative template if I wanted. I’ll discuss Shopify’s templates in more detail later.

Now, Shopify performs well in our ease of use tests, but Shopify isn’t as user-friendly as Squarespace or Hostinger. These builders use a drag-and-drop editor, whereas Shopify’s editor is designed around adding “sections”.

Shopify editor showing section designs — I was underwhelmed by the premade section designs by Shopify. Source: Website Builder Expert

I found the section-based editor to be restrictive and I couldn’t get creative with my styles or designs – I could simply stack sections on top of one another. As a result, I had to put in a lot of time and energy to make my website look professional and polished.

That said, Shopify recently improved its editor with one-click text editing and the ability to create custom blocks with AI, so the builder is taking steps in the right direction.

Author's Testing Notes

Overall, the process of building an online store with Shopify wasn’t impossible, and it was pretty straightforward when I had to add products. However, Shopify’s editor left me frustrated and I found it a challenge to make anything look nice or unique. In comparison, when I built a store using Squarespace, I found its editor much easier to use and the design process was stress-free.

Emma Ryan Lead Writer

How Much Does Shopify Cost?

Shopify’s pricing is split between three core plans, ranging from $29 to $299 per month (billed annually):

Basic ($29) – For small businesses looking to grow
Grow ($79) – For established online stores
Advanced ($299) – For large-scale businesses

Is Shopify Good Value for Money?

Shopify’s plans are expensive – if you’re looking for a budget-friendly option, Hostinger is my top choice but it lacks the scalability and features of Shopify
Shopify has additional costs to consider, such as a custom domain name (from $15 per year)
Its three-day free trial is very short
You can get your first three months for $1 per month

Author's Testing Notes

I recommend choosing the $29 per month Basic plan, especially if your online store is still finding its feet. The cheapest plan includes all of the essential ecommerce features, including abandoned cart recovery and discount codes. In comparison, you’ll need to pay more with other builders, like Squarespace, to unlock these tools.

You’ll only need the more expensive Grow or Advanced plan if you have a team of staff or if you need advanced analytics and additional inventory locations.

Emma Ryan Lead Writer

Designing With Shopify

Shopify only has a handful of free templates to choose from. At the time of writing, there are 269 templates in total – 23 of these templates are free, and 246 have a one-time fee that ranges from $100 to $500.

All of Shopify’s templates are optimized for selling and will automatically update to include new features or tools, no matter what Shopify plan you subscribe to. Still, seeing so few free templates from a top website builder is disappointing, especially when Wix provides 2,000+ free templates to its users.

That said, Shopify’s templates (whether you pick a free or premium option) are expertly designed with online stores in mind. Shopify recently added 10 new free themes as part of its Horizon collection, giving businesses more flexibility and choice during the design stage.

Shopify free template library — Shopify recently updated the number of free templates it offers, giving me more options to choose from. Source: Website Builder Expert

Can I build a template with AI? 💻

Shopify announced its AI store setup feature this year, improving the builder’s design options for online stores. This isn’t an AI website builder as such, more like an AI-powered theme designer. It’s not as advanced or as personalized as other AI builders available right now, such as Wix’s AI chatbot or Squarespace Blueprint. That said, it’s very simple and quick to use. All I had to do was type a brief prompt based on my business and products, such as “homemade knitwear for kids,” and Shopify created three custom themes for my store.

Selling Online With Shopify

Shopify offers the best sales features on the market, providing businesses with all of the tools they need to scale their store and engage with customers. The features are excellent in terms of both range and quality, and you can get all of the key ecommerce features, like abandoned cart recovery, from Shopify’s cheapest plan.

However, you’ll have to source a lot of functionality yourself through Shopify’s app store.

🛒 Multichannel Selling

Shopify lets you synchronize your online store with environments where customers are already scrolling and shopping, such as social media platforms or marketplaces.

To sell on socials, like Instagram and TikTok, I simply had to install the relevant app in the marketplace and connect my profile. I also recommend downloading the Shopify Marketplace Connect app to sync your product catalog with marketplaces, such as Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and Etsy. This makes it easier to manage and monitor your sales from Shopify.

TikTok app integration in Shopify's dashboard — I could download other sales channels, like TikTok, from Shopify's app store. Source: Website Builder Expert

💰 Payment Options

Shopify makes it easy to manage orders and payments from the backend dashboard. I could choose from over 100 payment options to add to my Shopify store, allowing customers to use popular payment methods, such as Apple Pay and PayPal.

However, I recommend using Shopify’s native payment processor, Shopify Payments – this is automatically installed with your account, you simply have to activate it. The added perk of using Shopify Payments is that it removes third-party transaction fees entirely, so you’ll only have to pay standard card rates when selling online or in person.

	Basic	Grow	Advanced
Online credit card rates	2.9% + $0.30 per transaction	2.7% + $0.30 per transaction	2.5% + $0.30 per transaction
In-person credit card rates	2.6% + $0.10 per transaction	2.5% + $0.10 per transaction	2.4% + $0.10 per transaction
Third-party transaction fees (without Shopify Payments)	2%	1%	0.6%

✅ Customizable Checkout

Shopify claims to have the world’s best-converting checkout, delivering a customized and easy process to help customers purchase products from your business. The recent Shopify Editions: Summer ’25 included improvements to the checkout experience, including faster load speeds and the ability to sell products on Roblox.

You can customize your checkout page from your Shopify settings to suit your business and customer needs, whether that means enabling local pickup, adding an express checkout option, or showing tipping options. Yes, this is another feature to design and customize, but it’ll streamline the checkout process and boost your conversion rate overall.

🔍 SEO Tools

I was happy to see that Shopify helps you optimize your site during testing. It automatically creates canonical tags and sitemaps, plus I could easily tweak my meta titles and descriptions or add alt text to images within the editor.

Shopify also lets you set up translated storefronts to automatically redirect visitors based on their browser’s language, helping businesses engage with international markets, reach new customers, and increase site traffic.

Shopify has also partnered with keyword research tool Semrush to create the Ecommerce Booster app. This is a great feature, especially for smaller businesses, since it provides merchants with an actionable SEO plan to optimize your site effectively.

Shopify's SEO page settings — I could tweak my page's SEO settings with Shopify, but I found the process fairly basic in comparison to other builders like Wix. Source: Website Builder Expert

📨 Marketing Your Business

Shopify provides plenty of marketing tools and opportunities with its range of apps:

Engage with customers via social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram – I recommend creating product-driven content to build hype around launches and to encourage customers to add items to their basket
Show off your products in a dynamic way using Shopify’s 3D scanner
Generate blog content to share your expertise and build brand awareness
Use Shopify Email for personalized email marketing campaigns – set up automated workflows, personalize content (using Shopify Magic), and create customer groups to deliver targeted campaigns
Answer customer questions with ease using the Shopify Inbox chat
Generate new leads and build your subscriber base using Shopify Forms

Shopify email campaign editor — I had no trouble editing an email campaign through Shopify. Source: Website Builder Expert

🚢 Shipping Products

Every Shopify store comes with Shopify Shipping included. This is built-in software that provides online stores with a suite of tools to support the shipping process, such as real-time shipping rates and label printing. Shopify Shipping can only be used for orders shipped from the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. You’ll need to integrate additional shipping software if you plan on selling through social media platforms or marketplaces.

With Shopify, you also have the ability to offer split shipping at checkout. Split shipping supports Shopify merchants looking to provide more flexibility and choice to customers. For example, customers can choose shipping options, such as the fastest delivery or cheapest delivery.

Shopify’s AI Features

Shopify’s no stranger to the world of AI, providing business owners with the impressive tool, Shopify Magic. I’ve already discussed the AI feature a little, but here’s how you can use it with your store:

Generate, remove, or edit image backgrounds to create unique visuals
Create product descriptions based on keywords and a desired tone of voice
Personalize and streamline responses to customers to align with your brand – these can be incorporated into the Shopify Inbox feature
Get email marketing support, from generating email content to providing the best times to send out newsletters or campaigns

Shopify Sidekick is also now available for merchants to use. The AI-powered assistant and expert advisor can help with everything business-related, from creating data reports to generating unique discount codes for your store.

Shopify’s Apps

Despite having the best sales features for an ecommerce website builder, Shopify relies heavily on third-party apps to complement its built-in tools. It forces business owners to waste time researching and installing the right apps for their website, when other platforms, like Wix, have the majority of these features ready to go from the start.

For example, you’ll need to download an app to schedule appointments or take bookings with Shopify since there isn’t an internal feature. I recommend choosing an app like Appointo or Appointly since these were built for Shopify and have a free plan.

Still, Shopify provides a wide range of apps to choose from – there are over 8,000 in Shopify’s app store. I could filter these by category, such as “Finding products,” “Store design,” or “Marketing and conversion.”

Top Tip 💡

Shopify’s app store highlights popular apps and trending integrations, but I recommend checking out our article on the best Shopify apps to see what’s out there. For example, Omnisend helps you automate your email and SMS marketing campaigns.

Just be aware that some apps will come with an extra price tag, so this is another additional cost to consider.

Shopify's app store showing recommended apps — I liked how Shopify featured specific apps or highlighted how existing businesses use apps to support their store. Source: Website Builder Expert

How Does Shopify Keep Your Business Secure?

It’s critical to keep your online store safe from harm, so all Shopify sites come with free SSL certificates and are supported by PCI-compliant servers, payment data encryption, and Transport Layer Security (TLS) to protect any traffic to your pages.

Shopify also carries out regular security audits and checks, leaving business owners with one less thing to worry about when it comes to running a company.

Using Shopify’s Customer Support

Shopify is our top performer when it comes to help and support, offering the best customer service for business and online stores. Here are Shopify’s customer support channels:

24/7 live chat – the virtual assistant resides in the Help Center and answers any queries you might have (I found the AI chatbot to be very responsive!)
Help Center full of detailed guides and video tutorials
Phone support – Shopify Plus customers get priority phone support
Community forum so you can hear from other Shopify merchants and connect
Social media channels – Shopify has profiles on Facebook, X, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Pinterest
Shopify Sidekick – the new AI assistant can provide support, offer design guidance, create content, and more

Unfortunately, Shopify doesn’t include a tutorial when you first dive into the editor – something I was sad to see considering the editor is where I struggled the most. And, you also can’t contact Shopify via email, which is something other builders offer, such as Wix.

Shopify live chat support within the help center — I could get instant support from Shopify’s AI live chat or I could wait to speak with a Support Advisor. Source: Website Builder Expert

How Does Shopify Compare to Competitors?

Shopify is our top-rated ecommerce website builder, and it’s a platform that’s trusted by millions of businesses and celebrities, including Beyoncé (for her haircare brand Cécred) and popular YouTuber MrBeast. In fact, tons of celebrities sell products via Shopify.

You can see how Shopify compares with other website builders in the table below:

If you’re not sure about shelling out all that money for a Shopify plan, there are plenty of other options to get your online store up and running.

Wix is our best website builder overall, sitting in second place for our ecommerce-specific testing – it’s a comprehensive platform with diverse and versatile features to cater to a wide range of users, plus there are 900+ free templates to choose from when designing
Squarespace is the easiest website builder we’ve tested – its drag-and-drop editor is incredibly beginner-friendly and the stylish designs are ideal for creative businesses
Hostinger is the most cost-effective way to start selling products – Shopify’s plans are expensive and Hostinger’s Business Website Builder plan starts from $3.99 per month (much cheaper than Shopify!)

What's more important for your business?

Find Your Builder

How We Test Ecommerce Website Builders

To bring you fair and accurate reviews, we regularly test ecommerce website builders and put them through our rigorous research process. Our in-house research team has carried out over 300 hours of data collection, allowing us to create data-driven recommendations so you can find the right fit for your business. I’ve also personally used Shopify’s website builder and tried its features so I can share genuine insights and tips with you.

This is why we can confidently say that Shopify is the best ecommerce website builder for businesses looking to get online.

Our testing covers seven key areas of investigation, each uniquely weighted based on what’s important for online stores:

Sales Features – 30%
- Looking at the ecommerce capabilities of a website builder
Website Functionality – 15%
- We review the quality and quantity of features, such as marketing and SEO
Help and Support – 15%
- We test what support channels and resources are available for businesses
Design Features – 15%
- Looking at templates and design options
Pricing – 10%
- We look at pricing plans and what you can get for your money
User Experience – 10%
- We test each ecommerce website builder ourselves to test its ease of use
Reputation – 5%
- Reviewing how well a builder performs against its competitors

Graphic breaking down Website Builder Expert's ecommerce website builder testing into three steps: conducting business surveys to build a methodology, testing website builders, and finalizing scores

Shopify Review: Should You Build Your Online Store With Shopify?

Shopify is the best ecommerce website builder on the market. It helps you build a scalable online store thanks to its unbeatable sales features and large app market. Plus, you can connect your website with social media platforms and marketplaces to get your products seen by as many people as possible.

Shopify’s plans can be a little expensive, so I recommend Shopify for growing or large businesses as opposed to very small businesses only looking to sell a few products here and there.

And, don’t forget, you can get started with Shopify’s three-day free trial and get your first three months for just $1/month.

Home » Homepage Featured

9 Best Small Business Website Builders: Which One Is Right For You?

Written by

Researched by

Updated on July 1, 2025

If you click to purchase a product or service based on our independent recommendations and impartial reviews, we may receive a commission. Learn more

Best for side hustles

Shopify Starter

$5/month (billed annually)

Sell via social media and messaging apps
Don't need a full website
Good starting point for new sellers

Limited scalability

Best for small businesses

Basic

$29/month (billed annually)

Sell unlimited products
Multichannel selling options
24/7 chat support

Most popular plan

Best for established stores

Grow

$79/month (billed annually)

5 staff accounts
Get shipping insurance
USPS discounts available

Best for large businesses

Advanced

$299/month (billed annually)

Enhanced support
Bigger checkout capacity
Custom reports and analytics

Best for industry leaders

Plus

From $2,300/month (3-year plan)

Priority 24/7 support
Unlimited staff accounts
Customizable plan

Having a website is a great way of promoting your small business and reaching more customers. And better still, thanks to drag-and-drop website builders, you can build one in the same amount of time it takes to cook a good Thanksgiving dinner. This article will help you decide exactly which small business website builder is right for you.

Building a website for your small business is daunting – we know that from first-hand experience. If you’re worried you don’t have the time or skill to build a small business website, you’ve come to the right place.

While there’s no ‘one-size-fits-all’ option, we’ve been able to find the nine best small business website builders by concentrating our research onto the following key areas, which we think are particularly vital for a successful small business website:

As always, we’ve also taken our Customer Score into consideration. To calculate this score, we get real users to test each builder by using it to create a small business website to a brief. We then collected their thoughts and ratings.

Affordability
Ease of Use
SEO (search engine optimization) features

Alongside the usual important considerations: Design Flexibility and Value for Money.

If you’re after a more personalized recommendation, you can always take our short quiz to be matched with your perfect platform.

Based on our findings, we think the best website builders for small businesses are:

9 Best Website Builders for Small Business

Wix – Best all-around website builder for small businesses.
Squarespace – Best for fast-growing small businesses or startups.
Weebly – Great value for money.
GoDaddy – Fastest for building a simple website.
Duda – Best template designs, but limited creative freedom.
Strikingly – Best for help and support, and for building multiple small sites.
WordPress.com – Great for blogs, but difficult for anything else.
Site123 – Easiest to use website builder.
Jimdo Creator – Simple, but lacks feature depth.

We’ll be reviewing each of these builders in more detail, covering key pros and cons, along with pricing and more.

By the end of this guide you will:

Understand why it’s so important your small business has a website
Be clear on what features and functions your small business website needs
Be ready to choose the right website builder to get your small business online

Further Information

If you know you want to build an ecommerce website and sell products, check out our 5 best ecommerce software article which will deal specifically with the best builders to get you selling online.
Compare the Best Website Builders in our in-depth review
Decide which website builder is best for your small business by comparing the top choice side-by-side in our Website Buidler Comparison Chart

Best Website Builders for Small Business

Before we get into the nitty gritty of each small business website builder, here’s a quick look at what each one is best for:

Wix – Best all-around website builder for small businesses
Squarespace – Best for fast-growing small businesses or startups
Weebly – Great value for money
GoDaddy – Fastest for building a simple website
Duda – Best template designs, but limited creative freedom
Strikingly – Best for help and support, and for building multiple small sites
WordPress.com – Great for blogs, but difficult for anything else
Site123 – Easiest to use website builder
Jimdo Creator – Simple, but lacks feature depth

Other helpful pages:

Our website builder comparison chart – for a clear breakdown of our top website builders for small businesses.

1. Wix

Create Your Wix Business Website Now

Best all-around website builder for small businesses

Wix is our top website builder for small businesses because it’s powerful, simple to use and offers great all-round flexibility when creating your site.

You can create a website for your small business in hours and get online really quickly and smoothly.

If you’re looking to build brand awareness online and want to keep things simple, Wix is definitely the builder for you. Wix’s drag-and-drop functionality means you don’t need any technical or design skills to build a professional and eye-catching small business website.

	Pros	Cons
#1	Its drag-and-drop builder offers excellent creative control without having to know how to code	You can’t change templates once a site goes live. Redesigns have to be from the ground up
#2	In our website builder user testing Wix was the builder people were most likely to recommend	Although a plus for many, the amount of customization available can feel overwhelming early on

So don’t worry if coding languages like HTML sound like an alien language to you. You won’t need to understand it to build a beautiful website using Wix.

You might be worried that because Wix is so simple to pick up and use that all sites built on it look the same.

And you want to build a small business website that’s unique, don’t you?

The good news is you get great freedom with Wix to build a small business website with real personality, as Wix provides more than 500 professionally designed templates, covering anything from makeup artists to vintage cars.

Wix photography templates — Wix's stunning templates let you create a professional small business website without spending money on a designer

Just because Wix is simple to use doesn’t mean it offers simple functionality to online business owners. With Wix you can:

Add contact forms and online booking forms for appointments (great if you’re a small trader or require bookings like a dentist).
Create and send invoices and track payments – with all this in one place, managing your finances is easy.
Add customized quizzes, surveys and contact forms that let you find out what your customers think.
Insert video backgrounds (without touching code) to jazz up your site and give it that WOW factor.

Wix does have a free version but if you’re serious about building a successful online business it’s definitely worth upgrading to a paid plan to take advantage of the premium features. Paid plans range from £3/month to £18/month (billed annually), so it’s easy to start small and upgrade as you need.

That said, we do recommend springing for at least the Unlimited Plan (£8.50/month) from the off, as this way you’ll be able to claim your complimentary £75 in ad vouchers (£25 with Google Ads, Bing Ads and Local Listings). This only applies for sites which are new to paid advertising, but is a great way to dabble in these channels without worrying about losing your own hard-earned cash.

A neat recent addition to Wix has been its ADI builder – standing for artificial design intelligence. Wix ADI asks you questions about your website and generates a website based on your answers. A fully-fledged business site could be just a short questionnaire away!

And, for the more tech-savvy among you, there is Wix Corvid, which allows you integrate custom code into your Wix site. It’s entirely optional, but great to see Wix catering to the full skills spectrum.

We also like Wix because it provides fantastic customer support. When you’re starting out building a website for your small business, any help you get can make a real difference (we know from our own experience building small business websites).

Other helpful pages:
Wix Review – for an in-depth look at Wix.
Wix Pricing Review – which plan is right for you?
Wix eCommerce Review – should you sell online with Wix?
Wix vs Weebly vs Squarespace – compare three top builders

There are help buttons everywhere on the Wix site, so if you’re having trouble building a specific section of your site you can click on the button and find a specific answer to your question. This is great because it takes away a lot of the frustration when setting up your online business and lets you work through any roadblocks yourself.

The Wix App Market now has over 200 apps and services, covering anything from SEO tips that help your site get found online to email tools that expand your user base. Recent additions we like include Wix Video, which lets you add video with a customized logo to your platform, and an update to Wix SEO Wiz that lets you index your site on Google so that relevant searchers (potential customers) will find your site.

While Wix’s variety of templates is great, you can’t apply a different template once you’ve picked one. This can be frustrating as to change templates you’ll have to re-insert all your content again. So make sure you choose the right template first time round!

While we’d recommend a pure ecommerce store builder like Shopify if you’re looking to sell products on your business website, Wix does have fully-fledged ecommerce tools that are worth exploring if you’re already a Wix fan and are looking to develop your ecommerce offering.

2. Squarespace

Make Your Business Site On Squarespace

Best for: fast-growing small businesses or startups

Small business with big plans? Squarespace is a solid choice.

Squarespace may not be quite as straightforward to use as Wix (the ultimate drag and drop builder), or an ecommerce specialist (Shopify and BigCommerce), but its beautifully designed templates and phenomenal image quality make it a really unique offering.

	Pros	Cons
#1	Squarespace’s SEO features are really strong – perfect if you’re looking to get your site found in the search results	Not as easy to use as some of the alternatives. If you’re comfortable with tech you’ll be fine, but if you’re not Wix, Weebly, or GoDaddy would serve you better
#2	Social media integration is excellent. You’ll want to get the world out about your business, and a seamless social media presence makes that a lot easier	No app store – you’re relying on inbuilt features (which are very good), but won’t be able to customize functionality much beyond this

Squarespace’s SEO features are really strong. If SERP (search engine results page) domination is high on your agenda – and for most small businesses, it should be – then it’s certainly a solid foundation for success. We’ve gone into a ton of detail on exactly what makes it good – and how to use it to its full potential – in our Squarespace SEO review, so go check that for more info.

Squarespace’s templates are polished and their clean lines give off a really professional vibe. With Squarespace’s images, customers can zoom in on products and check the details close up (perfect if you’re advertising a product like trainers). Quick view allows users to read the product’s information and add it to their cart. This is great because you’re making it as simple as possible for a customer to buy.

Squarespace is far more than a pretty face, and it’s surprisingly inexpensive, too.

If you’re not looking to sell products online, you’ve got the choice of the Personal plan (£10/month) or the Business plan at £15/month (both billed annually). No surprise which one we’d recommend for a business here – you get a load more analytical and marketing features with the Business plan, so the insights are well worth the extra £5 a month.

You can actually sell on the Business plan too, but if you’re primarily an ecommerce business we’d definitely recommend going for at least the Basic Commerce plan (£20/month, billed annually). Again, by paying just a little more you unlock a whole load of valuable, ecommerce-specific features – in this case, integrating accounting and label printing, among others.

Head on over to Squarespace’s pricing page for more info on what’s included with each plan, and remember you can try any plan free for 14 days. Website Builder Expert readers can also get 10% off paid plans with our exclusive offer code.

Other helpful pages:

Squarespace Review – for a detailed review of Squarespace

Squarespace Pricing Review – for an in-depth breakdown of Squarespace’s pricing plans

Squarespace Offer Code – to get 10% off any Squarespace plan with our exclusive discount

Squarespace Ecommerce Review – find out how we rate Squarespace for ecommerce

Wix vs Squarespace – which should you choose?

More than any other builder, you can make your small business website look like it’s been professionally designed without having to muck around with any code yourself. Layout features like Cover Pages – single scrolling pages – can really make your small business website stand out from the crowd.

You can install multiple templates onto a single website and work on several designs simultaneously.

Squarespace photography templates — Squarespace's range of beautiful templates mean you can wow your customers without knowing any code or hiring a professional designer

Squarespace also offers excellent facilities to create a blog to support your website (a brilliant way to add personality to your business and fill your site with truly unique content) and comes with some really top-drawer features:

Mobile-responsive templates – content will resize automatically so your site will look great no matter what device your customer is using.
Great variety of styling options – with Squarespace you’re able to really stamp your mark on your website by easily customizing your design, from the fonts and colors right down to the sidebar width and background images. It’s also very simple to switch your cover page templates when you feel your site needs a refresh.
Great site control – you can add features like an announcement bar (great if you’ve got a new product, for example) and a mobile information bar, which streamlines your site for visitors on a mobile and displays a shortcut menu with key information like contact details and opening hours.
Connect socially – you can integrate your Squarespace site with a raft of social media platforms and even pull in content from certain platforms straight onto your page.

However, Squarespace isn’t as intuitive as Wix and can feel restrictive – it’s just not as customizable and takes longer to get up to speed with. Changes to your site take longer and Squarespace’s templates are more limited than our other recommended builders. If you’re not a designer, Squarespace’s style editor can be a difficult tool to get to grips with.

3. Weebly

Create Your Business Site On Weebly

Great value for money

Weebly is best for when you’re looking for the simplest route to getting your small business online, and don’t need a fancy site bursting with features – it’s a great tool for getting your online business off the ground for very little money (plans start at just £4/month, paid annually).

It’s also very easy to make changes to images and copy. You could genuinely build a decent-looking store on Weebly between breakfast and lunch – actually probably between brunch and lunch, if it were acceptable to have both.

	Pros	Cons
#1	Scores super well for value for money (4.1/5).	You can’t restore websites yourself. If you change your mind on a deleted site you will need help from the Weebly team
#2	Weebly has an enormous number of apps. What your site can and can’t do is effectively up to you	The apps are great, but you need a premium plan to access most of them

Weebly’s paid plans come in noticeably cheaper than larger competitors.

There’s a free plan, but you’ll be tied to a Weebly.com subdomain (the name of your site that appears in a browser’s search bar, for example cooltrainers.weebly.com). So as always, if you want to build a professional-looking small business site we recommend you sign up to one of Weebly’s very reasonable paid plans. These range from the £4/month Connect plan, to the £18/month Business plan, with the Connect and Pro plans sitting in between. The more you’re willing to spend, the more features you’ll unlock – just head to the Weebly Pricing page to see a breakdown of exactly what’s included with each.

So, let’s get back to how easy Weebly is to use – in other words, very easy.

Customizable, pre-designed layouts focused on particular industries mean it’s really easy to dive in and start building your small business website. In Weebly’s editing mode, how you see your site is how it will appear live. This saves you time as you don’t have to keep switching from editing mode to preview mode.

Weebly business themes — Website builders let you create great homepages for your small business with top-quality navigation bars

All this makes Weebly a great fit for small businesses that maybe don’t need fancy functionality, and are just looking to showcase products or services in a clear, simple, affordable manner.

Weebly is pretty strong on audio and video and the ability to add HD Video on the Pro Plan means you can add a real touch of glamour to your site. It’s constantly improving – but still lags noticeably behind competitors such as Wix and Squarespace in terms of both features, and design quality/variety (Weebly has 40 templates, for example – Wix has over 500).

Other helpful pages:
Weebly Review – 12 key things you need to know about Weebly.
Weebly Pricing Review – are the plans really worth it?
Weebly Ecommerce Review – a detailed look at Weebly’s online selling tools
Weebly vs Squarespace – find out which one is best for you

If you have a bit of knowledge of HTML and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets – used to format the layout of web pages, for example table sizes and text styles), or know someone that can help, Weebly gives you access to the Code Editor, meaning you can tinker and make changes that give your site a truly unique feel.

4. GoDaddy

Make Your Business Site on GoDaddy

Fastest for building a simple website

GoDaddy is excellent for getting a small business website live fast. The builder is easy to use and simply presented, and what it lacks in style it makes up for with convenience. It’s the fastest product for building a website, so it’s very convenient for those short on time.

	Pros	Cons
#1	Superb if you want to get a fully-functional business website live quickly.	Not the best fit for more artistic industries. GoDaddy is a pretty straight edged builder.
#2	Offers advanced ecommerce functionality, allowing you to add up to 5,000 products and customize shipping options right in the builder.

Its template selection is excellent, and if you switch between them the site automatically reformats. This is a super useful feature, something that really sets GoDaddy apart from a builder like Wix.

GoDaddy small business templates — Rather than juggling five different subscriptions for five different services, a major draw of GoDaddy is that it does a bit of everything.

The drag-and-drop builder is structured and easy to use, though lacking the sheen of more stylish builders. If you’re not a creative type, GoDaddy’s artificial design intelligence (ADI) can generate an entire site for you after you’ve answered a few questions.

GoDaddy has recently stepped up its ecommerce features and management tools. You can add up to 5,000 products to your inventory, and shipping methods are built in. There are plenty of payment options (credit cards and PayPal included, of course).

It remains fairly reasonable, though. The cheapest plan (the Basic plan) costs just £6.99/month (billed annually). At the other end of the scale, the Ecommerce plan will set you back £19.99/month (billed annually), and there are two plans sitting in the middle. All plans come with a very generous one month free trial.

More Information:
GoDaddy Website Builder Review – get the full details on GoDaddy’s website builder
GoDaddy Ecommerce Review – is it the right choice for selling online?
Wix vs GoDaddy – an in-depth comparison of two popular website builders
How to Build a Website on GoDaddy – our easy, step-by-step guide to getting started

Rather than juggling five different subscriptions for five different services, a major draw of GoDaddy is that it does a bit of everything. You can take care of domain registration, web hosting, and website building all in one place.

Getting online with GoDaddy is effortless, but it’s somewhat limiting compared to builders like Wix and Squarespace. For getting your small business online quickly and easily, however, there’s few better platforms available.

5. Duda

Best template designs, but limited creative freedom

Duda pitches itself as a website builder for web designers, but don’t let this put you off. It’s actually super simple to create a single site for your business, and the cheapest plan costs just $14/month (around £11).

	Pros	Cons
#1	Over 90 well-designed templates to choose from	Not the best option in terms of SEO support
#2	Option to create personalized user journeys, even with the cheapest plan	Customization options are pretty limited – not great for those who want a lot of creative freedom

So, what can we tell you about Duda? Well firstly, the templates are good. Like, really good. Sure, they don’t all have that modern, minimalist look that you get with Squarespace, but they feel real somehow – like the websites you happily use every day for everyday businesses.

That’s why Duda comes out top for design for small business websites, scoring 4.6/5, while Squarespace still holds the top spot for portfolio or photography sites – basically anything that’s super image-led.

But the bit that gets us most excited about Duda? Personalized. User. Journeys.

So Duda currently offers two plans – one at $14/month for building one site (about £11), and one at $74/month for agencies (close to £55). And even on its cheapest plan, you can change the way users see your site, depending on various factors.

For example, if someone is visiting your site for the first time, you can choose to display a video about your services. And if someone is visiting your site from a location nearby, you can add a button to give you a call. This is really smart stuff for a website builder, and is easy for anyone to set up – just click ‘Personalize’ down the right hand side of your main dashboard, then choose a ‘Rule’. This is also where you can create pop-ups and banner ads.

So, where does Duda fall down? Well firstly, the SEO support isn’t really there. If you’re relying on getting found in Google’s search results, you’ll have to read up on basic SEO tips to help get you there – you don’t get the prompts and guides that you do with some other builders. And secondly, while the designs are awesome, there isn’t a ton of scope for customization. Some people like this approach, but if you’re after a creative project, then this might feel too limiting.

6. Strikingly

Best for help and support, and for building multiple small sites

Strikingly scores pretty well across the board – our users liked it as much as more popular builders, including Squarespace and GoDaddy – but although it’s good value, it has some serious drawbacks.

	Pros	Cons
#1	Helpful, proactive support team	You can only create one-page sites, meaning it’s not a scalable solution
#2	You can create two sites on the cheapest $8/month plan (about £6/month), and sell up to five products	Lacks the feature quality and depth of builders featured higher on this list

Let’s start with what we like about Strikingly. First up: Happiness Officers. Yes, you heard that right.

Not only does Strikingly take home the crown for the most wholesomely-named support team, but it boasts the most active one, too. At various points throughout your website-making journey, a little chat box will pop up inviting you to talk to your Happiness Officer – an option that’s available 24/7. There are also all sorts of helpful tutorial videos on Strikingly’s site. It’s no wonder it scored an impressive 4.5/5!

Strikingly’s plans are very reasonable. A free plan is available, but as always, we recommend you go Premium for that professional look. Premium plans range from $8 – $49 per month (about £6 – £28 billed annually), and you can try all plans free for 14 days.

On the cheapest paid plan (the ‘Limited’ plan), you can build two sites, sell up to five products, and bag a free domain name for the first year – see, we told you it’s affordable!

So how come it’s down in sixth place? The main issue for us is that Strikingly only lets you create one-page websites. The navigation links down the side or across the top just take you to sections further down that initial page. That’s fine if you just need to present an overview – About Us, Portfolio, Contact Us – but if you want to really develop your site, that one page starts to get very long indeed. It’s thought the average person scrolls around 22.7 meters on their phone every day – but they probably won’t be too thrilled if your site is responsible for the bulk of that.

One-page websites mean blogs and product categories are kind of out of the question, too. So while Strikingly is very reasonably priced, it’s not actually great value – scoring just 3.5/5 in our research.

So if you need to show a ‘flavor’ of one or two projects you have on the go, Strikingly is a safe and super cheap option. If you’re after something a bit more scalable, look at options further up the list.

Other helpful pages:

Strikingly Review – a detailed review of Strikingly’s features, prices, and more

7. WordPress.com

Great for blogs, but difficult for anything else

In stark contrast to Strikingly, WordPress.com is very much ‘all about the blog’. If your business relies heavily on blogging – or is, in fact, a blog – then you’ve struck gold with this builder. For anything else, though, you’ll likely find it too limiting.

	Pros	Cons
#1	Comes with excellent inbuilt blogging tools and features	Very limited for anything that isn’t a blog – think rigid templates, frustrating features, and an outdated backend
#2	Super cheap prices – paid WordPress.com plans start at just £3 per month (billed annually)	To carry out more than the most basic customization, you’ll need some coding knowledge

WordPress.com is built for blogging, and we really can’t stress that enough. If your small business is blog-based, get ready for a bunch of super helpful features, such as comments, tags, likes, categories, and for your posts to be featured in the blog ‘Reader’ for subscribed readers to view in their feed.

If your business is not a blog, however, you’ll have a rough time of it. But hey, don’t just take our word for it – as part of our user testing, we gave participants an hour to build a website for fictitious business ‘Shore Coffee House’ to a set brief, and asked them to give us their thoughts.

One particularly frustrated participant using WordPress.com said:

“I hated it, I really hated it. It really isn’t my cup of tea whatsoever.”

And the other participants weren’t particularly complimentary, either – they found that things just weren’t intuitive, and they didn’t make anywhere near as much progress in the hour as they’d expected. It’s no surprise that WordPress.com pretty much bombed when it came to the Customer Score, gaining the (joint) lowest mark of any builder tested (3.5/5). It also scored just 2.4/5 for design flexibility; it’s hard to make WordPress.com templates your own.

So, blogging aside, does WordPress.com have any redeeming qualities? Its affordability is certainly a huge plus – there’s a free plan available, and paid ones starting at just £3 per month (billed annually). The cheapest plan – the ‘Personal’ plan – also comes with a custom domain and live chat support. That’s a fair bit of bang for your buck.

If you’re patient, and preferably have a bit of coding knowledge, you could definitely make WordPress.com work for your business site – you’re just not making it easy on yourself by any means.

Other helpful pages:

WordPress.com Review – discover the ins and outs of this blogging builder
Best Blogging Platforms – if you need a blog, pick from this list!

8. Site123

Go to Site123's Black Friday Deal

Easiest to use business website builder

Let’s imagine that one night, The Bad Men came and demanded that you build them a business website immediately – ‘immediately, or else!’ In this frightful scenario, Site123 might just be the builder you’d reach for.

	Pros	Cons
#1	Design-assisted approach makes this a super quick and easy builder to use	Designs look dated
#2	Awesome expert support team available over live chat	If you want to have more than a basic website, it starts to get shown up quite quickly

Why would we pick Site123 to get us out of this particularly niche jam? Because it’s great for getting a site live very easily and fairly quickly – so long as you’re not too precious about the end result. Site123 also has an awesome little support team available over live chat.

But while Site123 may be super quick to set up, you can’t deny that the end result looks super dated. Site123 also scores poorly for features, coming in last place with 2.6/5. So even though it offers a free plan – with the only paid plan costing just $12.80 per month (about £10 per month) – its value for money score is really poor, again coming in last place.

One of our users really hit the nail on the head with their feedback:

“It’s ok, but if you want to have more than a basic website, it starts to get shown up quite quickly.”

So unless you’re super unsure about all things online – or are in a next-level rush – we’d recommend you opt for another easy-to-use website builder, such as Wix, GoDaddy, or Duda.

Other helpful pages:

SITE123 Review – Learn all about this builder in our full review

9. Jimdo Creator

Simple, but lacks feature depth

If you’ve read through this whole article (thanks for sticking with us!), then you’ll probably have noticed that the small business website builders towards the bottom of our list are becoming simpler – but not necessarily for the better. Jimdo is one such such builder.

	Pros	Cons
#1	With a free plan available and paid plans starting at just £9/month (billed annually), Jimdo scored reasonably well for value for money (3.2/5)	Limited help and support – restricted by your plan, and only available via email
#2		Awkward to edit and arrange elements, and generally lacking good feature depth

Don’t get us wrong, Jimdo is far better than many website builders on the market – and we should know, we’ve tried over 50 of them – but it’s worse than the other eight featured on this list.

Jimdo is very simple, yes – but in the world of website builders today, that’s no longer anything special. The big players are constantly evolving to improve their ease of use and depth of features, while services like Jimdo Creator get left behind.

When held up against our small business website builder criteria, it scored particularly poorly for design flexibility. It’s simple to add elements – but if you try to edit them to your liking, you’ll find the process very frustrating indeed. It looks nice enough, but you’ve got very little control.

Help and Support was another noticeable low point, and Jimdo scored just 1.7/5 in this area. With the most expensive plan, you’re guaranteed a response in under an hour. For those on a cheaper plan, however, you’re looking at 1-2 business days – not ideal if you have a serious problem. All help and support is also done via email, which in itself feels much less helpful (and modern) than the live chat function which most builders now favor.

Jimdo does have some redeeming qualities, though. It held up reasonably well in the value for money section, scoring 3.2/5. There’s a free plan, as well as paid ones ranging from the Start plan at just £9/month, to the Unlimited plan at £39/month (all prices billed annually). So even though it has its limitations, it does offer one of the cheapest paid plans around.

All in all, Jimdo Creator isn’t quite there yet, but it’s on its way. And there’s no harm in starting out on the free plan to see how you get on with it – you can easily upgrade at a later date if you like the feel of it, or switch to another builder if you don’t.

Other helpful pages:

Jimdo Review – find out more and see if Jimdo is right for you
Wix vs Weebly vs Squarespace vs Jimdo – the ultimate comparison

How to Choose a Small Business Website Builder

Get Advice Tailored To Your Needs

Before you dive in and start building your website, it’s important to figure out what is important to your small business.

Website builders are perfect for artists, coffee shop owners, ecommerce site owners, photographers, writers, art dealers, restaurants, wedding planners, gardeners, electricians, plumbers – the list is endless.

But a plumber, for example, will have very different needs to a wedding photographer.

One needs an online order booking form, while the other needs to add and upload top-quality images.

Ask yourself: who are your customers? Are you looking to advertise your brand? Or do you need to take bookings online?

Grab a bit of paper and write down what goals you want to achieve (take bookings online, for example), what features you’d like your website to include (a blog page or an ‘About Us’ section) and who your target audience is.

It might also be worth taking our short 4-question quiz to get recommendations tailored to exactly what you want for your website.

Here are five factors we’ve put together. They’re not everything, but they’re a good starting point for deciding what your small business website needs to prioritize (and what website builder might be best for you):

Ease of use
Social media
Email
Images & Templates
Help & Support

Create Your Small Business Website With Wix Now

1.Ease of use

All of our top-rated builders for small business websites are very user-friendly and can help you get online even if you don’t have a technical bone in your body.

Sounds good right?

They also all offer free trials, so you can experiment and play around to find out which builder you find the easiest to use, without having to spend any of your own money.

Think of it as trying on lots of different clothes before you decide on the right outfit for a party.

When testing each website builder, ask yourself:

Can you add pictures and templates easily, without messing up your site’s layout?
Do you find it easy to make changes such as updating contact information and adding new products?
Is the website builder able to provide the features you need? For example, if you’re a restaurant and you want to take online bookings, can you add a booking form to your site?
Are the color schemes and templates suitable for your business? An accountancy firm, for example, will need different color schemes and templates to a local ice cream seller.

We can point you in the direction of our best small business website builders, but we can’t absolutely say which one is the best for you because a lot of it comes down to personal preference. That’s why we encourage you to test each of our recommended website builders out and see if it works for your small business.

Wix and Weebly both offer free basic plans, but if you’re serious about building an eye-catching small business website we advise you to sign up to a paid plan to access apps and features that will help your store stand out.

The easier you find the the builder to use, the more time you have to play around with your site’s color scheme and branding, write product descriptions and source top-quality images – all things that will make your store stand out!

2.Social media integration

Social media sites like Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter can be a great way to get eyeballs on your small business website.

Is social media an important way you plan to generate sales or interact with customers?

If the answer’s yes, then you’ll want a website builder that focuses on social media integration (the better the integration, the easier it will be to promote your business on social media, without taking up hours of your time).

You can integrate your Wix site, for example, for free with Instagram, Facebook and Twitter; you can also add a Facebook like popup button to your site. All of our recommended small business website builders come with varying levels of social media integration so take advantage of the free trials to play around and work out which one caters best for your social media needs.

Check whether your chosen website builder will let you:

Add icons that link out to your social media pages.
Pull in content from your social media accounts – such as a ‘tweet of the day’ – onto your site.
Post content from your site straight onto your social platforms

3.Email marketing

Email marketing is the lifeblood of many small businesses.

It’s a fantastic way to connect on a really personal level with your customers and if you rely on sending emails (even a small number), or are looking to get a personal business email address and start sending emails, then you’ll want a website builder that allows you to manage your mailbox.

If you’ve already built a big email list, or aim to acquire lots of new email subscribers quickly, check which tools each website builder offers through the app store to help you scale your email marketing. Squarespace offers integration with MailChimp – a great email tool we’ve used before that’s designed on the same drag and drop principles as website builders.

You can build striking email campaigns without having to know coding languages like HTML (Hypertext Markup Language – used to add font styles, like italics and bold, and add links to text)and in no time at all be sending professional emails to your customers.

This can be a great way to drum up interest in your small business (maybe you’ve got an in-store event you want to remind people about), add credibility to your company and keep in touch with loyal customers.

By using email marketing, you’re adding another string to your site’s bow.

4.Images and templates

Website builders come with a host of free and paid stock photos and templates to make your site look sharp and stylish. But different sites have different image needs, so even though our top five website builders’ templates and images cover almost every industry, it’s worth checking first that the templates and images they offer meet the specific needs of your business.

For example, if you’re an accountancy firm, you’re going to need templates that imply competency and come with professional images like workers in suits or office blocks, right?

If your business relies heavily on visuals (you might be a photographer or a fancy restaurant), then you might lean towards a builder that provides the most beautiful and polished images, such as Squarespace.

The better you can make your business website look, the more customers will reward you with brand engagement and dollars in the till.

Other helpful pages:
Where to Find Professional Images for Your Website – for our definitive guide on sourcing images for your website.

5.Help & Support

When you’re launching your small business website, any support you get can make a real difference.

All of our recommended builders offer excellent support over email, phone, and online chat, so you’re never left on your own when trying to get your website off the ground.

In our experience Wix’s Help Center provides the most in-depth collection of tutorials and videos to help answer all your questions; Weebly’s guides and information is still very useful, but not quite as conclusive as Wix’s or Squarespace’s support.

The less time you spend working out how to add a feature or change a styling element, the more time you have to focus on how you are going to make your site unique and attract visitors.

This is where a website builder’s customer support can be invaluable.

First-class customer support can be like having a tour guide on a holiday in a busy city: they can show you the right way to go, point out exciting features and help organize your time.

9 Best Small Business Website Builders: Final Thoughts

Building a website for your small business is very important.

It makes your company look credible, lets you communicate with customers 24/7 and lets you showcase products and services to a wider audience.

In the past, you might have worried that building a website would be too expensive (you’re a small business, where’s the money coming from?) or too difficult (you’re not a computer expert, how are you supposed to build a website from scratch?).

We took all these common small business needs and concerns into account when we evaluated these website builders, and one of these nine is a solid foundation for a small business site.

We’ve looked at nine of the best website builders for small business…

9 Best Website Builders for Small Business

Wix – Best all-around website builder for small businesses.
Squarespace – Best for fast-growing small businesses or startups.
Weebly – Great value for money.
GoDaddy – Fastest for building a simple website.
Duda – Best template designs, but limited creative freedom.
Strikingly – Best for help and support, and for building multiple small sites.
WordPress.com – Great for blogs, but difficult for anything else.
Site123 – Easiest to use website builder.
Jimdo Creator – Simple, but lacks feature depth.

Each of our nine recommended small business website builders means entrepreneurs like you can get online without spending heaps of money hiring professional developers and designers.
Whichever builder you choose, you’ll be able to create a functional and eye-catching website that establishes your small business online, without any technical know-how.

Whichever builder you choose, you’ll be able to create a functional and eye-catching website that establishes your small business online, without any technical know-how.

Which specific builder is right for your small business will depend on the type of business you run and what you hope to achieve through your website.

If you know the main function of your small business website will be to sell products then we recommend using an ecommerce specialist like BigCommerce or Shopify. While Wix, Squarespace and Weebly all offer ecommerce platforms, Shopify and BigCommerce have the tools to take your store to the next level.

Make use of the free trials on offer to find the perfect website builder for your small business. Once you’ve chosen a website builder for your small business, we recommend you read the guide below as your next step.

How to build a business website has step-by-step information on the nuts and bolts of building your business website.

FAQs

Which is the easiest small business website builder?

None of the website builders in this guide require any technical knowledge. But for a really simple website building experience, we recommend GoDaddy as its editor is extremely quick to get to grips with.

While this is true, you might find another website builder, such as Weebly, suits you better. That’s why we recommend taking a couple of website builders for a test run before settling on a final choice.

Which is the cheapest small business website builder?

Squarespace is the only website builder in this guide that doesn’t offer a free plan. Both Wix and Weebly are free to use for as long as you want. They also have very reasonable premium plans that are worth considering if you want to take your site to the next level.

Which small business website builder has the best templates?

Duda is the number one for a design-focused small business website. Its templates are all stunning and professional.

Which small business website builder is best on mobile?

Wix has its own mobile editor which means you can tweak things on the mobile version of your site without changing anything on the desktop version.

All of Squarespace’s themes are mobile responsive so they look great on all devices, which is a big plus point.

How long will it take me to build my own small business website?

All of the website builders in this guide have extremely intuitive editors which means you can get to grips with their features in no time at all!

This means you could have your small business website set up in a matter of hours!

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Wix Review

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Updated on July 1, 2025

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Best for side hustles

Shopify Starter

$5/month (billed annually)

Sell via social media and messaging apps
Don't need a full website
Good starting point for new sellers

Limited scalability

Best for small businesses

Basic

$29/month (billed annually)

Sell unlimited products
Multichannel selling options
24/7 chat support

Most popular plan

Best for established stores

Grow

$79/month (billed annually)

5 staff accounts
Get shipping insurance
USPS discounts available

Best for large businesses

Advanced

$299/month (billed annually)

Enhanced support
Bigger checkout capacity
Custom reports and analytics

Best for industry leaders

Plus

Build My Wix Site For Free Today

From $2,300/month (3-year plan)

Priority 24/7 support
Unlimited staff accounts
Customizable plan

What Are the Pros and Cons of Wix?

Pros

Highly intuitive and easy-to-use editor
Great value for money and help features
Highest public recommendation of any website builder

Cons

Can’t switch templates after your website goes live
May have to spend more on third party apps to scale your website
The sheer choice and amount of customizable options can be overwhelming

Wix Review — Start your journey to a new site by taking the first step and trying Wix for free

Overview of Wix

Wix is used by over 100 million people across 190 different countries. It’s an affordable, easy and hassle-free way of creating your own website in a matter of minutes.

Building your own website used to be something only whizkid coders could do. Or people who were rich enough to pay whizkid coders to do it for them!

But thanks to Wix, now everyone can create a website of their own. Whatever your skill level, Wix’s powerful template editor gives you full creative control – without needing to know a word of code.

If you have a look at some of the website examples that are created by Wix, they’re beautiful and professional.

Wix isn’t the only drag-and-drop website builder, of course. But it’s the best in the world today.

Why do we think that? First off, it covers hundreds of industries – many more than any other website builder. Just check out what it’s got for…

No matter what your niche is, you’ll find Wix templates, tools and apps to match. Dog walkers? Success coaches? Internet stars?? It’s easier to say what industries Wix doesn’t cover!

Since launching in 2006, Wix has swiftly established itself as the market’s leading website builder. Before we get our teeth into this review of Wix, though, let’s take a step back and explain what a website builder actually is:

A website builder is an online platform that helps you create your own website, without coding.

There are two main types of website builders – the classic template-based platforms, and the more modern AI (Artificial Intelligence) platforms.

A classic website builder lets you pick from a vast range of pre-designed templates. You can then easily customize the template and populate it with all your own content, adding in useful features as you go.

AI website builders work by asking you a series of questions, like the type of website you’d like, and your design preferences. After that, it creates a website for you. You can still make some tweaks to the design, but this approach is really for people who need a simple website up fast.

Wix is a classic template website builder and an AI platform rolled into one. You can choose from over 500 industry-specific templates and make use of its incredible drag-and-drop editor. Or if you’d prefer, use Wix ADI and let Wix design a website for you!

Wix comes with a big reputation, but here at Website Builder Expert, it’s our job to scratch beneath the surface and tell you exactly how good it is. Unlike many Wix reviews, we conduct our own thorough research and testing to bring you expert analysis.

Throughout this review of Wix, you’ll learn about its strengths and weaknesses, how suitable Wix is for different types of websites, and how it fared when we put it through its paces.

Wix Review Video

Whether you’re a computer whiz or just have a grasp of the basics, Wix is fast and easy to use for everyone.

To prove it, we put Wix to the test:

Does Wix Sound Right For You?

If Wix was ticking all your boxes in our video review, why not try it for yourself? Don’t forget it’s totally free!

How Easy is Wix to Use?

We asked lots of everyday people to give Wix a try and tell us what they thought.

The feedback we got speaks for itself – people loved Wix! Here are just a couple of their thoughts:

“I was genuinely surprised that making a website could be done that quickly. I didn’t think that it would all get done, but in an hour, I’ve done everything.”

“Once I’d got to grips with it, it became really easy. I can see myself definitely using Wix to actually create my own personal website.”

With Wix, you have two choices – Wix Editor or Wix ADI. Wix Editor uses drag-and-drop functionality, meaning anything on your website can be repositioned simply by clicking and holding the item, then moving it where you want.

Wix ADI editor — Wix makes it super simple to set up your website. You can choose between the Wix Editor, where you edit a template, or Wix ADI, which creates a personalized website for you in minutes.

Wix ADI will design your website for you. You answer a few questions about the type of website you’d like, and before you know it, your own personal, unique site will be created before your eyes. You can make edits to the final design, but this process is not ideal if you want total control.

Think of it like playing a game on your phone compared to a games console. You can still play the game on an app, and it’s easier, but you’re not getting the same level of control or experience you would from the games console.

For those who are a little more tech savvy, you can also use Wix Code. This lets you access and edit the raw HTML behind your template for even greater customization. Using Wix Code is by no means essential, but the option’s there if you want to dig a little deeper.

Customer Satisfaction

After everyone finished testing Wix, we asked them if they’d recommend it.. Well, the results are in – and they’re glowing.

A massive 88% of people who used it would highly recommend Wix to a friend.

To put that score into some context for you, that recommendation is:

24% higher than Weebly’s
20% higher than Squarespace’s
12% higher than GoDaddy’s.

People loved the freedom Wix gave them when editing, and just how easy it was to drag and drop things around their website. They were also amazed at just how quickly they could create something they’d be happy to publish online.

The only criticism people had was that to begin with, Wix can feel overwhelming. There’s so much choice – in templates, features and customization – that it takes a few minutes to settle into the platform.

For pure ease of use and creative control, though, Wix is unrivalled.

Will You Love Wix?

There’s only one way to find out! 88% of people who tested Wix in our research were likely to recommend it – try it yourself for free to learn why.

Sounds Great! I Want to Try Wix Now

Who is Wix Best For?

We’ve determined that Wix is the best overall website builder, but is it right for you?

Wix Review Type of Site — With Wix you can design a website for any need imaginable. Click on the image to visit Wix and create your own site.

Depending on your needs, Wix could be just the answer you’re looking for. However, there may be another platform out there better suited for the job. Below, we’ll run through why people build websites, discuss what Wix is capable of, and suggest other options to Wix if we feel there are better out there.

Business

Business websites are Wix’s bread and butter. There are hundreds of templates to choose from, designed specifically for different industries. From handy services to advertising and marketing, real estate to finance and law, everything is covered.

Wix also has a whole host of amazing business features – like subscription forms, appointment bookings and email marketing – and an app market bursting with amazing add-ons.

Do You Need a Website for Your Business?

Wix has tailored features designed to help you build and run a successful business website. Check out its business features by clicking the button below.

Show Me Wix's Business Features

Ecommerce

If you’re looking to start selling online, Wix eCommerce has you covered. Create your own stunning online store with ease and speed using Wix Editor or Wix ADI.

Wix lets you sell an unlimited amount of products – physical, digital, or a service. You can also create discount and promotional codes, control your shipping options, and even manage your store on the go through its mobile app.

If you want to take your online store to the next level, we’d recommend using a Wix app called Ecwid. This gives you access to guest checkouts, inventory tracking, social commerce and more.

Wix has also put a lot of energy into making its ecommerce analytics much more powerful. Through its dashboard store analytics you can now access in-house data to rival that of dedicated ecommerce platforms.

That said, if you’re generating six-figure monthly profits and need a powerful platform capable of managing bulk orders and scaling with you, look at either Shopify or BigCommerce. These are ecommerce website builders designed solely for building online stores.

Do You Want to Make Money Online?

Wix is one of the best platforms for selling online. Specially designed templates and tons of sales tools make it a great choice for a small store.

Create My Store With Wix

Personal

Personal websites are another strength of Wix’s. Whether you need a site for an event (like your wedding), a portfolio to showcase your work, or even just an online résumé, Wix has you covered.

There are templates for almost everything imaginable, and with Wix’s intuitive editor, you can really get your personality across.

However, if you’re in a creative field – such as photography, art or graphics – you may be better off using Squarespace. Its templates are beautiful, and cater better to those areas.

Do You Need a Personal Website?

Whether you need a portfolio, event page, or online resume, Wix has something for everyone. Try it for yourself to see if it’s the builder for you!

Show Me What Wix Has to Offer

Blogging

Wix provides more than enough features for you to create a fantastic blog. That said, if you need a website solely for blogging, there are better options out there.

Wix allows you to create blog posts, separate them into categories, social bookmark, and even add a comments section and search bar for your users. Perfect if you need a blogging section for your site.

For a more rounded experience, though, you can’t look past Weebly. Weebly’s blogging features are excellent, and they’re used by some of very well-established bloggers. For more on Weebly, read our expert review here.

Get the Blogging Bug

Wix is a great option for adding a blog section to your website. Its free plan, stunning templates, and special blogging features make it a solid choice.

I Want to Start My Blog With Wix

Scalability

When speaking to our users, some expressed concern about whether you could outgrow a Wix website. In all honesty though, unless your website’s going to become a global, household name, Wix has more than enough about it to scale with you.

Wix’s app market is great, and is always releasing new, exciting add-ons that will enhance its websites – either in terms of the functions it can perform, or the quality of existing ones.

As mentioned, if you need a big, powerful ecommerce website, Wix may not be the best fit. Otherwise, Wix’s developers are constantly improving the platform, and it keeps pace with almost every need.

How Good are Wix’s Templates?

Wix’s templates all look like designer websites. There are hundreds to choose from, and the designs are bang up to date with the latest trends.

Any of them can give your site the stylish, professional look it needs – even if you have no design or coding skills at all.

All Wix templates are categorized into types of websites – such as business, blogging, photography etc – and are completely mobile responsive. This means your website will adjust automatically to fit both mobile and tablet screen sizes.

wix review templates — Wix has more than 510 customizable templates, covering every industry you can think of. Click the image to browse Wix's templates.

Wix Has Over 500 Templates

And you can browse them all for free! Take a look at Wix’s stunning designs to see if it’s got the perfect one for your website.

Show Me Wix's Templates

One downside to using Wix is that you can’t switch templates after your site has been published online. Make sure you don’t rush to pick a favorite template – if you switch templates later on, you’ll lose your content and customizations.

If that’s a deal breaker for you, you may prefer Squarespace. Squarespace’s templates are less flexible than Wix’s, but you can switch between them whenever you want.

We sat down with an industry-leading web design expert to get their opinion on Wix’s templates compared to other top platforms out there. Here’s what they had to say:

“I like Wix because it has these coherent features that run down the page. It’s the only website builder that has a sense of personality, although Weebly and Squarespace probably follow more consistent design patterns”

Design Customization

Wix’s templates are ready-made websites in their own right. You can keep the dummy content and publish right away if you want, but to make a site your own, you’ll need to do some editing.

Wix makes basic tweaks very easy. For example, to edit text, just click the dummy text and type away. Changing its size is also a simple matter of dragging a slider:

wix review editor text editing example — Wix makes easy work of basic tweaks like editing text and changing font size. Click the image to visit Wix and have a go creating your own site!

It’s also simple to upload content from your laptop or other online accounts, such as Facebook or Instagram.

When you start getting more creative, Wix really comes into its own. You’ll soon find you can really turn that template into something special.

The animation button is a great example. You can bring almost any feature to life – heading, photo, menu or whatever – by making it zoom, fade out, or even spin onto the page.

Wix Editor Animation — Bring your site’s features to life by animating them using Wix’s easy built-in tool. Click the image to give Wix's editor a try.

Wix also has hundreds of additional site features, which you can add by dragging them onto the template.

You can add blogs, restaurant menus, contact forms, music players, maps, interactive slideshows, video backgrounds… much more than we have room to list here!

Once you’ve added extra features, most can be customized by changing their size and behavior, or adding effects like animation.

Wix Editor add Element — Add contact forms, maps, restaurant menus and more – just by dragging onto your template. Click the image to experiment with Wix's editing tools yourself.

Wix offers a huge library of professional photos, graphics and videos, all free to use on your site. Wix’s free media content can save you tons of time and decision-making.

Do You Want a Stunning Site?

Wix gives you total creative control with its easy drag-and-drop tools, making customization quick and easy for beginners and pros alike.

Yes! Get Me Started With Wix!

Wix’s Tools and Features

While its templates and features steal the show, it’s Wix’s tools that keep things ticking over behind the scenes.

We’d be here all day if we wanted to list every single one of Wix’s tools. So, we’ve picked out some of the most important ones for you to consider.

App Market

Wix’s built-in tools are excellent, but they can’t quite do everything. Fortunately, if there’s something they can’t do, there’s probably a Wix app that can.

Wix App Market contains hundreds of third-party site features that make your website do more, better.

Basically, what this means is that there are certain tools that Wix does not provide you as part of its core services, so to fill this void, Wix provides you with 1-click, hassle-free installation of tools made by external services providers.

Wix apps are like the ‘plugins’ you can add to WordPress, or the ‘extensions’ you can add to Chrome; different names, basically the same thing.

Serving the Wix website owners is our number one priority. Our goal is to offer a wide choice of apps that provide the popular and niche features Wix users have been asking for or that address current and future market trends. – Avishai Abrahami, Wix CEO & Founder

Wix apps are very popular. Wix users are currently installing apps at a rate of 44,000 apps per day – that’s 16 million app installations per year!

wix review apps graphic — Apps are flying out of the Wix App Market at a rate of 44,000 every day

Wix App Market includes useful integrations such as shopping carts, live chat widgets and marketing tools. A lot of these apps are completely free, although some offer you premium versions for a small monthly fee so that you can access even more functions.

Here are a couple of apps that we really rate:

123FormBuilder

123FormBuilder is a cloud-based software designed to work for any business and individual that need to collect data online and offline. Their flexible platform offers a variety of possibilities for creating any type of form, survey, questionnaire, quiz, poll, and even time-sheets.

Flip Books

If you produce printed materials (such as brochures or magazines) and want to show them off online too, this is the app for the job. Flip Books creates digital versions of all your best printed materials. Users can turn the virtual pages right on your site, without having to download a boring PDF. Free and Premium versions are available.

If you’re not sure what an app does, Wix App Market apps all come with descriptions, user reviews, and video demos. This means you’ll get a pretty good idea if an app’s right for you before decide to use it.

Help & Support

The question mark buttons scattered throughout Wix’s editor are small in size, but mighty useful!

Each button opens up a box packed with clever tips about the tool it’s attached to, drawn from Wix’s huge Help Center. Some boxes even feature a video tutorial.

wix review editor help center — Wix’s question mark buttons guide you through using the editor – and save you lots of searching time. Click the image to take Wix's support for a spin.

If you’re looking for a more personal touch, you can get in contact with Wix directly via email or phone from Monday to Thursday, 5am-5pm EST.

Wix doesn’t currently offer live chat support, but you can get your questions answered by contacting Wix directly on social media, or by a fellow user on Wix’s official forum.

Is Support Important to You?

We all need a little help from time to time. Wix has great on-page support while you build, plus an expert team to give you a hand if you get stuck.

Sounds Good! I Want to Start Building Now

Domains and Social Media Integration

If you sign up to any of Wix’s premium plans, you’ll get a custom domain name free for the first year. The renewal price is around £15 annually, and you can also transfer an existing domain and connect it to your Wix site once you upgrade to a paid plan.

Connecting your website to your social media accounts is a great way of increasing engagement for both. Wix allows you to add social buttons, likes, shares, feeds and follower counts into your website, so people can easily find and follow you.

One thing Wix hasn’t cracked yet is multi-channel selling. Currently, you can’t sell products directly on social media or marketplaces like you can with Shopify and BigCommerce.

SEO

When it comes to SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Wix is one of the best website builders at helping you rank highly on Google with its built-in SEO tools. You can edit meta titles and descriptions, customize URLs, and even tweak header code.

There’s also a whole host of SEO apps available from Wix’s app market if you need guidance or keyword support. From our own SEO testing, only Weebly came close to Wix for how good its SEO offerings were.

Want to learn more about SEO? Read our amazing guides for pro tips:

Security, Backups and Restores

All Wix websites come with built-in SSL security certificates. SSL stands for ‘Secure Sockets Layer’, and all it really means is that your visitors will know the site they’re on is safe thanks to the little padlock icon that appears next to your URL.

To stop you tearing your hair out should anything go wrong, Wix also has a handy autosave feature. Multiple versions of your website will be backed up, so you can restore your website to a previous point in a matter of clicks. Phew!

Wix Ascend (Marketing)

As the name suggests, Ascend by Wix helps your business reach higher levels. It’s an all-in-one solution, letting you connect with customers, automate your workflow, and generally promote your business.

What makes Ascend so different? While Squarespace and Weebly have introduced more marketing tools, the Wix package is much more ambitious. It covers 20 product areas all in one place, including:

Live chat
Wix automations (like personalized messages and notifications)
Email marketing
Social media posts
SEO

This shows how much Wix can help your business grow, and with three pricing options, it suits almost anyone. Will your website be in the ascendancy this year?

Is Wix Really the Best Builder For You?

From social media to security, Wix has the tools to set your website up for success. Discover if it’s right for you by trying it risk-free today.

I Want to Try Wix Now

Wix Pricing and Value for Money

No review of Wix would be complete without looking at what it’s actually going to cost you. Well, for starters, it doesn’t have to cost you a thing!

Wix has a free plan as well as a total of seven paid premium plans, ranging from £3 – £22 per month. The higher your plan, the more features you unlock, such as removing Wix ads from your website and getting your own custom domain free for one year.

Wix also has a two-week money-back guarantee, so if you don’t like what you see, you can request a refund straight away.

Here’s a closer look at what you get with each plan:

wix ecommerce and business pricing plans — Wix has three regular ecommerce plans ranging from £13 to £22 per month (billed annually).

wix premium plans — Wix has four premium plans ranging from £3 to £18 per month (billed annually).

What's the Best Plan For You?

Wix has great value premium plans for you to choose from! Head to Wix’s pricing page to learn more about which one is right for you.

Show Me Wix's Price Plans

The higher up the plans you go, the more features you get (and templates, and apps, and support – more of everything!) Plus, the longer you sign up for, the better value your plan will be.

For example, if you pay for a one or two-year plan up front, you can save between 25% and 43% per year.

If great value is what you’re after, then Wix’s Unlimited plan is for you. It’s designed for small businesses who need company branding taken care of for them. You get a free logo designed – normally worth £40 – and access to Ascend, Wix’s marketing tool.

Wix’s most popular plan, though, is its Business Unlimited plan. Unsurprisingly, you get unlimited bandwidth, along with access to all of Wix’s main help services, features and apps. You can even build your own online store with Wix’s excellent ecommerce tools.

Do You Want Great Value For Money?

Wix’s Pro plan offers best value for money, but no matter which premium plan you choose, you’ll get great bang for your buck.

Yes! I Want to Choose a Wix Plan

Wix Review: Summary

Wix makes it easy to create a stunning, powerful, interactive website for any project, business or idea you could possibly imagine – and you can do it all in an afternoon, no coding required.

Its designer templates give you a big head start. It lets you customize extensively using drag-and-drop controls, which are more powerful than those you’ll find in any other website builder.

Wix’s best premium features only cost a few bucks a month. They’re excellent value – and they’ll make your visitors think you’ve paid thousands of dollars for a custom-built website.

We’d recommend Wix to anyone looking to build either a small business or personal website. For businesses, Wix has brilliant templates, SEO and marketing tools, and tons of apps to help you scale. For personal sites, you have everything you need for blogging, portfolios or CVs at your fingertips.

Wix doesn’t have everything for everyone, though. Its ecommerce functions aren’t as powerful as Shopify’s, and it doesn’t let you switch templates or get help via live chat – both of which are offered by Squarespace.

None of those drawbacks are deal breakers for us. For example, we think the quality of Wix’s support more than outweighs the fact that there’s no live chat option.

It’s easy to get started with, and doesn’t cost a dime. Remember, all Wix premium plans come with a two-week money-back guarantee, no questions asked (although you can use Wix free forever, if you want).

Wix needn’t cost you anything other than half an hour of your time, so give it a whirl! After all, that’s the best way to find out if it’s really the right website builder for you.

Are You Ready to Try Wix?

Wix is a beginner-friendly builder, with stunning designs and a generous free plan. But don’t just take our word for it – try it for yourself, risk-free, and discover if it’s right for you.

I'm Ready! Take Me to Wix

Wix FAQ's

Website Builder Expert aims to provide you with honest data. That’s why we conduct our own research and obtain direct, personal insight. Click here for further information.

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How Much Should a Website Cost You? A Definitive Pricing Guide For You

Written by

Researched by

Updated on July 1, 2025

If you click to purchase a product or service based on our independent recommendations and impartial reviews, we may receive a commission. Learn more

Best for side hustles

Shopify Starter

$5/month (billed annually)

Sell via social media and messaging apps
Don't need a full website
Good starting point for new sellers

Limited scalability

Best for small businesses

Basic

$29/month (billed annually)

Sell unlimited products
Multichannel selling options
24/7 chat support

Most popular plan

Best for established stores

Grow

$79/month (billed annually)

5 staff accounts
Get shipping insurance
USPS discounts available

Best for large businesses

Advanced

$299/month (billed annually)

Enhanced support
Bigger checkout capacity
Custom reports and analytics

Best for industry leaders

Plus

From $2,300/month (3-year plan)

Priority 24/7 support
Unlimited staff accounts
Customizable plan

This is a Part 2 of a 2-part series on understanding the cost to building a website:

Part 1 – We share important lessons from our own trials & experiences, so you won’t repeat some of our mistakes (losing time and money).

Part 2 – [You Are Here] – What to watch out for when costing out your website project – especially if you are new to building websites. Written by an experienced web designer for beginners and includes detailed cost breakdown.

Can you guess which website costs more?

wix free template how much should website cost — Website B

How much should a website cost — Website C

(Click on each image to see the actual website)

True, the visual appeal or attractiveness of the design can sometimes give it away, but it’s not always the case.

What if I tell you Website A is a custom made design that looks like it could potentially cost between £3000 to £8,000, while Website B is a free template from Wix.com, and Website C is a free template from Squarespace.

That’s crazy-talk!!

(Note: By the way, I don’t know how much Website A costs. But it is not uncommon for a custom built website to fall in that cost range.)

Here’s the thing – It’s really hard to judge how much a website costs just by looking at the design.

Consider this — It is indisputable that the Lamborghini Spyder is one hot car. Even so, what most Lambo enthusiasts love about this car is not how it looks, but how it sounds – it is the roar of the v10 engine that takes the Spyder from 0 to 60mph in just 3.4 seconds.

Just like the £200,000 Lambo, what makes up the cost of a website is not only how the website looks on the surface, but rather, what lies “under the hood” that makes a website work.

So, don’t judge a website by its cover — its design is only one slice of a much bigger pie.

After helping hundreds of businesses to create their websites, I’ve done and have seen a lot.

Having experimented with different website building software and tools, I’ve developed strong opinions about…

What’s worth your money and what’s not worth it.
What to focus on and what to toss out the window.
What matters and what doesn’t.

Whenever you are trying something new, having someone in your corner who has experience in the subject can really help.

This is why the value of designers or developers goes beyond just the surface design of the website.

Their experiences, technical skills, and broad product knowledge can help you…

Avoid hidden technical and financial pitfalls; and
Choose the right solution for your budget level, technical level, and how much time you are prepared to commit.

If you are looking for a pricing chart for everything that has to do with building a website, there are plenty of resources scattered all over the internet (I do have a couple of pricing frameworks below, which we’ll get to later).

But, for those of you that want to dive straight in, I have outlined a brief overview of how much you can expect to pay for a website below.

What I want to give you in this discussion, are advice and recommendations that I would give to paying clients – a sort of free consultation on the true cost of your website.

The best part is that you don’t need any technical or design skill to use DIY website builders. All the hard stuff is taken care of so it’s easy to get online.

How Much Do Websites Cost?

The cost to design a website with a drag-and-drop builder will be between £3-28/month. This price fluctuates depending on your needs. For example, adding ecommerce functions to your site will cost between £13-22/month. The full range of website builder price plans is £0-500/month.

To expand beyond a basic website, you’ll have to budget for additional domain and hosting costs. Domains usually cost £5-20/year, after first year discounted prices. Hosting plans range from £2.75-300/month, though most sites will be on the lower end of that spectrum.

On the other hand, the cost to build a website using a custom web designer is around £6,000, and the priciest designers can cost £15,000 or more.

Factors	Hiring a Web Designer	Using a Website Builder (e.g. Wix)
Setup	£120	£0
Design & Building	£5,000	£0
Content Creation	£350	£0
Training to Use it	£400	£0
Maintenance	£350	£40
Total	£6,220	£40

Here is a quick snapshot of some of the best website builders that can help you build your website without having to learn how to code or breaking your bank account.

*Squarespace is the only builder that doesn’t have a free plan, so to get the features you will have to pay a modest monthly fee. It does, however, offer a 14 day free trial so you can try before you buy.

If you are unsure what each of the features mean, I have explained them for you:

Free of Adverts – whether the builder’s ads are display on your site or not
Personal Domain – whether you get your own personal website address or not
Unlimited Bandwidth – the amount of traffic and data your site can handle

Choose a website builder and make money online today

What type of site do you want to build?

WEBSITE

ONLINE STORE

You are asking all the wrong questions!

How much a website should cost is a very generic question – it lacks specifics.

It’s the same as if I were to ask you how much should a car cost?

Uh… well, can you be more specific?

What type of car do you want? – Does it need to be gas efficient? – What do you use it for? – What is your budget?

You can quickly see “how much does a car cost?” is actually quite a pretty complex question after all.

Just like budgeting for a car, the cost of a website is different to different people because everyone values the concept of “cost” in different ways.

For example, if you are a stay-at-home mom with 4 kids under 10 years old. You might value time over money. You would rather pay a little more to get things done right and on time.

To others without kids, they may think you’re overpaying for certain services. But to you, it’s well worth the cost.

Simply put, the cost of building your website boils down to 4 resources:

Time
Technical knowledge (or your interest to learn to code)
Design skills (or your willingness to learn design)
Money

4-resources-you-need-to-build-a-website

Most people lack 1 or a few of these 4 resources.

Spend a couple of seconds to think about which ones you have (or don’t have).

You don’t need to have all 4 to start a website because you can easily compensate one for another one.

For example, if you don’t have any coding skills but have time, you can always learn to code from various free or paid online coding tutorials.

When estimating the cost of your website, the first question you need to ask is “which of the 4 resources do you lack?”

What resources do you lack?

I get asked about how much does a website costs A LOT – I guess it comes with the job description as a website designer in my previous business.

One thing I’ve noticed time and time again is how much people focus purely on the dollar sign – which is missing the bigger picture.

Out of the 4 resources – money is actually the most flexible one.

Here’s why:

You either have time or you don’t
You either know / have an interest in coding or you don’t
You either know / have an interest in design or you don’t

lack-resources-you-need-to-build-a-website

This is not always the case when it comes to money.

Everybody has a certain level of money. It’s about how you decide where to best spend it.

Why would a person choose to pay £3.00 for a fancy Starbucks latte when an alternative is to spend 10p to make a simple coffee at home?

Could it have something to do with the lifestyle? Or maybe something as torturous as waking up earlier to make coffee? Is it the convenience of buying it outside so you don’t have to deal with it at home?

Let’s be honest, generally speaking, we all have some money. We all know someone that doesn’t have a lot of savings but ended up buying a brand new flat screen TV when they really shouldn’t.

The right question is — “is this worth my money.”

The truth of the matter is if you feel something has value to you, you will gladly pay up for it, right? – This is what consumerism is all about.

So, let’s put money (as a resource) aside for now, as if you find real value in building a website (if it’s really worth it to you), you’ll try to make things work.

For now, let’s focus on estimating the cost of your website if you have limited:

Time
Technical knowledge (or the interest in learning it)
Design skills (or the interest in learning it)

Based on what resources you don’t have, the cost of your website will be different.

Let’s keep pushing ahead…

Cost of website if you have limited Resources.

When it comes to building, managing, and operating your website, there are 5 main phases you need to deal with:

Website setup (this is before you even get to design or content creation)
Learn how to use a website builder
Designing the layout
Content creation
Troubleshooting and ongoing maintenance

For each of the phases, you have to determine if you have the time, technical or design skills to accomplish them successfully.

If you are missing any one of them, you may need to hire a professional to help you get the job done, or rely on modern technology to solve your problems:

Option #1:

Pay a professional to do it for you; or

Option #2:

Find a website building software to take over all the technical and design challenges for you, so you don’t need to spend as much time on them.

If you have heard of website building software like WordPress or Wix.com, you might think, “Well, both are technology – so how are they different?”

I’ll illustrate the difference here with this example below:

There are a few ways to have high-quality homemade soup:

Method A – make the soup from scratch by yourself. You go to the store, buy the ingredients, chop them all up and make the soup. Nothing is pre-packaged and you have to do everything by yourself – from the beginning to the end.
Method B – You can use services like BlueApron to speed up the process. They send you the prepared ingredients so you don’t need to leave your house or prepare anything. Just follow the recipe and put the ingredients in the pot. So the process is simplified by the ingredient preparation & delivery service – but there is still some assembly required.
Method C – There is an even easier way. Cooked food delivery service like CookFood.net handles all the cooking for you. They deliver the finished product directly to your door. So the entire process is fully automated. Everything is done-for-you. Just choose what you want from their online menu and arrange a delivery time. If you can fill in a form, you can get homemade soup with no cooking skills required – pretty awesome, right?

Just like the different ways to have homemade soup,
different website building technologies give you different levels of website building services:

Method A – Custom Build Your Website From the Ground Up

You can hire a website designer or developer to create your website from scratch without the use of any website building software.

Since the introduction of WordPress, most websites are NOT built from scratch anymore. Only enterprise companies with very specific needs will choose to build a website this way, but this is also happening less and less.

Method B – Use a Website Building Software like WordPress (Assembly Required)

WordPress is like the cooking ingredient delivery service. They give you everything you need to create a website, but assembly is required.

True you can do this yourself if you have the time to learn or already have the expertise to do it yourself. It can definitely be done since a lot of people have done it before.

If you don’t have time or expertise, you can always hire a professional to put a WordPress website together for you so you can save time and headaches.

Method C – Drag & Drop Website Builders (Automated – No Skills Required)

Finally, we have the fully automated website building service like Wix, Squarespace, and Weebly.

Just like the cooked food delivery services that allow you to have homemade soup even if you don’t any cooking skills, these drag & drop, fully managed website builders handle all technical and design issues for you, so you don’t have to.

They’re easy to use and require minimal to no technical knowledge at all.

Note that these fully managed, drag & drop website builders don’t give you a team of designers and developer to build the website for you. You still need to build the website yourself by using their simple drag & drop tools. But they make it really easy for you and you don’t even need to be technical at all.

The key benefit is that drag & drop web builders automate the technical aspects of managing and operating a website – so you don’t have to.

However, there are some limitations here. It’s not like you can have any soup you can imagine because your choices are limited to what’s available on their menu. Even so, the soup selections are still very extensive and 90% of the time you will find the soup you want.

In the same way, drag & drop website builders have limits to their features and designs as well. Each web builder has their list of tools and pre-made website designs.

While you are limited to what they have, the selection is pretty extensive and 90% of the time you will find what you need.

It is a small sacrifice to make so you can build a website yourself without having to do much technical work (or hire someone to help you).

To put everything into perspective, the cost of websites changes depending on which type of website building software you use (Method A, B or C). Each type of builder calls for different levels of skill or help from professionals.

Now that I’ve explained the two main ways to create a website, let’s put some actual dollar signs in front of them!

Option #1: Cost of building a website if you hire professionals to help you:

When I refer to hiring a professional to create the website for you, most of the time I will be referring to using WordPress.

The reason is because WordPress the most popular website builder for developer and designers, and is currently powering about 26% of all websites.

WordPress’s main advantage is its extreme flexibility. You can create almost any type of website with any type of features you need, as long as you have the coding and design expertise to do so.

If not, you can always hire a pro to do that for you (of course cost will come into play here).

Now, WordPress, in my opinion, is not something I will suggest if you have no technology skills or if you’ve never owned a website before.

Why? Because WordPress has a much higher learning curve and setup costs than any fully managed, drag & drop website builder like Wix, Squarespace, and Weebly.

I only recommend using WordPress (or other self-hosted website builders) if:

This is not your first website – you have experiences managing websites.
If you have very specific design or software needs that only WordPress can provide.
If you have both time and money to spend on learning, building and managing a WordPress website.

Otherwise, I do not recommend using WordPress if you have limited time, money or patience to learn how to code and to learn the technical ins and outs of using WordPress effectively.

#1 Cost of setting up a WordPress website:

Setting up a website involves finding a hosting provider, learning how to use FTP, linking your website build software with your hosting provider, and finally connecting your domain name to your website.

All these will sound foreign to you if you’ve never owned a website before, so let me explain what they actually mean:

Website Hosting (Cost £3 – £250/month):

A host is where your website content “lives” online.

Imagine a host is like your coat closet and your website is your coat. Whenever you want to get to your coat, you need to go to your closet and retrieve it.

This works the same way as your website. When someone enters your website address into a web browser, the browser will go to your host (your closet) and get your website (your coat) to display it to the visitor.

Generally speaking, there are several types of hosting that handle different volume of visitors to your website:

Shared hosting;
VPS hosting; and
Dedicated hosting.

For most people, you will never need dedicated hosting as it is more suitable for very large or enterprise level websites.

The only thing you need to know is that the more visitors come to your website, the higher your cost of hosting will be:

Shared hosting costs £2 – £18
VPS hosting costs £30 – £180
Dedicated hosting starts in the thousands

If you are looking for good WordPress hosting, Bluehost is a good candidate to get started with. If you are looking for more advanced, highly-tuned, dedicated WordPress hosting provider, WP Engine is excellent and has top notch customer service.

If you want further information about choosing a web host, have a look at our article on the Best Web Hosting Services on the market today to help you make a decision.

Using FTP (Cost £0 – £30):

FTP is way for you to manage your website files (which are stored in the host).

These website files include your website design, images, features, content – pretty much everything you see in front of you, and also the internal workings of a website (“under the hood” so to speak).

Most website hosting provider will give you technical instructions on how to use FTP to connect to you host so you can manage all those files.

If you a newbie, it may take 1-3 hours to get this up and running.

You can always search for video tutorials on YouTube or pay for tutorials at Lynda.com (around £30).

If you need some handholding / direct support, you can hire a developer or designer to show you the ropes (£20-£60/hr for a designer or £75-£150/hr for a developer).

Of course, you might not even know what to do with the files even once you get the process set up.

Installing WordPress in a Host and Connecting your Domain Name (Cost £0 – £30):

Most hosting providers already have WordPress installed. If you want to skip the installation of WordPress, make sure the hosting provider you choose has WordPress already.

Your hosting provider will have instructions to show you how to connect your domain name to your website.

If you don’t know too much about domain names, we have a beginners guide to domain names you can refer to. You can purchase a domain name for your website from a domain name registrar such as Domain.com.

If you’ve never connected a domain name to a website before, it may take you a few minutes to an hour to figure things out.

Again, you can always hire a designer or developer to do this for you on an hourly basis (£20-£60/hr for a designer or £75-£150/hr for a developer).

The website setup cost can be as low as £3 (cheap hosting service) if you’re willing to do it all by yourself.

If you need help from a designer or developer to save you hours of figuring things out (if you’re not experienced), expect to spend around £20 – £35 (as it doesn’t take an experienced professional that long to get it done for you).

These are the basic setup costs even before you get to build your website.

(There is a cost summary table below.)

#2 Cost of learning to use WordPress (Cost £0 – £35):

As mentioned before, it takes a few hours to learn the basics of WordPress.

If you want to be highly effective at it, it will take a few weeks to a month to get enough practice.

There are plenty of free tutorials online (but the quality can range from good to bad).

Or, you can use higher quality, paid tutorials from Lynda.com for about £35/month to help you speed up the process.

Within a month, you should be able to learn the basics of how to operate WordPress (note: this does not including how to use codes to customize your website).

(There is a cost summary table below.)

#3 Cost of designing a WordPress website (Cost £35 – ££££):

Here is where the price of a website has no upper limit.

You can really spend as much as you have or as little as you like when it comes to website design.

Pre-made templates designs (cost £20 – £170):

These are ready-made designs that you can buy off the shelf. There are plenty of options for you to choose from.

The only limitation with a pre-made template is that design customization is pretty limited unless you know how to modify codes.

If not, what you see on the template’s demo site is pretty much what you get.

Basic paid templates cost around £20 to £35 and premium paid templates range from £65 to £180.

CUSTOM BUILT WEBSITE USING PRE-MADE templates (cost £230 – £800):

This option is an “in-between” a DIY website and a fully custom built website design.

You can hire a designer to help customize a pre-made template into something unique just for you.

This is a good option if you are not ready for an entirely custom website, and pre-made templates are not exactly what you want.

You can pay by the hour or by the project for design customizations.

Expect to pay between £230 and £800 for template customization.

The cost varies depending on how much work you want to be done – such as adding a header image, moving the logo location, creating a fixed navigation bar, changing the overall layout design, etc.

CUSTOM WEBSITE DESIGN (cost £4,000 – £8,000+):

If you really want something truly unique, you can go for a custom website design where you can create any design you can imagine.

A custom WordPress design can go for as low as £4,000 if you hire a developer from an emerging country / region such as India or Eastern Europe.

Any capable developers from a developed region (such as North America, Western Europe, etc.) will start at £8,000 and can go all the way up to well over £20,000.

(There is a cost summary table below.)

#4 Cost of creating content for your WordPress website (Cost £400 – £4,000):

After you’re done with created an overall design for your website, you will need to populate it with content.

The design work (in the section directly above), basically gives your website an overall framework.

The framework may include where the menu bar is located and how it works, where the logo is to be situated, how the slideshow works at the top of your home page, how your sidebar looks like and functions, how your information is to be presented throughout your website, etc.

So the design work basically creates an outline or the skeleton of your webpages.

After the framework is created, you now have to populate it with your own content.

For instance, you will need to upload a background design for your pages, upload header images, create custom graphics for your content area, insert text to describe items, insert your logo to brand your business, etc.

These are all part of the content creation process – so your visitors can understand your business, see what products you have, read your blog posts, so on and so forth.

If you splurge on a custom designed website, your designer may include the creation and population of content for you.

But, what if I don’t have tens of thousands to spend on a custom website, but don’t have time to create the content for my website?

One option is to buy a pre-made template at £25 – £150. Then hire a designer to create your website content for you.

This is a good option to save money and time, but still have a designer help you create content, graphics, and branding of your website.

Keep in mind that the design of your website will still be limited by the design of the website template you choose (as it is not a truly custom design).

Designers can charge content creation by the hour or by project:

£40 – £60 per hour
£200 – £380 minimum charge per project. This may include a minimum of 3 pages, and additional pages will be a slightly cheaper.
Logo or branding design will be about £80 – £1200 depending on the extent of the branding design you need.

You may also want to budget for ongoing maintenance costs. That’s usually about £80 – £400 per year if you don’t make any major alterations to you website design.

(There is a cost summary table below.)

Pro Tip:

If you don’t have the financial luxury of hiring someone to help you edit images and create logos, we have a couple of guides that will walk you through how you can do this yourself, even if you are not technical or born with a good sense of design:

How to Edit Your Images Like A Pro (Without Being a Pro) – Here are a few easy-to-use image editors that can help you make amazing edits to your pictures.
Creating Your Own Professional Logo – check out a few tools (free / paid) to help you create your own logo – without hiring a designer.

#5 Cost of troubleshooting & maintaining your WordPress website (Cost £400 – £800):

The technical skills to operate a website goes beyond the initial website setup (discussed above).

Let’s be realistic, any technology will break down at some point. It’s not a question of “if”, but “when”.

Also, it’s a matter of “who will fix it for you.”

All website builders have software updates, browser compatibility updates, platform updates, security patches and much more.

All those technical updates require the owner of the website to implement and manage.

When you are using a self-hosted website builder like WordPress, you have to handle all the technical issues yourself.

If an update occurs and a plugin that you are using becomes incompatible with other plugins that you are using, or conflicts with the website builder, then you’ll need to either get the creator of the plugin to fix things, or you will need to call on a trusty developer to save you.

A good developer costs between £60 and £150 per hour. The good ones are always on the higher end of the range. From our own experiences, it is completely worth the money if you can find a developer that you can count on. Depending on the complexity of your website (the number of plugins you are using, the amount of custom coding you have), your annual maintenance cost will vary.
It is very hard to pinpoint the expected cost since every website has different needs. What we can advise on is how much we spent on technical support with a fairly simple website that has very little custom coding and plugins. We spend about £400 to £600 a year. Keep in mind that I’m a fairly skilled website designer and I’m quite proficient with HTML/CSS /jQuery and with working knowledge of PHP codes. This is one of the main reasons why our technical support cost is not as high since we can do most of the things ourselves.

Cost of Building a Website Using a Professional

The most expensive part of building a website with professional help is custom template design, which can exceed £8,000. But don’t worry: you don’t have to use a custom template, and can pay as little as £25 for a pre-made template. The middle ground would be hiring a designer to edit a pre-made template, which costs around £400 on average. The cost to develop a website with a professional is expensive, but will vary depending on your needs.

Website Setup Costs	Hosting Cost: £3 – £200/month Hiring Pro to Setup: £30 – £180 (1-time fee) Time: 1 to 6 hours
Website Builder Software Learning Costs	Paid Tutorials: £30/month Time to Learn Basics: Few hours Time to Learn WordPress: Weeks
Website Design Costs	Basic Templates: £25 – £40 Premium Templates: £60 – £180 Template Alterations: £230 – £800 Custom Design: £4,000 – £8,000+
Website Building Costs	Free if you do it yourself (but will cost you time) Hourly Costs of a Designer: £40 – £60/hour Average Cost of Content Population: £400 – £4,000* The range is wide as it depends on how much content you have and how many pages.
Website Maintenance Costs	Developer Cost: £80 – £160 per hour Estimated Annual Cost: £400 – £800

Option #2: Cost of building website if using fully managed, drag & drop website builder
that takes care of all of your website technical & design challenges

Fully-hosted website builders are the next best thing to hiring a developer to create a website for you.

They are drag & drop website builders that make website building as easy as it can possibly be. No setup or coding is required at all.

You can easily drive down the cost of building a website as you require less time, you don’t need technical or design expertise, and the cost of using the software is quite low.

I would recommend using Wix or Squarespace (aka fully-serviced drag & drop website builders) if:

This is your first website.
You don’t need any custom design or specific software / tools on your website.
You have limited time to spend on your website so you don’t want to learn how to code.
You have limited money to invest in your website so you prefer not to hire skilled designers or developers to help you.
You want more control over your website – so you don’t have to keep paying a designer or developer to make changes. You prefer to manage your website yourself.

Wix and Squarespace are two of the most popular and reliable drag & drop website builders in the market today.

Of course, there are more web builders out there – I’ve tried most of them already. But these 2 are the best ones I’ve used. That’s why I’ve referenced them throughout this post.

#1 Cost of setting up a website using a drag & drop builder (Cost £0):

There is no time or monetary costs involved in setting up a website with either Wix, Squarespace, or any other fully managed, drag & drop website builder.

You don’t have to worry about hosting, setting up FTP, installing the website builder software or linking your domain name.

All of that setup work is fully automated by the website builder.

This will save you hours (and a lot of frustration if you are a beginner) in setting up your website (keep in mind you are still not building your website yet).

You just need to sign up for an account with your email address and you can start building your website right away.

Both Wix and Weebly have free plans, so all your hosting requirements and the use of the website builder is completely free. There is no time limit to using their free plan either.

While the free plans come with limited features, you can test out the builder first before you commit to any paid plans.

Squarespace gives you a 14-day free trial period.

(There is a cost summary table below.)

#2 Cost of setting up a website using a drag & drop builder (Cost £0):

Wix and Squarespace are very easy to use. It’s very intuitive, so it only takes minutes to get a good idea on how to use the drag and drop builder.

If you can use a mouse to drag things around your computer screen, you can use a drag & drop website builder.

So you don’t need to pay for any lessons, nor do you have to spend the time to search for tutorials online.

Of course, if you want to master the ins and outs of how to use the web builder, it will take some time to build up that level of experience.

(There is a cost summary table below.)

#3 Cost of designing a website built with a drag & drop builder (Cost £0):

All fully hosted website builders give you a broad range of design templates for free.

Now, this may be a pro or a con depending how picky you are with your website design. Most of these free templates are as good as paid WordPress templates.

Here is a summary of each website builder’s template design selections:

Wix.com: Largest website template library with over 510 professionally designed templates.
Squarespace: Some of the best website design that can rival some custom designed websites.

(There is a cost summary table below.)

#4 Cost of building content in your drag & drop website (Cost £400 – £1,500):

Drag & drop website builders are designed for DIYers. So hiring a designer to build the website for you is less common.

But of course, if you want to, you can still hire a designer.

If you don’t want to create the content yourself, you can spend a few hundred to low thousand dollars for the designer to create all the graphics, branding and page content for you.

Since the overall cost of using a fully managed website builder is so low, you have extra budget to pay for this little bit of luxury if you want to.

Hiring a designer for a drag & drop website builder is slightly cheaper than for WordPress.

This is not because these designers are less qualified. It is because drag & drop website builders remove the technical barriers previous required to be a website designer.

All of a sudden, any brilliant graphic designer (who don’t know how to code) can become website designers because of the drag & drop builders.

They no longer need to know how to code and can still create beautiful websites.

This gives you a much bigger pool of talented designers to choose from, at a slightly lower cost.

(There is a cost summary table below.)

#5 Cost of troubleshooting and maintaining your drag & drop website (Cost £0):

Fully-hosted website builders handle all the technical issues for you. They have full-time, dedicated support teams that manage all that for you in the background, so you won’t even see any issues at all.

With self-hosted websites like WordPress, it is not just an issue of the cost of paying for someone to fix your website. The biggest headache could be where to find a trustworthy developer to resolve the issues for you in a timely manner.

This is one of the main reasons why I often recommend fully managed website builders for people with no technical knowledge, or for those who are new to building websites.

It removes a lot of confusion, complication, and frustration so you can focus on building your website and let the drag & drop website builder’s tech team handle all the tech issues.

Cost of Building a Website Using a Drag & Drop Website Builder

Technically, you can get set up with a drag-and-drop website builder entirely for free. But that means dealing with annoying ads and messy domain names, so we’ll get real. The cost of building a website that looks professional is between £3-22/month. That price will increase depending on how much of the (minimal) design work and content creation you’re willing to do yourself.

Website Setup Costs	Automated Setup: £0
Website Builder Software Learning Costs	Time: few minutes – 1 hour
Website Design Costs	Free Templates: £0
Website Building Costs	Free if you do it yourself (but will cost you time) Hourly Costs of a Designer: £22 – £46/hour Average Cost of Content Population: £400 – £1,800
Website Maintenance Costs	Wix: £3.00 \| £6.00 \| £8.50 \| £13.00 \| £18.00 \| £22.00 Squarespace: £10.00 \| £15.00 \| £20.00 \| £30.00 Weebly: £4.00 \| £9.00 \| £18.00 \| £28.00 Monthly fee, based on annual plans All plans come with dedicated, 24/7 support.

Conclusion – Action Step

The cost of building a website adds up pretty quickly if you are missing a few key resources:

Time
Technical knowledge (or your interest to learn to code)
Design skills (or your willingness to learn design)
Money

4-resources-you-need-to-build-a-website

But the cost of a website isn’t always related to money. It can be the cost of your time away from your family or business; it can even be the cost of maintaining your sanity when it comes to technology.

So how you budget for your website should take into consideration:

How much time you are prepared to commit to the project;
How much money you are prepared to invest into hiring professionals; and
The missed opportunity costs of being able to use your time on higher valued business or personal things.

To summarize what you should take away from this discussion, here are my suggestions:

Use WordPress (self-hosted website builders) if:

This is not your first website – you have experiences managing websites.
If you have very specific design or software needs that only WordPress can provide.
If you have both time and money to spend on learning, building and managing a WordPress website.

Use Wix, Squarespace, or Weebly (aka fully-hosted website builder) if:

This is your first website.
You don’t need any custom design or specific software / tools on your website.
You have limited time to spend on your website so you don’t want to learn how to code.
You have limited money to invest in your website so you prefer not to hire skilled designers or developers to help you.
You want more control over your website – so you don’t have to keep paying a designer or developer to make changes. You prefer to manage your website yourself.

Finding out how much your website will cost you doesn’t have to be very complicated – you just need to be asking the right questions.

Once you have a better understanding of what resources you have (time, money, skills, interests in learning new skills), then you will have a much better idea of which path you should head towards (WordPress or a drag & drop website builder).

If you need some guidance in finding the right website builder for you, here are some more resources for you:

Comparison Chart: we break down the differences between each drag & drop website builder for you.

Free Quiz: To find out which drag & drop website builder works best for your needs.

How to Choose a Website Builder: 9 questions to ask yourself to find out which website builder is suitable for you

WordPress Comparison Discussions: In-depth details of how each drag & drop website builder compare to WordPress

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The 3 Best Cloud Hosting Services: Which Do I Recommend?

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Updated on July 1, 2025

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Best for side hustles

Shopify Starter

$5/month (billed annually)

Sell via social media and messaging apps
Don't need a full website
Good starting point for new sellers

Limited scalability

Best for small businesses

Basic

$29/month (billed annually)

Sell unlimited products
Multichannel selling options
24/7 chat support

Most popular plan

Best for established stores

Grow

$79/month (billed annually)

5 staff accounts
Get shipping insurance
USPS discounts available

Best for large businesses

Advanced

$299/month (billed annually)

Enhanced support
Bigger checkout capacity
Custom reports and analytics

Best for industry leaders

Plus

From $2,300/month (3-year plan)

Priority 24/7 support
Unlimited staff accounts
Customizable plan

If you’re weighing up your web hosting options, traditional hosting types, such as shared hosting, are usually the go-to for many website owners. That said, if you need higher performance and expect rapid growth or traffic surges, then cloud hosting could benefit your business. But, which provider should you pick? From our testing, DreamHost is the best cloud hosting service overall thanks to its reliability and dedicated ecommerce and security features.

I’ve done some of the legwork for you by compiling a list of the best cloud hosting providers available, particularly for startups and small to medium-sized businesses.

Our Top 3 Cloud Hosting Services

DreamHost – Best cloud hosting service overall
SiteGround – Best for customizable configurations
Hostinger – Best for beginners

1. DreamHost: Best Cloud Hosting Service Overall

DreamHost is the best cloud hosting provider on our list. The content you’re publishing will go live fast (within 30 seconds), and you can use a variety of Linux systems, including MongoDB, Redis, Node.js, Ruby, and Python. You can even use Windows servers, which is unusual among cloud hosting providers. For this reason, DreamHost is one of the most popular tools among developers.

➡️ Read our DreamHost review for a detailed look at the hosting provider.

Top Tip 💡

Why do most cloud servers use or encourage Linux servers over Windows? Linux has more stability, flexibility, and security. Also, open-source software (like Linux) is preferable to proprietary software (like Windows) because it’s easier to use for collaboration thanks to its public availability.

What I Like

✔️ 100% uptime guarantee – or you’ll get compensated for any downtime!

✔️ Lots of security features, including configurable firewalls and data corruption protection

✔️ Fast publishing – your pages can go live in seconds, which is ideal if you’re working on time-sensitive content or events

✔️ Full root access – this makes it easier to configure software, change your settings, and troubleshoot

✔️ Unlimited data transfers

✔️ Usage-based billing – only pay for the first 600 hours used each month

✔️ Windows servers are compatible

✔️ 24/7 live chat and email support – there’s also a callback option for an additional charge

What I Dislike

❌ No free phone support – you can pay for callbacks individually or monthly if you anticipate needing a lot of phone support, but costs can add up quickly

❌ Relatively low storage – each plan comes with 80GB SSD disk and 100GB of block storage

❌ Servers are based in the US – this is fine for US-based customers, but it can cause difficulties for international users

How Much Does DreamHost Cost?

DreamHost cloud hosting is priced based on usage. Each plan comes with a certain amount of memory, and you’ll pay an hourly price. The maximum number of hours you’ll pay per month is 600; the additional hours over that monthly cap are free.

Each plan comes with 80GB SSD disk storage, free bandwidth, and 100GB block storage. The main difference is the amount of RAM allotted. You can see DreamHost’s pricing for cloud services below:

512MB RAM (maximum of $4.50 per month) – recommended for simple static websites
2GB RAM (maximum of $12 per month) – recommended for small or medium-sized ecommerce stores and sites with rich media content
8GB RAM (maximum of $48/month) – recommended for resource-intensive sites like large ecommerce platforms or video streaming services

DreamHost Cloud hosting prices — DreamHost has a range of different cloud hosting servers and prices. Source: Website Builder Expert

Who Do I Recommend DreamHost For?

I recommend choosing DreamHost’s cloud hosting services if you’re a small or medium-sized business, particularly if you’re expecting a lot of growth and want to scale online. DreamHost’s plans will grow with you, even to the point of helping you run your own private cloud. However, DreamHost isn’t ideal if you’re a complete beginner to hosting (stick to a more traditional hosting type, like shared hosting or VPS hosting).

2. SiteGround: Best for Customizable Configurations

SiteGround offers a high level of customization, so it’s better suited to users with experience when it comes to managing a website. For that reason, I wouldn’t recommended SiteGround for beginners or those who just want a standard plan. It’s also quite a bit more expensive than other cloud hosting service providers. If you need versatility and adaptability along with good uptime and some free services included, though, you might find it worth the cost.

➡️ Read our SiteGround review for a detailed look at the hosting provider.

What I Like

✔️ It’s fully customizable – SiteGround offers a wide range of options to create your own custom cloud if needed, letting you add more CPU, memory, and storage

✔️ Impressive 24/7 customer support – SiteGround’s satisfaction rate is close to 100%, offering 24/7 live chat, phone support, and help desk tickets to users

✔️ Daily backups – You can also create instant backups as needed

✔️ Excellent reliability and speed – SiteGround uses Google Cloud, PHP, and MySQL to ensure quick website performance and responsiveness

What I Dislike

❌ No Windows servers – SiteGround doesn’t support Windows servers, so this could be a drawback if you don’t like using Linux

❌ Plans are expensive – I’ll dig into pricing further below, but SiteGround isn’t suitable if you’re on a tight budget

❌ Complex security features – SiteGround uses an all-in-one WordPress security solution, as well as IDS/IPS systems to block attacks, but they can be resource-intensive and difficult to manage if you don’t have the technical expertise

How Much Does SiteGround Cost?

SiteGround’s pricing for cloud hosting can be split into four plans with standard options. You also have the ability to configure your own cloud. Here’s a rundown of the four ready-made plans (note that they all include 5TB data transfer):

Jump Start ($100 per month) – for small to medium ecommerce stores or content sites
Business ($200 per month) – for medium ecommerce sites or sites with scheduling needs
Business Plus ($300 per month) – for large ecommerce sites, educational institutions, or high-traffic news sites
Super Power ($400 per month) – for large companies with complex workflows

These are the prices for one month. With each plan, you’ll save 5% if you sign up for three months, or save 10% if you sign up for six or 12 months.

Depending on your chosen plan, you can expect between four to 16 CPU cores, 8GB to 20GB RAM, and 40GB to 160GB SSD space.

SiteGround custom slider for cloud hosting — I was able to build my custom cloud with SiteGround. Source: Website Builder Expert

Who Do I Recommend SiteGround For?

SiteGround is ideal for users looking to customize their own cloud hosting service. It can be an expensive option, and you’ll be forced into using Linux servers, but SiteGround’s flexibility can be great for larger businesses.

3. Hostinger: Best for Beginners

Hostinger's cloud hosting homepage inviting users to "start now" — Hostinger's cloud hosting is the best option for beginners, especially given its low price point. Source: Website Builder Expert

Hostinger is a moderately priced cloud hosting provider that has plans available for small businesses, ecommerce sites, and larger sites. It offers robust security features, an easy-to-use website builder, and great managed WordPress tools. And, if you need a helping hand, Hostinger also offers good customer support to help you overcome any hurdles.

➡️ Read our Hostinger review for a detailed look at the hosting provider.

What I Like

✔️ Relatively low cost – Hostinger’s plans are some of the cheapest for cloud hosting, so it’s great if you’re on a budget

✔️ Intuitive custom control panel – This makes it easy to manage your site’s settings

✔️ Lots of security measures – Each plan comes with robust security features, including enhanced DDoS protection, firewalls, Cloudflare-protected nameservers, malware scanners, and secure access managers

✔️ 24/7 customer support –You can contact Hostinger via 24/7 live chat, so you can get answers almost immediately

✔️ Easy-to-use website builder – Hostinger’s website builder is one of our top-rated builders overall, and it’s incredibly beginner-friendly thanks to its drag-and-drop editor

✔️ International servers – Hostinger has cloud servers all over the world, ensuring a smooth website performance

What I Dislike

❌ No phone support – Unfortunately, unlike the other cloud hosting services in this list, Hostinger has no option to call their customer service team which isn’t great if you’d prefer to speak to a person

❌ No Windows servers – Only Linux servers are compatible with Hostinger’s cloud hosting plans

❌ High renewal fees – Despite the cheap starting prices, Hostinger’s plans do increase in cost quite dramatically after your initial subscription period ends so make sure you budget for this change

How Much Does Hostinger Cost?

Hostinger offers three cloud hosting plans which operate on a monthly fee schedule. Right now, new users get two months free when they sign up for 48 months. And, as long as you sign up for at least one year, you’ll get a free domain for the first year. Hostinger’s pricing for a 48-month term is listed below:

Cloud Startup ($8.99/mo) – for small to medium websites or ecommerce stores
Cloud Professional ($14.99/mo) – for medium-sized sites or ecommerce stores, or web design agencies hosting client sites
Cloud Enterprise ($29.99/mo) – for large-scale websites, enterprise-level applications, or e-learning platforms

Just keep an eye on renewal fees! For example, the Cloud Startup plan will jump from $8.99 per month to $19.99 per month after your initial term.

Hostinger uptime performance average graph — Hostinger scored an average of 76.22% in our uptime perfromance tests. Source: Website Builder Expert

Who Do I Recommend Hostinger For?

Thanks to Hostinger’s user-friendly interface and cheap plans, I recommend considering Hostinger if you’re a small to medium-sized business owner. It offers a lot of great security features, international servers, and 24/7 customer support. That said, like all cloud hosts, you’ll need to keep your budget in mind since Hostinger’s subscriptions jump in price once it’s time to renew.

How To Choose a Cloud Hosting Provider

If you’re looking for the best cloud hosting provider, it’s important to know exactly which features are most important to you. Your decision will depend on the size and scalability of your business, your budget, and where your users are located.

Here are some factors to consider:

Scalability: If you’re planning on having your business grow, you’ll want to find a cloud hosting provider that can support you. Does the one you’re considering offer the storage you will need? What about the memory?
Term policies: Most cloud hosting providers rely on terms spanning a year or longer. If you want to pay month-to-month, look at what those costs are; you may find that they’re quite a bit higher than it would be to sign up for a full year.
Usage costs: Are you billed a set fee per month, or does it depend on the number of hours or days your site is live? This might make a difference to you.
Geographical reach: Where are your customers? Are there data centers near them? This will improve performance and minimize lagging and other issues.
Customer support: Do you prefer to communicate with support via chat or phone? Is your preferred method of communication available? During which hours is support available, and does this line up with when you tend to work?
Security: You’ll want a secure site, and cloud hosting services will provide it. In some cases, you may need to pay extra. Find out how robust their security is and whether there’s an extra cost.

How We Test Hosting Providers

We want to provide you with the best information out there when it comes to choosing the right cloud hosting provider. We’ve put in almost 2,000 hours of research and analysis to help you narrow down your options.

Our hosting research process includes market analysis, creating a methodology, investigating and collecting data, testing site speeds, and comparing products. We then use our internal scoring algorithm to determine final scores before passing on that information to you.

Summary: Which Cloud Hosting Service Should You Choose?

After reviewing and testing each platform, our top recommendation is DreamHost. It has low prices, pay-for-what-you-use pricing models, and the ability to scale as your business grows.

That said, all three of our recommended cloud hosting services are great options. SiteGround is better if you’re looking for advanced customization, and Hostinger is a cheap and user-friendly alternative. But, if you’re not sure whether you need cloud hosting at this time, you might also want to look into our reviews of shared web hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting providers.

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Best Web Hosting For Small Business | The Top 9 Reviewed and Tested

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Updated on July 1, 2025

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Best for side hustles

Shopify Starter

$5/month (billed annually)

Sell via social media and messaging apps
Don't need a full website
Good starting point for new sellers

Limited scalability

Best for small businesses

Basic

$29/month (billed annually)

Sell unlimited products
Multichannel selling options
24/7 chat support

Most popular plan

Best for established stores

Grow

$79/month (billed annually)

5 staff accounts
Get shipping insurance
USPS discounts available

Best for large businesses

Advanced

$299/month (billed annually)

Enhanced support
Bigger checkout capacity
Custom reports and analytics

Best for industry leaders

Plus

Find Your Hosting Provider

From $2,300/month (3-year plan)

Priority 24/7 support
Unlimited staff accounts
Customizable plan

For small business website owners, picking a reliable shared hosting provider is vital. Your choice will have a large impact on revenue and customer satisfaction, and to ensure that those impacts are positive rather than negative, we’ve compiled this guide to the best web hosting for small businesses.

Our winner is HostGator, with an impressive score of 4.9 out of 5! Its affordable plans and 45-day money-back guarantee make it an ideal choice for small businesses who want to test the water first. HostGator is also our top hosting provider for help and support, thanks to its 24/7 phone and live chat features.

In second place, we have Bluehost, scoring 4.6 out of 5. It also performed well for help and support which is a real plus when you’re just starting to find your footing online, and its shared hosting plans are pretty on par with HostGator for price. Close behind, we have DreamHost with 4.5 out of 5. It comes third in our research for best price, and it’s good value for money which makes it a very accessible choice for small businesses on a budget.

Each review is based on the factors that matter, from pricing and features to server uptime. We’ll cover each provider in detail below – but first, the ranking:

The 9 Best Hosting Providers for Small Businesses

HostGator – Best overall shared hosting provider
Bluehost – Most trusted by users online
DreamHost – Longest money-back guarantee
Hostinger – Best value for money
InMotion – Robust security across the board
GoDaddy Hosting – Awesome help and support
iPage – Great performance on a budget
A2 Hosting – Free expert migrations
IONOS – Best for site speed and uptime

Compare the 9 Best Hosting Providers for Small Businesses

We’ve kicked off this chart with the top three hosts, but you can choose other providers using the arrow at the top. The chart lets you compare each host side-by-side on everything from pricing to key features.

We pride ourselves on our thorough research process – we want to provide you with expert knowledge and accurate information on topics that are important to you.

Every hosting provider has been tested and analyzed in various performance areas to calculate our ratings:

Price – Is the provider good value for money?
Performance – How dependable is the server? Good uptime?
Features – What add-ons and essentials are included?
Help and support – How easy is it to get assistance when you need it?
Market analysis – Has the provider made an impact in the market?

Each hosting provider in this article has earned a score for these separate focus areas, based on the data we’ve gathered. We then find the average to give an overall score.

But, how did we make our hosting research specific to small businesses?

We knew this ranking wouldn’t be complete unless we tailored our research approach to focus on the hosting elements that matter the most to small businesses. So, we tweaked our algorithm to emphasize the following:

Shared hosting – The hosting type that applies the most to small businesses
Pricing – The providers that offer the best value for money
Help and support – The providers that offer the most support for anyone new to hosting

Take a look at our article on how we conduct our hosting research if you want to find out more.

Discover the best hosting plan for your website in one minute – just answer six questions.

What kind of website(s) do you have?

#1. HostGator

Best Overall Shared Hosting Provider

Shared Hosting: $2.75–$17.95/month

Overview

HostGator is our top recommended hosting provider for small businesses, scoring an impressive 4.9 out of 5 in our research overall. This is a huge leap from its previous third place position in our pre-2023 rankings when it scored 4.3! It’s a beginner-friendly, feature-rich service with a reliable uptime of 99.99%.

HostGator’s plans are relatively cheap, and they come with a 45-day money-back guarantee, so small businesses can test out the water without risking precious savings. It’s also worth mentioning that HostGator has the highest help and support score of any hosting provider we tested – across all categories, not just small businesses!

Price: 3.7/5

When it comes to HostGator’s pricing, there’s plenty for you to sink your teeth into. The three shared packages are:

Hatchling – from $2.75/month. Entry-level, and great value for money.
Baby – from $3.50/month. Offers more help for those growing a small business.
Business – from $5.25/month. Best for businesses that are already growing fast.

We highly recommend shared hosting plans for small businesses. They don’t cost a lot of money, and you get a lot of bang for your buck. Plus, the 45-day money-back guarantee is a low-risk way of trying it out for yourself before making a decision.

Help and Support: 4.8/5

HostGator’s help and support is the best of the best, and it’s a key reason why this hosting provider is our number one choice for small businesses.

The knowledge base is truly a treasure trove of helpful information, and if you can’t find an answer to your problem there, HostGator’s support team is on hand 24/7 via phone and live chat. It’s easy to see why HostGator scored so highly in the category!

Features: 4.1/5

Along with its impressive help and support, HostGator’s shared plans offer a whole host of top-tier features, including:

Free domain for 1st year
Unmetered bandwidth
Unlimited storage
Free SSL certification
One-click WordPress installation

And, when it comes to web hosting for small businesses in particular, HostGator’s standout feature is its integration with Constant Contact, the premium email marketing software. On any shared plan, you can access Constant Contact’s resources for free for the first three months (after which you can either cancel the integration or start paying $20/month).

We definitely recommend making use of your free three months, at least – you’ll be able to keep in touch with existing customers, and attract new ones, through personalized newsletters and automated email campaigns.

Performance: 4.2/5

HostGator’s uptime rate is 99.99% – in a world where 100% uptime is impossible to truly guarantee, HostGator’s figures are basically as good as it gets! And, if HostGator falls short of this uptime promise, you’re entitled to one month of credit in return.

Further Information

Read our HostGator Review if you want to find out more
Read our How to Install WordPress with HostGator guide

#2. Bluehost

Most Trusted by Users Online

Shared Hosting: $2.95–$28.99/month

Overview

While HostGator tops the charts, Bluehost certainly makes a compelling case in second.

Bluehost has remained consistent, with its score staying at 4.6 out of 5 since our pre-2023 research. However, in that time, Bluehost has dropped into second place from its previous position at the top of the list. That being said, in our market analysis testing, Bluehost remains victorious with an impressive 4.9 out of 5, making it our most trusted hosting provider with users, even vs HostGator. With comprehensive features, excellent customer service, and affordable shared hosting plans, it continues to be a solid choice for small businesses.

Let’s take a deeper look at what Bluehost has to offer.

Price: 3.5/5

Save Up to 70% On Selected Plans In Bluehost’s Exclusive Sale!

You can now save up to 70% on Bluehost’s plans, meaning you can get its cheapest shared plan for just $2.95 per month for a 12-month subscription. Don’t miss out!

Bluehost’s pricing for shared ranges from $2.95–$28.99, making them a cost-effective choice for any new or small business. Its four plans – Basic, Plus, Choice Plus, and Pro – all come with cheap introductory fees to help you get started. Here’s what a 12-month subscription looks like:

Basic: from $2.95/month
Plus: from $5.45/month
Choice Plus: from $5.45/month
Pro: from $13.95/month

Bluehost’s hosting plans also come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so if you’re not completely happy with the service you receive, you’ll get a full refund.

Help and Support: 4.6/5

With a score of 4.6 out of 5, just missing out on the number one spot, Bluehost still comes second in our help and support testing for small businesses. So, how can the hosting provider help you?

24/7 live chat
24/7 phone support
Knowledge center

Features: 3.4/5

Bluehost scored a fairly average 3.4 out of 5 for its features, and that’s partly due to the limitations of the shared hosting plans offered. Storage space is more restricted than Bluehost alternatives, and automated backups aren’t included in the two cheapest plans. That being said, there are plenty of other features on offer.

So, what do you get with Bluehost? Its key features include:

Free domain for your first year
10GB–100GB storage
Free SSL certificate
Unmetered bandwidth

One of the big reasons why Bluehost is so popular is its easy integration with WordPress – in fact, it’s the provider we recommend most for WordPress users due to its carefully tailored features. The one-click installation is a joy, and means even the least technical user can launch their site with both WordPress and Bluehost. Watch our video tutorial if you don’t believe us!

Performance: 3.3/5

Our research found Bluehost’s server speed and uptime to be underwhelming considering the popularity of the provider. Its 99.98% uptime guarantee is pretty much on par with HostGator, but HostGator has a much faster and more reliable site speed according to our testing.

Further Information

Read our Bluehost Review if you want to find out more
Curious about WordPress integration? Check out our guide on how to install WordPress with Bluehost

#3. DreamHost

Longest Money-Back Guarantee

Shared Hosting: $2.59–$8.95/month

Overview

With its quality features and immense storage space, DreamHost is great value for money for any small business that has plenty of content to host – plus there’s room to grow! WordPress comes pre-installed, and you get automated daily backups, free domain privacy, as well as advanced features like Shell access – all at a cheap price.

Price: 4.1/5

For a three-year contract, DreamHost’s pricing start at these affordable introductory prices:

Shared Starter: $2.59/month
Shared Unlimited: $3.95/month

It’s worth noting that you can get the Unlimited plan for the same price as the Starter if you lock in for one year only!

While it isn’t top of our research for price, it scores well thanks to the partnership between price and all of its other wonderful features. You get a lot for your money!

One of the biggest standout features for DreamHost is its excellent 97-day money-back guarantee, which means you can try it totally risk-free and get a full refund if you find it’s not the right fit for you.

Help and Support: 3.5/5

DreamHost doesn’t offer direct phone support, unlike vs HostGator, which is a major drawback of this provider. That said, you can request a callback, so you’ll still be able to speak to a person over the phone if it’s a priority for you.

Alternatively, DreamHost’s live chat support is available for the majority of the day, or you can submit a general ticket which is a 24/7 service.

Features: 4/5

We were very impressed by DreamHost’s shared hosting plan features, and it performs well overall in our research. With each package, you’ll get access to:

Unlimited bandwidth
Daily backups
Free SSL
Custom-built control panel

However, you’ll need to upgrade to the Shared Unlimited plan if you want, you guessed it, more unlimited features. Unlimited websites, email accounts tailored to your domain, and storage, are all a part of the higher-tier plan, so keep that in mind when considering which one to go for.

Performance: 3.6/5

DreamHost’s performance is fairly middle of the road, despite its 100% uptime guarantee, but it still fulfills its job well enough to rank third in our list. It also excelled in our site speed testing, with the second best score of any of our hosting providers!

Further Information

For the full breakdown, read our DreamHost review

#4. Hostinger

Best Value for Money

Shared Hosting: $1.99–$15.99/month

Overview

Hostinger combines affordable prices with a huge range of features – an impressive value score of 4.6 out of 5 makes it one of the best cheap web hosting providers. With discounted prices starting at just $1.99 per month, and with three shared plans to choose from, Hostinger has a lot to offer. But, its main downfall is its lack of help and support options, as well as its overall performance.

Price: 4.6/5

With the highest score for price out of any provider on this list, it’s no surprise that Hostinger’s pricing has a cheap introductory rate, especially for its longest 48-month subscription:

Single: from $1.99/month
Premium: from $2.99/month
Business: from $3.99/month

Hostinger’s discounted plans are a real steal, but don’t worry if you’re not ready to commit just yet! Hostinger promises a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can fully test the waters first.

Help and Support: 3.1/5

Our research found Hostinger’s help and support to be fairly average. There’s prompt email support, 24/7 live chat, and a searchable knowledge base on hand for any queries that pop up. Plus, Hostinger’s support team is multilingual, with offices around the world ready to field questions.

However, Hostinger doesn’t offer phone support, which could be a dealbreaker for some customers.

Features: 4.1/5

Despite its low prices, Hostinger has a good amount of features considering the cost. They’re spread across three shared hosting plans: Single, Premium, and Business. Its cheapest shared plan – Single – includes free SSL, 50GB storage, and 100GB bandwidth. On the other end of the spectrum, its most feature-rich shared plan – Business – goes a bit further, including:

200GB storage
Unlimited bandwidth
Free daily backups
Up to 100 email accounts @ your domain

Hostinger’s features are decent for getting started, and it might be a good fit for your business needs.

Performance: 2.4/5

Hostinger’s performance score is the lowest of all the providers on this list. It has an advertised uptime of 99.9%, which is monitored all day by a team of experts and engineers, but it seemed to struggle in our testing. And, its server response time lags in comparison to speedier providers such as IONOS.

Further Information

Find out more in our Hostinger Review

#5. InMotion

Robust Security Across the Board

Shared Hosting: $2.49–$27.99/month

Overview

InMotion isn’t the cheapest option on the list, but you get access to a lot of great features with each plan – the security, support, and storage space on offer are excellent. It’s also got its own website builder, just in case you still need to build your business website. With a score of 4.2 out of 5, InMotion sits comfortably in the middle of the pack, but it’s in the features, and help and support categories, where this provider really shines.

Price: 3/5

When it comes to shared hosting, InMotion is pretty good value for money. There are four plans to consider, and its 36-month contracts have the best deals:

Core: from $2.49/month
Launch: from $4.99/month
Power: from $4.99/month
Pro: from $12.99/month

No matter which plan you choose, InMotion has a generous 90-day money-back guarantee, so don’t sweat it!

Help and Support: 4.5/5

InMotion has a quality support team, with phone and live chat services, which is why it scores so highly in our testing – even vs Bluehost. The support staff is US-based and available 24/7, and they’re ready to answer any questions you might have.

In fact, InMotion’s website claims its support staff goes through over 80 hours of training to ensure users have the best customer experience, so you know you’re in good hands!

Features: 4.2/5

As we’ve said, InMotion has four shared hosting plans, and its most basic – Core – provides you with:

Unlimited bandwidth
100GB storage
Free SSL
Free email account @ your domain

If you upgrade from the Core plan to Launch or above, you’ll also get unlimited websites, storage, and email addresses, as well as a free domain name!

We were particularly impressed by InMotion’s security features, too. All plans come with hack and malware protection, access to a backup manager, SSH access, and spam experts.

Performance: 3.5/5

Our research found InMotion to have a fairly poor site speed and uptime, which is a real let down when you want your website to be reliable and fast. InMotion does allow its users to choose from multiple data centers around the world – 46 locations to be exact – so you can try to host your website in the fastest zone possible!

Further Information

Still unsure? Read our InMotion Review for the full breakdown of features
How does it compare? Find out in our InMotion vs Bluehost comparison

#6. GoDaddy Hosting

Awesome Help and Support

Shared Hosting: $6.99–$21.99/month

Overview

GoDaddy’s shared hosting plans aren’t as brilliant as HostGator, but it’s a fairly well-rounded hosting provider with consistently good scores for help and support. The major negative of GoDaddy Hosting is its expensive price point, and mediocre performance. Interestingly, it’s our second best hosting provider for server response time, but struggles when it comes to site speed – if GoDaddy could remedy the issue, they’d be in a much better position.

Price: 3.7/5

GoDaddy has four shared hosting plans, starting with Economy and going up to the Maximum plan. Its three year subscription has the cheapest introductory prices, so if you’re up for locking in long term then they’re worth checking out for a better deal.

In the meantime, here’s GoDaddy’s shared hosting 12-month terms:

Economy: from $6.99/month
Deluxe: from $11.99/month
Ultimate: from $14.99/month
Maximum: from $21.99/month

All of these include a free domain and free SSL. As you can see, GoDaddy’s Hosting plans are pretty pricey in comparison to other alternatives for web hosting on this list, and we know that cost can be an important factor for small businesses.

Help and Support: 4/5

The help and support features are a real highlight of GoDaddy Hosting. It secured itself a solid 4 out of 5 in our research and consistently scored highly in our analysis. The 24/7 phone and live chat support are a real asset, and GoDaddy makes sure its support services are accessible worldwide. So, you never have to worry about being caught out without the helpful resource!

Features: 4.3/5

Though its cost and performance is nothing to shout home about, GoDaddy Hosting has some excellent features to keep it in consideration. All of its shared plans come with the following built-in:

Unmetered bandwidth
Daily backups
Free 1-click WordPress installation
Free domain
Free SSL certificate

It’s worth highlighting that a range of features like storage space and the number of websites allowed will fluctuate between plans, so make sure to check out each plan in full to find the right fit for you.

Performance: 3.2/5

GoDaddy ranks second in our server response time testing, but is at a disadvantage due to its poor site speed. So, if reliability is important to you, you might want to consider Hostinger instead with its impressive performance score of 4.2 out of 5!

Further Information

Get all the info in our GoDaddy Hosting Review if you want to find out more

#7. iPage

Great Performance on a Budget

Shared Hosting: $1.99–$2.99/month

Overview

In seventh place, we have iPage, scoring a strong 4.2 out of 5 in our small business hosting research. Despite its placement in the list, we still think it’s a decent provider and would recommend it as a good affordable alternative to some of our pricier options like GoDaddy Hosting. It’s also the only provider on the list that offers one shared hosting plan, so you don’t need to worry about choosing the right package because everything’s in one place!

Price: 3.5/5

iPage’s one payment plan – Go Plan – keeps things simple and cheap. You don’t need to worry about upgrading or knowing which features come with which plan, and it’s a very affordable option for small businesses on a budget. Take a look at its 36-month subscription:

Go Plan: from $1.99/month

However, the lack of range with no additional shared hosting plans means you might feel a little restricted compared to the best ecommerce hosting providers. But, it can be a good starting point at least.

Don’t forget to consider renewal prices too. The $1.99 deal for a 36-month term sounds unbeatable, but when you renew, it’ll jump to $7.99.

Help and Support: 3.7/5

iPage’s support team is available via live chat 24/7 to handle any problems you face, or you can give them a call between 7am and 12am each day. So, they’re pretty easy to reach should you need to!

iPage’s website also has a helpful Knowledge Base, so you might be able to find a solution by yourself with a quick search of its help center.

Features: 3.3/5

iPage’s single shared hosting plan comes with an expected amount of features, but nothing that makes it stand out amongst the crowd. The main features you’ll find include:

Unlimited websites
Unlimited storage
Free SSL certificate
Free domain for a year
1-click WordPress installation

Performance: 4.2/5

iPage came joint third with HostGator for site speed in our overall testing, which is a really great positive if you want a fast-loading site. It was also joint first for performance in our small business research, so you know you’re getting a reliable service with iPage.

Further Information

iPage Review – everything you need to know about the hosting provider
See who has better value in our Bluehost vs iPage article

#8. A2 Hosting

Free Expert Migrations

Shared Hosting: $2.99–$25.99/month

Overview

A2 Hosting has dropped quite significantly since our last analysis of small business hosting, falling from fourth position in our pre-2023 rankings to eighth with a new score of 4.1 out of 5. Its shared hosting plans are more expensive than others, and it has a weak performance score. That being said, we do think its library of features and responsive support team add value to A2 Hosting.

Price: 3.2/5

A2 Hosting’s shared plans lean towards being more expensive than others. For example, its cheapest option starts at $2.99 for 36 months, or $10.99 for one month, and the most expensive begins at $12.99 for 36 months, or $22.09 for a one month trial. But, A2 Hosting’s shared hosting plans have a real range of pricing, so you can find one that fits your budget.

You get a cheaper deal the longer you commit, and in A2 Hosting’s case, that’s a three-year contract. Take a look at the fees for each plan:

Startup: from $2.99/month
Drive: from $5.99/month
Turbo Boost: from $6.99/month
Turbo Max: from $12.99/month

One major plus, though, is that A2 has an 30-day money-back guarantee policy in place which gives you plenty of time to test out its services. That means if, for whatever reason, you’re not satisfied with the service you’re receiving, you can get a full refund within that window.

Help and Support: 3.5/5

Despite the middle-of-the-road score of 3.5 out of 5, A2 Hosting does offer a good range of support services via its Guru Crew Support team. You can reach out to them via global phone lines, live chat, help tickets, or browse A2 Hosting’s help center yourself. The best part? The customer service team is available 24/7!

However, without any email or community center support, it can’t really hope to win in the help and support vs Bluehost.

Features: 4.4/5

As we’ve mentioned already, A2 Hosting has four shared hosting plans – Startup, Drive, Turbo Boost, and Turbo Max. With each plan, the features grow and improve, so it really depends on what your small business needs from your hosting provider. You might feel limited by A2 Hosting’s most basic plan, but the Drive, Turbo Boost, and Turbo Max plans are some of the best shared hosting services, all offering:

Unlimited websites
Unlimited storage
Free SSL certificate
Automated backups
Global server locations

Performance: 3.6/5

A2 Hosting guarantees 99.9% uptime, but our testing found it to be solidly average. In general, A2 Hosting’s performance could be better. So, if performance is an important factor for you, we’d suggest considering another hosting provider like our top choice, HostGator.

Further Information

Our A2 Hosting Review is here if you want to learn more

#9. IONOS

Best for Site Speed and Uptime

Shared Hosting: $0.50–$8/month

Overview

IONOS is quite erratic in its scoring across our small business hosting research. It has a very low score in help and support, but a pretty impressive reach in the price and features category. It’s also our top choice for site speed and uptime. Though pricing and support are considerable factors for small businesses, reliable speed and avoidance of downtime are beneficial for any website to have.

Let’s take a deeper look at IONOS!

Price: 4.5/5

IONOS scores really well for price, with an impressive 4.5 out of 5 – second only to Hostinger in our research. For a three-year term, plans range from $0.50 per month to $8 per month. Check out the introductory prices for yourself:

Essential: $4/month (renews at $6)
Business (most popular): $0.50/month (renews at $10)
Expert: $8/month (renews at $16)

The Starter plan is a good foundation if you’re just starting out, but we’d recommend choosing the Plus or Ultimate plan for your small business if you want to enjoy a greater range of features.

Help and Support: 2.8/5

IONOS is really let down by its help and support score of 2.8 – this is the lowest support score out of all the small business hosts we tested, putting it right at the bottom of the pack in our research for support.

You can contact IONOS via phone 24/7, or submit a form online, but there’s no live chat service or email support to use.

We know that good support is a critical factor for small businesses that need a helping hand, so it’s a shame IONOS isn’t better equipped to deal with issues.

Features: 4.5/5

IONOS’ features are one of its strongest areas. All three shared hosting plans include:

Daily backups
Free domain for 1 year
Free SSL certificate
Free email @ your domain

However, you’ll need to upgrade to the Plus or Ultimate plan if you want greater benefits such as unlimited websites, storage, and databases.

Performance: 3.7/5

Now, IONOS is best for site speed and uptime in our overall testing, and that’s across all of our research on hosting providers. It’s a pretty impressive highlight for small businesses, because you want your site to be as fast and reliable as possible – both for boosting SEO and providing great user experience. While performance may not be at the front of your mind when getting your small business set up online, the load time statistics show that fast loading times are worth it, and IONOS sets you up for success from day one.

Further Information

Read our IONOS Review if you want to find out more

How Do You Choose a Small Business Hosting Provider?

You now know the nine best web hosting services for small businesses. We’ve also shown you who each hosting provider is best for.

At this point, it’s time to discuss how to pick the right provider for you in a bit more depth. After all, no two businesses are the same, right?

When considering a web hosting service, ask yourself:

How tech-savvy are you? The less skilled you are with computers, the more support you might need. Remember, HostGator came out on top in our research for help and support!
What’s your budget? This will depend on the size and scale of your business. Shared hosting plans are generally affordable and will cater to your technical needs without blowing your budget completely.
How much traffic do you expect to get? The rule of thumb is that the more traffic you receive, the better hosting plan you need. Check out the range of shared plans each provider has to offer, and see what works best for your business.

Shared hosting is the ideal option for small businesses, especially if you’re just starting out. Obviously, if you outgrow your plan, you can transition to a dedicated or VPS hosting package, but shared hosting has everything a small business could need at a fraction of the price.

Further Information

Do you need FTP hosting for file transfers? Check out our comparison of the Best FTP Hosting Providers to find your perfect match!

Best Web Hosting for Small Business: Conclusion

With so many hosting providers out there, it’s difficult to know where to start. But, let’s begin with a recap of the final rankings.

The 9 Best Hosting Providers for Small Businesses

HostGator – Best overall shared hosting provider
Bluehost – Most trusted by users online
DreamHost – Longest money-back guarantee
Hostinger – Best value for money
InMotion – Robust security across the board
GoDaddy Hosting – Awesome help and support
iPage – Great performance on a budget
A2 Hosting – Free expert migrations
IONOS – Best for site speed and uptime

All of our nine web hosts for small businesses are at the top of the market. HostGator, Bluehost, and DreamHost are all tightly packed in at the top when it comes to quality of plans and value for money.

Your decision really boils down to your own personal needs. You need to consider the size of your business website, and how many resources you’ll need.

This should give you a clearer idea of what type of hosting you need and, from there, you can pick the best provider for that particular job.

Generally speaking, though, HostGator offers the most comprehensive all-around package. Its plans are reasonably priced and include powerful features, and HostGator offers excellent site speed. HostGator is also the best choice for help and support, so, if that all sounds good to you, give HostGator’s shared plans a go and let us know what you think!

Further Information

Web Hosting Comparison Chart – See all the facts and stats on our top hosting providers
Best Website Hosting – Understand the bigger picture by looking at all our top-ranked hosts

Home » Homepage Featured

Let’s Delve Into BigCommerce Pricing Plans: Are They Worth Your Money?

Written by

Researched by

Updated on July 1, 2025

If you click to purchase a product or service based on our independent recommendations and impartial reviews, we may receive a commission. Learn more

Best for side hustles

Shopify Starter

$5/month (billed annually)

Sell via social media and messaging apps
Don't need a full website
Good starting point for new sellers

Limited scalability

Best for small businesses

Basic

$29/month (billed annually)

Sell unlimited products
Multichannel selling options
24/7 chat support

Most popular plan

Best for established stores

Grow

$79/month (billed annually)

5 staff accounts
Get shipping insurance
USPS discounts available

Best for large businesses

Advanced

$299/month (billed annually)

Enhanced support
Bigger checkout capacity
Custom reports and analytics

Best for industry leaders

Plus

Pick My Perfect BigCommerce Plan

From $2,300/month (3-year plan)

Priority 24/7 support
Unlimited staff accounts
Customizable plan

BigCommerce Pricing Review

Rating

Review by Annie Angus

Last Updated on October 9, 2024

BigCommerce, a close rival to our top ecommerce website builders, has three price plans ranging from $29 to $299 per month, plus an extra custom-priced Enterprise plan. It also has a 15-day free trial so you can try it totally risk-free. I’d recommend the Standard Plan for most new sellers, or the Plus Plan if you want the best overall value for money.

I’ll be exploring exactly how much BigCommerce costs, explaining each plan in detail and revealing the extra costs you should be aware of.

Standard ($29 per month) – For new online stores
Plus ($79 per month) – For small, growing online stores
Pro ($299 per month) – For large online stores
Enterprise (Custom pricing) – For huge global businesses

How Much Does BigCommerce Cost?

screenshot of BigCommerce's four plans with their price, key features, and free trials — The three core plans have set prices, while the Enterprise Plan price is decided upon consultation. Source: Website Builder Expert

BigCommerce has three core plans to choose from: Standard, Plus, and Pro. You’ll be able to choose whether you want to be billed monthly or annually, with a 25% saving with a yearly option, which ranges between $29 to $299. The platform also offers an Enterprise Plan with tailored pricing upon consultation.

While BigCommerce doesn’t offer a free plan like Wix, you’ll be able to make use of a generous 15-day free trial, which should give you enough time to get a feel for the website builder.

All plans will provide you with unlimited product listings, file storage, bandwidth, and staff accounts, and BigCommerce doesn’t charge transaction fees on any plan.

Here’s an overview of some key variations between the plans:

Standard Plan: $29 – For New Online Stores

The Standard plan – and all other plans – includes the following features:

Unlimited products, file storage and bandwidth – sell as many products as you want, without worrying about your store exceeding its limits
No transaction fees – save money by only paying processing fees
Four inventory locations – ship orders from multiple warehouses
Three storefronts – manage the sales of multiple brands from one dashboard
Real-time shipping quotes – offer the lowest shipping price possible to your customers
Responsive website – looks great on both mobile and desktop
Single-page checkout – ensure the checkout process is quick and smooth. The smoother it is, the more sales you make
24/7 live customer support – expert help to answer any technical or business questions

Who Do I Recommend the Standard Plan For?

BigCommerce’s Standard plan is a great option for brand new or small businesses.

While it doesn’t come with the frills of the more advanced plans, it provides you with the foundations needed to maintain an online store, all for a relatively low cost.

Plus Plan: $79 – For Small, Growing Online Stores

The Plus plan gives you everything from the Standard plan, plus some extra tools to help you increase customer conversions. These include:

Five inventory locations – increases the order fulfillment locations available with the Standard plan by one
Five storefronts – increases the storefronts available with the Standard plan by two
Abandoned cart recovery features – use automated emails to win back customers who abandoned their carts at checkout
Customer groups – by building customer groups, you can reward frequent shoppers via loyalty programs
Persistent cart – save customers’ shopping carts to their account so they can carry on shopping even if they switch devices
Stored credit cards – help your customers checkout faster by allowing them to safely store their card details

Who Do I Recommend the Plus Plan For?

This plan is for growing ecommerce businesses looking to improve customer experience and boost sales. The abandoned cart saver is the real star of the show – it’s even been found that sending abandoned cart emails can win back 15% of shoppers!

I’d recommend this plan to all those who are comfortable with the additional $50 per month, as these more advanced sales features give you much better value for money than you get on the Standard plan.

Pro Plan: $299 – For Large Online Stores

This plan takes everything from both the Standard and Plus plans, and piles on even more features with a focus on taking your business to the next level.

You unlock:

Eight inventory locations – increases the order fulfillment locations available with the Plus plan by three
Eight storefronts – increases the storefronts available with the Plus plan by three
Google customer reviews – a tool that lets you collect customer feedback and product ratings
Product filtering – help customers quickly find the products they’re looking for using filters such as size, color, or brand
Custom product filters – use custom product fields as filters in faceted search, which helps customers narrow down their options
Custom SSL – if you’ve already bought an SSL elsewhere, you can transfer it to your BigCommerce store

Who Do I Recommend the Pro Plan For?

With eight storefronts and inventory locations designed to streamline your business processes, the Pro plan is suited to small-to-medium sized businesses that manage multiple brands and work across several regions.

On top of this, BigCommerce’s Pro plan has a few other handy (but by no means necessary) features aimed towards boosting customer experience. If you’re an established brand with a backlog of positive Google reviews, you’ll benefit from being able to integrate these into your website. Alongside this, custom filters will really enhance your customers’ experience and help you stand out from the competition.

Enterprise Plan: Custom Pricing – For Huge Global Businesses

For the largest ecommerce stores, the Enterprise plan lets you max out on everything BigCommerce has to offer. In addition to the features on the other plans, you’ll have access to:

Price lists – display different prices to different customer groups, such as wholesale or retail pricing
Unlimited API calls – you can send an unlimited number of requests to your server

Who Do I Recommend the Enterprise Plan For?

The Enterprise plan won’t be suitable for new or small businesses. But for large, complex businesses earning over $400,000 in revenue per year, it offers an impressive host of features like priority support, professional services, and personalized payment rates.

BigCommerce Automatic Upgrades

BigCommerce’s pricing is unique because it makes you upgrade as you grow. When you hit a certain sales cap per year, BigCommerce will automatically move you onto a more advanced plan.

Here’s a recap of the ‘caps’ for each plan:

Standard – $50,000. Good for smaller ecommerce stores.
Plus – $180,000. A good option for medium-sized stores or fast-growing stores.
Pro – $400,000; beyond this limit, you’ll pay an extra $150 per month for each extra $200,000 in online sales, up to $1 million. Great for thriving stores generating between $150,000 and $1 million in yearly revenue.

To reiterate, you won’t have a choice about whether or not to upgrade if you’ve reached the revenue threshold. You’ll be able to pick which plan you want to start on, but if your yearly revenue exceeds the cap for that plan, BigCommerce will correct this.

But don’t worry – upgrades don’t happen out of the blue.

Dashboard notifications and emails are used to alert customers of any upgrades, and these happen once your ‘trailing twelve month sales volume’ goes over your plan limit (i.e. BigCommerce doesn’t look at your revenue by tax or calendar year, but rather by the 12 months previous).

You’ll have plenty of warning if your plan – and your bills – are about to change, and your revenue is never limited, even if you go over the plan threshold.

Can You Downgrade Your BigCommerce Plan?

You might be worrying: what if my sales dip and I can no longer afford my BigCommerce plan? Do plan changes only work one way?

If your sales are dropping and the monthly fee is affecting your profit margins, don’t worry: you can still switch back to a cheaper BigCommerce plan.

We asked BigCommerce directly, and they explained to us that merchants are not automatically downgraded. If you want the cheaper plan, and you’re within the sales limit, you’ll have to contact BigCommerce to request this.

BigCommerce explained that “because a downgrade will result in the loss of features, we want the client to be the driving force for that action.”

Top Tip: Downgrading your plan involves more effort than upgrading. Ensure you join on the correct plan by matching your yearly revenue with the caps above.

Additional BigCommerce Fees

When you’re signing up with a new builder, it’s sensible to want to know about any extra or hidden costs that might crop up, either as you check out or further down the line.

We’ve put together a list of the main extra costs you might encounter when using BigCommerce:

#1. Domain Names

A domain name is like a store’s street sign. It tells visitors who you are, and introduces what your website is about.

Buying a domain name from BigCommerce will cost you from $12 for one year. To put this into context, Shopify’s start at $15, while Wix’s are free for a year with any premium plan, like Wix eCommerce.

#2. Credit Card Rates

Whenever a shopper places an order on your store using a credit or debit card, you will have to pay a fee. This charge goes to the payment processor (a bank, for example). The charge is for helping you collect the money from your customer and transfer it into your account.

It’s a fee that all merchants have to pay. That’s how the world of ecommerce works.

BigCommerce’s processing fees for debit and credit cards start at 2.59% + 49¢ per transaction, which is pretty standard. The better your BigCommerce pricing plan, the lower your credit card fees.

BigCommerce’s credit card fees are a little higher than Shopify’s, but merchants selling in modest volumes are unlikely to notice the difference.

A key thing to mention here is that, unlike a lot of ecommerce builders, BigCommerce doesn’t charge any transaction fees. This means that processing fees are the only charge you need to worry about – simple!

This sets BigCommerce apart from its rivals – even Shopify charges a transaction fee unless you use its in-house payments system.

Good To Know: A processing fee, also known as a credit card rate, is charged to the merchant with each transaction in order to process the credit card payment. A transaction fee, also known as commission, is an additional fee incurred for each transaction by the merchant, and paid to the builder. Processing fees will always be charged whereas transaction fees are optional and the rates are set by the builder.

#3. Themes

BigCommerce has a small range of free website templates for you to choose from, but if you want to pick a premium theme, they range in price from $199 to $400 each. This is a one-time payment, and you can then use that theme for as long as you like!

Why choose a premium theme? Well, there’s a larger selection of styles to choose from – and because of this, it’s less likely that a lot of other stores will have picked the same design. Premium themes also come with more features built-in, giving you a more powerful store from day one.

bigcommerce theme marketplace with options to filter by collection or industry — BigCommerce provides a variety of both free and premium themes. Source: Website Builder Expert

#4. Apps

One of the reasons BigCommerce is such a powerful ecommerce builder is that most of its tools and features are built-in. This sets the builder apart from its rival Shopify, which really relies on its app store to provide users with a wide range of functionality.

However, BigCommerce also has a native app store for any specific add ons you require. It has a selection of free apps, as well as paid ones, which vary in price. For example, BigCommerce’s top paid apps range from $9.99 to $75 per month.

Many apps also come with either a free trial or a free plan, so you can choose whether or not to pay for an upgraded service.

bigcommerce's app store showing the top four free and paid apps — You'll find a range of free and paid apps in the BigCommerce App Store - many paid apps also have a free plan or trial. Source: Website Builder Expert

#5. BigCommerce Partners

If you want to hire professionals to work with you on your store’s success, you can find a BigCommerce Partner to help you out.

BigCommerce has over 4,000 agency partners who specialize in everything from web design to marketing, so you can find your perfect solution. This is totally optional, and prices vary depending on the agency – you’ll need to contact them directly for a quote.

Is BigCommerce Good Value for Money?

When we tested it out, we found the value for money on offer to be slightly below average because of its relatively high subscription prices. If you’re on a budget, Wix and GoDaddy are both cheaper alternatives.

Here are BigCommerce’s plan prices compared with the equivalent plans of our top website builders, when billed annually:

A lot of website builders’ entry level paid plans start off at a very similar price point to that of BigCommerce, but once you start to look at the more advanced subscriptions, BigCommerce’s prices raise considerably higher than others.

Deciding between BigCommerce and Shopify is a common deliberation; they have very similar plan structures and exactly the same prices. However, our testing found Shopify to offer more bang for your buck in terms of ecommerce features.

Out of BigCommerce’s subscription options, I’d recommend the Plus Plan as the best value for money because you’ll unlock new features necessary for growth, plus a huge increase on your annual revenue cap to support this climb.

BigCommerce offers a generous free trial of 15 days, much longer than the three days offered by Shopify – which is a good amount of time to try it out before committing to a subscription. This said, other builders like Wix offer a completely free plan that you can use for as long as you want – though you can’t sell anything on it.

The price caps provided by BigCommerce offer guidance as to which plan is best suited to your business. However, If you’re a merchant selling a high volume of very low margin products, BigCommerce’s pricing may not be worth it.

Summary: Is BigCommerce Worth It?

Hopefully you now feel like an expert on BigCommerce’s pricing – and have a good idea of which plan is best for you.

If you’re still unsure, here’s a quick recap of each BigCommerce plan, and what each is best for…

BigCommerce Pricing:

Standard plan: $39 per month, or $29 per month when paid annually. Best for new or small online stores looking for all the basic features (and a few extras!)
Plus plan: $105 per month, or $79 per month when paid annually. Best for growing stores that want to boost conversions and improve their marketing.
Pro plan: $399 per month, or $299 per month when paid annually. Best for large online stores that need scalable features to support their continued growth.
Enterprise plan: custom pricing. Best for fully established stores that need an extra level of sophistication in their features and support.

I’d recommend the Standard plan for most new sellers. However, my favorite is the Plus plan, because it comes with abandoned cart recovery – a must for any serious online store!

The Pro plan is a great choice for larger stores searching for new ways to keep scaling up their business, while the Enterprise plan is reserved for big sellers with big budgets and big teams to manage.

When choosing BigCommerce, there are a few extra costs to bear in mind – domain names, themes, and credit card processing rates are the main three to factor into your budget.

It’s always best to try before you buy, so I highly recommend jumping on BigCommerce’s 15-day free trial.

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Best Website Builders for Small Business: Compared for 2025

Written by

Researched by

Updated on July 1, 2025

Comments {43}

If you click to purchase a product or service based on our independent recommendations and impartial reviews, we may receive a commission. Learn more

Best for side hustles

Shopify Starter

$5/month (billed annually)

Sell via social media and messaging apps
Don't need a full website
Good starting point for new sellers

Limited scalability

Best for small businesses

Basic

$29/month (billed annually)

Sell unlimited products
Multichannel selling options
24/7 chat support

Most popular plan

Best for established stores

Grow

$79/month (billed annually)

5 staff accounts
Get shipping insurance
USPS discounts available

Best for large businesses

Advanced

$299/month (billed annually)

Enhanced support
Bigger checkout capacity
Custom reports and analytics

Best for industry leaders

Plus

From $2,300/month (3-year plan)

Priority 24/7 support
Unlimited staff accounts
Customizable plan

If you want to set up a website for your small business, but are unsure which website builder best suits your store’s priorities and needs, Wix is the best small business website builder I’ve tested. Over 300 hours of research, analysis, and hands-on testing across 12 platforms went into our 2025 findings, so I can confidently say that Wix provides a great all-in-one platform, ideal for businesses looking to promote their brand and sell online.

Our 5 Best Small Business Website Builders

Wix – All-in-one builder to manage your business
Shopify – Best builder for selling products
Squarespace – Manage online bookings seamlessly
Hostinger – Easiest builder for small businesses
GoDaddy – Great social tools for promoting your store

Key Takeaways 🔍

Wix and Shopify are our top-rated builders in 2025, with Shopify excelling in sales features and Wix having plenty of high-quality SEO, marketing, and product management tools
Hostinger’s suite of AI tools will support your website building and content creation for a low cost
Squarespace is recommended for service-based businesses due to its Acuity Scheduling tool and modern design templates
If you want to sell across multiple channels, GoDaddy offers a social media calendar and content creation tools
Our rankings are based on a methodology that heavily weighted sales features, user experience, and help and support

I’ve recently updated our list of the best small business website builders to reflect our 2025 research. The most notable change is that Wix has now taken position one, with Shopify moving to second place. Hostinger and GoDaddy have also swapped positions in our rankings, and our scores and copy have been tweaked to cover the latest features and capabilities of each builder. I’ve also updated Squarespace’s pricing and plan names to match the builder’s recent change, and I’ve made a note of new features on Shopify, Wix, Hostinger, and GoDaddy.

Small Business Website Builders: Head-to-Head

Before I dive into each builder’s key features for small businesses, take a look at our quick comparison table:

Why you can trust us 🤝

We’ve spent over 300 hours researching and analyzing the top small business website builders to bring you unbiased and data-backed recommendations. We also carry out hands-on testing with each builder to ensure our reviews are accurate and fair. Read more about our unique research methodology.

If you’d rather have someone talk you through the key pros, cons, features, and pricing of our top five small business website builders, watch our video:

1. Wix: All-in-One Builder To Manage Your Business

Wix pricing: Free – $159 per month, get 10% off with our code TAKE10
Read our Wix review for a detailed look at the website builder

Looking to promote your business online and grow your audience? Need help optimizing your website for search engines? A good website builder should support your journey from start to finish, and Wix’s all-in-one platform provides the features you’ll need, from email marketing to SEO.

Wix's SEO setup checklist — Wix gave my test website a personalized SEO checklist which made it so easy for me to see where I could improve my site's SEO. Source: Website Builder Expert

Why Do I Recommend Wix?

📨 Marketing features – Wix’s email marketing tool helps you set up automated workflows, use brand assets from your site, coordinate communications with Wix’s Mailchimp partnership, and generate personalized messages to speak directly with your customers. This isn’t something all builders provide either (Hostinger lacks any email marketing tools).
🔍 SEO – You can utilize Wix’s SEO Learning Hub and other tools, such as its AI meta tag creator and keyword research tool (powered by Semrush), to help your website appear in search engine results. That’s why Wix is our top SEO website builder for 2025.
🤖 AI tools – Wix’s AI features can help you build your website quickly, generate website copy (such as product descriptions), offer design suggestions, and more.

Wix's AI Theme Assistant offering support for designing my test site — I asked Wix's new AI Theme Assistant for help when choosing my site's color scheme. Source: Website Builder Expert

Should You Use Wix?

You want a free website builder (though I recommend upgrading quickly to remove ads)
You want your tools in one place
You want great AI features and support

Latest Wix news ⬇️

This month, Wix has announced new financial services for businesses: Wix Capital and Wix Checking. Wix stores can also promote and sell products on Pinterest now. These integrations can all be managed from your Wix dashboard.

2. Shopify: Best Builder for Selling Online

Shopify pricing: $29 – $299 per month, get your first three months for $1/month
Read our Shopify review for a detailed look at the website builder

If you need your small business website to focus on showcasing products and converting traffic into customers, you’ll want a powerful ecommerce website builder. Shopify has the best sales features on the market. The range and quality of Shopify’s ecommerce tools, including abandoned cart recovery, tax calculation, and the option for discount codes, are suitable for small businesses of all sizes.

Shopify POS settings in backend — Shopify supports online and offline integration through its POS system, which I could easily find within my website’s backend dashboard. Source: Website Builder Expert

Why Do I Recommend Shopify?

🛒 Multichannel selling – Connect Shopify with a range of online marketplaces, social media platforms including TikTok and Instagram, or with its POS system for offline selling. Shopify merchants can download the Shopify Marketplace Connect app to gain access to platforms like eBay and Amazon.
💳 Payment options – Shopify supports over 100 payment gateways, as well as Shopify Payments, which you don’t have to pay transaction fees on.
🔒 Website security – Shopify provides a built-in SSL certificate, two-step verification, and customer logins, and ensures your website is PCI compliant. I also want to point out Shopify’s additional fraud analysis tool, which helps small businesses recognize fraudulent orders.

You can watch our video below to learn more about Shopify’s features:

Should You Use Shopify?

Your business is growing
You have a large inventory
You don’t want product limits
You need advanced sales tools

What the researchers think...

I’d recommend Shopify as a great option for small businesses because of its simple backend tools that let you add products easily, as well as its huge app store which is great for helping small businesses grow and adapt. You’ve got apps like TikTok that can help grow your audience or Klaviyo which is great for setting up email and SMS marketing!

Ollie Simpson Senior Research Executive

Latest Shopify news ⬇️

Shopify has updated its shipping tools in August. Stores can access global carriers with exclusive rates, such as DHL, USPS, UPS, and FedEx, and bulk process up to 250 orders at once to ship products faster. Plus, merchants on Shopify’s Grow plan or above will now have up to $200 insurance per label, if they’re using Shopify Payments.

3. Squarespace: Manage Online Bookings Seamlessly

Squarespace pricing: $16 – $99 per month, get 10% off with our code WBE10
Read our Squarespace review for a detailed look at the website builder

Squarespace is the best small business website builder to use if you want to offer services or take appointments online. First impressions make all the difference, especially if you’re trying to get people to book services with you, and Squarespace’s template variety, sleek design elements, and quality content tools are ideal for small businesses looking to make a stylish online store.

Squarespace's editor showing the grid line structure when moving a text block — I found it so easy to tweak my site's design thanks to Squarespace's drag-and-drop editor and grid structure. Source: Website Builder Expert

Why Do I Recommend Squarespace?

🗓️ Booking tools – If your business needs to offer services or appointments, you can use Squarespace’s Acuity Scheduling tool to take bookings online. This is a premium add-on, with plans starting from $16 per month.
🎨 Template quality – Squarespace’s 150+ templates cover a wide range of industries, including “Fashion,” “Media & Podcasts,” “Real Estate & Properties,” and “Travel.” It’s a far cry from Wix’s 2,000+, but Squarespace focuses on quality over quantity. Alternatively, you can use Squarespace’s AI builder, Blueprint AI. I found it incredibly easy to use, and I had a functional yet sleek website live in 10 minutes.
✏️ Content tools – Squarespace provides dozens of professionally designed elements to place on your pages, meaning you can display your content in a variety of ways. For example, an accordion is great if you want to hide additional content so visitors aren’t overwhelmed, or you could add a map to make your small business’s location easy to find.

Pop up box of content elements in Squarespace's website editor — When testing, I added an accordion to my page without a hitch. I could then edit the text and drag it around my homepage until I found the perfect spot. Source: Website Builder Expert

Should You Use Squarespace?

You run a creative business
You want to offer services
You want an easy editing experience
You need a cheaper option than Wix or Shopify

Latest Squarespace news ⬇️

Squarespace has launched Squarespace Capital, helping small businesses find funding quickly. Whether your business is eligible or not will depend on transaction volume, your history with Squarespace, and your business must be US-based and using Squarespace Payments.

4. Hostinger: Easiest Builder for Small Businesses

Hostinger pricing: $2.99 – $3.99 per month, get 10% off with our code WBE
Read our Hostinger website builder review for a detailed look at the website builder

If you’re new to the world of selling online or want to test out your business idea as a side hustle or small business, then Hostinger offers brilliant AI tools and a beginner-friendly editor to help you get started.

To sell online, you’ll need the $3.99 Business Website Builder plan to unlock Hostinger’s ecommerce features and AI tools. But, for such a low price, the upgrade doesn’t seem as big a leap as with other website builders.

Hostinger's section library for its website builder, showing a range of product section options — I loved the variety of styles when adding a new section to my Hostinger website, and I could even use AI to generate a section from scratch. Source: Website Builder Expert

Why Do I Recommend Hostinger?

⚙️ Beginner-friendly editor – Hostinger is one of the easiest website builders I’ve tested. Its drag-and-drop editor gives you total creative freedom while also keeping things simplified so you don’t get overwhelmed, which can happen with Wix. I found the designs really modern-looking and polished, and it was really easy for me to add brand assets, such as my logo.
⏰ Time-saving AI tools – Hostinger relies heavily on its suite of AI tools, including an AI-powered website builder, but this makes it ideal for beginners and businesses looking to get online fast. If you’re on the Business Website Builder plan ($3.99 per month), you’ll have access to Hostinger’s full range of AI features.
💰 Budget-friendly plans – Hostinger is the cheapest website builder that I’d recommend to others without sacrificing quality for cost. While Hostinger’s functionality is limited in comparison to other builders, like Wix, you get a good range of features for the small price you pay.

Hostinger AI heatmap tool in action over an "about us" section of a Hostinger test website — I used Hostinger's AI Heatmap tool to see where visitors engage with the site. Source: Website Builder Expert

Should You Use Hostinger?

You’re a beginner to website building
You need a cheap website builder
You don’t need advanced tools
You’re only selling a few products

What our editor thinks...

I think busy entrepreneurs would really benefit from Hostinger’s suite of time-saving AI tools. This is what makes Hostinger a smart choice for small businesses – it gives you a helping hand with things like website creation, content generation, and tracking customer engagement. Sure, with no app market and limited plans, it’s not the most scalable option, but when you’re a new business owner juggling all the tasks that come with those early days of building and running a website, these AI tools can make a real difference and help you set up fast!

Lucy Carney Editor

Latest Hostinger news ⬇️

In June, Hostinger announced a new AI-powered email marketing tool, Hostinger Reach. After not providing built-in email marketing support before, this is a welcome addition for small businesses. Use the tool to generate newsletter templates, manage campaigns, and boost engagement.

5. GoDaddy: Great Social Tools for Promoting Your Store

GoDaddy pricing: Free – $20.99 per month
Read our GoDaddy review for a detailed look at the website builder

If your small business is active on social media, GoDaddy offers an impressive suite of social tools to promote your store and its products, including a social media calendar. Its simple editor and speedy onboarding process help you get online quickly, and its basic features help your business get seen by the right audience.

GoDaddy's website editor — I found it harder to design and customize my store with GoDaddy's limited editor. Source: Website Builder Expert

Why Do I Recommend GoDaddy?

📷 Social media tools – In our recent testing, GoDaddy’s social media tools became a standout feature. You can populate the social media calendar with GoDaddy’s AI Social Post Creator, review your scheduled content, and identify the right days to post.
🏃 Quick onboarding – I was only asked a few questions about my business needs during the setup process before GoDaddy generated a custom template for me, so it’s a great builder for beginners and tech novices.
🤳 Mobile management – Small businesses are juggling a million tasks at once, so I recommend making the most out of GoDaddy’s mobile app to create and manage your online store anywhere, anytime. You can make tweaks in the mobile editor, but also monitor your sales and traffic on the go, which is incredibly convenient.

GoDaddy social calendar for April — I loved GoDaddy's social calendar feature, since I could check for important events and plan content ahead of time. Source: Website Builder Expert

Should You Use GoDaddy?

You want a cheap and budget-friendly builder
You only need standard features
You want simplicity
You want to promote your business on socials

Latest GoDaddy news ⬇️

For small businesses working with clients, GoDaddy has launched GoDaddy Agency. The partner program specifically supports digital agencies as they grow businesses, run campaigns, and manage new projects.

How To Choose Your Small Business Website Builder

There are plenty of website builders out there to choose from, but how do you know which one is right for your business? Here’s a reminder of why I recommend our top five small business website builders:

Wix is the best small business website builder overall, helping small businesses manage and promote their website with high-quality built-in features
Shopify offers great sales tools, making it ideal for anyone looking to sell online and grow an online store
Squarespace is best for service-based businesses thanks to its built-in booking tool, Acuity Scheduling
Hostinger’s drag-and-drop editor and AI tools make it easy to get online, so I highly recommend this builder for tech novices and very small businesses
GoDaddy has great social media tools, making it easy for small businesses to showcase their products across channels and engage with customers

Top Tip 💡

Make the most of a builder’s free plan or free trial to test out its features and suitability for your small business. This allows you to build a website without spending a cent, but I highly recommend upgrading to a premium plan once you’re ready to share your website publicly. And, you won’t be able to sell online with any of our top five small business website builders without subscribing to a paid ecommerce plan.

How We Test Small Business Website Builders

Our research team have spent over 300 hours conducting in-depth analysis to find the best website builders for small businesses, and I’ve built websites with each of our top choices to share genuine insights and examples with you. Our goal is to deliver data-led recommendations – we cover the good, the bad, and everything in between, so you have all of the facts.

For 2025, we focused on seven core areas of investigation:

Sales Features: 30%

We look at the ecommerce features on offer to support your online store, from payment options to abandoned cart recovery.

Help and Support: 15%

We test a builder’s contact options and knowledge centers because we know every small business might need a helping hand now and then.

User Experience: 15%

We look at a website builder’s ease of use and accessibility by testing the builders ourselves.

Website Functionality: 15%

We look at the quality and quantity of a builder’s features, such as SEO, AI, and email marketing.

Design Features: 10%

We cover a website builder’s aesthetic capabilities and design options, such as templates and mobile editors.

Pricing: 10%

We review a website builder’s pricing plans and what you can get for your money.

Reputation: 5%

We see how a website builder performs in the market and against competitors.

Final Verdict: Which Is the Best Small Business Website Builder?

I’ve already shared my recommendations based on your brand’s needs, but my top choice for small businesses is Wix. The builder offers a powerful all-in-one platform for small businesses, providing essential website features and sales tools that cater to a wide range of industries, such as hotels and restaurants.

You can see how Wix compares head-to-head with our other recommended choices: Wix vs Shopify, Wix vs Squarespace, Wix vs Hostinger, and Wix vs GoDaddy.

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Shopify Pricing 2025: Which Plan Should You Choose?

Written by

Researched by

Updated on July 1, 2025

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Best for side hustles

Shopify Starter

$5/month (billed annually)

Sell via social media and messaging apps
Don't need a full website
Good starting point for new sellers

Limited scalability

Best for small businesses

Basic

$29/month (billed annually)

Sell unlimited products
Multichannel selling options
24/7 chat support

Most popular plan

Best for established stores

Grow

$79/month (billed annually)

5 staff accounts
Get shipping insurance
USPS discounts available

Best for large businesses

Advanced

$299/month (billed annually)

Enhanced support
Bigger checkout capacity
Custom reports and analytics

Best for industry leaders

Plus

See Shopify Pricing Plans

From $2,300/month (3-year plan)

Priority 24/7 support
Unlimited staff accounts
Customizable plan

Shopify Pricing Review

Rating

Picking the right ecommerce builder can be confusing, especially when trying to navigate hidden fees for transactions or credit card rates.

In this Shopify prices review, we’ll investigate commonly misunderstood concept of transaction fees, how you can remove them, and how you can save on credit card fees.

Review by Emma Ryan

Last Updated on July 1, 2025

As a result of over 300 hours of research and hands-on user testing of 12 ecommerce website builders in March 2025, Shopify is our top-rated ecommerce website builder, offering unparalleled sales features to business owners looking to grow online. Its three premium plans range from $29 to $299 per month (billed annually), plus there are alternative options available for social selling and enterprise businesses.

Shopify Pricing Plans

Shopify Starter ($5) – For side hustles
Basic ($29) – Best for small businesses looking to grow
Grow ($79) – Best for established stores
Advanced ($299) – Best for large-scale businesses
Shopify Plus (from $2,300) – For industry leaders
Enterprise (custom pricing) – For the titans of business

Key Takeaways 🔍

Shopify has three core plans, ranging from $29 to $299 per month (billed annually)
You can test out Shopify with its three-day free trial
You can sell unlimited products with any Shopify plan, but you’ll get better sales features as you upgrade
There are additional costs to consider with Shopify, including templates, apps, and a custom domain name
You can remove transaction fees with Shopify Payments
Take advantage of Shopify’s introductory deal and get your first three months for $1 per month

How Much Does Shopify Cost?

Shopify has three core plans: Basic, Grow, and Advanced. When billed annually, Shopify’s pricing ranges from $29 to $299 per month – you can save 25% when paying for a yearly subscription instead of monthly.

While Shopify doesn’t have a free plan, there is a brief three-day free trial. This doesn’t give you much time to become familiar with the platform and all of its tools and features, but you can get your first three months for $1 per month with Shopify’s introductory deal.

Short on time? Get a quick overview of Shopify’s plans below:

Basic: $29 – For Smaller Businesses

Shopify’s Basic plan, costing $29 per month (billed annually), is the first of three core plans and the most popular option, according to Shopify. It’s a good option for smaller businesses lookin to grow since it gives you a solid foundation of features to work with as you scale.

You can expect the following standard features on Shopify’s cheapest plan:

Unlimited products
A customizable checkout experience to help cater to the needs and habits of your customers
Up to 77% shipping discount
10 inventory locations
Standard analytics so you can monitor your website’s performance and traffic
24/7 support through its AI-powered live chat assistant – I got a response to my query within 10 seconds!
Localized features such as site translation to help you sell globally
Multichannel selling so you can connect your online store to marketplaces and social media, like TikTok – I recommend using the Shopify Marketplace Connect app to simplify this process
Discount codes
Abandoned cart recovery
Security features, including a free SSL certificate and fraud analysis detection
Automations for marketing and ecommerce functions to streamline workflows
Shopify Tax supports business owners by automating sales tax calculations and generating reports for you

Shopify Magic being used in the website editor to generate text for a headline section — I used Shopify Magic (Shopify's AI tool) to generate headlines and copy for my online store. Source: Website Builder Expert

Should You Use Shopify's Basic Plan? 💻

This plan is ideal for smaller businesses finding their feet online. If you’re only selling a couple of products, you won’t need to shell out for a Shopify plan because the $5 Starter plan will likely be enough or you could opt for a cheaper website builder. But, if you’re selling a good handful of products already and you’re pursuing long-term growth, Shopify’s Basic plan will set you up with the essentials and there’s a lot of room to scale within this initial plan.

Grow: $79 – For Established Businesses

The Grow plan costs $79 per month (billed annually) and is more suitable for businesses that manage extensive inventories and have established footholds in the market. In addition to what’s included with the Basic plan, the Grow plan provides further support for expanding online stores:

Up to 88% shipping discount
5 staff accounts – a useful feature for businesses of scale with multiple employees
Shipping insurance if using Shopify’s native payment solution, Shopify Payments – get up to $200 coverage with every Shopify Shipping label
USPS discounts for shipping products

Should You Use Shopify's Grow Plan? 💻

I recommend choosing the Grow plan if your business has expanded from a solo venture to a growing team of employees. Whereas the Basic plan supports new merchants, the Grow plan is ideal for businesses seeing substantial growth through sales and internally, particularly since you can add multiple staff accounts.

Advanced: $299 – For Large-Scale Businesses

The most expensive Shopify plan is the Advanced plan, starting from $299 per month (billed annually). The Advanced plan goes the extra mile to support very large businesses by providing even more features than its predecessors, including:

Custom reports and analytics so you can filter Shopify’s data
Enhanced 24/7 chat support for urgent situations
Up to 15 staff accounts – when comparing to the Grow plan, the difference in staff accounts allowance is a good indicator of the size of the business each plan supports
Third-party calculated shipping rates
10 times the checkout capacity of other plans to better support your online store during busy shopping periods – Shopify merchants had a record-breaking Black Friday Cyber Monday 2024

Shopify Sidekick chat about adding extra staff accounts to a Shopify site — I asked Shopify Sidekick, Shopify's AI assistant, for help when adding extra staff accounts. Source: Website Builder Expert

Should You Use Shopify's Advanced Plan? 💻

The Advanced plan is best for businesses at the top of their game – for the expensive price point, I recommend choosing this option if you’re seeing a very high sales volume every month since you’ll need the additional power to support your online store. And, with improved shipping rates and additional staff accounts, it’s your best option if your business needs to handle transactions around the world.

Alternative Shopify Plans

Shopify’s three core plans aren’t your only options. Shopify also provides alternative plans at varying price points for sellers who don’t need a fully-built website, as well as industry-leading businesses.

Shopify Starter: $5 per month (billed annually)

➡️ Best for: Side hustles
➡️ Purpose: Sell across social media channels and messaging apps

Shopify Plus: From $2,300 per month (for a three-year plan)

➡️ Best for: Industry giants
➡️ Purpose: Provides scalable and customizable solutions for high-growth businesses

Enterprise: Custom pricing

➡️ Best for: Limitless business growth
➡️ Purpose: Personalized plan to support businesses leading their industries and markets

Author's Testing Notes

I recommend Shopify Starter for entrepreneurs testing out new products or people selling as a side hustle. Shopify Starter comes with Shopify’s standard order management tools, sales analytics, and access to Shopify’s app market, so you’re pretty kitted out if you’re just running a business on the side.

However, there are limitations to such an affordable plan. Your online store will be stripped back to product pages, a contact page, and a checkout page. So, it’s worth upgrading to the Basic plan if you’d like to fully customize your online storefront and unlock additional tools, such as blogging and discounts. My advice? Think of the Shopify Starter plan as a temporary solution.

Emma Ryan Lead Writer

Shopify Starter homepage — Shopify Starter is ideal for side hustles and businesses looking to get started on social media. Source: Website Builder Expert

Additional & Hidden Fees: What To Expect

Shopify isn’t a cheap website builder. Its plans are expensive from the start and there are additional costs to consider, which can quickly increase your overall spend. These include:

Premium templates – Shopify’s premium themes range between $100 and $500 as a one-off cost.
Paid apps – You can add functionality by paying for third-party apps from Shopify’s app store (there are over 8,000 apps to choose from).
Domain name – This isn’t included with your Shopify plan and can cost around $15 per year for a .com domain name.
Transaction fees and credit card rates – If you don’t use Shopify’s native payment gateway, Shopify Payments, each transaction will incur both transaction fees and credit card rates.

Shopify’s transaction fees and credit card rates can be seen in the table below:

	Basic	Grow	Advanced
Online credit card rates	2.9% + $0.30 per transaction	2.7% + $0.30 per transaction	2.5% + $0.30 per transaction
In-person credit card rates	2.6% + $0.10 per transaction	2.5% + $0.10 per transaction	2.4% + $0.10 per transaction
Third-party transaction fees (without Shopify Payments)	2%	1%	0.6%

How Can I Save Money With Shopify? 💰

Save 25% by signing up for an annual plan
Use Shopify Payments to avoid transaction fees
Pick one of the 23 free templates instead of a premium theme
Get your domain name from a cheaper registrar

Is Shopify Good Value for Money?

Unfortunately, Shopify scores poorly in our value for money research because of its expensive plans and short free trial. Despite granting an impressive range of features on its cheapest plan (which costs $29 per month), a lot of these essential features are available at cheaper price points with other builders.

That said, Shopify is a dedicated ecommerce website builder, offering unparalleled sales features – its starting prices reflect this and are naturally higher as a result. Our video review covers Shopify’s features, pros, and cons in more detail:

How Does Shopify Compare to Competitors?

Despite Shopify being our leading ecommerce website builder, it won’t be the right fit for every business. Its plans can be an expensive starting point for new business owners, and you might not need all the bells and whistles that Shopify offers. If that’s the case, you can see how Shopify compares with its top competitors below:

Wix is great for small businesses thanks to its diverse range of features and templates which cater to a lot of different industries
Squarespace’s easy-to-use editor and focus on design makes it ideal for creatives, plus its scheduling capabilities are great if you want to offer appointments or services
GoDaddy helps you get your basic store online quickly, but you’ll miss out on advanced tools in favor of simplicity and affordability
Hostinger’s cheap ecommerce plan is great for side hustlers or entrepreneurs, and its impressive suite of AI tools makes it easy to build an online store

Author's Testing Notes

Most major website builders, like Wix, offer both website building and ecommerce plans to cover a range of user needs. However, their cheapest plans usually lack sales features, whereas Shopify includes these from the start. So, I’d recommend choosing Shopify (despite its expensive plans) if you run a rapidly growing online store and need the features and functionality to support that. Shopify’s price point is worth it.

Emma Ryan Lead Writer

How We Test Website Builder Pricing

Through our research process, we carried out over 300 hours of testing, data collection, and hands-on testing across seven primary categories – one of which is pricing. To determine whether a website builder’s plans are worth spending your money on, we examine:

The quantity and quality of features available for the price you pay
The average cost of a website builder’s plans
Whether there’s a free trial or free plan available to test things out

We then award each ecommerce website builder, like Shopify, a score out of five based on its performance in the pricing category.

Shopify Pricing: Our Recommendation

To recap, Shopify is the best ecommerce website builder on the market and it offers three core plans to help set up and grow your business online. These range from $29 to $299 per month (billed annually) – pay $1/month for your first three months.

Because it’s an expensive entry point for small businesses, I recommend Shopify for established online stores with extensive inventories.

Start on Shopify’s $29 per month Basic plan, which lets you sell an unlimited number of products, and then upgrade as your business grows so you can unlock advanced features, such as shipping insurance.

There will be plenty of additional costs to take into account, such as custom domain names and third-party apps, meaning Shopify isn’t ideal for businesses with a limited budget. Shopify is for businesses with long-term goals in mind – you’ll be given the tools and infrastructure to help grow your business and sales over time.

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Build a Business Website: Domains, Templates, and More

Written by

Researched by

Updated on July 1, 2025

Comments {37}

If you click to purchase a product or service based on our independent recommendations and impartial reviews, we may receive a commission. Learn more

Best for side hustles

Shopify Starter

$5/month (billed annually)

Sell via social media and messaging apps
Don't need a full website
Good starting point for new sellers

Limited scalability

Best for small businesses

Basic

$29/month (billed annually)

Sell unlimited products
Multichannel selling options
24/7 chat support

Most popular plan

Best for established stores

Grow

$79/month (billed annually)

5 staff accounts
Get shipping insurance
USPS discounts available

Best for large businesses

Advanced

$299/month (billed annually)

Enhanced support
Bigger checkout capacity
Custom reports and analytics

Best for industry leaders

Plus

From $2,300/month (3-year plan)

Priority 24/7 support
Unlimited staff accounts
Customizable plan

So you want to build a website for your business? Before you start imagining scenarios of late nights grueling over coding or advanced web design, let me divert your attention to website builders. With this tool, you can set up a professional business website without any technical expertise.

If you’re not sure where to begin, I recommend a website builder like Wix or Shopify. Two of the top-rated builders for small businesses, these platforms come with an array of features that could be useful for your business website, from ecommerce to marketing.

Keen to begin? Keep reading and learn how to make a small business website today.

Before You Start Your Business Website…

Before you dive into creating a website for your business, you need to map out a few things first. Here are three questions to ask yourself:

Why do you need to make a website for your business? First of all, you need to identify why you want to build a business website. Would you like to grow your presence online? Promote your services? Showcase your creative works to potential clients? Figuring out the key motivations behind your website will help you later on, since you’ll be able to identify key website features that’ll help you achieve your goals.

Who is the target audience? After establishing why you’re building a business website, start thinking about who you want to visit your website. Identify your audience’s age range, gender, location, interests, and lifestyle first. From there, you can work out what their unique needs might be and how your business website can bring value to them.

What will your branding look like? Your website’s looks are essential to its success. To stand out from the crowd, make sure your brand identity is eye-catching, memorable, and represents your business well. Logos, fonts, color schemes, and tone of voice are important aspects to cover. Altogether, they should accurately represent your brand’s personality and give website visitors a clear idea of what you stand for.

Need some ideas? Be inspired by these 7 brand identity examples.

1. Choose Your Domain Name

Your domain name is how people will find your business website online, so make it count. Since it’s one of the first things people see, ensure that it’s clear, catchy, and memorable (just like our own domain, “websitebuilderexpert.com”).

But how do you get a domain? Well, some website builders let you access a free domain for your first year. For instance, Wix’s paid plans include a free domain for 1 year, letting you choose from suffixes like “.com” or “.net”.

However, at renewal, you’ll need to pay an annual fee ranging from $20-$70 to keep your domain running. This gives you two options: you could either stick with your website builder and pay the annual fee, or switch to a domain name registrar for more choice.

Domain name registrars are great if you’re looking for flexible pricing options. I recommend Domain.com, since it has a large number of domain suffixes to choose from.

Screenshot of domain search options featuring AI, store, and blog domain extensions. — Domain.com had some unique domain suffixes I hadn’t seen anywhere else, like “.ai”. If you need a specific domain ending for your business, you’ll find it there. Source: Website Builder Expert

As a general rule of thumb, I suggest opting for a “.com” suffix if it’s available. This is because it’s the most recognisable and professional domain ending. If you think of one of the biggest brands in the world, it’s likely that their website ends with “.com”. If you’re using Domain.com, this suffix costs $11.99 for the first year and rises to $21.99 per year at renewal.

How Do I Come Up With a Good Domain Name?

Struggling to choose a domain name? Here are three key tips to help you out:

Is it short? Effective domain names are between 6-14 characters long. Names that are too long are trickier for users to type down, making it difficult to access your website.
Does it make sense? Your domain should have a logical connection to your website. For instance, “booking.com” tells you exactly what the website is for (holiday bookings).
Are there unnecessary characters? Avoid using numbers or hyphens since this can make your domain look messy.

If you already have a business name, it’s best practice to make it your domain name too (if it’s available). This is so pre-existing customers who are already familiar with your brand can easily access your website. For instance, if your business name is “best domains”, you could easily convert that into “bestdomains.com” or “bestdomains.org.”

2. Create a Business Email Address

Though you don’t need a business email address to set up your website, it will help you establish a professional presence online and leave website visitors with an easy way to contact you. Conveniently, business emails are easy to create, with a number of free and paid options available.

For best results, I recommend Google Workspace. Though it’s no longer free to use, you can create your own professional email from as little as $6 per month (billed annually), while its 14-day free trial will help you try before you buy.

Screenshot showing Google Workspace pricing tiers including Business Starter, Standard, Plus, and Enterprise options. — If you get an email with Google Workspace, you’ll also receive additional features depending on your plan. When looking at the plans available, I thought that the video meetings feature was great for businesses who hold regular meetings, online conferences, or webinars. Source: Website Builder Expert

Want a professional email without spending a penny? Read our guide to getting a free business email.

What Does a Good Business Email Look Like?

The best business email addresses end with the name of your business. In fact, you can have multiple email addresses for different areas of your business, so long as they end the same way:

info@thriftedthreads.com
employeename@thriftedthreads.com
marketing@thriftedthreads.com

Each of these emails clearly indicate what they’re used for, also ending with the name of the business. I know that I could contact “info@thriftedthreads.com” to receive information on a specific query and that it’ll be sent to the correct company.

Make sure any business email addresses are easily discoverable from your website, newsletters, and social media pages. This is so customers know how to contact you!

3. Identify the Right Website Builder for You

Now for the serious part: choosing the right website builder for your business. Since there’s so much choice, I’ve decided to highlight only two website builders that we found were excellent solutions for small businesses during our research and testing. Both Wix and Shopify are powerful platforms that make it easy to set up without any technical experience.

The Best Small Business Website Builders

Shopify – For setting up an ecommerce store
Wix – For brilliant features for your business

Shopify Summary

Our top-rated website builder for small businesses, Shopify is best for ecommerce stores that are scaling up or have a large inventory already. It comes with a host of powerful sales features, ranging from over 100 payment gateways to substantial discounts on merchant shipping costs.

Screenshot illustrating the process of setting up Shopify Payments in the Shopify dashboard. — I was impressed by the huge amount of sales features on Shopify. I could access them all from my dashboard, including Shopify Payments, the platform’s all-in-one payments solution. Source: Website Builder Expert

Whether you’re selling gym wear or pet accessories, Shopify’s huge list of sales features are adaptable to your needs. You can use Shopify Magic to generate product descriptions, or set up international shipping across different markets if you’re selling overseas.

Wix Summary

Just behind Shopify comes Wix, a popular website builder that we scored highly for its impressive website features that span bookings, ecommerce, and marketing. If you want a website builder that will provide you with the tools necessary to get set up and start growing your business online, this is the builder to go for.

Notable features include Wix’s AI tools, in particular, the Wix AI Website Builder. This AI website builder generates a unique design based on your responses to specific prompts, such as “what are you building a website for?” Since it addresses your key needs, you’ll end up with a professional website that’s a suitable fit for your business.

Which Pricing Plan Is Best for Me?

Once you’ve found a website builder you’re interested in, you need to look at the pricing plans available and see which one is best for you. To give you an idea of the kinds of plans on the market, we’ve broken down the costs for Shopify and Wix.

Shopify’s three main plans range between $29-$299 per month (billed annually). They all come with powerful sales features, such as point of sale to integrate in-person sales with your store, analytics to track your store’s progress with, and the ability to sell unlimited products.

Screenshot of Shopify's three main plans from the pricing page. — Though Shopify’s plans seem expensive at first, the powerful sales features – such as substantial shipping discounts on your postage costs – do make up for it. If you have a store you’d love to scale online, this is the way to do it. Source: Website Builder Expert

To test out Shopify’s features, you only have a 3-day free trial. However, you can also access your first month for $1 – an inexpensive way to give the platform a spin!

For smaller businesses, I recommend the Basic plan priced at $29 per month (billed annually). You’ll still receive powerful sales features, while it’s also a brilliant starting point for new businesses who anticipate growth further down the road. For instance, you’ll have access to 3 international markets, helping you dip your toes into selling overseas.

As your business expands, you could switch to the Shopify plan at $79 per month (billed annually). On this plan, you’ll receive upgraded features such as increased discounts on your shipping costs, alongside the ability to add additional accounts for your staff members.

In contrast, Wix’s premium plans, which range from $17-$159 per month (billed annually), are all suitable options for creating your business website. However, I would recommend the Core plan for a great balance between affordability and the quality of features.

Costing $29 per month (billed annually), on this plan you’ll unlock website analytics, 50GB storage space, the ability for website visitors to create accounts, and a site chat that prospects can use to message you.

Screenshot of a website hosting plans comparison chart displaying various features and prices for different packages. — I was drawn to the Core plan because of the upgraded marketing features. For instance, you can send out ten lead capture forms instead of four. This means you have more chances to impress customers with interactive quizzes or surveys. Source: Website Builder Expert

4. Choose a Business Website Template

It takes only 50 milliseconds for visitors to form an opinion on your website. If your design is messy or littered with pop-ups, people are more likely to leave. Fortunately, most website builders come with numerous templates to choose from that are both practical and stylish.

As soon as a visitor enters your website, your business branding should be as clear as day. Make sure that your unique tone of voice, font style, color schemes, and imagery are consistent across your website.

To show you just what you could achieve, below are some examples of eye-catching business website designs from Wix and Shopify users, and why they work so well:

Colorful cotton candy cake with sprinkles showcased on an Floof's website.

Brand: Floof Cotton Candy
Website Builder: Shopify
What I loved: I was immediately hit by Floof’s playful color scheme after opening their landing page, giving me a clear impression of what they sell. The varying shades of pink not only pack a punch, but also allude to the brand’s pastel-colored cotton candy cake.

Two aspiring women entrepreneurs attending a Gen She mentorship program, reflecting ambition and support.

Brand: Generation She
Website Builder: Wix
What I loved: Generation She, a business connecting Gen Z women with tech roles, is an inspiring website to navigate. I was immediately drawn to the empowering tagline and bold imagery that made me want to find out more about what the business stands for and how it works. As you scroll down the homepage, you’ll also come across photos of women business owners and a link to their podcast – all very clickable!

Screenshot of Adored Vintage's homepage with ecommerce section showcasing clothing.

Brand: Adored Vintage
Website Builder: Shopify
What I loved: This vintage clothing website pairs a muted color scheme with minimalist fonts and rich imagery to achieve an old-timey feel. I liked that I could dive straight into their clothing catalog from the homepage, while the professional photos grabbed my attention and inspired me to keep looking for the perfect dress.

Illustration of Dopple Press, a Risograph printing studio, featuring a character with print materials.

Brand: Dopple Press
Website Builder: Wix
What I loved: This photographic printing studio has a clear brand identity. I was immediately drawn to the quirky illustrations and playful fonts, which gave me a positive first impression of the business. Though the website’s design is unconventional, it didn’t affect the page’s functionality since I could still navigate the landing page without any issues.

Need more design ideas? Head to our how to design a website page!

Business Template Features To Look For

It’s not all about looks. Your template should also be equipped with key features that will enhance the user experience:

Contact forms – These make it easy for prospects to get in touch with you. You could add a form to your landing page, “Contact Us” page, or both.
Testimonials – Customer reviews add social proof to your website. You could feature testimonials from previous customers, or let website visitors add their own reviews. This is especially useful if you’re selling a product or service, since a positive review can be the difference between someone buying an item or leaving it in their cart.
Call to action buttons – When a visitor browses your website, what’s the main thing you want them to do? Is it to sign up to your newsletter? Or purchase a product? Whatever it is, you can use eye-catching CTA buttons to inspire visitors to take the actions you want them to.
Search bar – Visitors may come onto your business page to look for something specific, so you can give them a helping hand by adding a search bar to your website.
Navigation bar – If you have multiple pages on your business website, you need to help visitors get from point A to point B. That’s where a navigation bar comes in handy. Whether you opt for a horizontal or dropdown navigation bar, it should enhance the user experience by keeping website navigation simple.

A serene desert landscape serving as the background for a contact form on a Wix website. — With Wix, I could add a contact form to my business website in one click. The form came in a variety of styles that were adapted to my site’s look, making it easy to keep my branding consistent across all pages. Source: Website Builder Expert

5. Fill Your Website With Relevant Content

Once you’ve set the foundation of your website – your template – you can start filling it with useful business content. This includes going through your website and replacing the placeholder content that the website builder has added with your own. But what needs to be included?

First of all, you may want to add different pages to your website. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

“About Us” page – To build trust with potential customers, you need an “About Us” page. Use it to let visitors know more about your business, its goals, and most importantly, the person or team behind the brand. This is your chance to reach out to potential customers, so make sure your words count.
“Contact Us” page – If a website visitor is inspired to reach out, they’ll no doubt head to your “Contact Us” page. On this page, you should include key ways for prospects to get in touch with you, such as your email address, physical address, phone number, external social media accounts, and even a contact form for specific enquiries.
FAQ page – This page should be filled with valuable information for your audience, providing them with quick answers to commonly asked questions. When filling in this page, put yourself in the shoes of your target audience. What will they need guidance on?
Products page – Opening an ecommerce site? If that’s a yes, then you need a dedicated products page. On this page, you could list featured products, or your entire inventory that users can filter via variants like “colors” or “sizes” or specific categories like “shoes” or “bags.”
Services page – If you’re offering services, you’ll need a page listing exactly what you offer. For instance, a beauty salon owner may want to list the services they provide (french manicures, blow outs, etc) alongside a detailed description and prices. You could also install your bookings functionality on this page, letting visitors book their next appointment once they’ve scanned through each service.
Bookings page – Whether you’re a beauty professional offering treatments or a financial expert offering consultations, a bookings page will be the hub for all things appointments. On this page, you can integrate your website builder’s booking tool to get started. Wix has a built-in booking tool that’s accessible on the Core plan and above, while Shopify’s app store has free and paid booking integrations to install on your website.

Screenshot of an online store's collection page showing an empty products section with a message to use fewer filters or remove them. — Since Shopify is a dedicated ecommerce platform, all of its templates come with a professional products page. I could immediately hop onto the editor and start tweaking its design. Source: Website Builder Expert

6. Integrate The Key Website Features You Need

When creating a business website, you also need to add additional functionality to your page. Some platforms, such as Shopify, come with an app market where you can install apps onto your website. They cover a variety of functionalities, ranging from social media integrations and testimonials to live chat bots or Google maps.

For instance, there are thousands of Shopify apps to choose from. When setting up my test store, I could use filters to browse through Shopify’s selection and find appropriate apps for my store. Though many apps required payments to use, some came with free trials and free plans. Because of these varying prices, you can find apps that fulfill your business’ needs and are still suitable for your budget.

Screenshot of Shopify's Trust Badges settings interface showing secure checkout options with various payment method icons. — Shopify apps took a few clicks to install. When adding Trust Badges Bear to my test store, all I had to do was click install, and then I was redirected to this new section on my dashboard. From there, I could adjust the settings as I pleased. Source: Website Builder Expert

On the other hand, website builders can also come with a large number of built-in features. Wix is a brilliant example of this. Though Wix has its own app store, it also offers numerous in-built tools your business can take advantage of. Here are three that could be useful for your business:

Wix Hotels – Announced in Wix’s April Review, this hospitality solution lets hotel businesses easily manage their services in one place. You can accept reservations and payments, manage rooms, and connect your business with websites like Booking.com.
Wix Restaurants – In the restaurant industry? If so, you can use Wix Restaurants to create an appropriate website for your business. This feature comes with professional menus to showcase your dishes and beverages, and the ability to take and manage orders online.
Wix Bookings – Be it group sessions, classes, or intro calls, you can use Wix Bookings to set up appointments through your business website. You can also accept payments from clients, send out email or SMS reminders to attendees, and update your schedule via your booking calendar.

Screenshot of an online booking calendar interface showing the month of May 2024, with options for scheduling and managing appointments. — With Wix Bookings, I could set up my own calendar so clients can see when my services are held and when I’m out of office. With this tool keeping everything organized, it would be easier for business owners to spend time on other areas of the business. Source: Website Builder Expert

What About Marketing Features?

When looking at website features, I encourage you to check out marketing tools too. From email marketing to social media integration, these tools will help you grow your online presence and introduce your business to new audiences online. These are the key marketing features to look out for:

1. Social media marketing – Since platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram are home to over one billion monthly active users, you need to grow your business on social media too and tap into this huge user base.

Both Wix and Shopify make it easy to connect your business website with social media. For instance, Wix lets you create and share content on other social platforms like Facebook, and add links to your social media platforms on your website through social bars. These social bars feature social media icons that link out to your other pages.

Meanwhile, Shopify is well known for its multichannel selling opportunities. You can connect your store with TikTok and sell your products there, or access its Starter plan – priced at $5 per month (billed annually) – and sell on social media accounts without the need for a storefront.

2. Email marketing – According to our email marketing stats, 99% of users check their inboxes every day! Make sure your business appears in your customers’ inboxes by investing in email marketing. Both Shopify and Wix come with powerful email marketing tools.To get you started, you’ll find a variety of templates and customization options that help you create emails designed to impress.

Depending on your business, you could send out company updates, product updates, news on special events or webinars, special discounts codes, or intel on industry-related news stories.

3. Search engine optimization – an effective SEO strategy will ensure that your business website is visible on search engines.

When a user searches up a keyword or query that’s related to your business, you’ll want your website to appear in the search results. For example, if you’re a pet grooming business, you could target the keywords “pet groomer” or “mobile pet grooming” and see if you appear in Google.

If you’re new to SEO, there are free online tools that can help. For instance, I recommend downloading Keyword Surfer, a free Chrome extension that will assist you in finding the right keywords to target. It not only shows you relevant keywords for a search, but it also shows you how many times each keyword is searched for every month.

Need an intro to SEO? Consult our SEO basics article.

7. Optimize, Test, and Publish Your Website

You may be dying to publish your business website, but there are still two crucial things to do before going live: optimizing and testing out your website. The former step will ensure your business page is set up for search engines, while the latter will guarantee that your website works and provides visitors with a positive user experience.

Thankfully, these key steps aren’t as intimidating as you might think. When it comes to optimization, I recommend spending some time adding your chosen keywords into your website copy, making sure your website load times are speedy, and seeing if your page is mobile-friendly. All of these factors influence your website’s ranking on search engines, so make sure it’s all running smoothly.

Once you’ve optimized your site, you can then conduct your final tests. You need to test your website thoroughly and ensure that there are no glaring errors. As a starting point, look out for these common issues:

Broken links – Ensure that your website links work, especially if you have important call to action buttons placed throughout your page. For instance, you wouldn’t want to miss out on a sale because a customer clicked on a “Buy Now” button that led to a “404 Error” page.
Missing images – No one wants to see blank spaces where a vibrant image should have been. Go through each page of your website and make sure that all of your photos load fully. If they don’t, you may need to double check the media’s origin or optimize your photos to a lower file size.

Completed all of these checks? If that’s the case, go ahead and publish your website – congratulations!

How We Tested Business Website Builders

The findings in this article are supported by our in-house website builder research, which compiles over 200 hours of data collection. These findings were categorized into six key criteria, reflecting what users need most in a website builder. They are weighted as follows:

Website Features (30%)
Design Functionality (25%)
User Experience (17%)
Help & Support (10%)
Value for Money (10%)
Customer Score (8%)

We took these key criteria into account when choosing which website builders to feature in this article. For instance, website features are most important for readers, so we made sure to include a website builder with the best features on the market: Wix.

How To Build a Business Website: Summary

Well done for making it this far! You now know how to approach the process of creating a business website in seven easy steps.

Remember, the work doesn’t stop once you’ve published your website. You need to keep monitoring all aspects of your page, from site visitors to SEO performance, and make sure your website is succeeding online. To do so, I recommend connecting your website with Google Analytics, because it comes with advanced tracking tools that can tell you more about your website visitors and their behavior.

Keen to discover other website builders on the market? Get stuck into our guide to the best website builders and find the right fit for your business website today.

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How Much Should a Website Cost in 2025?

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Researched by

Updated on July 1, 2025

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Best for side hustles

Shopify Starter

$5/month (billed annually)

Sell via social media and messaging apps
Don't need a full website
Good starting point for new sellers

Limited scalability

Best for small businesses

Basic

$29/month (billed annually)

Sell unlimited products
Multichannel selling options
24/7 chat support

Most popular plan

Best for established stores

Grow

$79/month (billed annually)

5 staff accounts
Get shipping insurance
USPS discounts available

Best for large businesses

Advanced

$299/month (billed annually)

Enhanced support
Bigger checkout capacity
Custom reports and analytics

Best for industry leaders

Plus

From $2,300/month (3-year plan)

Priority 24/7 support
Unlimited staff accounts
Customizable plan

There are plenty of paths available if you want to build a website, such as WordPress or hiring a web designer, but using a website builder is the cheapest option. Most website builders cost around $10-$30 per month.

I’ve tested builders for years, so I know that cost and affordability are important factors, especially for small businesses. But, depending on your site or business needs, a website can cost you nothing to build or thousands of dollars. This guide will break down pricing, hidden fees, and ways to save money when creating your website.

Website Costs: Key Takeaways 🔍

A website builder is the most affordable option, with costs ranging from $2.99 to $299 per month
Business websites should avoid free plans if possible, since these usually include ads and lack basic features
Hiring a web designer is the most expensive route, costing upwards of $5,000
Budget for ongoing or additional fees, such as domain names, hosting, and apps

I’ve reviewed the page to ensure the pricing and recommendations are accurate, as of August 2025. I’ve also made the costs involved with each method much clearer for readers scanning through the guide.

Quick Overview of Website Costs

The cost of your website will differ depending on how you create it:

Website Cost Overview

Website builder – Approx. $2.99 to $2.99 per month
WordPress – Approx. $11 to $1,000 upfront (+ ongoing costs)
Web designer – Approx. $1,000 to $5,000 upfront (+ ongoing costs)

I recommend using a website builder because of the user-friendly editors, built-in features (such as hosting and security), and responsive customer support. Building with WordPress comes with additional costs, such as plugins and hosting, and choosing to hire a web designer can be a very costly process.

If you’re still undecided on what route to take, I’ve broken down each option below:

Use a website builder if:

You’re a small business working with a limited budget, or are new to building websites and want to pay for a plan that already comes with the features you need.

Use WordPress if:

You want more control over how much you spend on additional costs, or you feel comfortable with building a site from scratch, without a helping hand.

Use a web designer if:

You’re working on a larger project and you don’t mind paying more to have greater control over your website’s final look.

How Much Does a Website Builder Cost?

💰 Typical costs: $2.99 to $299 per month
💻 Our recommendation: Wix, Hostinger, and GoDaddy
✅ Free website builders: Yes

We’ve spent over 300 hours testing and reviewing the best website builders for 2025. And part of this research process involves analyzing pricing plans to check the costs involved with getting online. Your best value options? Wix and GoDaddy have the best pricing.

GoDaddy website editor showing the option to move sections up or down — When testing GoDaddy, I got my website up and running in minutes. Source: Website Builder Expert

How much does building an online store cost?

If you want to sell products or services, you’ll need added ecommerce functionality. Usually, this means upgrading to a more expensive plan, but some website builders, such as Shopify and Squarespace, let you sell on any plan.

Our top ecommerce website builders cost between $16 and $299 per month (billed annually). These plans are definitely pricier than general website builder plans, but that’s to be expected, since you’re unlocking additional sales tools and business support for your online store.

Emma Ryan Lead Writer

Can You Build a Website for Free?

You can build a website for free with select website builders, such as Wix. This can be valuable for anyone on a tight budget, but I recommend upgrading to a premium plan as soon as possible.

Free website builder plans usually come with drawbacks, such as:

Ads on your website
No custom domain name
Low storage space
Limited features
No ecommerce functionality

You can use a free website builder to see if a platform is the right fit for you. It’s great for testing out the editor and features, or improving your website building skills without any financial pressure. But, you’ll want to upgrade to unlock advanced tools.

Free Wix website for a wedding, showing a free banner ad at the top of the homepage — My free test website with Wix had quite an obvious banner ad at the top of the homepage. Source: Website Builder Expert

How Much Does Web Hosting Cost?

💰 Typical costs: $1 – $200+ per month
💻 Our recommendation: Bluehost for WordPress
✅ Free web hosting: No

If you choose to build a website with WordPress, you’ll need to pay for hosting separately. While website builders provide an all-in-one solution, hosting providers can charge anywhere between $1 and $25 per month for basic shared hosting.

Bluehost WordPress hosting plans, fees, and features — Bluehost's WordPress hosting plans are pretty cheap and they're recommended by WordPress directly. Source: Website Builder Expert

Of the web hosting providers we’ve tested, Bluehost is our top-rated choice, with pricing starting from $3.95 per month. It’s even recommended by WordPress, and you can upgrade to more advanced hosting types, such as VPS or dedicated hosting, for better resources at a higher price.

The downside to building your site with WordPress is having to pay for these essentials separately. Along with hosting, you’ll need to source security, templates, plugins, and more, which can increase your upfront costs dramatically.

Should you use WordPress or a website builder?

For beginners, website builders are more user-friendly and accessible. Plus, website builders bundle everything together including hosting, security, features and templates, so it’s much more convenient, since you’re just paying one fee for everything.

WordPress gives you complete control over how your site looks and what you pay for, but I’d only recommend using it if you’ve got prior website building experience and the skills to manage everything yourself.

Should You Hire a Web Designer?

💰 Typical costs: $1,000 – $5,000+ upfront
💻 Our recommendation: Freelancers and design agencies
✅ Free web designers: No

While website builders make it possible for both beginners and experienced builders to get online, you can also hire a web designer to do the heavy lifting for you. But, knowing what to budget for a designer can be difficult. Typically, web designers charge around $50 to $200 per hour.

GoDaddy's Essential Web Design Service homepage showing the price and a button to "buy now" — I could pay a one-time fee to get GoDaddy's design team to build my website for me. Source: Website Builder Expert

However, this is the hardest price to estimate because it varies depending on a designer’s rates – it could set you back a few hundred dollars upfront, with additional fees for ongoing maintenance.

Here are a few key pros and cons to the method:

Pros

✔️ Good for complex or large websites

✔️ Helps you prioritize other work

✔️ Get a completely custom website

✔️ No need to learn website building skills

✔️ Pay for what you need

Cons

❌ Expensive to hire and costs can vary

❌ Could pay and get a poorly-designed website

❌ Not necessary for personal or small sites

❌ Takes time to get your site live

❌ Lack of creative control

Do you need a web designer?

If you’re not confident with building a website but don’t have the budget to spend on a professional designer, you could consider using an AI website builder instead to handle the design work for you. We’ve weighed up the pros and cons of building a website with AI vs hiring a freelancer, so you can see which is the best option for your business.

How Much Does a Domain Name Cost?

💰 Typical costs: $10 – $20 for one year
💻 Our recommendation: GoDaddy, Squarespace, Wix, Shopify, Hostinger
✅ Free domains: Sometimes included with website builder packages

Buying a custom domain name for your website is a great way to build brand awareness. Some website builders include a custom domain name for free (usually for the first year of your plan), but you’ll eventually need to pay to keep your name registered.

A standard .com domain name can cost around $10 to $20 per year.

Screen showing discounted domain registration deals with price comparison and savings highlighted on GoDaddy — I used GoDaddy's domain checker to see pricing and available names. Source: Website Builder Expert

Domain name prices vary depending on your registrar, such as GoDaddy or NameCheap, the TLD (meaning the .com part of the address), and how popular the domain name is.

Top Tip 💡

If you’re purchasing a domain directly from a domain name registrar, remember to compare the prices across different registrars to find the best deal for your business. And, don’t forget to look at the renewal prices so you’re not caught by surprise!

Additional Website Costs

There are plenty of additional fees to consider when figuring out how much a website should cost. When browsing website builder plans, see if the following features are included, or make a note if you’ll have to pay extra:

Templates – For example, the majority of Shopify’s templates have a one-time fee, ranging between $100 and $500
Apps – Squarespace’s Acuity Scheduling tool costs extra to use (starting from $16/mo)
Security – An SSL certificate and fraud detection tools will be added costs if you use WordPress
Content – You’ll need to hire a professional if you don’t feel confident writing or producing your own content
SEO – SEO experts can help you optimize your website for a fee (but it’s best if you rely on your website builder’s built-in SEO tools)
Maintenance – You might need to pay extra for tools to track your website’s performance

Shopify premium template called "Blockshop" showing template details and the option to try it out — Shopify's premium templates can be viewed before purchase and I appreciated being able to try the different preset options when browsing. Source: Website Builder Expert

How To Reduce Your Website Costs

You need to spend your time and money wisely to get the best results, but you don’t need a huge budget to create a professional website.

Here are my top tips to help you save money when building your site:

Think about present needs first (you can upgrade down the line!)
Use a cheap website builder
Don’t pay for extra features you don’t need
Choose a free template
Use available resources and guides to upskill

Squarespace Website Builder Free Templates — Some builders, like Squarespace, allowed me to choose from a range of professional templates for free. Source: Website Builder Expert

Final Bill: How Much Should a Website Cost?

Below, I’ve summarized the costs we’ve discussed already and the different paths you can take when building your website:

Website builders – $0 and $299 per month
WordPress – $11 and $1,000+ upfront
Web designers – $1,000 and $5,000+ upfront (vary in price)

With these costs involved, using a website builder is the most affordable and beginner-friendly option. The costs are minimal, depending on your chosen plan, and everything’s bundled under one price tag to keep things simple.

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3 Web Design Software to Easily Help You Build an Awesome Website

Written by

Researched by

Updated on July 1, 2025

Comments {51}

If you click to purchase a product or service based on our independent recommendations and impartial reviews, we may receive a commission. Learn more

Best for side hustles

Shopify Starter

$5/month (billed annually)

Sell via social media and messaging apps
Don't need a full website
Good starting point for new sellers

Limited scalability

Best for small businesses

Basic

$29/month (billed annually)

Sell unlimited products
Multichannel selling options
24/7 chat support

Most popular plan

Best for established stores

Grow

$79/month (billed annually)

5 staff accounts
Get shipping insurance
USPS discounts available

Best for large businesses

Advanced

$299/month (billed annually)

Enhanced support
Bigger checkout capacity
Custom reports and analytics

Best for industry leaders

Plus

From $2,300/month (3-year plan)

Priority 24/7 support
Unlimited staff accounts
Customizable plan

If you’re searching for a good web design software – you’re probably feeling a bit lost (and maybe a bit scared) on how to build a website that people won’t laugh at…

Some questions that you have might include:

“I feel DUMB because I don’t even know where to get started.”
“People tell me I have to HAVE to learn code, but I really don’t want to.”
“I was born with NO design talent whatsoever! I know it when I see something nice, but I have trouble designing ANYTHING from scratch.”
“I’m WAY too busy with other things in life. I want a web design software that’s easy to use, and can make my website look good.”

Web Design Software Here’s the counter-intuitive thing. Building your first website doesn’t have to be so scary.

It’s actually easier than you were led to believe.

This statement would have been absolutely false a few years ago – but with modern web design software that’s widely available to you today, you can actually build a pretty decent website without having to commit a lot of time, or even go to a coding school.

Don’t believe me?

Think about how far technology has improved over the past decade to make your life easier than ever. Smartphones, online shopping, streaming videos, etc.

With Uber, you no longer have to extend your arm and wave like a crazy person just to flag down a cab. The driver comes to you after you just click a button.

With Airbnb, you can actually live in someone else’s home half way around the world, all with just a few clicks online. You now have the option to not live in expensive hotels when you’re traveling.

They even have self-driving cars for goodness sakes!!

So is it really that outrageous to believe that building websites can actually be easy with modern technology?

With the right website design software, you can now tap into technology (that’s easy to use) to help you create a good looking website.

It’s possible, and it’s easier than you think!

Here is a sneak peak summary of the modern web design software on the market and how they can help you build your website:

The Best Website Design Software

Wix – easy to use editor with great support, beautiful templates and innovative features and apps, free plans available or from $16/mo
Squarespace – a design oriented website builder, with templates that look good on all devices, from $16/mo
Weebly – Weebly – very user-friendly editor with pre-designed page layouts to help you get started, free plans available or from $8/mo

Choose a website builder and make money online today

What type of site do you want to build?

WEBSITE

ONLINE STORE

0 Benefits of Modern Web Design Software

Easy to use – just drag & drop, no coding required.
Professionally designed templates for you to use.
All technical maintenance work is taken care of for you.
24/7 dedicated support teams.
Affordable pricing.

Just to show you how easy it is to create a professional looking website we created a challenge to see if a novice with no website building experience could build a website in under an hour using web design software:

Now that you have a sense of the web design softwares and what they’re capable of, let’s dig into how these website design software are different (and better) than the old school way of building websites.

0 The Old vs New Way of Building Websites

“You can build your entire website online nowadays. There’s no need to install anything anymore. Just log into the web design software (like Gmail) and you’re ready to start. Anyone can do this – even if you’re not computer savvy.”

In the good ol’ days (actually, it’s not that long ago), if you wanted to get a taxi, you’d have to call them.

You find the number on your phone, call, tell them where and when to meet you, wait, hop in the cab and pay at the end of the trip while fumbling around with a bunch of change.

That sure is a lot of work… compared to opening the Uber app, clicking a button, get in the car, get out of the car, and that’s it.

You see, Uber is a service – They are there to make life easier for you.

The same is true for web design software nowadays. They’re services, and not just a product like in the old days.

These software services are here to make building websites easy for you, so you can move on to other important things in your life

Back in the days, you’d have to walk into a store and buy a website design software that comes in a box.

In the box, there are CDs for you to install into your computer.

web design software - old way — Oh GAWD…. is this HURTING your eyes too?? How did people EVER work with this??

After you spend 2 hours trying to install the program (and countless Windows pop up that says you have to update this or install that driver), you’ll have to drag your eyes through a thick technical manual on how to actually use it.

Yeah, it’s sooo primitive! Remember those days? If you’re younger, then ask your parents. They’ll tell how badly that sucked!

It’s like running to the payphone around the corner just to call your friend. So ghetto!

Website builders nowadays are all online based. So you don’t need to buy any CDs, you don’t need to download any files. You just type in a website address into your web browser, sign up online and you can start building your first website.

You don’t have to worry about coding, you don’t have to stress about how to make your website actually appear online on the internet. The website builder takes care of all that technical stuff for you.

We’ll get into more details of how they work below.

Remember, web design software nowadays is services.

This means they’ve designed technology to make things easy for you, and have full-time support teams to help you.

Just like how Uber makes going from point A to point B easier, and how Airbnb makes traveling easier, and cheaper, these software’s entire goal is to make website creation easy for you.

0 Web Design Software – They're Darn Easy to Use

“If you can drag things around your screen with your mouse, you can build websites with web design software. They’ve made it easy (and code free), that even a grandma can do it.”

Back in the days, if you weren’t technical, or if you didn’t have a best friend named Bill Gates that just happened to know how to code, you’re crap out of luck.

Not only that, you have to set up your own server to host your website so your website can actually exist on the internet.

It feels like you need to go through another 4 years of school just to be able to build a simple website.

AND, that doesn’t even guarantee that your website will look remotely good! The last thing you need is to spend months building a website and have it look as if you pieced it all together in the dark.

Ewww…

Web design software nowadays is DEAD easy to use — and they make your design look good.

It’s almost like laying on your couch while messaging your friends on your phone to say “what’s up”, instead of using a dirty payphone 4 blocks away at the gas station.

Software such as Wix, Squarespace or Weebly do all the heavy lifting for you.

You literally just have to log into the web software, and you’re ready to build.

There’s no setting up, no updates, and more importantly, no need to bake cookies to make friends with a coding guru.

You can drag content (like text, pictures, videos) around your website without ever touching one line of code.

Web Design software - drag & drop — Drag & Drop – it’s as easy as it looks

You don’t have to mess around with hosting or server stuff.

These web design software, like all the other new technology nowadays, make life easier for you.

Don’t believe me? Just sign up to any one of the leading web design software and give it a test drive (signing up is free).

It’ll surprise you how effortless it is to make your own website, compared to just a few years ago!

We’ll go over some of my favorites later below.

0 You Don't Have to Worry About Design or How to Make Your Website Look Good

“Web design software give you great looking design templates to give you a head start. You don’t have to be great at design at all.”

Let’s face it, building a website is one thing. Making it look GOOD is another thing.

The last thing you want is for someone to look at your website, and say, “hmmm, it’s nice…”

We all KNOW what that means!

Here’s the problem. Even if you got around all the technical headaches of building a website, you still have to make it look good.

Think of a Ferrari or a hot sports car of your choice. The engineering marvel that sits under the hood is a lot less sexy if the shell sitting on top of it looked like an ugly square box.

The car has to look good, right? Nobody wants to own the best engine money can buy, and be caught dead cruising in a square box down the highway.

You’re not going to earn any swag points with that.

Looks MATTER and you know it. Just keeping it real.

So how do web design software solve this problem for you?

They give you a good collection of professional looking design templates, so you can start off on the right foot so to speak, instead of staring at a blank canvas without know where to even start.

website Design software - example — Here’s an example of the caliber of templates these web design software give you.

You can browse through their design libraries, narrow down to your favorite one, and use that as a starting point to build out your website.

Staring at a white blank page, and not knowing where to start, is a terrible feeling especially if you’re not good with design.

With these designs, you can have a great looking website without having to be a rockstar designer.

Instead of “hmmm, that’s nice….”, your friends will be saying, “Whoa, how did YOU do that??”

You may not be a rockstar designer, but you can certainly feel like one!

Take a look at a few leading web design software’s design templates you’ll see what I mean:

Wix

Wix has over 500 designs covering a broad range of industries – so you’ll have a really good chance of finding something for your own industry. Their templates come with pre-populated designs so you can just swap in your content to get started really quickly.

Web Design software - Wix templates — Click to see Wix’s design templates

Further, their designs are also very up-to-date with the latest design trends. For example, you can build 1-pager parallax designs, insert background videos, create different background sections, all without touching any codes (just drag & drop). You can see them in action here.

Squarespace

Although Squarespace doesn’t have that many templates, all of their designs look really professional and polished. It’s a classic case of quality over quantity. Your website will look as if you paid someone thousands of dollars to custom design for you.

Weebly

Weebly doesn’t have as many templates as Wix, and their designs are not as updated as Squarespace’s (but they’re getting closer), but they’ve really come a long way in improving their collection. They have some pretty good ones, and you can expect even better ones to come in the near future.

As you can see, these software provide you with an amazing collection of design templates – so you don’t have to be afraid that your website will look bad. If you haven’t done so yet, click on the images above to see for yourself!

Why You Should NOT Hire A Designer – you really don’t have to hire a designer especially if you are just starting out. See our detailed discussion on why this is better for you, especially if you are just starting out.

0 Sorry, But You Won't Have to Deal with Hosts and Servers

“You used to have to deal with all the technical tasks like hosting and security updates. Not anymore. They’re all taken care of for you.”

It’s a sad day… and I’m not talking about restaurant hosts and servers (lamest joke of the day…)

I mean, why wouldn’t you want to torture yourself with technical manuals about how to setup, configure and tweak servers so you can host your website online? It’s not like you have better things to do…

Website design software nowadays is all online. So you don’t have to worry about how to keep your website on the internet.

Just log into the software, insert your content using their drag & drop technology (no coding required), and click publish.

They’ve made it dead simple for you.

You might not get a badge of honor for learning how to setup and tweak servers. The opposite sex might not get a chance to drool over your tech prowess. [Sad faces all around]

What you will have, is a good looking website – published, so you can move on and take care of other things in your life.

All the back end technical matters are managed for you by the software providers.

Remember what I mentioned above? These software are services. They’re here to serve its users (you), so you can actually enjoy the process.

0 What If I Need a Bit of Handholding & Support?

Using a web design software to build your own website is not like buying tools and materials from Home Depot, where you’re largely left to figure things out on your own with minimal instructions.

When you build your website with these software, they give you 24/7 support.

In addition to with extensive help guides online so you can search for answers, they offer different channels of personal assistance as well:

Wix: Phone / Email

Squarespace: Live Chat / Email

Weebly: Phone / Live Chat / Email

Just to give you an idea of the level of support you can expect, here is the support statistics for Squarespace from 2016:

web design software - squarespace support — Support statistics for Squarespace in 2016

As easy as these software are to use, being able to get proper support gives you a bit more confidence in your ability to use them to build a good, functional website. Agree?

0 Web Design Software Pricing - Is it Worth the Investment?

“Technology is getting cheaper & cheaper. The same goes for web design software – the monthly fee is very affordable.”

I’ll get right to it. Building your own website is not expensive anymore.

In fact, fueling your daily Starbucks habit is 20x – 30x more expensive per month than getting started with a website design software.

Those darn triple, venti, half-sweet, skinny, low foam, soy caramel macchiatos.

In fact, some of the best software allow you to build a full website for free. They don’t even impose a time limit as to how long you can keep using them.

The catch is that if you want more tools, or be able to customize certain things, you’ll need to subscribe to a premium plan.

But you can get started with a premium plan for as low as $5 per month. There are no hidden fees.

You’ll just have to give up a fancy cup of (fake) coffee for 1 day. I’m sure you can handle that.

Of course, the higher the plan, the more features you get access to.

But in my opinion, the web design software below give you all the necessary tools to publish a functional website, even with their lowest plans.

Keep in mind that you also get access to their support teams and that their technical guys will manage all the technical matters for you, so you don’t have to.

*Squarespace offers a 14 day free trial so you can try before you buy.

Here are the pricing charts to Wix, Squarespace, and Weebly. Just click on them to see their pricing pages so you get a sense of what’s included:

Wix

Wix actually has a VIP plan that gives you premium support with their own dedicated VIP support line. But it’s not something you have to sign up to yet. If you’re interested in using Wix, you can start with a lower plan, get your website up and running, then upgrade later if you want to.

Keep in mind that you can sign up and use Wix for free, and they don’t impose any time limit on you.

Squarespace

Squarespace has a wide range of plans for different users.

Note that with all 4 plans, not only can you create unlimited pages, you also have access to Squarespace’s Cover Pages which enables you to create 1-pagers for your website. 1-pagers are quite popular nowadays where you can layout your content in multiple sections on a single page set up.

The higher plans ($27 / $49) are dedicated to ecommerce websites. So if you’re interested in building an online store, those are options you should look at.

Weebly

Weebly’s highest plans (Business & Performance Plan) is dedicated for people who want to focus on building an online store. If your website won’t be used to sell anything, then the Starter or Pro plan should be enough.

Note that you can still sell products through their Starter or Pro plans, but the ecommerce features available to you are limited. But it’s a good way to get started to test things out.

Web design software - weebly pricing — Click to see more pricing details

Remember, all of them are free for you to try.

You can test them out for free, and if you feel comfortable, sign up to one of their plans.

I would suggest starting with a lower plan, and work your way up. You can always upgrade later without over-committing yourself.

Cost to Build Website – if you’re interested in hearing our own trials & experiences.

We mentioned a few website builders above. If you’re curious, here are more in-depth discussion about their pros & cons and how they can help you:

Or, if you want to dive straight in:

Try Wix for Free
Try Squarespace for Free
Try Weebly for Free

0 Conclusion - You No Longer Have to Stress About How to Build a Website

I hope that this article showed you that you no longer have to be afraid of building your (first) website.

Modern technology has transformed how a lot of things work, including website building.

Just think about it this way. Keeping in touch with your friends and family is so easy nowadays through Facebook or other social channels.

If you’re lazy, you can get groceries or hot meals delivered directly to your front door with a few clicks.

Amazon delivering products to you using drones. Self-driving cars. Artificial intelligence.

Given how advanced technology is nowadays, being able to build websites easily and hassle free – sounds pretty low-tech in the grander scheme of things.

So you better believe it – Building websites is easy nowadays.

With leading web design software such as Wix, Squarespace, and Weebly you no longer have to be comfortable with technology (such as coding, or managing a server).

They’ve made it very easy for you to just login into their software online, and drag and drop your way to publishing a website.

You also don’t have to stress about design, as they all offer you collections of great looking design templates. These templates will give you a head start so even your friends will be impressed (even if you’re not good with design).

Using these software is not expensive either. If you can afford a cocktail on a night out, you can definitely afford taking advantage of these website builders.

Don’t forget that they have dedicated support teams to help you out as well. So that will give you the confidence to embark on your web creation journey.

If you’re interested in finding out more about some of these software, here is a comparison chart where we’ve highlighted some of their key differences for you.

Happy website building!

0 Web Design Software - The FAQs

What is the easiest web design software?

If you’re looking for a very straightforward and smooth website building experience, you really can’t go wrong with Weebly. Their editor is easy to use and very quick to get to grips with.

While this is true, we recommend having a play with a couple of website builders before settling on your final choice. You want to make sure the one you choose really is easy for you to use.

Which web design software has the best customer support?

Both Wix and Weebly have fantastic customer support available. We really like Wix’s Help Center – they have an answer for almost anything!

What is the cheapest web design software?

Both Wix and Weebly offer free plans so you can get started for nothing! They do both offer reasonably priced paid premium plans that are really worth considering if you want to give your site that extra boost!

Which web design software has the best templates?

Squarespace is well-known as a design-focused website builder. Their templates all have the ability to make your website look amazingly professional.

Another website builder with impressive templates is Wix – they have a range of over 510 so you’re spoilt for choice!

Which web design software is the most mobile-friendly?

Squarespace’s templates are all mobile responsive which means they look stunning on all devices with little or no effort from you.

Also, Wix has a separate mobile editor which gives you control of how your site looks on mobile. This means you can update and tweak things on the mobile version of your site independently from the desktop version if you need to.

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Best Ecommerce Software | The 5 Best Solutions

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Updated on July 1, 2025

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Best for side hustles

Shopify Starter

$5/month (billed annually)

Sell via social media and messaging apps
Don't need a full website
Good starting point for new sellers

Limited scalability

Best for small businesses

Basic

$29/month (billed annually)

Sell unlimited products
Multichannel selling options
24/7 chat support

Most popular plan

Best for established stores

Grow

$79/month (billed annually)

5 staff accounts
Get shipping insurance
USPS discounts available

Best for large businesses

Advanced

$299/month (billed annually)

Enhanced support
Bigger checkout capacity
Custom reports and analytics

Best for industry leaders

Plus

Here’s a full comparison table including Wix and other ecommerce website builders.

From $2,300/month (3-year plan)

Priority 24/7 support
Unlimited staff accounts
Customizable plan

Looking to start selling online? The most popular route to take is to use an ecommerce website builder, such as Shopify, to build your brand online. That said, we’ve curated a list of the best ecommerce software on the market – but, be warned! Ecommerce software, especially if it’s self-hosted, generally requires a certain level of technical confidence.

We’ve split this article into two key sections: the best hosted ecommerce software and the best self-hosted ecommerce software. We recommend Shopify or BigCommerce if you’re looking for hosted solutions, whereas WooCommerce (powered by Bluehost) is our preferred option for self-hosted software.

This way, you can find the right fit for you, whether you’re a total beginner or an experienced coder.

Best Ecommerce Software

Shopify – Best hosted ecommerce software for growing businesses
BigCommerce – Best hosted ecommerce software for purely online businesses
Volusion – Best hosted ecommerce software for analytics
WooCommerce (powered by Bluehost) – Best overall self-hosted ecommerce software
Magento (powered by SiteGround) – Best self-hosted ecommerce for larger businesses

Compare the 5 Best Ecommerce Software

Below you can compare the best ecommerce software side by side – use the arrows to scroll through the different software. You can compare key features to help you decide which software is best for you, and continue reading for detailed reviews of each one.

In an online world filled with stylish shops and stores, your business needs the best ecommerce software it can get. Choosing the right software for you will help make a real impression – and lots of money too. So, it’s time to find the right ecommerce solution for your business.

What are ecommerce solutions? An ecommerce solution is specialized software which helps you sell online. You don’t need any tech skills because it’s designed to give you all the tools you need. There are hosted and self-hosted versions depending on your store’s needs.

There’s just one tiny problem, though – how do you pick the best ecommerce software for you?

There are lots of ecommerce solutions out there, and all of them promise to make building an online store a walk in the park. Even less helpfully, they also seem to offer similar tools and features.

That’s why our experts carry out research into every ecommerce platform and builder we review. We take an in-depth look at features, pricing, design, customer support, and more. We get regular people to test out each and every one to give real insight into ease of use and customer satisfaction.

We’ve done the research, and we’ve got the results – so if you’re thinking of creating your own online store and are looking for the best ecommerce software to use, this article is for you.

You can see how our top three hosted ecommerce software solutions are rated below. If you’re ready to go, follow the links to sign up for a free trial:

What’s the difference between ecommerce software and an ecommerce solution?

In this guide, we’ve used ‘ecommerce software’ and ‘ecommerce solution’ in the same way. They both describe dedicated ecommerce tools that help you create an online store.

Ecommerce platforms, on the other hand, can include website builders that let you add ecommerce functionality. We haven’t included these builders, such as Wix and Squarespace, in this article. If you want to know more about these and ecommerce platforms on the whole, read our review of the best ecommerce platforms.

Do you wish there was a quicker way to find out which ecommerce software you should use? You’re in luck! Our quick and easy quiz gives you a personalized recommendation, so you’ll know exactly which one is best for your needs. Click below to get started…

What type of website do you want to create?

Find Your Builder

Best 3 Hosted Ecommerce Solutions

Our top three choices of ecommerce software for building an online store are:

Shopify: best ecommerce solution for larger businesses (Try For Free)
BigCommerce: best ecommerce solution for purely online businesses (Try For Free)
Volusion: best for analytics features (Try For Free)

These are all-in-one ecommerce solutions dedicated to helping you build an online store.

Here’s what the features listed mean, and why they’re so important.

Chart features explained:

Premium Support

Getting premium support from your ecommerce software is like employing a full-time business mentor. While some packages offer fantastic assistance, others – such as Volusion – don’t offer phone support on their most basic plans.

Abandoned Cart Recovery

This feature can have a huge impact on your bottom line. If a customer gives up on a purchase at the checkout, Abandoned Cart Recovery allows you to send them an email reminder so as not to forget their shopping. They’ll then be able to complete their order without filling out all the details again.

SSL Certificate

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) allows your customers to view your site in HTTPS. An SSL certificate will verify that data passing through your store is secure. Unlike Shopify and BigCommerce, Volusion doesn’t offer an SSL certificate as standard.

With all three ecommerce solutions listed, you can:

Build a functional online store very quickly (usually in a couple of days)
Get help from teams of support staff through various support channels

You also won’t need to:

Know how to code (though it can help, it’s not a necessity)
Hire expensive developers
Manage the technical parts of operating a store (hosting, security, coding, etc)

Let’s take a closer look at the best ecommerce software available in the market today.

More Information

Comparison Chart of Online Store Builders: See our side-by-side comparison of all the different ecommerce builder tools
Professional, Free Ecommerce Templates: Browse beautiful storefront designs you can use to build your store

#1. Shopify

Best ecommerce solution for larger businesses

Start selling from $29 a month

Shopify is one of the best ecommerce software providers in the market today.

It’s suitable for small businesses who are just starting out, but we recommend it most for larger stores that sell a range of products and manage large inventories. Shopify customers include Tesla and Penguin Books Store. This is a solution with the scalability to grow with your store as your business expands.

Here are some key Shopify highlights:

Over 100 beautiful, professional, mobile-ready themes to help your store look great
Roughly 6,000 apps to add to your store and extend the functionality of your business
24/7 anytime support (perfect if you find yourself pulling your hair out at 3am)
Qualified/re-approved experts available to hire if you want to customize your design and functions

Shopify is a one-stop-shop for ecommerce solutions. Its drag-and-drop functionality eliminates the usual challenges of building an online store, with no coding required whatsoever.

In our research testing, Shopify scored an impressive 4.5 out of 5 stars for its range and quality of sales tools. Some of these tools include:

Multi-channel selling through Facebook, Instagram, Amazon and more
100+ payment options
No limit on number of products you can sell
Mobile app to manage your store on the go
Customizable checkout and guest checkout options
Automatic email notifications for customers
Abandoned cart recovery
In-depth analytics and insight reports
All-round shipping support

To put it simply: Shopify is one of the very best ecommerce solutions. It’s used by brands like Red Bull and Tesla, so it must really be doing something right! It’s perfect for starting and scaling your business.

Shopify has three main price plans: Basic Shopify ($29/month), Shopify ($79/month), and Advanced Shopify ($299/month), unlocking a wider range of brilliant sales tools the more you pay.

More Information

Shopify Review: See our detailed pros and cons discussion of Shopify
This could be you! Check out these Ecommerce Success Stories/Case Studies and see how others have built successful ecommerce businesses using Shopify
Got a big business? Read our review on Shopify Plus (Enterprise Level Users) – If you’re in the big leagues and your business generates 6 to 7 figures in sales per year, find out how Shopify Plus can help you grow even more
Compare the top market leaders in our Wix vs Shopify Review
Just starting out? Read our guide on How to Build an Online Store for essential tips on setting up your online business

#2. BigCommerce

Best ecommerce solution for purely online businesses

Start selling from $29 a month

BigCommerce is another reputable ecommerce software option that allows you to build your store without getting tangled up in technology.

As one of the best ecommerce solutions, BigCommerce is suitable for businesses of any size.It has more in-built features than any of its competitors, so you’ll have everything you need to succeed right at your fingertips. It’s especially great for online businesses thanks to its multichannel features and SEO tools!

Heads Up: Special BigCommerce Savings

Get one month free when you sign up to a BigCommerce plan! You can claim this offer by simply starting a free trial with BigCommerce today

BigCommerce has the best sales features on the market; it scored 4.6 stars out of 5 in our research! With BigCommerce, you get:

A comprehensive set of “out-of-the-box” ecommerce tools to help you build your store
The chance to leverage different social channels to help you grow your sales
Advanced tools through their app store (just like Shopify)
24/7 support
A mobile app

The BigCommerce mobile app is a new addition that allows you to view performance metrics, update orders, and more while on the go. Another exciting recent update allows you to integrate your BigCommerce store with your WordPress site. This is a great option for combining the specialist ecommerce features of BigCommerce with the flexibility and customization of WordPress.

We like BigCommerce because it focuses on growing with your store. As you grow, you get access to more features and functionality to take your store to the next level. There are no limitations on whether you sell one or 100 products through your store. Plus BigCommerce gives you great analytics tools and reports to track the success of your business.

You can integrate your store with multiple social channels including Facebook, Instagram, eBay and Amazon. You can manage all your integrations from one place with the BigCommerce Channel Manager. This makes it super easy to sell across these different platforms and expand your business.

Because of the number of features and tools, BigCommerce is awesome for anyone looking to scale their business. You get the top-notch features you pay for.

BigCommerce Named a “Strong Performer” in the Ecommerce Space

In two recent reports from Forrester Research – one on B2B commerce suites and one on B2C commerce suites – BigCommerce earned the highest possible score in five total criteria: Expanded Sales Channels (B2C Wave), A/B and Multivariate Testing, Platform Architecture, Platform Integration, Delivery Model, and Technology Partners and Marketplace (B2B Wave).

The reports evaluate the most significant software providers, to help digital businesses select the right technology for their needs. The reports also use feedback from BigCommerce customers, who said that they “like the culture and responsiveness of the support experience” when using the platform.

If you’re a large store with a physical presence, you’re better off with Shopify – but if you’re an online business, BigCommerce is truly worth every cent. While it’s not quite as polished as Shopify, it’s still an excellent ecommerce solution.

More Information

Read our BigCommerce Review to see our detailed pros and cons discussion about BigCommerce
Read our BigCommerce vs Shopify comparison to see the major differences between Shopify and BigCommerce, and how they affect you
Check out our review of BigCommerce Pricing Plans to find out about BigCommerce’s unique pricing strategy
Using WordPress? Read about BigCommerce’s WordPress plugin in our BigCommerce Review to find out how you can combine these two market leaders

#3. Volusion

Best for tracking your store’s progress with analytics features

Start selling from $29 a month

Like BigCommerce and Shopify, Volusion is a comprehensive ecommerce solution.

Key features include:

24/7 customer support – impressively thorough support pages and video tutorials.
Broad range of mobile-responsive themes – whatever you want to sell online, Volusion has you covered. Its themes cover fashion, beauty, food & beverages, electronics – pretty much anything you can imagine! These themes are also mobile-optimized, meaning your customer’s experience will be smooth no matter what device they’re using. However, for sheer number of designs, Volusion can’t match Shopify (offering 45 compared to Shopify’s 100+).
App market – you can choose from over 20 apps to bolt onto your store from Volusion’s App Marketplace.
Ecommerce tools – add products, offer subscription billing, get automatic tax rates, and integrate with Amazon and eBay – all without touching any code.

We like the simplicity of Volusion’s design. The overall offering is not as comprehensive as Shopify or BigCommerce, but Volusion’s store editor is pretty accessible.

Volusion does not charge transaction fees on any of its plans. This means you can keep all your profits and reinvest them in your store.

Like Shopify and BigCommerce, Volusion also has a great range of analytics tools. This makes it easy to assess where your store is doing well and where it could be improved.

Volusion is especially helpful if you’re selling over multiple channels, such as Facebook and Instagram. It allows you to pull all your sales into one place, making it really easy to keep track of everything.

But beware: Volusion doesn’t have any in-house blogging tools, which is less than ideal for growing your store. Blogging can be central to your marketing efforts, so Volusion’s lack of blogging tools is a big drawback.

On the whole, though, Volusion is a more than decent ecommerce software that can get you online even if you’re not at all technical. It’s not quite up to the standard of Shopify or BigCommerce, and despite its more limited feature set, its entry plan is more expensive than that of its competitors. However, it’s still an ecommerce solution that lets you build a stylish store and sell online without coding.

More Information

Read our Volusion Review for a full look at this popular ecommerce solution
Torn between Volusion and Shopify? Read our Volusion vs Shopify comparison to see these two leading brands go head to head
Still unsure? Check out our Ecommerce Comparison Chart to see these solutions ranked side by side

Hang on, what about ecommerce platforms like Wix?

At this stage, it’s worth reiterating that this guide deals specifically with ecommerce solutions. If you’re starting your first online store, or getting your first business online, you may want to check out our piece on the best platforms for ecommerce. These intuitive tools are the quickest and easiest ways to begin selling online through your own website.

Best 3 Self-Hosted Ecommerce Solutions

Self-hosted ecommerce software is very flexible, but you need to be quite technical (or hire a capable developer) to help you build your store.

Before we go any further, make no mistake about it – self-hosted ecommerce software solutions will involve a far steeper learning curve than the hosted ecommerce solutions we’ve just looked at.

But if you are technologically savvy and want greater customization options, a self-hosted ecommerce solution might be of interest. The best ecommerce solutions that are open source (we’ll explain what this means in a moment) provide unrivaled customization.

In this section, we’ll introduce you to three leading self-hosted ecommerce software options:

WordPress with WooCommerce: best overall self-hosted ecommerce software
Magento: best self-hosted ecommerce software for large businesses

Self-hosted ecommerce software solutions are open source shopping carts. But what does that mean?

Open source shopping carts are effectively standalone programs you install into your own host (such as Bluehost). This means you’ll have to set up, configure and manage your own hosting service to power your online store.

Once you sign up to a hosting service, you’ll then need to install some shopping cart software into your hosting account.

See why we think these solutions are that much trickier than hosted ecommerce software?

Hosting services such as Bluehost usually have a one-click installation process. But there is still quite a bit of tinkering to do, especially if you’re doing it for the first time. When we tried it ourselves for the first time, it took a couple of hours and was a bit frustrating. But after you figure things out, the next installation is a lot smoother.

Once you have the shopping cart platform installed, you’ll need to install a design template. You should know that unless you are quite confident with codes, you’ll most likely need to hire a coder to help you make most design changes. The templates are not as user-friendly as drag-and-drop ecommerce software (such as the examples highlighted above).

The main benefit of using self-hosted open source software is that you can configure it to function exactly the way you want it to, meaning your store can be heavily customized.

The drawback is that it requires you to be technically experienced to install, set up and configure it to work properly. So if you’re not a techie, or if you don’t have time to learn more advanced coding functions, self-hosted shopping carts will not be the best approach for you.

That being said, open source shopping carts offer good flexibility, and have lots of advanced features that you can use and configure.

Which is why we’re going to tell you a bit more about three of the leading self-hosted ecommerce software providers…

Advice from the Experts

If hosted ecommerce software is like a finished house you can start decorating immediately, self-hosted software is like a building site. You get bricks, cement, wood and steel framing – all you need to build a beautiful property. But it’s up to you to put it together.

That being said, open source shopping carts offer good flexibility, and have lots of advanced features that you can use and configure.

Which is why we’re going to tell you a bit more about three of the leading self-hosted ecommerce software providers…

#1. WooCommerce (powered by Bluehost)

Best overall self-hosted ecommerce software

OK, we’re guessing you’ve heard of WordPress? After all, it’s one of the most popular platforms around.

To turn your WordPress site into an ecommerce store, you need to use extra ecommerce solutions. The best of these is WooCommerce.

How does it work? It couldn’t be simpler. All you have to do is sign up to your chosen hosting provider’s WordPress-specific hosting plans, if it has them, (we strongly recommend Bluehost), and it will automatically install WooCommerce onto your computer for you.

WooCommerce also offers an ‘setup wizard’ that guides you through the process of building your store, helping you set up payments, choose currencies, and decide on shipping and tax options. It’s no wonder that WooCommerce clocked a 3.5/5 score in our ease of use research.

Why do we recommend Bluehost to power your WooCommerce store? Well, we’ve carried out some serious research into all the important areas for building online stores using self-hosted software, such as value for money, ease of use, sales features, and more.

From our findings, we can confidently say that Bluehost is head and shoulders above the rest of the hosting competitors for powering WooCommerce stores. With WooCommerce powered by Bluehost, you’ll get:

49+ themes costing on average just $38 (compared to $100 on Magento)
Bluehost plans starting from just $13.99 per month (helping WooCommerce, combined with Bluehost, score a brilliant 4.4/5 in our value for money research category)
WooCommerce extensions costing on average just $79 per year
Translate your site into 24 languages
Multichannel selling – sell on Amazon, eBay, and Instagram through a paid extension, and sell on Facebook for free.
Great SEO support (SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization – the practice of boosting your site’s rankings in search engines like Google. The higher you rank, the more traffic and sales you get)
The ability to add and customize products
Payment options like PayPal and Visa – WooCommerce scored an impressive 4.1/5 in our ‘sales features’ category.

The great benefit of ecommerce software like WordPress + WooCommerce is personalization. You aren’t tied down to any one way of doing things, instead having the freedom to play around in the backend. For instance, you can customize everything from your check-out cart through to your confirmation emails.

But, while WooCommerce may sound simple in principle, just like Magento, it requires technical skill to run.

In our experience, add-ons that are included in Shopify and BigCommerce plans can get quite pricey with WooCommerce. If you’re looking for an alternative, check out BigCommerce’s WordPress plugin. This allows you to make the most of BigCommerce’s features along with the freedom of WordPress.

BigCommerce has more multi-channel integrations than WooCommerce, so if you want to sell through numerous social media channels or marketplaces, it’s an option worth thinking about.

More Information

WordPress Review: Find out if this is the right choice for you
Don’t know whether to choose hosted or self-hosted for your online store? Read our WooCommerce vs Shopify Review to find out
Using WordPress? You’ll need hosting: read our verdict on the Best WordPress Hosting Provider to get the best out of your business
Need a hand getting started with hosting your WordPress store? Read our guide on How to Install WordPress with Bluehost and gain a valuable head start

#2. Magento (powered by SiteGround)

Best self-hosted ecommerce software for large businesses

Magento is one of the most well-known ecommerce solutions on the market. It powers over 240,000 stores, so it must be doing something right!

If you know a bit of code (or are able to pay someone who does), then you have great freedom to build the store of your dreams.

But Magento’s editor just isn’t as easy to use as hosted ecommerce software. For an inexperienced store builder, there are far more potential pitfalls. For example, we found the Magento interface includes a lot of technical terms that will seem alien to a first-time user.

The more time you spend working out what they mean, the less time you spend perfecting your store. This is why we scored Magento 2.5/5 in our ‘ease of use’ research category.

One area Magento is pretty strong in is the sales features category, scoring a brilliant 4/5. With Magento, you can:

Sell physical, downloadable, and service products
Accept payments for WorldPay as a built-in feature (though this payment processor is only suitable for large businesses)
Add multiple product variants
Generate total revenue reports
View total visitor count

The Magento community is very helpful, too, and there are lots of quality guides available. This is why, combined with SiteGround’s customer support, we scored Magento 5/5 for help and support.

As with Shopify and BigCommerce, you can purchase themes externally via Magento, while you can also access a large selection of apps and plugins. The key difference with Magento is that you need to pay for your own hosting.

How much does hosting cost? Well, we recommend using SiteGround to power your Magento store, which comes with three main price plans costing $9.95/month, $17.95/month, and $29.95/month. Overall, considering the cost of extensions and SiteGround price plans, we scored Magento 3.5/5 in our value for money testing.

More Information

Torn between hosted and self-hosted? Read our comparison on Magento vs Shopify to find out which is the right platform for you
Just getting started with hosting? Read our review of the Best Web Hosting Providers to choose the best option for your store

What Is Ecommerce Software?

So just how does ecommerce software work?

Ecommerce software is what we call an all-in-one solution that gives you everything you need to build and run an online store. It makes it possible for you to add and sell products, manage your inventory, accept payments, deliver orders, and sort out taxes – pretty much anything you need to sell products through your online store without switching between different services.

Imagine you’re the driver and the ecommerce software is the car. The software provides the engine, lights, steering wheel and gears. You can then pick the car’s color, number plate, and where you want to go!

There are two main types of ecommerce software you can use to build an online store:

Hosted ecommerce software (more user-friendly). Hosted ecommerce shopping carts enable you to build an ecommerce store without learning to code. The top three are Shopify, BigCommerce and Volusion.

Self-hosted open source ecommerce software (more advanced). Our recommendations include Magento and WordPress with WooCommerce.

Self-hosted ecommerce software like WordPress powers millions of online stores, while ecommerce solutions like Shopify and BigCommerce are used by some of America’s biggest brands.

Just check out this Shopify-powered online store from bookstore Penguin Books…

shopify store example penguin books — Penguin's stylish online store was built using Shopify

Using the best ecommerce software, you can build a stylish online store without any technical knowledge. There’s no need to worry, either – both hosted and self-hosted software will enable you to build the online store of your dreams.

How Do You Pick the Best Ecommerce Software for You?

“You’ll be surprised to hear that finding the best ecommerce software is not what you should be aiming for. Instead, focus on finding the best ecommerce software for YOU.”

Think of it as like picking clothes for your wardrobe. You don’t only pick the nicest or the most expensive clothes, do you? You want clothes that fit your body shape and are suitable for the weather outside. It’s the same with ecommerce software: you need a solution that’s the right fit for you.

So how do you pick the best ecommerce solution for your store?

There are four key questions you need to ask yourself before you pick your ecommerce software. Your answers will tell you which ecommerce solution is right for you.

Let’s dive in…

1. How much time do you want to spend on maintenance?

Are you not particularly technical? Do you not want to spend your time making sure your site doesn’t crash? Would you rather focus on marketing your store and making money?

In other words, do you want to worry about hosting (where your site lives on the internet), security, or any technical aspects of running your online store?

If your answer is a resounding no, you might want to consider using hosted ecommerce software.

Ecommerce solutions like Shopify, BigCommerce and Volusion take care of the essentials of building and running an online store.

Hosted ecommerce software will also make sure your site loads quickly. Load time is how long it takes for your store to appear when a customer tries to visit.

Online shoppers are impatient. The slower your site loads, the more chance your customers bail before buying. In our experience, ecommerce software that is self-hosted will load slower. Any work needed to speed up the site is up to you.

On the other hand, the best hosted ecommerce solutions will take care of all the technical upkeep for you.

Basically, hosted ecommerce software is dedicated to selling online. These solutions take care of all the technical aspects of operating a website so you don’t have to be your own IT manager. This enables you to focus on your business instead.

In the other corner are self-hosted ecommerce software tools.

These ecommerce solutions give you great flexibility to customize your store, but are much more hands-on when it comes to technical maintenance.

They regularly update their system, and it’s your job to make sure your store is up-to-date and glitch-free.

To do this, it’s likely you’ll need to work with a developer. This can get very expensive very quickly.

Which leads us on to our second question…

2.How budget-conscious are you?

Using hosted ecommerce software enables you to create a store for a set monthly fee.

From $29 a month, you can set up your online store and start selling products.

With the best ecommerce solutions, you know what your bill will be each month, and any extra apps are clearly priced.

It’s trickier to work out your website costs with self-hosted software like WordPress. This is because you may have to work with a developer to keep your site running (if you’re not a techie yourself) and make any significant changes. Developers cost money– often hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.

Furthermore, with self-hosted ecommerce software, you need to keep paying for plugins to add more functionality. This makes costing your online store with self-hosted ecommerce solutions a lot more difficult.

Cost-conscious? Worry not – some hosted ecommerce platforms offer discounts on their premium plans which make them far more affordable. For example, Shopify offers a 10% discount when you sign up for a year, and 20% if you sign up for two years!

Further Information

How to Start an Online Store – Our complete step-by-step guide on setting up your online store
How to Start an Online Clothing Store – A closer look at the things to consider when selling clothes online

Now you’ve worked out how important a clearly defined budget is to you, it’s time to ask yourself…

3. How technologically skilled are you?

Hosted and self-hosted ecommerce solutions require different amounts of technical skill to help you create the store you want.

Self-hosted ecommerce software is terrific for customization. WordPress, for example, is an open source platform, meaning anyone can use its codes and create personalized templates, themes and plugins. It’s also extremely powerful, so you can build a really unique store.

However, as with technical maintenance, making changes using self-hosted ecommerce software like WordPress may require a developer (unless you’re a skilled coder yourself).

On the flip side, if you want to build your store using more accessible technology that requires no coding skills, hosted ecommerce solutions are the answer.

The idea is that hosted ecommerce solutions “hide” all the code, and instead provide you with a simple and non-technical user interface for you to create your own store. At the click of a button, you can insert your content (such as images and galleries), upload your products, and connect your website to a payment processor.

You can then start selling very quickly.

press london shopify homepage example — Using hosted ecommerce software, you can design a stylish homepage without needing to code. Here’s some inspiration from Shopify-powered Press

All the tools you need to run an online store, including product management and payment processors, are already built-in to hosted ecommerce solutions. You don’t need to spend time adding them yourself – they all work out-of-the-box, right away. If you do get stuck, dedicated support teams are on hand to help.

Which leads us to our fourth and final question…

4. How much support do you want or need?

When launching an online store, professional support is a big help.

Good support is like having a full-time business partner. They can answer your questions and point you in the right direction when things go wrong.

The best ecommerce solutions all come with at least a decent level of support.

Generally, self-hosted ecommerce solutions leave you on your own a bit more. There are communities, resources and tutorials to help, but you may find it hard to sift through the information to find the answer to your specific problem.

In our research, we found that hosted ecommerce software like Shopify and BigCommerce provided an excellent level of support. Agents are typically available over the phone, email and LiveChat.

shopify help center ecommerce software — Hosted ecommerce software like Shopify provides an excellent level of support. Click the image to visit Shopify's Help Center.

Now you’ve had an overview of the best hosted and self-hosted ecommerce solutions on the market, and know exactly what to look out for, you can choose the best solution for your online store.

Best Ecommerce Software: Conclusion

Let’s recap the five best hosted and self-hosted ecommerce solutions:

Best Hosted and Self-Hosted Ecommerce Software

Shopify – best for larger businesses.
BigCommerce – best ecommerce software for purely online businesses.
Volusion – best ecommerce software for analytics.
WooCommerce (powered by Bluehost) – best overall self-hosted ecommerce software.
Magento (powered by SiteGround) – best self-hosted ecommerce software for large businesses.

Finding the best ecommerce software is not an easy task when you’re trying to figure out how to sell online.

The first step is to think about how technically confident you are. If you’re a master coder, then self-hosted solutions like Magento will give you more flexibility and you can configure the cart as you wish.

What if you are a beginner or intermediate user, not comfortable with code, or want to quickly and easily set up an online store and start selling? Hosted ecommerce solutions like Shopify are your best option.

Website Builder Expert aims to provide you with honest data. That’s why we conduct our own research and obtain direct, personal insight. Analyses and graphics in this article are based on authentic sources cross-validated by our in-house experts.

We take great care to ensure the information we publish is reliable and accurate. However, WBE takes no responsibility for any inaccuracy in information supplied to us by users, research participants, or other entities.

Please note the insight contained within this article is for general information purposes only. We’re glad to answer any questions you may have about this article and its supporting research. For further information, please contact Website Builder Expert directly via email at info@websitebuilderexpert.com.

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Wix vs Weebly vs Squarespace vs Jimdo – Top 3 Pros / Cons

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Updated on July 1, 2025

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Best for side hustles

Shopify Starter

$5/month (billed annually)

Sell via social media and messaging apps
Don't need a full website
Good starting point for new sellers

Limited scalability

Best for small businesses

Basic

$29/month (billed annually)

Sell unlimited products
Multichannel selling options
24/7 chat support

Most popular plan

Best for established stores

Grow

$79/month (billed annually)

5 staff accounts
Get shipping insurance
USPS discounts available

Best for large businesses

Advanced

$299/month (billed annually)

Enhanced support
Bigger checkout capacity
Custom reports and analytics

Best for industry leaders

Plus

From $2,300/month (3-year plan)

Priority 24/7 support
Unlimited staff accounts
Customizable plan

Wix vs Weebly vs Squarespace vs Jimdo – Let the Battle Begin!

Trying to fairly compare website builders can be tough. Sometimes they all look the same, sometimes they are worlds apart.

So how should you choose?

Taking the time to try all the website builders can be draining and frustrating. This article will provide you with a table which presents the pros and cons of each of the website builders for you.

It will really help save you time and brain energy to review their pros and cons first, so you can narrow down the ones that do not meet your needs.

Here’s a snapshot view of our ratings of these website builders so you can quickly see how they fare against each other:

Wix vs Weebly vs Squarespace vs Jimdo
Pros & Cons Comparison Outline

Popularity Factor
Top Pros & Cons (Wix vs Weebly vs Squarespace vs Jimdo)
How To Pick The Website Builder Depending On What You Need
Our Recommendation To You

Also see Side-by-Side Comparison Chart on how website builders compare to each other, or read our long-form article on the Best Website Builders.

1.POPULARITY FACTOR

As much as we don’t think how popular a website builder should have a significant impact on your decision on which one to use to build your website, we thought that we should cover that here as well.

It’s more as an “interest” factor before we head into discussing the pros & cons of each website builder below.

Here is how Wix, Squarespace, Weebly and Jimdo are trending on Google searches:

Squarespace vs Wix vs Weebly vs Jimdo - Google Trend — Click on image to see latest Google Trend chart

What this tells you, is that Wix gets the most searches online, then Weebly, Squarespace, and Jimdo.

It’s not surprising that Wix.com is trending the highest, as they have over 92 million websites published.

2.TOP PROS & CONS (Wix vs Weebly vs Squarespace vs Jimdo)

Pros

Cons

	PROS ABOUT WIX
#1	Best collection of professional caliber design templates Wix offers over 510 professional looking templates that are very updated to today’s design trends (compared to other drag & drop website builders). The best part about Wix’s templates is that they are already structured, formatted and pre-populated with content so you simply have to pick your favorite one, replace the pre-set content with your own. So if you’re not creative or good with designs, Wix’s templates will work very well for you as you won’t have to struggle with creating your own page layout.
#2	The most innovative drag & drop website builder Wix is consistently introducing new and innovative features and designs that are also user-friendly (you can see their new features by month here). For example, you can build 1-pager parallax designs, insert video backgrounds, creating multiple sections on your pages, all without touching any codes. Wix is really ahead of their competitors in this respect. Wix also has an AI Website Builder that helps you build the first version of your website automatically. It will design your webpages and layouts for you, populate your content and just make your website look professional. This solves a lot of your headaches especially if you’re not great at design or you just want the fastest way to setup a professional looking website. It’s a “Done-For-You” service.
#3	Support and help available everywhere Wix has one of the strongest support infrastructure available amongst all website builders. They have help / support buttons everywhere. You can either click on the main help button at the top of the page or each element that you use also has its own unique help button. It’s nice that the help buttons are right there for you to click on without looking any further. If you need a bit more “hand-holding”, Wix also offers you phone & email support.

PROS ABOUT WIX

Best collection of professional caliber design templates

Wix offers over 510 professional looking templates that are very updated to today’s design trends (compared to other drag & drop website builders).

The best part about Wix’s templates is that they are already structured, formatted and pre-populated with content so you simply have to pick your favorite one, replace the pre-set content with your own.

So if you’re not creative or good with designs, Wix’s templates will work very well for you as you won’t have to struggle with creating your own page layout.

The most innovative drag & drop website builder

Wix is consistently introducing new and innovative features and designs that are also user-friendly (you can see their new features by month here).

For example, you can build 1-pager parallax designs, insert video backgrounds, creating multiple sections on your pages, all without touching any codes. Wix is really ahead of their competitors in this respect.

Wix also has an AI Website Builder that helps you build the first version of your website automatically. It will design your webpages and layouts for you, populate your content and just make your website look professional.

This solves a lot of your headaches especially if you’re not great at design or you just want the fastest way to setup a professional looking website. It’s a “Done-For-You” service.

Support and help available everywhere

Wix has one of the strongest support infrastructure available amongst all website builders. They have help / support buttons everywhere.

You can either click on the main help button at the top of the page or each element that you use also has its own unique help button. It’s nice that the help buttons are right there for you to click on without looking any further.

If you need a bit more “hand-holding”, Wix also offers you phone & email support.

	PROS ABOUT SQUARESPACE
#1	Beautiful, designer-quality templates Squarespace provides you with beautiful, mobile-responsive, designer templates that undeniably commands attention. The templates are clean, minimalistic and give off a sophisticated vibe. Their finishing quality is high – as if a designer has invested months in polishing them. We like and appreciate their clean lines compared to other website builders’ templates which could be a bit noisy.
#2	All Squarespace templates are mobile responsive Squarespace offers responsive templates, meaning that you can resize your browser and the content (including the images, slideshows) will also automatically adjust to help give you an optimized viewing experience. This is especially helpful if your visitors tend to use mobile devices.
#3	Extensive styling options to customize your design Squarespace gives you extensive styling options that the majority of other website builders do not provide. You can certainly do custom styling with other website builders, but you need to know how to edit codes. Squarespace has a style editor that helps you do all the custom styling without touching codes, from changing of background images all the way down to customizing thumbnail details.

PROS ABOUT SQUARESPACE

Beautiful, designer-quality templates

Squarespace provides you with beautiful, mobile-responsive, designer templates that undeniably commands attention. The templates are clean, minimalistic and give off a sophisticated vibe.

Their finishing quality is high – as if a designer has invested months in polishing them. We like and appreciate their clean lines compared to other website builders’ templates which could be a bit noisy.

All Squarespace templates are mobile responsive

Squarespace offers responsive templates, meaning that you can resize your browser and the content (including the images, slideshows) will also automatically adjust to help give you an optimized viewing experience. This is especially helpful if your visitors tend to use mobile devices.

Extensive styling options to customize your design

Squarespace gives you extensive styling options that the majority of other website builders do not provide. You can certainly do custom styling with other website builders, but you need to know how to edit codes.

Squarespace has a style editor that helps you do all the custom styling without touching codes, from changing of background images all the way down to customizing thumbnail details.

	PROS ABOUT WEEBLY
#1	Very user-friendly, drag & drop website builder Weebly is probably the easiest to use website builder available today. They don’t overwhelm you with an excessive number of bells and whistles, and include all the necessary basics to build a functional website. Weebly’s user interface is very intuitive to use, which is good for all levels of users especially if you are fearful of anything to do with technology. You can literally build a good website in a few hours. They’ve also been introducing more advanced features and tools lately. Fear not, they’ve kept to their ability to keep them easy to use – even for beginners.
#2	Template designs are on-trend In the past, Weebly’s designs are not very updated at all. However, they’ve been introducing better and more stylish templates lately which is a very nice and welcomed improvement. All their templates are also mobile responsive so your website will look professional on mobile devices. Changing templates is also easy wich just 1-click and all your existing content will be automatically transferred into the new template. Weebly also gives you access to the templates’ HTML / CSS codes. So if you know a bit of code (or if you hire someone who does), this gives you the flexibility to customize your design extensively.
#3	Pre-designed page layouts When it comes to designing your pages, if you don’t know where to start, Weebly has over 40 pre-set page layouts for you to choose from to get you started. They’ve compiled popular page layouts for home, about, services, contact, restaurant menu and portfolio pages. You can pick any one of them, and start customizing or altering the layouts to make it your own. More about this below.

PROS ABOUT WEEBLY

Very user-friendly, drag & drop website builder

Weebly is probably the easiest to use website builder available today. They don’t overwhelm you with an excessive number of bells and whistles, and include all the necessary basics to build a functional website.

Weebly’s user interface is very intuitive to use, which is good for all levels of users especially if you are fearful of anything to do with technology. You can literally build a good website in a few hours.

They’ve also been introducing more advanced features and tools lately. Fear not, they’ve kept to their ability to keep them easy to use – even for beginners.

Template designs are on-trend

In the past, Weebly’s designs are not very updated at all. However, they’ve been introducing better and more stylish templates lately which is a very nice and welcomed improvement.

All their templates are also mobile responsive so your website will look professional on mobile devices. Changing templates is also easy wich just 1-click and all your existing content will be automatically transferred into the new template.

Weebly also gives you access to the templates’ HTML / CSS codes. So if you know a bit of code (or if you hire someone who does), this gives you the flexibility to customize your design extensively.

Pre-designed page layouts

When it comes to designing your pages, if you don’t know where to start, Weebly has over 40 pre-set page layouts for you to choose from to get you started.

They’ve compiled popular page layouts for home, about, services, contact, restaurant menu and portfolio pages. You can pick any one of them, and start customizing or altering the layouts to make it your own. More about this below.

	PROS ABOUT JIMDO
#1	A truly international website builder Compared to its competitors, Jimdo has teams all around the world and so if English is not your first or native language, Jimdo is a good website builder to consider using.
#2	Access to HTML and CSS codes to customize your design If you know how to code or if you are working with a coder, this gives you tremendous design freedom as you can edit the codes to your template. If you don’t intend to edit the codes immediately, this gives you the flexibility to do so in the future.
#3	Free Platform Jimdo’s free platform (JimdoFree) provides you enough tools to build a very functional website. There is absolutely no pressure to upgrade to the paid platform (JimdoPro and JimdoBusiness) and there are no time limitations as to how long you can remain a free user.

PROS ABOUT JIMDO

A truly international website builder

Compared to its competitors, Jimdo has teams all around the world and so if English is not your first or native language, Jimdo is a good website builder to consider using.

Access to HTML and CSS codes to customize your design

If you know how to code or if you are working with a coder, this gives you tremendous design freedom as you can edit the codes to your template. If you don’t intend to edit the codes immediately, this gives you the flexibility to do so in the future.

Free Platform

Jimdo’s free platform (JimdoFree) provides you enough tools to build a very functional website. There is absolutely no pressure to upgrade to the paid platform (JimdoPro and JimdoBusiness) and there are no time limitations as to how long you can remain a free user.

Wix vs Weebly vs Squarespace vs Jimdo Comparison Table – If you prefer a table / chart based analysis, click here to see it.

Pros

Cons

	CONS ABOUT WIX
#1	Difficult to switch templates Although Wix has plenty of pre-made designer templates for you to choose from, once you’ve picked one to use, you can’t switch to another template. If you do, you will have to re-insert your content again. It’s a bit annoying, so make sure you take your time to pick the right template design!
#2	Visible advertisements on the free plan Using Wix’s free plan comes with noticeably large and prominent advertisement Wix logos on the side and at the bottom of the website after you publish. All free website builders have their own advertisement credits (understandable since they’re providing services for free) but Wix’s are really quite prominent. You will need to upgrade to remove the advertisements.
#3	Not designed to handle complex e-commerce needs If you want to build an online shop, Wix’s e-commerce tools are not advanced enough to help you fully manage your store. But to be fair, they do have better e-commerce tools than most standard website builders, but they don’t include basic management tools such as sending out automatic confirmation emails to your customers after they pay, configure taxes and shipping costs, and just general management of orders such as marking orders as shipped or paid. [UPDATE: Wix has since introduced more advanced e-commerce tools (see our full review here). These include allowing you to configure your own shipping & handling fees based on shipping destinations and the product price range. You can even set shipping & handling fees based on which state you are shipping to, allowing you to have more granular control over this. You can also set up tax rates based on your shipping destination (you can set up different tax rates for different countries and states). Once you have shipped your products, you can also mark each order as “complete”, allowing you to track which orders are still open and needs to be fulfilled.]

CONS ABOUT WIX

Difficult to switch templates

Although Wix has plenty of pre-made designer templates for you to choose from, once you’ve picked one to use, you can’t switch to another template. If you do, you will have to re-insert your content again. It’s a bit annoying, so make sure you take your time to pick the right template design!

Visible advertisements on the free plan

Using Wix’s free plan comes with noticeably large and prominent advertisement Wix logos on the side and at the bottom of the website after you publish. All free website builders have their own advertisement credits (understandable since they’re providing services for free) but Wix’s are really quite prominent. You will need to upgrade to remove the advertisements.

Not designed to handle complex e-commerce needs

If you want to build an online shop, Wix’s e-commerce tools are not advanced enough to help you fully manage your store. But to be fair, they do have better e-commerce tools than most standard website builders, but they don’t include basic management tools such as sending out automatic confirmation emails to your customers after they pay, configure taxes and shipping costs, and just general management of orders such as marking orders as shipped or paid.

[UPDATE: Wix has since introduced more advanced e-commerce tools (see our full review here). These include allowing you to configure your own shipping & handling fees based on shipping destinations and the product price range. You can even set shipping & handling fees based on which state you are shipping to, allowing you to have more granular control over this. You can also set up tax rates based on your shipping destination (you can set up different tax rates for different countries and states). Once you have shipped your products, you can also mark each order as “complete”, allowing you to track which orders are still open and needs to be fulfilled.]

	CONS ABOUT SQUARESPACE
#1	When viewing your website on a mobile device, how your design looks in editing mode may be slightly different from its published mode Since Squarespace’s design templates are all mobile responsive and automatically optimized for mobile devices, this means that your content may “shift” positions on its own to fit nicely into a mobile device’s screen. This is a minor nuisance as you won’t have 100% control over how your site displays on mobile devices since the viewing dimensions for different mobile devices are different. This is a minor drawback as you don’t have complete control over how the mobile display looks like.
#2	Extensive styling options could be overwhelming Although Squarespace’s Style Editor gives you the ability to customize or style almost everything in the website without going into codes, this could be a bit overwhelming to some people. Having a lot of styling flexibility can be overwhelming and sometimes trying a bit too hard to get creative takes away the minimalistic beauty of a website. The key here is not to do too much with all these flexible tools. You can still build a very attractive looking website with Squarespace without feeling the need to edit every single design element on your site.
#3	Squarespace’s ecommerce platform only integrates with one payment processor (Stripe) Although Stripe is popular and reliable, we hope that Squarespace could integrate with more payment processors (such as PayPal) as Stripe is not yet available to merchants from smaller countries. UPDATE: Squarespace is now fully integrated with PayPal, which makes it possible for you to offer two different payment options for your shoppers to use. Further, Squarespace is also compatible with Apple Pay, which makes it very easy for your shoppers to purchase on their Apple mobile phones. We have a comprehensive review on Squarespace’s ecommerce platform here.

CONS ABOUT SQUARESPACE

When viewing your website on a mobile device, how your design looks in editing mode may be slightly different from its published mode

Since Squarespace’s design templates are all mobile responsive and automatically optimized for mobile devices, this means that your content may “shift” positions on its own to fit nicely into a mobile device’s screen.

This is a minor nuisance as you won’t have 100% control over how your site displays on mobile devices since the viewing dimensions for different mobile devices are different. This is a minor drawback as you don’t have complete control over how the mobile display looks like.

Extensive styling options could be overwhelming

Although Squarespace’s Style Editor gives you the ability to customize or style almost everything in the website without going into codes, this could be a bit overwhelming to some people. Having a lot of styling flexibility can be overwhelming and sometimes trying a bit too hard to get creative takes away the minimalistic beauty of a website.

The key here is not to do too much with all these flexible tools. You can still build a very attractive looking website with Squarespace without feeling the need to edit every single design element on your site.

Squarespace’s ecommerce platform only integrates with one payment processor (Stripe)

Although Stripe is popular and reliable, we hope that Squarespace could integrate with more payment processors (such as PayPal) as Stripe is not yet available to merchants from smaller countries.

UPDATE: Squarespace is now fully integrated with PayPal, which makes it possible for you to offer two different payment options for your shoppers to use. Further, Squarespace is also compatible with Apple Pay, which makes it very easy for your shoppers to purchase on their Apple mobile phones.

We have a comprehensive review on Squarespace’s ecommerce platform here.

	CONS ABOUT WEEBLY
#1	Limited template customization options Weebly only allows you to change font styles and overall color scheme for each template. So if you want to make modifications beyond that, such as changing the menu bar color, content background design, or adjusting the content width, etc., you will have to modify the codes of the template in order to do so. So it’s definitely possible to make detailed customizations, there just isn’t a code-free way of doing so. Again, other website builders such as Wix or Squarespace offer you code-free ways to customize your design.
#2	Slower in introducing new, innovative features Weebly tends to only introduce new tools / features once or twice a year which is slower than what most users want (existing users are always hungry for more features!) However, whenever they do introduce new functions, they are quite impressive and users are rewarded with these new features. New features tend to be pretty advanced, but Weebly is still able to keep them very user-friendly – which is what Weebly does best.
#3	Blog features need improvement Another common complaint amongst users is that Weebly’s blogging functions are fairly primitive. Nowadays, websites with blogs want the ability to highlight related posts, most popular posts or latest posts. Weebly has yet to incorporate these tools into their blog. They give you the basics, such as social sharing buttons, the ability to drag and drop content into each post, or even the ability to schedule when a post should be published in the future. But in our view, showcasing related, popular or latest posts are very basic tools each blog should have.

CONS ABOUT WEEBLY

Limited template customization options

Weebly only allows you to change font styles and overall color scheme for each template. So if you want to make modifications beyond that, such as changing the menu bar color, content background design, or adjusting the content width, etc., you will have to modify the codes of the template in order to do so.

So it’s definitely possible to make detailed customizations, there just isn’t a code-free way of doing so. Again, other website builders such as Wix or Squarespace offer you code-free ways to customize your design.

Slower in introducing new, innovative features

Weebly tends to only introduce new tools / features once or twice a year which is slower than what most users want (existing users are always hungry for more features!)

However, whenever they do introduce new functions, they are quite impressive and users are rewarded with these new features. New features tend to be pretty advanced, but Weebly is still able to keep them very user-friendly – which is what Weebly does best.

Blog features need improvement

Another common complaint amongst users is that Weebly’s blogging functions are fairly primitive. Nowadays, websites with blogs want the ability to highlight related posts, most popular posts or latest posts. Weebly has yet to incorporate these tools into their blog.

They give you the basics, such as social sharing buttons, the ability to drag and drop content into each post, or even the ability to schedule when a post should be published in the future. But in our view, showcasing related, popular or latest posts are very basic tools each blog should have.

	CONS ABOUT JIMDO
#1	Needs more professionally designed templates The caliber of Jimdo’s templates is average when benchmarked against its competitors. Using the free version of Jimdo gives you a certain number of templates to use, so to access even more templates, you will need to subscribe to their premium packages. [UPDATE – Jimdo recently added more template choices to their collection. They also added advanced features such as (1) full background slideshows with tools to customize different visual effects into the background image, and (2) full background video, which allows you to insert a video as the background to your website – pretty impressive! As at this point, this is the first of its kind amongst website builders we review. These updates show that Jimdo really focusing on improving their templates. We’re looking forward to more impressive features.]
#2	Limited styling options unless you edit the codes When compared to other drag & drop website builders, Jimdo’s doesn’t give you as many options to edit the style / design of your website. However, you do have access to edit the codes to your design template, but that’s only if you know how to code or if you are working with a coder.
#3	Not a true drag-and-drop user interface Even though Jimdo’s website building tools are not drag and drop, don’t let this fool you into thinking that Jimdo isn’t easy to use. Its functions and user-friendliness still get the job done, although it would feel more interactive with drag and drop.

CONS ABOUT JIMDO

Needs more professionally designed templates

The caliber of Jimdo’s templates is average when benchmarked against its competitors. Using the free version of Jimdo gives you a certain number of templates to use, so to access even more templates, you will need to subscribe to their premium packages.

[UPDATE – Jimdo recently added more template choices to their collection. They also added advanced features such as (1) full background slideshows with tools to customize different visual effects into the background image, and (2) full background video, which allows you to insert a video as the background to your website – pretty impressive! As at this point, this is the first of its kind amongst website builders we review. These updates show that Jimdo really focusing on improving their templates. We’re looking forward to more impressive features.]

Limited styling options unless you edit the codes

When compared to other drag & drop website builders, Jimdo’s doesn’t give you as many options to edit the style / design of your website. However, you do have access to edit the codes to your design template, but that’s only if you know how to code or if you are working with a coder.

Not a true drag-and-drop user interface

Even though Jimdo’s website building tools are not drag and drop, don’t let this fool you into thinking that Jimdo isn’t easy to use. Its functions and user-friendliness still get the job done, although it would feel more interactive with drag and drop.

Wix vs Weebly vs Squarespace vs Jimdo Comparison Table – If you prefer a table / chart based analysis, click here to see it.

3.PICK THE WEBSITE BUILDER DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU NEED

As per the summary of pros and cons above, each website builder has its own strengths and weaknesses.

Here are our recommendations based on what you might be looking for:

1) Easiest To Use – check out Wix.com or Weebly.

2) Stylish & Professional Design – see Squarespace andWix.com.

3) eCommerce Builder – you should consider Wix, Weebly or Squarespace (click links to see our reviews on their ecommerce tools).

Not sure which website builder works best for you? Try our Website Builder Matching Quiz

For direct comparisons between website builders:

Side-by-Side Comparison Chart – how web builders compare to each other
Wix vs Squarespace – see the 4 key differences
Wix vs Weebly – see the 8 key differences
Online St0re Builders Comparison – see if you’re building an online store

Still not sure which website builder to choose?

See this article to find out what are the questions you should be asking to see which website builder is suitable for you.

4.OUR RECOMMENDATION TO YOU

At the end of the day, we recommend that you sign up for a free account with at least 2 website builders and test them out yourself. It’s the only way you can get a good feel of which one works best for you.

Building a website is an investment of time and money – more so an investment of your time. So it’s important to conduct your due diligence and check to see which website builder you feel the most comfortable with.

Don’t skimp on spending some time in trying them out, as you will pay heavily in time if you need to switch website builders later.

Read Our Expert Reviews

Want to see in-depth reviews of the website builders above? Click here:

Wonder how Wix, Squarespace or Weebly compare with WordPress? Click here

If you’re concerned about SEO and search engine rankings, see our guide here.

Found This Guide Helpful?

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Website Builder Expert aims to provide you with honest data. That’s why we conduct our own research and obtain direct, personal insight. Click here for further information.

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Squarespace Review 2025: The Easiest Website Builder?

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Researched by

Updated on July 1, 2025

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Best for side hustles

Shopify Starter

$5/month (billed annually)

Sell via social media and messaging apps
Don't need a full website
Good starting point for new sellers

Limited scalability

Best for small businesses

Basic

$29/month (billed annually)

Sell unlimited products
Multichannel selling options
24/7 chat support

Most popular plan

Best for established stores

Grow

$79/month (billed annually)

5 staff accounts
Get shipping insurance
USPS discounts available

Best for large businesses

Advanced

$299/month (billed annually)

Enhanced support
Bigger checkout capacity
Custom reports and analytics

Best for industry leaders

Plus

From $2,300/month (3-year plan)

Priority 24/7 support
Unlimited staff accounts
Customizable plan

After testing 12 website builders and collecting over 300 hours of data in March 2025, our in-house experts and I concluded that Squarespace is the easiest to use. It offers users a seamless user experience from start to finish, thanks to its intuitive drag-and-drop editor, customization options, and scheduling tools. For these reasons, I recommend Squarespace if you’re new to building, work in a creative industry, or run a service-based business.

Badge showing Squarespace as easiest builder in our 2025 research

Key Takeaways 🔍

Squarespace is the easiest website builder I’ve tested this year
Blueprint AI helps you build a stylish website in minutes
Pricing ranges from $16 to $99 per month (billed annually)
You can sell unlimited products on any Squarespace plan
The Acuity Scheduling tool helps you manage bookings online
We conducted over 300 hours of analysis and testing

I’ve updated this article to reflect the results of our 2025 research and analysis of Squarespace. Squarespace remains one of our top-rated website builders, sitting just behind Wix, and I’ve made sure the review’s copy is accurate. For example, I’ve updated Squarespace’s latest features, and I’ve tweaked the pricing information to match Squarespace’s recent changes to its plans and fees.

Squarespace Pros & Cons

For an overview of our second highest-rated website builder, I’ve pulled together a list of Squarespace’s standout qualities and drawbacks:

What I Like

✔️ Easy drag-and-drop editor

✔️ Blueprint AI builder

✔️ 180+ templates

✔️ Acuity Scheduling booking tool

✔️ Ecommerce available on cheapest plan

What I Dislike

❌ Grid overlay limits customization

❌ No autosave feature

❌ No free plan

❌ Limited third-party integrations

Take a look at our Squarespace review video to hear us talk about the builder more:

My Experience With Squarespace

Squarespace is the easiest website builder I’ve tested, outperforming 12 others in our 2025 research due to its simple drag-and-drop editor, intuitive interface, and beautiful templates. I carried out hands-on testing with Squarespace to see what it’s like to build a website with the platform.

Building With Blueprint AI

After signing up for Squarespace’s 14-day free trial, I was given the option to choose from its professionally designed templates (with suggestions based on my onboarding responses), or I could build my site using Squarespace’s AI website builder. I chose to use the AI-powered guided web design experience, known as Blueprint AI.

My thoughts on Blueprint AI...

I love using Blueprint AI to build websites with Squarespace. It’s not as hands-off as other AI website builders, but I like having some level of control over my site’s look, since it means there’s less work to do in the editor afterwards. With Blueprint AI, I could set my site’s personality (such as “Friendly” or “Innovative”), choose sections and pages, and choose my font and color scheme in just a few clicks. I enjoyed looking through all the stylish designs, and Blueprint AI really takes the hassle out of designing and editing your pages. During my testing, I managed to build a website in under 10 minutes.

Emma Ryan Lead Writer

Designing My Squarespace Site

After working through Blueprint AI, I found myself in Squarespace’s editor. Like Wix, Squarespace uses a drag-and-drop editor, so I could simply move elements around the page.

Squarespace also uses a grid framework to add structure to its editor. This is useful if you’re looking to snap elements together to keep things aligned on your page, especially if you’re new to building websites. In my experience, it also helped to speed up the design process.

Squarespace's drag and drop editor, showing a text box being moved around the grid lines — I loved how easy Squarespace made editing my website’s pages with its structured drag-and-drop editor. Source: Website Builder Expert

However, if you’re looking for complete creative control, you’d be better off with Wix or Hostinger, which lets you drag elements anywhere on the page. If you’re at ease with designing sites, Squarespace’s grid editor can feel more restrictive, since you’re bound to moving elements within the set lines.

Top Tip 💡

Squarespace has no autosave when editing, so keep this in mind when using Squarespace before you close a tab accidentally! Despite missing an autosave feature, Squarespace does prompt you to save if you decide to exit the editor.

How Much Does Squarespace Cost?

Squarespace’s pricing has recently increased overall, offering four premium plans to its users that range from $16 to $99 per month (billed annually). Pricing for the first two plans remains the same, but the fees have increased for the top two plans. However, the major change is that you can now sell online with any Squarespace plan.

Which Squarespace plan do I recommend?

Squarespace doesn’t have a free plan, but you can get started with its 14-day free trial. When you’re ready to upgrade after this period, I recommend picking the Core plan for $23 per month (billed annually). While you can sell unlimited products and services with the cheaper Basic plan, the Core plan comes with additional sales features and benefits, including zero transaction fees and the ability to create discounts. The only added bonus on the Plus and Advanced plans is reduced processing fees, so most businesses will be content with the Core plan.

Emma Ryan Lead Writer

Does Squarespace Have Quality Templates?

Squarespace is by far the best website builder for design and aesthetics, currently offering over 180 Squarespace templates to choose from. In comparison, Wix has 2,000+ templates in its library, but Squarespace truly puts quality above quantity. I’ve tested a lot of builders, and none of them outperform Squarespace in this arena.

Squarespace’s templates cover a wide range of industries, such as “Fashion” and “Fitness,” and I particularly like the “Montclaire” template for artist websites because of its minimalist approach to showcasing work.

Preview page for Squarespace's Montclaire template — I could play around with other color presets before settling on a Squarespace template. Source: Website Builder Expert

Are Squarespace's Features Worth Using?

📢 New Squarespace features

You can now add an Email Campaigns subscription to Acuity Scheduling, helping your business personalize emails based on appointment details and source repeat customers
Google Pay is now available for businesses using Squarespace Payments or Stripe
Squarespace now allows instant payouts for Squarespace Payments, with funds typically landing in your account within 30 minutes

Squarespace provides a generous suite of built-in features, including marketing tools and website analytics to help users monitor their site’s performance. You can also explore the Squarespace Extensions page for additional functionality – however, with over 40 integrations to choose from, it’s not as large-scale as Wix or Shopify’s app markets.

🗓️ Scheduling Tools

Squarespace is the best website builder if you’re looking to offer bookable services or take appointments. Whether you’re selling online courses or offering in-person fitness classes, Squarespace’s Acuity Scheduling tool lets you create appointments, manage timings, and set prices from a dedicated dashboard.

To use Acuity Scheduling, click “Scheduling” in the account dashboard.

When testing the tool myself, I found it incredibly easy to set up new appointment types for 1:1 sessions or group classes. Squarespace guided me through the process step by step, instructing me to set my availability and design my scheduling page.

While the feature is accessible during Squarespace’s 14-day free trial, Acuity Scheduling plans range from $16 to $49 per month (billed annually) – this is an additional fee on top of your monthly or annual Squarespace plan.

Squarespace Acuity Scheduling (2) — I could easily set or update my availability in the Acuity Scheduling tool. Source: Website Builder Expert

🔍 SEO

Like most SEO website builders, Squarespace provides the essentials, such as image alt text, mobile optimization, and automatic sitemaps. All of this is built into the platform, which is standard for most website builders.

With Squarespace, you can easily manage your site’s SEO from its SEO panel. This is accessible via your account’s settings, under “Marketing” – labeled “SEO Appearance.” From here, you can view a useful SEO checklist, view your keywords, hire an SEO expert, and preview your site’s metadata to help you optimize your site for search engines.

To tweak your page’s SEO data, click into “Pages” and select the cog icon to view each page’s settings.

Unfortunately, Squarespace did perform poorly in our site speed tests. A slow website can impact your site’s performance in the search engine results pages (SERPs). Plus, you don’t want your visitors or customers to grow frustrated and take their business elsewhere.

Squarespace's SEO settings — It was easy for me to add metadata to my Squarespace site. Source: Website Builder Expert

📨 Marketing

Squarespace provides access to a variety of marketing tools, such as promotional pop-ups, featured announcement bars for exciting website or business updates, and a dedicated tool called Email Campaigns.

Squarespace Email Campaigns lets you automate workflows, engage with your subscribers, and view email-specific analytics. This is a must-have for businesses looking to build customer relationships through their website.

When exploring the feature, I could choose from a handful of email types, including a “Welcome email” and a seasonal extra for springtime sales. While some features of the tool are free (like creating draft campaigns), you’ll need to purchase a full Email Campaigns plan to send campaigns. Pricing for the feature starts from $5 per month (billed annually).

Squarespace Email Campaigns selection of campaign types — I could edit my email marketing template and tweak its style to suit my brand. Source: Website Builder Expert

Can You Sell Online With Squarespace?

Squarespace remains our third highest-rated ecommerce website builder this year, ranked just behind Shopify and Wix. That said, Squarespace does have better sales features than Wix overall. For example, Squarespace ecommerce lets you sell unlimited products, whereas Wix’s plans have a limit of 50,000 products.

To add products, navigate to “Selling” in your Squarespace account. The first step on the page directs you to add products, so I found it easy to start building my inventory. Squarespace asked what kind of product I wanted to sell, such as “Physical” or “Video on demand,” and I added the relevant information and imagery.

Cards showing different product types you can add to your Squarespace site — I could add a variety of products to my Squarespace store, including physical products, services, consulting packages, and custom merch. Source: Website Builder Expert

📢 Since our last update...

Squarespace has updated its pricing plans, meaning you can sell online from Squarespace’s cheapest Basic plan (for $16 per month). It previously cost at least $23 per month to sell products and accept payments online with Squarespace, but Squarespace now offers a cheaper ecommerce plan than Shopify, Wix, and GoDaddy.

The Basic plan includes a 2% transaction fee, but it reduces to 0% as soon as you upgrade to the Core, Plus, or Advanced plan. And, credit card processing rates reduce as you upgrade, from 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction (on the Basic and Core plans) to 2.5% + $0.30 (on the Advanced plan).

Does Squarespace Offer AI Tools?

Squarespace has upped its game when it comes to AI features, offering a growing variety of tools to support websites and businesses. That said, it still lags behind the competition, with other builders, like Wix and Shopify, introducing new AI features regularly.

Here are the AI tools you can expect from Squarespace:

AI website builder
Text generation
AI blog posts
Brand identity support
AI SEO site descriptions
AI video descriptions
AI course descriptions
AI proposals
Business name generator
Domain name generator

Squarespace's AI text generator working on an about us section — I could ask Squarespace’s AI text generator to create different forms of content, from a full paragraph to a short pitch. Source: Website Builder Expert

My experience with Squarespace's AI tools...

I used Squarespace’s AI text generator when editing my website to help fill out some text boxes. All I had to do was click the lightning bolt icon, decide the type of copy I needed (such as a paragraph or a blurb), and then give the AI a brief idea of what I wanted it to write about. And, from my quick test of the feature, I found the generated text was pretty detailed and personalized to my business.

Emma Ryan Lead Writer

How To Contact Squarespace for Support

You can seek support from the following Squarespace channels:

24/7 email support
Live chat (available Monday to Friday between 4AM and 8PM EST)
Social media
Help Center including guides, video tutorials, and webinars
Community forum to hear from real Squarespace users
Hire a Squarespace Expert to help you overcome a hurdle, including building a website from scratch

As you can see, there are several options to choose from if you need a helping hand, but you won’t be able to call Squarespace’s customer service.

Video tutorial in Squarespace's help center — I was happy to see that most Squarespace guides include a video tutorial so you can follow along step by step. Source: Website Builder Expert

Still, I was impressed by Squarespace’s Help Center because most guides included a video along with links to other resources – supporting users with different learning styles.

Since our last round of research, Squarespace has introduced an AI-powered live chat to field queries. Before, I had to wait to get a response from a human agent, whereas Squarespace’s live chat now responds almost instantly.

Is Squarespace Better Than Other Builders?

Squarespace is our second-best performing website builder, but is it the right fit for you? Take a look at how it compares with other leading website builders:

Wix is our top-rated website builder overall, offering users an all-in-one solution with powerful features, whether you’re looking to boost your online presence or sell online.
Shopify is the best ecommerce website builder out there, providing dedicated sales features and room to scale your business.
Hostinger has the most affordable plans. Pricing ranges from $2.99 to $3.99 (for a 48-month term), making it a cheap option for beginners and budget-conscious businesses.
GoDaddy has the fastest setup time. The onboarding process took me less than a minute, and its simplicity makes building a site incredibly straightforward.

How We Test Squarespace's Website Builder

To fairly review and recommend Squarespace, we rely on our rigorous in-house research process.

I’ve also spent hours with Squarespace’s editor and built-in tools to put the builder through its paces. This means I can provide personal insights and tips, based on first-hand experience. So, when I say I love a feature, I mean it, and when I say I found something hard to find or use, it’s a genuine reaction I had when testing Squarespace.

What does our research process involve? Over 300 hours of testing, data collection, and analysis, across six core categories, which are weighted according to their importance:

Website Functionality: 30%
Design Features: 25%
Pricing: 15%
User Experience: 15%
Help and Support: 10%
Reputation: 5%

Squarespace receives a score for each category, which we then collect together to work out its overall rating. We review and carry out our research regularly to ensure our recommendations are up-to-date and accurate.

Final Verdict: Do I Recommend Squarespace?

From our research, Squarespace is the easiest website builder to use. I’ve explored its user-friendly editor in detail, highlighted its stylish templates, and examined the features on offer, from booking tools to ecommerce to AI.

Squarespace is a reliable option for a wide range of users, whether you’re looking to build a creative portfolio or sell services online. That said, I highly recommend choosing Squarespace if you’re a beginner at building websites because of its intuitive interface and AI builder.

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Here’s My Honest Weebly Review: Is the Website Builder Is Worth It in 2025?

Written by

Researched by

Updated on July 1, 2025

Comments {447}

If you click to purchase a product or service based on our independent recommendations and impartial reviews, we may receive a commission. Learn more

Best for side hustles

Shopify Starter

$5/month (billed annually)

Sell via social media and messaging apps
Don't need a full website
Good starting point for new sellers

Limited scalability

Best for small businesses

Basic

$29/month (billed annually)

Sell unlimited products
Multichannel selling options
24/7 chat support

Most popular plan

Best for established stores

Grow

$79/month (billed annually)

5 staff accounts
Get shipping insurance
USPS discounts available

Best for large businesses

Advanced

$299/month (billed annually)

Enhanced support
Bigger checkout capacity
Custom reports and analytics

Best for industry leaders

Plus

From $2,300/month (3-year plan)

Priority 24/7 support
Unlimited staff accounts
Customizable plan

As far as website builders go, Weebly is a name that’s been in the game since 2007. Known for its simplicity and allowing users to sell online for free, Weebly was once one of the most popular builders out there. But is this still the case?

Recent years have seen rapid growth in the website-building industry, and while some platforms have only grown, others have fallen by the wayside. The real question is, does Weebly fall into this latter category or does it have the gusto to support your growing business?

In this Weebly review, I’ll take you step-by-step through creating a Weebly website, covering everything from ease of use and design to value for money and support. By the time I’m through, you’ll have all the information you need to decide if Weebly is the one for you.

Weebly Alternatives

Wix – Best overall website builder
Squarespace – Easiest website builder
Shopify – Best ecommerce website builder
GoDaddy – Best value for money
Hostinger – For AI enthusiasts

Weebly Pros and Cons

My Recommendations: Who Is Weebly For?

Use Weebly if…

You’re a small business that’s interested in establishing a basic online presence
You don’t plan to grow your business that much
You’re a beginner and want a basic, easy-to-use website builder
You’re on a budget and want to keep costs low

But, if you want…

A ton of innovative and constantly evolving features – use Wix.
Beautiful templates and generous customization options – use Squarespace.
Advanced ecommerce features to support online store growth – use Shopify.
To make the most of AI features – use Hostinger.

Cost and Value for Money

Before I get into the nitty-gritty of creating a website with Weebly, let’s address one of our readers’ biggest concerns: money.

The good news is that Weebly isn’t going to bust your wallet. All of its plans are very affordable, ranging from $10 to $26 per month, and if you really don’t want to spend a single cent, you don’t have to because Weebly has a free plan, too.

Pricing plan options displayed with four tiers: Free, Personal, Professional, and Performance, showing monthly costs, billing cycles, and primary features. — A snapshot of Weebly’s plans. Source: Website Builder Expert

Here’s a breakdown of Weebly’s four plans and a rough overview of what you’ll get for your money:

The bad news, however, is that although Weebly is cheap, it’s not necessarily good value for money. The free plan is a great option for small websites or businesses that are just starting out, but as you climb through the tiers, the features that Weebly offers are lacking in comparison to its competitors.

For example, Wix and Squarespace both offer built-in booking systems, whereas, with Weebly, you’ll need to rely on third-party apps, many of which come with a cost of as much as $249 per month.

The exception to this rule is when it comes to selling. This is because Weebly allows you to sell even on its Free plan. Of course, there are some restrictions, such as not being able to sell digital products or get access to shipping labels on the Free plan, but even so, the option to sell for free is a major bonus for small businesses and makes setting up an online store very affordable.

However, before you get too excited, there’s another big reason why we don’t consider Weebly to be good value for money, and that reason is Square. Back in 2018, the payment processor Square purchased Weebly and added it to its website-building portfolio alongside Square Online. However, since this acquisition, Weebly’s development has stagnated, and hasn’t released any new tools or features in the past six years.

This is disappointing and means that while other website builders have soared ahead with innovations, Weebly has lagged behind. In short, it’s no longer responding to the needs of the online world, so those businesses with a Weebly website will struggle to do so, too.

In short, this means that, although your monthly payments might be less than if you’d chosen Wix or Squarespace, your website will struggle to match others in terms of what it can offer your customers.

More Information

If you want to take a closer look at Weebly’s pricing, I recommend reading our more in-depth Weebly Pricing Review.

Setup

Now we’ve got the money talk out the way, it’s time to get stuck into Weebly and test how it actually handles as a functional website builder.

You’ll be pleased to know that getting started with Weebly is super easy. Once you’ve clicked the “Sign Up” button on the homepage, you’ll be asked to answer a few questions such as your name, your email, and your location. You’ll also be asked to set a password.

Good to Know!

Don’t panic if, instead of Weebly, you start seeing Square branding everywhere. You haven’t taken a wrong turn – this is just another side effect of Weebly being brought into the Square fold.

After this, Weebly will ask you what kind of website you want to create: a business website or a personal website. If you select “I want a business website”, you’ll be directed to Square Online. This is very misleading, though, because you can still build a business website with Weebly.

Ultimately, Square wants more people to choose its primary platform, Square Online, which is why it makes it seem as though this is the best option for businesses. In reality, you can still sell and run a business on Weebly. Because I wanted to test what Weebly could do, I went ahead and selected “I want a personal website”.

Unfortunately, Weebly doesn’t offer an AI site builder option like other popular website builders. This is disappointing because AI has become such a core part of website-building in the last year or so. Sadly, this is just another example where a lack of new and innovative features means that Weebly is being left behind its competitors. If you do want to use an AI builder, we’d recommend checking out Wix, Squarespace, or Hostinger.

After selecting Weebly, I was then directed to a page where I could choose my template – I’ll review Weebly’s design options later on. Once I’d chosen my theme, Weebly automatically took me into the editor.

Immediately, I was greeted with a popup inviting me to connect my custom domain. I really like how upfront this is and it saved me loads of time having to search through all Weebly’s tools to figure out how to do this.

If you don’t want to connect your domain immediately, you can shut this popup down. However, be warned – it’ll keep appearing. This is slightly annoying, especially if you have no plans to attach a custom domain or you just want to get creating.

The Editor

If you’re a fan of simple and straightforward, the Weebly editor will tick your boxes. Website editing tools are located down the left-hand side, with a separate menu running along the top and giving you access to your pages, themes, apps, and settings.

Everything is very clearly signposted, with the “dark mode” appearance making it easy to see how it’s all organized.

Weebly editor showing a website in progress, with the first menu down the left-hand side and the second running along the top. — I found it very easy to navigate the Weebly editor – the layout felt very intuitive. Source: Website Builder Expert

Like most popular website builders, Weebly uses a drag-and-drop format. This means you can select any element on your website page and drag it. However, where some website builders like Wix allow you to drag elements wherever you want, Weebly works within a rigid row structure. This means that you’re restricted by the boundaries of the row you’re working in.

This has its positives. Firstly, it stops your site from looking too overcrowded and messy. It also means that you’ll never accidentally drag an element somewhere that it won’t be seen when your site is live. However, for those of you who like full creative control, this lack of flexibility is incredibly frustrating.

Weebly editor showing an image in the process of being moved, but only within Weebly’s preset row. — I found Weebly’s rigid row structure very frustrating as it limited how much I could tweak the overall look of my website. Source: Website Builder Expert

Overall, the Weebly editor is very pared back. Editing text is as simple as clicking the textbox and typing your personalized copy. You can also add a new element by selecting it in the left-hand menu and dragging it onto your webpage. But that’s as exciting as it gets. “Basic” is the keyword here, and for those of you who don’t want anything too complicated, Weebly will be a dream.

Weebly editor with textbox highlighted showing how you can add your own text. — I found it easy to make small changes, such as editing the text to match my business, but anything more ambitious was a challenge. Source: Website Builder Expert

However, if you want a little more from your website builder, Weebly’s editing capabilities are disappointing. In my opinion, its simplicity is its downfall, and ultimately, it makes it very difficult to ever create a site that’s truly unique.

Templates and Design

Given the simplicity of Weebly’s editor and design capabilities, surely its themes must be visually stunning and not need much editing to make them stand out, right? Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Weebly’s templates aren’t awful. In fact, they’re all pretty neat and tidy, with plenty of white space and clean lines. They’re just a bit boring. There’s nothing in them that really wowed me. In fact, when I was choosing my theme, not one of them jumped out at me as a template I was eager to use for my website.

Weebly’s Theme page showing four example themes. — I was disappointed by the themes Weebly offered. There wasn’t a large variety, and they all seemed pretty plain. Source: Website Builder Expert

Perhaps part of my frustration is down to the fact that, like its tools and features, Weebly’s themes have remained largely the same for the last few years. They feel outdated and that’s because they are.

This might not be so glaringly obvious if there were more choices, but given that there are only around 50 to choose from (compared to, say, Wix’s 800 options), there isn’t anywhere for Weebly to hide. And unlike Squarespace, which justifies its small number of templates with exceptional design, Weebly’s efforts fall flat.

This disappointment only increases once you get your chosen template into the editor. Like its rigid row structure, Weebly is frustratingly restrictive when it comes to color schemes, and it only gives you two options: light mode and dark mode. This means that it makes it almost impossible for you to impose any kind of carefully chosen brand colors on your design.

Weebly editor with “Theme” menu open on the left-hand side, showing a “Dark” and “Light” option. — Only being able to change my color scheme to “Light” or “Dark” made it really hard to create a site that reflected my brand. Source: Website Builder Expert

In addition to this, Weebly performs poorly when it comes to mobile-first design. I was unable to edit my mobile view because Weebly claims that all of its themes are already engineered to be mobile-responsive. Even if this were the case, I found this slightly irritating because it’s yet another restriction which, although designed to make my life easier, stopped me from putting my stamp on my design.

Mobile view of a Weebly template, showing the theme in the middle, with grayed out areas to show that this cannot be edited. — I didn’t like that I couldn’t edit my website’s mobile view. Even if the themes were mobile responsive, I’d still have liked the freedom to edit this element of my website. Source: Website Builder Expert

However, the real frustration comes from the fact that Weebly’s original claim of mobile responsiveness simply isn’t true. Often, loading times are slow and mobile formatting is inconsistent. This is incredibly disappointing given that 92.3% of the global digital population access the internet from a mobile device

Of course, it isn’t all bad. Weebly does have some positives. For example, you can switch themes anytime and you won’t need to reformat your site when you do. This is more than you’ll get with website builders like Wix, which doesn’t allow you to switch once your website is live.

In addition to this, all of Weebly’s themes are free, so you won’t need to dish out any more cash when you choose one. This is a good thing, really, because I’m not sure that Weebly’s templates have the necessary shine to convince me to part with any extra dollars.

Selling Online

While Weebly disappoints when it comes to design, selling online is one area where I have few complaints.

This is largely because Weebly lets users on all plans sell for free. This is extremely rare in the website-building world, with top builders like Wix and Squarespace charging between $16 and $29 per month before you can take any payments.

Square’s acquisition of Weebly also means that its ecommerce tools are pretty substantial. Users can add a store in the editor, by selecting the “Pages” tab at the top and then clicking the “+” button.

The Weebly editor with the “Pages” tab open on the left, with the “Product Page” option highlighted. — I was able to add a product page to my website from the “Pages” tab. It was simple and easy to find, which I liked. Source: Website Builder Expert

Adding a product is just as easy as adding a store page. However, you’ll need to navigate away from the editor and head to the dashboard, using the “X” in the top-left corner. Once here, I was pleased that I didn’t have to do much searching to find what I was looking for. The “Items” tab was easy to find in the menu.

I was able to add a product by selecting “Site Items” and then “Create new item”. I was then directed to a page where I could add all my product details as well as item variations and pictures. I could also set my fulfillment method, choosing between shipping and pick-up – something that’s useful for businesses serving a local area.

At the top of the page, I was also able to change the product type and I was pleasantly surprised that there were a variety of types to choose from. I’d expected the choice to be limited to “Physical” or “Digital”, but instead I could select “Prepared food and beverage”, “Event”, “Donation”, or “Other”. This adds extra versatility to Weebly’s ecommerce offering and gives businesses more flexibility with their products.

Unlike builders such as Wix and Squarespace, Weebly doesn’t have a separate inventory management tool. Instead, its “Item List” serves this purpose, showing you your stock levels on the far right. This does make Weebly’s inventory management seem less advanced than some of its competitors, however, for smaller online stores, this isn’t too much of an issue.

Top Tip!

When you add your products, don’t forget to tick the box next to “Track stock on this item” in the “Additional Information” section – this means your stock levels will appear in your item list which is super important for inventory management.

Overall, I like Weebly’s ecommerce features, however, there is one area that I feel falls short, and that’s its limited number of payment options. Weebly only offers three payment processors – Square, Stripe, and PayPal. For a platform that’s owned by such a big ecommerce player, I’d expected there to be more, especially considering that you can only use PayPal on the most expensive plan.

Top Tip!

If you choose to use Stripe, you’ll be able to accept payments through Google, Apple, and Android Pay.

It’s not immediately clear where you can manage your payment options, but after a little searching, I found them tucked away in the “Settings” tab at the bottom, hidden in the “Checkout” section.

No matter which payment option you choose, there’s a processing fee attached, even for Square’s native Square Payments. And where other platforms like Wix will waive the transaction fee if you choose to use its payment option, Square doesn’t do this either, and you’ll need to pay up to 2.5% per transaction.

Here are the processing fees you can expect to pay on Weebly:

When considering whether Weebly is right for you, it’s worth bearing these processing fees in mind. Although this website builder does allow you to sell for free, you’ll have to account for the processing fees that will dig into your profits with each purchase. This will be particularly damaging for small stores, or stores that sell large-ticket items and will therefore have to pay a proportionally higher charge.

Although Weebly is a good option for small online stores, we recommend choosing its sister platform Square Online instead. Not only is Square Online specifically designed to support online stores, but it also benefits from being Square’s preferred platform, and as a result, it receives all of the updates and innovations that Weebly doesn’t.

Marketing and Scalability

Once your website is built, the work doesn’t stop there. Building an online brand requires good marketing if it’s going to be successful, so choosing a website with tools that can support this is vital. So is Weebly up to the task?

Email Marketing

The answer depends on how big you want your website to be. Smaller sites and businesses will be satisfied with Weebly’s marketing efforts, much of which centers around its email marketing service, Weebly Promote.

Weebly offers a small number of pre-made templates as well as a blank canvas for you to create your own. The email editor is similar in layout to the website editor, so I didn’t experience too much of a learning curve when jumping from one to the other.

Weebly email editor with editing menu open on the left and an email design checklist on the right, with an email template open in the center. — I liked how similar the email editor was to Weebly’s website editor – it made it very easy to use. Source: Website Builder Expert

However, Weebly Promote comes with some limitations. Those on the Free plan can use it, but will only be able to send two email campaigns ever. If you want to use it consistently, you’ll need to subscribe to one of its paid Promote plans, which start at $8 per month.

SEO

One of the biggest parts of marketing is SEO, and any website builder worth its salt will offer SEO tools to help boost your site up the rankings. Weebly is no different.

Although a little difficult to find – head to the “Settings” tab in the website editor – Weebly covers all the SEO basics. I was able to set my site description, as well as specify keywords. There’s also an option to input custom header and footer code, as well as a section for managing 301 redirects.

Weebly SEO page with blank fields where users can input SEO information about their site. — Weebly’s SEO covers all of the basics, but I was disappointed to see that anything more complex needs more technical knowledge. Source: Website Builder Expert

But that’s it. There isn’t any SEO support such as checklists or guides like its competitors Wix and Squarespace offer, and if you want to do anything more advanced such as adding canonical tags or amending your URL strings, you’ll need to either use an external app or have coding knowledge.

This means that although Weebly simplifies generic SEO for beginners, any inexperience will start to cause issues once you want to step things up a notch. Given that SEO is a huge part of growing and building your website, I found this disappointing.

Social Media

Another area that I found lacking is Weebly’s social media. Although users can add their Instagram, this is the extent of what the builder offers. This feature isn’t even built-in. Rather, you’ll need to use a third-party app. Other than this, users can add a line of basic social icons.

This oversight puts Weebly at a severe disadvantage when compared to other builders. Social media strategies form a huge part of many businesses’ growth plans, which is why platforms like Wix and Squarespace allow users to create and manage social posts all from their dashboards.

Weebly is nowhere near offering something like this, once again highlighting how its lack of new and innovative features is harming its standing in the website-building world.

App Market

The only bright side is that Weebly does have a good App Center which is full of third-party apps to help you fill the many gaps that Weebly’s offering leaves.

Weebly App Center, with four different colored tiles showing the different kinds of apps you can add to your website. — I was pleased to see that Weebly’s App Center covers all the main areas of website building, from SEO to ecommerce and socials. Source: Website Builder Expert

One thing to bear in mind, though, is that not all of the apps on Weebly’s App Center are free. In fact, some of them can cost as much as $300 per month if you opt for the premium subscription plans.

Because Weebly’s built-in features aren’t as impressive as they should be, this could mean that your monthly bill might end up spiraling pretty quickly. Costs can rack up, and before you know it, your cost-effective website builder is draining your savings.

Scalability

So what does all of this mean for Weebly’s scalability? Well, the news isn’t good.

Weebly has everything a small website could need to keep things ticking over. It’s ideal for anyone with an in-person business who’s looking to establish a digital presence. But if you’re looking to grow and turn your small startup into a high-level enterprise? Weebly just doesn’t have the muscle to support you.

Plus, given that Weebly hasn’t responded to the demands of the market or made any substantial improvements in recent years, I’m not convinced that this builder is a smart choice to grow with. Your website will end up getting stuck – just as outdated as Weebly’s feature offering.

Customer Support

All customers can get in touch with Weebly 24/7 by email or through a Support Assistant on the website. Those on the Professional or Performance plans can take advantage of phone support, too, although the phone lines are only open between 6 AM and 6 PM (US Pacific Time). If you’re on the Performance plan, you’ll also benefit from priority support, too.

I tested the AI Support Assistant on Weebly’s site and was very disappointed with the experience. When I asked it how to add Instagram to my website, it didn’t understand my query, no matter how slowly I typed or how many different ways I phrased it.

I then tried selecting one of the preset options around adding content to my site, at which point the bot led me through a lengthy explanation about how to add texts and pictures to my website. Helpful, but not relevant to my query.

The Weebly Knowledge Base with a live chat with Weebly’s Support Assistant open on the right-hand side, showing an ongoing conversation. — I found Weebly’s Support Assistant to be pretty useless and very frustrating – getting an answer to my question was impossible. Source: Website Builder Expert

Exasperated with going around in circles, I selected “Contact Support” in the hopes that I would be directed to a live agent who could help with my problem. Instead, I was sent to the email page and invited to send an email. Not only does this process take much longer than it should, I still didn’t have an answer at the end.

This whole experience was very frustrating, and I was only submitting a test query. I can imagine that it would be highly inconvenient for users who are experiencing real website problems and need a solution fast.

The only upside to Weebly’s support is its Knowledge Base. When contacting support fails, this massive database of help articles is likely to have an answer for you. Unfortunately, though, it still couldn’t answer my query about how to add Instagram to my website!

Weebly Website Builder Review: Summary

In this review, I’ve covered all the key aspects of the Weebly site builder to help you decide whether it’s the right website creator for you. And the final verdict? I wouldn’t recommend it.

Although Weebly does have its pros, there aren’t many. Its designs are outdated and its customization potential is severely limited. To add to that, it isn’t mobile responsive, and its marketing tools are lacking.

The only points in Weebly’s favor are its incredibly cheap prices and its ecommerce offering. Being able to sell for free is a massive perk, particularly for businesses that are at the beginning of their journey. However, I would warn you – scaling with Weebly isn’t easy and you may find yourself outgrowing the platform before long.

The biggest rub with this website builder is that, compared to its competitors, it’s stagnated. The lack of new improvements has left it stuck in the past, unable to meet the demands of today’s digital landscape.

For small websites and businesses who want nothing more than to establish a digital footprint, Weebly is easy to use and it’ll tick off the basics with no problems. Just don’t expect too much from it because it’s sure to disappoint. If you want a website builder that has the muscle to really take your website places, we’d recommend either Wix or Squarespace instead.

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Wix vs Weebly in 2025: Discover Why Users Prefer Wix

Written by

Researched by

Updated on July 1, 2025

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Best for side hustles

Shopify Starter

$5/month (billed annually)

Sell via social media and messaging apps
Don't need a full website
Good starting point for new sellers

Limited scalability

Best for small businesses

Basic

$29/month (billed annually)

Sell unlimited products
Multichannel selling options
24/7 chat support

Most popular plan

Best for established stores

Grow

$79/month (billed annually)

5 staff accounts
Get shipping insurance
USPS discounts available

Best for large businesses

Advanced

$299/month (billed annually)

Enhanced support
Bigger checkout capacity
Custom reports and analytics

Best for industry leaders

Plus

From $2,300/month (3-year plan)

Priority 24/7 support
Unlimited staff accounts
Customizable plan

Wix and Weebly are two of the most well-known website builders to compare. According to our 2025 round of research and testing, Wix is the better platform overall and comes with the best website features on the market.

Wix vs Weebly: Quick Verdict

Wix – Best website tools for promoting your business online (Save 10% with code TAKE10)
Weebly – Lets you sell for free, but its outdated features don't support growth

Of course, Wix won’t be the perfect builder for everybody, but after monitoring the website builder industry over the past few years, it’s hard to ignore how Weebly has fallen behind its top competitors. Unlike Wix with its powerful features, Weebly is no longer updated and lacks coveted tools like AI-powered content generators and smooth mobile formatting. For that reason, Wix is the overall winner in this 2025 comparison.

I’ve recently updated this article to reflect the results of our 2025 round of website builder testing. This included adding information about new features, such as Wix’s latest AI tools, to give you the most up-to-date and accurate understanding of these two builders.

Key Takeaways 🔍

Selling is free with Weebly but costs a minimum of $29 per month with Wix
Unlike Wix, Weebly doesn’t have an AI website builder or AI content creation tools
Weebly’s editor offers only basic customization, but this may make it easier for beginners to use
Wix provides a much wider selection of payment options compared to Weebly

Wix vs Weebly: Comparison Table

Need a few pointers on Wix and Weebly’s key features? The table below will help you compare:

Which Builder Do You Recommened for My Needs?

To help you make your final decision, I’ve also listed who I recommend each platform for:

🚨 What's the deal with Weebly?

Since Square purchased Weebly in 2018, the website builder hasn’t made any new updates or improvements, and as far as I can tell, it has no plans to do so in the future. As a result, the tools and features that I’ve mentioned in this review aren’t set to develop or change. What you see now is what you’ll get – forever. This will be especially limiting for businesses that are looking to grow and scale in the future.

1. Best For Setting Up: Wix

The Winner

Wix gives you more options than Weebly during setup

With Wix, I could use AI to build my page and populate it with my business’ core details, therefore saving me time and effort. Weebly didn’t offer this when setting up. For this reason, Wix came out on top here.

I’ll start with the basics – signing up to your chosen website builder and setting up your account. Luckily, both builders take a similar approach to this and it’s a pretty straightforward one.

How Do I Set Up With Wix’s Editor?

Initially, I was given the option to tell Wix’s AI chatbot about my business and website. If you choose to input this information, it’ll be used later on to select appropriate pages for your site and populate it with relevant text.

Good to Know: If you’d rather not use the AI, that’s not a problem. You can add this information manually later on.

Wix AI setup chatbot with ongoing conversation on the left and a purple summary panel on the right. — I found Wix’s AI setup process very simple and straightforward, and I was able to skip any questions that weren’t relevant. Source: Website Builder Expert

🆕 Latest Wix AI Features

Did you know that Wix’s AI tools go beyond your website’s setup? In early 2025, Wix released new AI features to assist you at each stage of your business’ development.

For one, its AI Business Launcher tool generates different business ideas that can help you increase your revenue. Meanwhile, the Wix Astro tool is your personal AI-powered assistant that completes key tasks related to content creation and data analysis.

After this, I was then presented with two options:

Use Wix’s AI website builder to create my site
Pick a pre-made website template and edit it myself

Wix’s AI website builder is perfect if you’re short on time or not very tech-savvy. The best part is that you’ll still be able to edit elements of the site afterwards so that it’s completely yours.

If you want to see Wix’s AI builder in action, check out the full tutorial below (skip to 00:41 to get straight into the setup):

If you want more control, you can take the second option and do everything from scratch yourself. I chose this route for my test site and was invited to tell Wix about my business, after which I could choose a template from over 900 options.

The Wix “How would you like to design your website?” page, showing two options, with one button for AI creation, the other for customizing a template. — Wix gave me two different ways to build my website – using AI or doing it myself from scratch. Source: Website Builder Expert

Once I went through these initial steps, Wix took me to my dashboard. There’s a lot of information on there, and at first I worried that it might feel a bit chaotic, however, Wix uses a checklist to keep everything streamlined.

The checklist showed me a list of tasks to complete while setting up my website, the first of which was adding my domain name. You can choose to follow these prompts or use the “Design Site” button in the top right corner to dive straight into the creative stuff.

The Wix dashboard showing a dark gray menu on the far left and a setup checklist on the bulk of the page. — I was impressed that Wix used a checklist to make setting up my website less overwhelming, starting with connecting my custom domain. Source: Website Builder Expert

Want to learn more about Wix? Then see our Wix review for plenty more information.

How Do I Set Up With Weebly’s Editor?

To begin your Weebly set up, you have to create an account. After that, I was invited to enter some details about my business, which directed to a screen asking what kind of website I wanted to build.

This is where Weebly diverges from its competitor slightly. I was given the choice of building a business website with Square Online, or a personal website with Weebly.

This is because, in 2018, Weebly was purchased by Square, and ecommerce is Square’s area of expertise. So whereas Wix offers ecommerce tools as part of its overall package, Weebly splits this feature out and the platform will encourage you to jump over to Square Online.

However, don’t be fooled into thinking you have to use Square Online if you want to sell. The process can feel misleading because of Square’s agenda, but take it from me – you can still use exactly the same ecommerce tools on Weebly as you can on its parent platform. So for my test site, I went ahead and selected the “Personal Website” option.

Weebly setup page showing two options for creating a website, one the option to create a business website with Square Online and the other an option to create a personal website. — I was presented with two options for my website, which was confusing because you can still sell online with Weebly. Source: Website Builder Expert

Weebly doesn’t offer an AI builder like Wix does, which is a downside if you don’t have the time to spend hours creating a website from scratch. Instead, I was directed to the template catalog to choose a theme for my website and then straight into Weebly’s editor to start building.

Like with Wix, the first thing it will prompt you to do is connect your domain name. This will appear in a popup so you won’t have to go searching for this, which makes the process much easier and saves you time. However, if you don’t connect your domain straight away, the popup will keep appearing, which can get pretty annoying and distract you from actually building your site.

2. Best for Pricing: Weebly

The Winner

Weebly has cheaper pricing plans than Wix does

Though Wix’s broad range of features justifies its more expensive plans, Weebly comes out as the winner for value for money. Its plans are much cheaper, and it lets businesses sell for free which is a bonus that Wix can’t compete with. This makes Weebly the more attractive option for new businesses and online sellers.

Wix offers four different paid pricing plans in addition to its free plan, whereas Weebly only offers three. Below are details of the plans for each:

Wix Pricing Plans

Author’s Tip: You can save 10% on your chosen Wix plan with the code TAKE10 at checkout!

Weebly Pricing Plans

Is Wix or Weebly Better Value for Money?

At first glance, it’s clear that Weebly’s pricing is cheaper in terms of face-value spend, making it better value for money overall. Not only that, but Weebly lets you to sell for free. This is a big bonus for small businesses looking to get their online store off the ground.

Square Online’s free plan is a great way of selling online without having to spend a cent. Of course, there are some limitations, such as:

Square branding on your website
You won’t be able to sell any digital items

Screenshot of a Wix website with a Weebly ad on the bottom left corner — I couldn't ignore Weebly's ad at the corner of my test website. I suggest upgrading to a paid plan for a more professional look. Source: Website Builder Expert

Outside of ecommerce, however, Weebly struggles to hold its own against Wix’s seemingly never-ending list of features on all of its plans. Put simply, Wix has something for every single type of business. Whether you want to take hotel bookings, restaurant orders, or sell your art online, Wix covers all bases.

If you opt for one of Wix’s pricing plans instead, you’ll need to sign up for the Core plan ($29 per month) at the very least if you want to accept payments online. This will allow you to sell up to 50,000 products including digital downloads and subscriptions, as well as providing abandoned cart recovery.

Screenshot of the Wix dashboard asking user to upgrade to a premium plan to accept payments — I tried to connect payment methods to my test website, but was told to upgrade to a higher plan to start accepting payments from users. Source: Website Builder Expert

Best Value Plans

Wix’s Core Plan ($29 per month) Gives you access to ecommerce features, marketing tools, and scheduling functionality. I don’t recommend Wix’s Light plan, however, because you barely get anything for the money you pay.
Weebly’s Professional plan ($12 per month) You’ll get a free custom domain, be able to remove Square branding, enable popups, and get access to phone support.

Plus you’ll have unlimited storage, which Wix only offers on its most expensive Business Elite plan which is over 13 times more expensive than Weebly’s Professional plan.

💡 Good To Know!

Both Wix and Weebly come with large app markets, where you can improve your site’s functionality by adding third-party tools and features. However, they often come at an extra cost, on top of your website builder plan. If you’re on a budget, I recommend choosing a builder like Wix that comes with most of the tools and features you need already built-in.

3. Best Editor: Wix

The Winner

Wix has the more flexible drag-and-drop editor

Both Wix and Weebly have drag-and-drop builders that are easy to use, however, Wix’s editor allows you to move any element anywhere, whereas Weebly’s works in a row-by-row structure. While this does mean that Wix can seem a little overwhelming at first, in the long term, it delivers much greater creative freedom thanks to its more versatile customization options.

When building your website, the creative part is one of the most important bits of the process. That’s why it’s crucial that your chosen website builder has an editor that is easy to navigate and use.

Drag-and-Drop Editor

Both Wix and Weebly use drop-and-drag editors, but there are some key differences between the two.

With the Wix editor, I found I could drag any element I wanted virtually anywhere. The editor had a handy grid guideline that showed me where the edges of the webpage were so I could make sure I wasn’t cutting any images or text off, but other than that, I was free to be as creative as I wanted.

The Wix Editor showing a text box being edited. — As well as the ability to move anything wherever I wanted to, in the Wix editor, I was able to double-click an element and zoom in on it to edit just that particular section. Source: Website Builder Expert

If you’re someone who likes to work within clearly defined boundaries, however, this can be confusing and overwhelming. Quickly, your webpage might become cluttered and messy and you can easily lose the stylish aesthetic you were hoping for. If this sounds like you, you might find the Weebly editor more to your liking.

Weebly works in rows, so although I was able to move things around, I had to work within Weebly’s pre-set boundaries. If you prefer a structured approach, this did make it easier for me to keep a grip on the design. If, however, you want unlimited customization options, Wix is the better choice.

Screenshot of the Weebly editor and lines showcasing each row on the website — When I wanted to drag a new element onto the page, lines appeared on my website that indicated each row. Source: Website Builder

Because Wix can do so much and has so many tools and added extras on offer, the editor can feel pretty overwhelming at first. It’s difficult to know where everything is and how to do what you want. Because of this, I’d say it comes with a steeper learning curve than the Weebly editor.

Design Options

However, once you’ve explored and know your way around, Wix has endless creative possibilities. You can add up to 100 different pages, as well as make changes to the mobile view alongside your desktop view. The list of different elements you can add to your pages is extensive and every new section you can add comes with a variety of different layout designs.

The Wix editor with the left-hand menu open on the “Elements” tab, showing the available elements you can add to your site. — I was impressed by the huge number of elements I could add to my Wix website. Source: Website Builder Expert

In contrast, Weebly’s editor offers the basics, which makes things simple if you struggle with choice paralysis. However, this does mean you’ll find it challenging to make a website that totally reflects your brand with Weebly. For example, Wix offers different menu layouts, whereas, with Weebly, you don’t get a choice.

The Weebly editor showing a new section being added, and a section layout option box open. — When adding elements and sections to my Weebly website, the options were limited so I couldn’t do exactly what I wanted with my design. Source: Website Builder Expert

Mobile-Friendly Websites

Another drawback of Weebly’s editor is that, while you can see how your site looks on mobile, you can’t edit it in mobile view. Weebly claims that all of its templates automatically adjust to different screen sizes (which I’ll explore later on), but in terms of design, it’s frustrating not to have control.

The Weebly mobile viewer open and showing what the website would look like on mobile devices. — I found it frustrating that I couldn’t make any changes to the mobile design of my website like I could with Wix. Source: Website Builder Expert

Setting Up With AI

Finally, Weebly has yet to join the rest of the website-building world and jump on the AI website builder bandwagon. When I tested the builder, I couldn’t find any AI tools to assist in building my website.

In contrast, using Wix’s AI website builder and AI tools is heavily encouraged. As soon as I opened the Wix editor, I was greeted with a popup inviting me to let Wix create all my written content. In practice, this was very slow to load, but I like that Wix is adding tools designed to make the building process easier and faster for its users.

4. Best for Website Design: Wix

The Winner

Wix has a wider range of professional templates to choose from

Weebly pales in comparison to Wix when it comes to templates. Wix has a wider range of templates to choose from, with stylish, customizable, and mobile-responsive designs that’ll best reflect your brand online.

Wix offers over 900 templates to choose from, covering every industry from blogs and catering to beauty and wellness.

However, not all of Wix’s templates are created equal. Where some are visually stunning and very modern, others feel clunky and outdated. Despite this, I appreciate that, given how many there are and how many industries Wix caters for, there’s sure to be something for everyone.

Wix’s template page, showing six online store template examples. — With Wix, I could look through over 2,000 templates. I didn't find them all visually striking, but there’s something for every industry. Source: Website Builder Expert

Weebly, on the other hand, has a smaller selection of themes that felt plain and boring compared to Wix. and Along with limited customization in the editor, you might find it difficult to make a Weebly website that’s truly reflective of your brand.

I was disappointed to see that the themes on offer haven’t really changed much in the last five years. I’d like to see Weebly bring out some new and exciting designs, rather than sticking with the same old options.

💡 Good to know!

Wix and Weebly allow you to preview a template before you choose to start editing it. I recommend you do this to help you decide if a theme is right for your needs.

Weebly’s theme page, showing four available themes for business websites. — Weebly has a much smaller selection of templates, all of which are neat and clean but somewhat outdated and lacking the polish of Wix’s. Source: Website Builder Expert

Theme Flexibility

As well as advanced customization, it’s difficult to tailor more basic elements of Weebly’s theme’s, like its colors, since Weebly only allows you to choose between a “light” mode or a “dark mode”. This makes it a lot harder to incorporate brand-specific colors into your website design.

Wix is a lot more flexible when it comes to theme colors. It gives you full control and allows you to alter specific colors so that your palette matches and complements your brand. As a result, with Wix, it’s much easier to tailor your template so that it feels unique to you and your business.

The Wix editor with the menu open on the ‘Change Theme’ tab on the left-hand side. — Wix is more generous than Weebly when it comes to editing the base theme colors of a template, allowing me to pick a scheme that matches my business branding. Source: Website Builder Expert

Despite the superiority of Wix’s themes compared to Weebly’s, it’s worth noting that once your Wix website is live, you won’t be able to change your template to a new one without starting your website from scratch. Weebly, on the other hand, allows you to change the theme, although you will need to do a little reformatting.

Are Wix or Weebly Websites Responsive on Mobile?

Wix nails mobile-first design, allowing users to edit the mobile view of their website to ensure everything formats as it should. Weebly, on the other hand, falls down in this crucial area. Despite its claims of auto-responsiveness, its themes often reformat strangely on mobile, with blocks resizing in odd ways.

Plus, its loading speeds are lacking, too. This is a big issue, especially considering that search engines track mobile responsiveness as a ranking factor, so it could affect your SEO efforts.

5. Best for Selling Online: Wix

The Winner

Weebly's sales tools can't compete with Wix's

Though it’s a big plus that small businesses can sell for free on Weebly, I found that Wix’s ecommerce tools and features felt more substantial and professional. Its inventory system, shipping assistance, and many payment options make starting and managing an online store easy and stress-free.

Wix and Weebly are also ecommerce website builders, and you can start selling by adding a store page from the pages menu in either editor.

Adding Products

When it comes to actually adding your products to your website, Wix allows you to do this in the dashboard. In the “Products” section, I was able to enter my product details, such as its name, price, and description.

The Wix “Products page”, showing four products in a list followed by the type of product, the SKU, the price, and the inventory status. — All of my test products were displayed in a list, showing the price, SKU, and stock status. Source: Website Builder Expert

You can access the inventory feature in the dashboard, too, which helps you keep track of your stock. I was also able to set up “Back-in-Stock” notifications so that my customers are alerted when a sold-out product is once again available. I particularly like this, because it encourages potential customers to revisit your site and boosts the chances of a sale.

Shipping Options

When it comes to shipping products, Wix allows you to set shipping rules on a product-by-product basis. You can also set multiple shipping options which I thought was very useful for offering faster shipping at a higher cost, for example.

For those users on the Core plan or above, you’ll also be able to print shipping labels and connect your website to advanced shipping-specific apps to make order fulfillment that bit more efficient.

Wix Shipping section on the dashboard, showing a shipping rule for the United States. — Wix allowed me to set various shipping rules for different regions worldwide. Source: Website Builder Expert

Similarly to Wix, once I’d added my store to my Weebly website, I was prompted to input my products, but this time, I wasn’t required to leave the editor to do it. Conveniently, a popup appeared where I was able to add all the usual information, as well as specify whether each product had any variations such as color.

I also really liked that I was able to manage product SEO settings in the product popup window, adding an SEO-friendly URL, as well as setting the meta title and meta description. It made the whole process very easy and kept SEO at the forefront of my mind when adding new elements to the site.

Weebly product SEO page, with empty fields for users to populate with SEO information about their items. — I really liked that I could optimize my products for search engines as I was adding them to my website. Source: Website Builder Expert

Shipping has its own section in the Weebly dashboard, but I found reaching the dashboard from the editor unintuitive. Once I’d discovered I had to press the “X” in the top left-hand corner, this became much clearer.

Within the “Shipping” section, I was required to add my sender address before I could set out shipping rules. Weebly also offers a calculator to help you set your shipping costs, but this is only available on paid plans.

Like Wix, I was able to set up a shipping profile for different regions on the Weebly dashboard. Source: Website Builder Expert

How Can I Accept Payments With Wix or Weebly?

Wix offers a plethora of payment options, including:

Its own payment processor, Wix Payments, which handles all transactions in-house.
Over 80 third-party payment providers worldwide, including PayPal, Stripe, Square, Klarna, and Braintree. Integrating these processors is easy, too, thanks to Wix’s step-by-step instructions.

🚨 One thing I noticed during testing

I loved how easy it was to integrate Wix Payments with my store. From the “Payments” section in my dashboard, I could select how customers are able to complete their transactions, be it through payment providers like Klarna or in-person payment methods like Tap to Pay on mobile!

Holly Choules Writer

Wix’s Transaction Fees

It’s worth noting that if you use Wix Payments, you’ll be charged a standard processing fee of 2.9% + 0.30 USD. The processing fees charged by third-party processors vary depending on the provider, but Wix won’t charge you anything extra on top, which is good to know.

Weebly Payment Processor pay showing integration options for Square and Stripe. — I was able to integrate with Weebly’s limited payment processors via my dashboard. Source: Website Builder Expert

When it comes to Weebly’s payment providers you only have a choice of three: Square, Stripe, or Weebly. And if you want to use PayPal, you’ll need to be on the most expensive paid plan to do so. Given Weebly’s relationship with ecommerce specialist, Square, I’m disappointed that they don’t offer more options and this could be frustrating for any store owners currently using a different processor.

💡 Good To Know!

If you opt to accept payments through Stripe, your customers will be able to pay through Apple and Google Pay.

Weebly’s Transaction Fees

Additionally, Weebly charges a 3% transaction fee for anyone not on the most expensive Performance plan. This is quite steep compared to Wix’s fees, especially when stacked on top of extra third-party charges. I found this pretty disappointing, particularly for small businesses that are just starting out.

Keen to know more about selling on each platform? Check out our Wix Ecommerce Review or Weebly Ecommerce Review for more information.

6. Best for Marketing: Wix

The Winner

Wix's marketing tools are best for business promotion

Wix proves itself as a true all-rounder here, providing tools to help business owners at every step of their online journey. From email marketing to social media posts and top-notch SEO, Weebly just can’t compete with the level of functionality that Wix offers.

Once your website is built, marketing is the thing that brings the visitors in and keeps them coming back. So how do Wix and Weebly measure up in this vital area?

🔎SEO

In this area, Wix excels. It comes with a whole host of SEO features which are all designed to give your website the best chance in the search engine results pages (SERPs). It offers:

A comprehensive SEO checklist to get you started
Wix SEO assistant that regularly reviews your website to check for any issues.
Integrations with Google Search Console to track your site’s performance in real time.

Wix SEO settings page with various tools to help prepare websites for search engines, including an SEO assistant and SEO checklist. — Wix’s SEO offering is great, and I felt really supported in preparing my website for search engines. Source: Website Builder Expert

I struggled to find Weebly’s SEO settings at first, which was surprising considering it made it so easy to set my product SEO in my online store. After I finally located it in the “Pages” section, I found it lacking. There were no helpful SEO checklists or guides, and I didn’t feel it was very beginner-friendly.

📨Email Marketing

Weebly and Wix both offer an email marketing service, with Wix offering 200 emails for free, with the option to unlock more if you upgrade to a paid plan. There are three plans available, starting at $10 per month.

In comparison, Weebly’s email marketing service, Weebly Promote, only allows you to send two email campaigns before subscribing, with plans starting at $8 per month. Despite this, Weebly’s email editor is very easy to use, with a layout that’s similar to the website editor, so users shouldn’t have any issues navigating it.

📲Social Media

Wix has strong social media marketing tools, allowing me to:

Create social media posts
Track content performance
Access Wix Creator, Vimeo, or Adobe Express for content creation

This is great news for businesses with a solid social media strategy. Weebly doesn’t offer anything like this, limiting its social media integration to simple homepage icons.

How We Test Website Builders

When comparing Wix and Weebly in this article, I made use of our 2025 round of in-house website builder research to offer you accurate recommendations throughout. For transparency, this research included over 300 hours of data collection spread across 207 areas of investigation.

I assessed each platform according to six key criteria that reflect what small businesses are looking for in a builder. This criteria was weighted based on its importance, which I’ve listed below:

Website functionality – 30%
Design features – 25%
User experience – 15%
Pricing – 15%
Help and support – 10%
Reputation – 5%

I’ve also shared my experiences from hands-on testing in this article. Testing provided me with the opportunity to get up close and personal with each platform, allowing me to offer you further insights that can better help you make an informed decision for your business.

Wix vs Weebly: Summary

That rounds up my comparison of Wix and Weebly! I’ve examined the key areas, and although both builders have plenty to offer, Wix comes out on top. This is thanks to the many tools and features it comes with that can help you promote your business online, as well as how easy it is to build and customize a website that truly reflects your branding.

Unfortunately, because Weebly is no longer updated regularly, it’s difficult to recommend it to you over Wix. However, it’s still your best bet if you’d like to set up a store and sell for free, or if you only require basic tools to create a simple, informational website for your business.

🤔 Curious about other platforms on the market? Read about our five top picks with our list of the best website builders.

If you’re still unsure about which website builder is for you, why not take our online quiz to receive a personalized recommendation that’s tailored to your specific needs?

What type of website do you want to create?

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I Compare Wix vs WordPress: Which Is Best for Your Website in 2025?

Written by

Researched by

Updated on July 1, 2025

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Best for side hustles

Shopify Starter

$5/month (billed annually)

Sell via social media and messaging apps
Don't need a full website
Good starting point for new sellers

Limited scalability

Best for small businesses

Basic

$29/month (billed annually)

Sell unlimited products
Multichannel selling options
24/7 chat support

Most popular plan

Best for established stores

Grow

$79/month (billed annually)

5 staff accounts
Get shipping insurance
USPS discounts available

Best for large businesses

Advanced

$299/month (billed annually)

Enhanced support
Bigger checkout capacity
Custom reports and analytics

Best for industry leaders

Plus

From $2,300/month (3-year plan)

Priority 24/7 support
Unlimited staff accounts
Customizable plan

Either Wix or WordPress could be a suitable option for your next website, but how do these two website builders compare?

Wix vs WordPress: Which Is Right For You?

Wix – Best for beginners looking for all-in-one website management
WordPress – Best for experienced users who want more control over their website

Wix is recommended for easy website management, since it gives you access to all the features you need to run a functional website, from generative AI tools to email marketing. But for more control over your website, WordPress may be a better fit. On its CMS, you can use code or additional apps to shape your website how you want to.

To find out which platform is right for you based on your unique needs, keep reading. I’ll compare all-important details, such as website features, ecommerce, total costs, and more.

Key Takeaways🔍

To make a website with Wix’s website builder, you need to subscribe to an all-in-one plan
WordPress’ pricing is flexible since you need to source domain, hosting, plugins, and themes yourself
Wix’s drag-and-drop editor makes it more beginner-friendly than WordPress’
Integrating apps with Wix and WordPress will improve your website’s functionality
You can sell on Wix automatically, whereas WordPress requires the free WooCommerce plugin

I’ve updated this article to better reflect the results of our 2025 round of website builder research and testing. For example, I’ve added new first-hand insights that we discovered in our testing, fact-checked important details like pricing and the number of templates available, and included platform updates from Wix and WordPress that you should know about. These additional details are to help you choose a website builder tailored to your needs.

This article covers WordPress.org, which is a content management system (CMS) used to build and manage websites. This differs from the website builder WordPress.com, which is similar to Wix in the creation capabilities it offers. It’s more streamlined than its CMS counterpart and provides more structure if you’re less tech-savvy, but it’s not as powerful as WordPress.org.

A Quick Comparison of Wix vs WordPress

For an overview of Wix and WordPress’ key features, below is a quick comparison you can refer to:

When To Use Use Wix or WordPress

Need a quick snapshot of both platforms? Here are the key differences between them:

💡 Use Wix If:

You want to set up quickly – Wix’s intuitive drag-and-drop editor and pre-built templates can help you set up with ease
You want a range of built-in features – Wix’s dashboard has the best website features on the market, from bookings integrations to an SEO checklist
You want access to AI tools – Unlike WordPress, Wix has impressive AI functionality, including its AI chatbox website builder and AI text and photo generator
You’d rather stick to a recurring payment plan – Wix has four key plans to choose from, ranging from $17 to $159 per month (billed annually)

💡 Use WordPress If:

You already have experience creating websites – With WordPress, technical expertise is key since you’ll need to edit website code in the backend
You want more control over your website’s design and functionality – You’ll have to source themes and additional features yourself, giving you free rein to make your website your own
You want more control over your website’s costs – Because WordPress doesn’t offer hosting, domains, themes, and plugins in pre-built packages, you’ll need to source these aspects of your website yourself and find the best prices
You plan to create a complex, content-heavy site – WordPress is a content management system, which means it’s great at storing, organizing, and presenting a huge amount of content at once

1. Best for Pricing: It's a Tie

The Winner

Wix and WordPress’ pricing is a tie

Because Wix is a website builder and WordPress is a CMS, the pricing model of each platform is very different. Wix is best if you want to pay for an all-in-one plan that already comes with the features you need, while WordPress is best if you want more control over particular website costs, such as website hosting or domains.

Before you create your website, we must ask the age-old question: how much will it all cost? Let’s take WordPress for starters.

How Much Does WordPress Cost?

WordPress’ CMS is free to install, though additional costs will come from domains, a website hosting plan, paid themes, and plugins available from third-party sources. You’ll be in charge of researching and purchasing these yourself.

Costs vary depending on the third-party providers you buy from, but here’s a rough estimate based on average costs:

Based on the above, WordPress is a solid choice if you want flexible pricing that isn’t limited by an all-in-one plan, and you would rather look for the best third-party deals yourself.

💡 Top Tip!

To cut down on WordPress hosting costs, it’s worth looking for a reputable website host that also includes a domain in its price plans. I recommended Bluehost for this, since its plans start from $1.99 per year (billed annually) and offer secure hosting, an SSL certificate, and a free domain for your first year.

Screenshot of BlueHost's dashboard with multiple tabs like security and backups. — Once I'd installed Bluehost, its dashboard gave me access to key aspects of my website, from security to its speed. Source: Website Builder Expert

💰 Want more advice on pricing? Check out our WordPress pricing guide for further details

How Much Does Wix Cost?

Wix’s pricing plans cost between $17 and $159 per year (billed annually). The plans come with all the built-in features you need to set up your website, including a free domain name for your first year, website hosting, and over 2000 website designs to choose from.

You can also get 10% off your purchase by using the code “TAKE10” at checkout.

This table outlines each plan for you:

Because Wix’s plans are all-in-one, the builder is fantastic value for money due to the sheer number of features included. If you use WordPress instead, you might need to source these additional features yourself, which could increase your total costs.

💡 Good to know!

Wix does offer a free website builder plan, providing a brilliant way to test out the platform before going premium. I don’t recommend using the free plan forever, though, because your website will come with Wix ads and a Wix domain that looks unprofessional to visitors.

💰 Need more pricing plan details? Refer to our guide to Wix’s pricing, which explains them in more detail

2. Best for Setting Up: Wix

The Winner

Wix's set up times are speedier than WordPress'

Wix is the best platform if you want to set up fast. The intuitive editor, useful AI features, and arrangeable page elements means that creating a professional page is easier than you think.

Out of the two, Wix is best for beginners because it’s one of the easiest website builders to use and helps you set up your page in a few hours.

Setting Up With Wix

Wix’s intuitive drag-and-drop editor is simple to create your site with, since it lets you move elements – like images and social bars – across your website with ease, and restore older versions of your website via the site history tab if you make a mistake.

Additionally, you can make use of various AI tools to speed up website creation. Wix has expanded its suite of tools in the past few years, and it now includes:

Wix AI website generator: its chatbot website builder that uses a series of prompts to help you build your website from scratch
AI text generator: generates text in different lengths and tones of voice
AI image generator: generates images from a prompt in different visual styles

Wix website in the editor, for a professional writing service — This was the website Wix AI generated for me. I was impressed by the layout, text, and website features it created. Source: Website Builder Expert.

WordPress doesn’t have built-in AI features like Wix, so you’ll have to look for AI plugins yourself and install them on your website.

🤖 Wix's Latest AI Feature

In July 2025, Wix started rolling out an AI Visibility Overview feature. This enables you to check your website’s visibility across AI search engines, including Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity. You can see how often your website is cited in AI-generated responses and compare your visibility to your competitors.

Setting Up With WordPress

In contrast, setting up a website with WordPress will take you more time. You’ll need to download and install its CMS first, and then look for additional features you might need, like plugins. However, you do have the option of finding a website host that offers one-click or auto installation for WordPress (Bluehost is a good example).

While coding knowledge is useful when working with WordPress, you also don’t necessarily need it to set up your website.

WordPress plugins like Elementor (from $9.99 per month) and Visual Composer (from $49 to $349 per year), will give you access to accessible, drag-and-drop editors like the ones found on website builders.

Elementor website — During my research, I came across Elementor’s WordPress plugin. It made the process look so easy and I no longer had to worry about coding or other technical skills. Source: Website Builder Expert.

Which Platform Is Easiest To Set Up Overall?

Based on these key points about WordPress, I would stick with Wix if you’re looking for the easiest experience and speedy set up times.

However, the more you put into your WordPress website, the more you’ll get back. If you take the time to study the platform and how it works, you could end up with a site that’s better customized to your unique needs.

3. Best for Design Features: Wix

The Winner

Wix has better industry-specific templates for businesses

From Wix’s 2000+ templates, you’ll find an eye-catching design fit for your ideal website, be it an ecommerce store selling to pet owners, a beauty blog, or an events page for your wedding.

To create a homepage design that wows website visitors, I recommend Wix.

The platform comes with over 2000 free templates to choose from, split into five distinct categories: business and services, store, creative, community, and blog. Whether you want to sell your services online or set up a blog in your niche, you’re bound to find a design that suits your unique business model.

Three Wix template results in the template library for "Personal Blog" filter — After heading onto Wix’s template page, I found plenty of attractive designs to choose from, spanning online stores, blogs, and events pages – a great starting point for my site! Source: Website Builder Expert.

But there is one catch: you can’t switch between template designs once you’ve picked one. If you change your mind once your website is live, you’re not allowed to migrate to a new design, so pick carefully.

🚨 One thing I noticed during testing

When I tested the platform, I was overwhelmed by the number of templates available, so take your time when making your choice. You can use Wix’s filters to narrow down your options, or click on the “Edit” button to play around with each design before deciding. Does the template have the right design features for your website? Or is anything important missing?

Holly Choules Writer

🤔 To avoid confusion… templates and themes both refer to your website’s design. Wix calls them templates, while WordPress calls them themes.

With WordPress, you’ll find thousands of free and paid themes for your website and, unlike Wix, you can also switch between themes on your live website. If you’re comfortable with code, it’s possible to customize these themes further by editing the theme’s code directly.

However, it’s best to stick with one of the official WordPress themes when creating your design. If you download from an external source, it needs to have secure coding that won’t leave your website vulnerable to a data breach – nobody wants a compromised website.

Three themes in the WordPress theme library — With 1000s of themes on offer, I needed a lot of free time to sift through them all. I did, however, find some beautiful templates along the way. Source: Website Builder Expert.

🎨 Latest WordPress Design Update

For WordPress’ April 2025 update, it updated its “Style Book” to make it easier for you to tweak your website’s look. Under the “Appearance” tab, you can edit your website’s colors and typography in one place and preview your most recent changes.

4. Best for Key Features: Wix

The Winner

Wix has the most advanced features to help your business grow online

From its in-depth scheduling tool to a bustling app market, Wix’s key features make it easy to create, manage, and grow your website. Setting up these features won’t be difficult either, since they’re all built into the website builder.

During our hands-on testing, I was blown away by Wix’s high-quality features that were more comprehensive than the other builders I tried. Though you can also access additional functionality on WordPress, it depends on which plugins you opt for—and the quality does vary between them.

Let’s compare both platform’s features below:

Sales Features

To make money from your website, you’ll need a platform with ecommerce capabilities, like Wix. In three of Wix’s paid plans, priced between $29–$159 per month (billed annually), you’ll receive a range of sales features that are ideal for small businesses.

Wix’s Selling Features

Listed below are some of Wix’s best built-in ecommerce features:

Create abandoned cart emails
Create store discounts and coupons to offer shoppers
Send back in stock notifications to customers
Integrate your store with online marketplaces and social channels
Set up Point of Sale for in-person transactions

Wix editor in action editing a produt page — At a click of a button, I was able to load a store into my pre-existing website. The store template was appealing to the eye and maintained the color scheme of my current design. Source: Website Builder Expert.

Despite the number of sales features available, Wix isn’t optimal for larger stores. To dramatically scale up your store, I recommend Shopify instead, since its management tools are better at accommodating large ecommerce inventories.

🛒 Want a detailed look at Wix’s sales capabilities? Refer to our guide to Wix ecommerce

WordPress’ Selling Features

In contrast, selling on WordPress takes a little more work.

You’ll need to download a plugin first that allows you to sell products and services on your website, the most popular, free ecommerce plugin being WooCommerce. This platform will provide you with essential sales features for your store, such as:

Order management tools
Optimized sales page designs
Secure payment methods like WooPay, Apple Pay, and Google Pay
WooCommerce Sales App for taking in-person payments
Integrations with online marketplaces and social media

Though WooCommerce takes longer to set up, you’ll have the advantage of being able to customize your store how you see fit through hosting, domains, ecommerce themes, and plugins – giving you complete control over your store.

Plugin page for WooCommerce showing description, version, and download button — Installing WooCommerce does add an extra step to creating your online store, but they do make it easy for you. It doesn’t take long to connect the plugin with your WordPress site. Source: Website Builder Expert.

Scheduling Tools

Need to sell a service online? You should know about Wix’s integrated bookings tool, Wix Bookings. This feature is most suitable for small business websites and creatives who need to set up appointments or meetings while selling services online.

You can accept bookings through your website on the Core plan and above, which will enable you to:

Offer services
Manage your clients
Accept card payments from clients
Sync your personal calendar to let clients know when you’re available
Send clients SMS messages

Wix Bookings in action in the editor, with "Settings" and "Manage Services" buttons visible — After installing the Wix Bookings, I had new elements I could add to my website. As an example, I added this calendar on my landing page where clients can book appointments. Source: Website Builder Expert.

🚨 One thing I noticed during testing

During hands-on testing, I was impressed by the huge number of features Wix Bookings has. I recommend making use of the tool’s SMS feature, since you can set up automations that’ll send out your messages under certain conditions. For instance, you could request payment after a session, or thank clients who’ve attended one.

Holly Choules Writer

But is there a scheduling tool for WordPress? Yes, if you’ve found the right plugin for it that is. One of the best extensions on the market that I’d recommend is Bookly. With this plugin— that has a free and paid version for $33—you can also schedule and book appointments.

WordPress plugin page for Bookly — When looking for a WordPress scheduling alternative, I came across Bookly. I liked that they had a booking automation as well as responsive layouts for desktop and mobile. Source: Website Builder Expert.

App Store

Wix and WordPress allow you to add plugins to your website, but which platform has the better offering?

WordPress is an open source platform that anyone can create features for, so you’ll find thousands of WordPress plugins, from technical SEO extensions to all-in-one security packages. With these plugins, you can make sure that your website has the exact features you need.

Four popular plugins showign in the WordPress plugin directory — WordPress’ plugin selection did seem like a lot to take in at first, but I was able to find a selection of reputable plugins from its store. Source: Website Builder Expert

But don’t go and download a bunch of WordPress plugins just yet, since you’ll need to vet them beforehand. Read through customer reviews and carefully check the creator’s reputation. If you run an outdated plugin with malicious code on your website, hackers will have a much easier time accessing your website data.

If you’re using Wix, you can download over 800 apps from the App Market. Unlike WordPress, all of the apps are already approved by Wix and are compatible with its websites, so you won’t have to worry about the safety of each app. Installation is also simple and typically takes one click.

Wix editor showing a progress bar for installing the Wix Chat app to a site — Installing an app to my Wix website was simple. After clicking the install button from the app store, I was taken to my site for a quick installation. Source: Website Builder Expert.

Website Security

For the best website security, I recommend Wix over WordPress. It comes with key security features, including secure customer login areas, SSL certificates, two-step verification, and fraud prevention through security specialist Forter.

Because WordPress is a self-hosted platform, security is placed in the hands of its users instead. For this reason, I don’t recommend WordPress for beginners. Using a poor host or downloading sketchy plugins could leave your website vulnerable to attack.

However, this doesn’t mean that WordPress is devoid of security features. Since the CMS houses millions of websites, its core software is adept at spotting common security vulnerabilities. Additionally, the WordPress Security Team works alongside security researchers and hosting companies to uphold user safety.

5. Best for Marketing: It's a Tie

The Winner

WordPress and Wix’s marketing features are a tie

Though WordPress and Wix’s marketing features differ, their quality is consistent. Wix’s built-in email tools will help you develop a reliable marketing strategy through newsletters, while WordPress’ brilliant blogging platform and SEO foundations makes it well-suited to content creation that’s optimized for search.

To spread word of your business online, you’ll need to put on your marketing caps and create a strategy consisting of SEO, email marketing campaigns, social media, and potentially a blogging platform, too. I’ve compared Wix and WordPress’ marketing capabilities below:

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

WordPress is an SEO-friendly platform and gives your website a head start when it comes to showing up on search engines.

Though WordPress gives you more control over your SEO, you do need to know what you’re doing for it to be effective. This could mean downloading SEO plugins like Yoast ($99 per year), optimizing website speeds, and crafting SEO-friendly URLs to make sure that your website can reach its full potential on search results.

WordPress editor with Yoast SEO installed — When writing up my blog post on WordPress, the Yoast SEO was useful at spotting key things I had missed out. It was useful to know that I’d missed a targeted keyword in the introduction. Source: Website Builder Expert.

On the other hand, all of Wix’s SEO features are already baked into its website builder. During hands-on testing, I was impressed by the number of SEO tools available, which cover key SEO basics like optimized meta descriptions and keyword support. Key tools include:

Alternative text for website accessibility
Google Analytics and Google Search Console integration
Semrush integration
Mobile-friendly pages
Schema mark up to appear in Google search snippets
301 redirects

Unfamiliar with some of the above terms? If you’re new to website building and have limited knowledge in this area, Wix will guide you through each step of the process with its dedicated SEO checklist from the dashboard.

Wix SEO setup checklist in the Wix dashboard backend — When looking through Wix’s SEO offerings, I came across a handy SEO setup checklist that takes you through the entire process. It spots issues, offers recommendations, and even tallies up your completed tasks. Source: Website Builder Expert

Email Marketing

A standout feature from Wix is its free, built-in email marketing tool. With it, you can create and edit your own professional emails, implement automations to streamline the process, and track advanced email analytics.

During our 2025 testing period, I tried out Wix’s AI email generator. The AI asked me to fill out important information, like the intent of the email and what it should contain, and then generated a template for me.

Results were mixed. Though I was happy with the quality of the email campaign copy it created, the images generated weren’t relevant to my niche, so you’d still have to replace them yourself before sending.

An email marketing template with photos and text copy the AI generator had created — The AI email generator also let me select my email’s length and tone of voice. Source: Website Builder Expert

Because WordPress doesn’t have a built-in email marketing tool, you’ll need to find a suitable WordPress plugin. Its plugins store has a range of options, including MailPoet, GroundHogg, and MailChimp, that will all help you create eye-catching email campaigns to generate clicks and conversions.

Blogging

WordPress started out as a powerful CMS specializing in blog content. Because of this, your blog will be able to handle large amounts of content, allowing you to write numerous posts and showcase your personal brand or expertise online.

These are just a few of WordPress’ key blogging features:

Built-in commenting capabilities between other WordPress users
Multiple user accounts for bloggers
Solid blog SEO
Post archiving
Private or password protected posts
Featured images and post thumbnails
Backdating

Wix’s blog features aren’t as extensive, though it does provide essentials such as categories, post scheduling, writer profiles, social media sharing, and a selection of free media to make your posts more visually appealing.

6. Best for Customer Support: Wix

The Winner

Wix offers more dependable customer support than WordPress

Wix is the best platform if you want speedy solutions to your problems via phone or live chat. Its wealth of learning resources makes it a suitable platform for beginners that want to pick up new skills, too.

For support during the website building process, Wix has a few customer service options to choose from. For instance, you can contact its staff via phone or live chat, but not email.

Alongside Wix’s customer support, you’ll find additional resources from the Wix Help Center, or by hopping onto its community forums to find help from fellow users.

Wi chat support in action between Holly and Wix support — I needed help connecting an existing domain to my Wix site, so I went through Wix’s live chat to help me get set up. Source: Website Builder Expert.

Meanwhile, finding help and support for WordPress can be stressful. There are no direct support lines, and you’ll have to sift through the large amount of resources available on the internet; many of them featuring outdated information.

Also, since most plugins and themes come from external providers, you’ll need to track down their respective help and support services to be seen too.

Despite this flaw, WordPress is known for its active community of users who are familiar with the platform. From the global support forums, you can ask the community for help on all manner of WordPress related issues.

WordPress commuity forum showing support posts — After encountering an issue after setting up my WordPress website, I headed to the community forums for answers. Source: Website Builder Expert.

How Do I Choose Between Wix and WordPress?

Still not sure whether Wix or WordPress is the right fit for you? I’m here to help. Before you come to a decision, it’s important to think about the key features you’re looking for in a website builder. I’ve listed a few pointers for you to start with:

Will it help me establish my online presence?

Stylish templates that reflect brand identity
Social media integration
SEO tools for visibility

Does the platform have strong blogging capabilities?

Strong content management
Eye-catching blogging templates
Sharing buttons
Blog monetization
Commenting

Can I sell products and services?

Inventory management
Payment methods
Varied shipping options
Scheduling tools to set up meetings with for clients

Will it allow for quick and easy set up?

Easy-to-use editor
Pre-built templates
24/7 customer service
Resource center

Are there extra costs that will build up over time?

Price plans that have the key features you’re looking for
Free themes
Free extensions
Provided hosting and domains

How We Tested Wix vs WordPress

To compare Wix and WordPress, I applied our rigorous website builder research for 2025, which investigated six key criteria. These are weighted based on importance, reflecting what businesses are most concerned about when choosing a platform:

Website functionality: 30%
Design features: 25%
Pricing: 15%
User experience: 15%
Help & support: 10%
Reputation: 5%

For instance, the “website functionality” criteria is most important, and covers key builder features like blogging and AI. When writing this article, I made sure to include a range of features from both Wix and WordPress, so you can better identify the platform that will best satisfy your needs.

During this period, I also tested out each platform myself, using my findings to add informed, first-person insights to this article.

My Summary of the Wix vs WordPress Debate

After testing Wix and WordPress, I can confidently say that Wix is the best website builder overall. Its built-in features will help you manage your website effectively, while its simple-to-use editor means you can set up fast.

However, this doesn’t mean that Wix will be the best fit for your needs. Based on what we’ve covered, here’s a summary of both platforms and what they can offer your business:

Wix is most suitable for beginners that want to set up and establish their online presence fast. Its built-in features, such as its marketing suite and intuitive editor, also contributes to easy website management.
WordPress is more suitable for businesses that have a bit more tech experience and want extra control over their website’s functionality. You can choose your own host, plugins, and themes, while adding additional website code where necessary.

🆘 Still not sure what platform is right for you? Refer to our guide to the best website builders of 2025

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My BigCommerce Review for 2025: I Look at Features, Pricing, and More

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Updated on July 1, 2025

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Best for side hustles

Shopify Starter

$5/month (billed annually)

Sell via social media and messaging apps
Don't need a full website
Good starting point for new sellers

Limited scalability

Best for small businesses

Basic

$29/month (billed annually)

Sell unlimited products
Multichannel selling options
24/7 chat support

Most popular plan

Best for established stores

Grow

$79/month (billed annually)

5 staff accounts
Get shipping insurance
USPS discounts available

Best for large businesses

Advanced

$299/month (billed annually)

Enhanced support
Bigger checkout capacity
Custom reports and analytics

Best for industry leaders

Plus

From $2,300/month (3-year plan)

Priority 24/7 support
Unlimited staff accounts
Customizable plan

Need an ecommerce website builder to scale your store with? You might want to consider BigCommerce. The platform is home to robust sales features that enable you to ship worldwide, alongside advanced SEO tools and streamlined multi-channel integration.

But is it truly the right fit for your store? Based on our in-house testing, I’ve thoroughly reviewed the platform to show how it measures up in terms of pricing, design functionality, help and support, and more – find out below.

BigCommerce Review: At a Glance

For a quick rundown of BigCommerce, I’ve put together its key pros and cons, alongside a summary of why the platform could be a suitable or incompatible fit for your business. Take a close look at these pointers to help you decide:

Pros

No additional transaction fees on all plans (unlike Shopify)
Strong sales features ideal for scaling stores
Smooth multi-channel integration across socials and marketplaces
Strong SEO support for organic growth, including custom URLs and alternative text

Cons

Set up could be better. In our testing, users found some features difficult to locate and/or understand
Website design customization can be limited, especially with content placement
BigCommerce’s AI tools aren’t as complex as other builders like Shopify, though the platform is trying to catch up, like with its app creating AI-generated product descriptions

BigCommerce is great for…

New, ambitious ecommerce stores. BigCommerce is super scalable – while plans start at just $29, the top plans are capable of supporting the likes of Ben and Jerry’s, Toyota, and Kodak.
Stores which sell through other platforms (e.g. Instagram, Etsy, eBay) as well as through your own store. If you already have a strong presence on other platforms, BigCommerce is a natural choice.
Well-established ecommerce stores which have outgrown their current platform. As above – you won’t outgrow BigCommerce, and it also has a range of helpful tools and guides for a smooth migration.

I wouldn’t recommend BigCommerce for…

Small-scale selling. If you just have a few products to sell, there’s no problem with using BigCommerce, but you’ll be sacrificing ease of use for features you won’t be getting the most out of (kind of like why you wouldn’t carve a turkey with a chainsaw). Try Wix instead.
A quick/easy setup. If this is a priority for you, check out Shopify instead – it was better-rated in user testing, but you will incur additional transaction fees (unless you use Shopify Payments as your payment gateway).

1. BigCommerce's Pricing

BigCommerce’s pricing is split into three main plans, alongside an Enterprise plan with custom costs based on your business’ needs.

Unlike other ecommerce platforms, the plan your on will also depend on your annual sales volume, which is based on the number of eligible orders you’ve processed in the last 12 months (tax included).

For example, if you’re on the Standard plan and have made over $50k in the past 12 months, you’ll be automatically upgraded to the Plus plan. I’ve listed each plan’s costs and the different sales volumes below for reference:

You can, however, upgrade to a higher plan than your revenue bracket to access more features. I’ll now break down each plan and what’s included in more detail, which will help you understand whether this would be worthwhile.

Three words: Abandoned. Cart. Recovery. The average cart abandonment rate across all industries is around 70%, and tailored, automated abandoned cart emails are a proven and powerful way to recoup some of this lost potential. The Plus plan comes with this feature, but the Standard plan doesn’t.

BigCommerce Pricing vs Competitor Pricing

BigCommerce’s pricing lines up pretty evenly with Shopify’s pricing, which also has plans costing $29 per month, $79 per month, and $299 per month. But BigCommerce’s lack of transaction fees gives it a real edge in terms of overall cost:

Annual Cost of Using Shopify

* It’s worth noting that you can avoid these extra Shopify fees by using Shopify Payments, but this wouldn’t typically be most merchants’ first choice (as it won’t be as well-known for customers).

Annual Cost of Using BigCommerce

This is an approximation (there are some other considerations, which I’ll expand on below), but it just goes to show the huge impact that transaction fees can have, which is easy to overlook.

Are There Any Additional Payment Fees?

BigCommerce itself doesn’t charge any payment fees, but you will incur the usual credit charges from the payment gateways you’re using (this is true of all ecommerce platforms). Typically, this can be between 2-3% taken from each sale.

For example, if you take online payments with PayPal, the platform offers special payment processing fee rates for BigCommerce users:

Standard plan – 2.59% + $0.49 per debit/credit card transaction
Plus plan – 2.35% + $0.49 per debit/credit card transaction
Pro plan – 2.35% + $0.49 per debit/credit card transaction

Yes, there are! You may want to spend money on:

A theme – $0-$300 (one-off payment)
Additional apps – $0-$350 per month (most paid apps are in the $3-$20 per month bracket)

2. My Experience With BigCommerce

I could sign up to BigCommerce’s free trial without needing to fill in my credit card details. The length of the free trial, which lasts 15-days in total, is impressive, with other platforms like Shopify only offering a three-day trial. This gave me plenty of time to test out the builder and explore its features.

When filling in the sign up form, I entered key details (like my name and contact number), as well as the name of my business, my revenue, and where my store would be located.

After clicking “Create your store” and confirming my email address, I could access the BigCommerce dashboard (which is referred to as your control panel).

At first, I saw a checklist that told me the steps I needed to take to get started, from adding my first products to setting up shipping, payments, and tax rates. This is a useful feature, since it can help you stay on track when building your store, and ensure that you don’t miss out on any important steps.

Screenshot of the BigCommerce dashboard showing users the steps to follow to set up — The dashboard also helped me set up other key website features, like SMS and email marketing. Source: Website Builder Expert

How I Added Products

When you start with BigCommerce, I recommend adding your products first before jumping onto your website’s design, since these items will make up the foundation of your store.

To begin, I clicked on the “Add products” button from the dashboard and was redirected to create my first optimized product page. Without much trouble, I made my way through the page and added key details about my first product, such as its:

Product name
SKU
Default price (including tax)
Product type (physical or digital)
Product category
Product description
Images or videos

Screenshot of Bigcommerce's product listing page with the addition of image alt text — I could SEO-optimize my listings by adding alt text to images and scrolling down to add a meta title and meta description for search. Source: Website Builder Expert

In 2023, BigCommerce launched AI-ecommerce tools in a partnership with Google Cloud. As a result, I could also download the free Big AI Copywriter tool from the marketplace, which AI-generates product descriptions.

I installed the app, went onto one of my product listings, and clicked on the “three dots” symbol above where I could add my description. After deciding on a specific tone of voice and word limit, the app then created SEO-optimized text for me.

Screenshot of AI generated text from BigCommerce's product listing backend — The tool generated clear text for me with great white space and bullet points for readability. Source: Website Builder Expert

Top Tip: If you use this AI tool, remember to edit the generated text for accuracy. Additionally, Google penalizes content that is entirely AI-generated, so don’t rely on this tool either.

How I Customized My Store

After uploading some products to my store, I wanted to test BigCommerce’s website editor and customize my store’s design. I selected “Customize theme” from the dashboard to enter the editor.

According to our testing, BigCommerce didn’t score as highly as competitors like Shopify when it came to how easy it was to use. For instance, Shopify’s section-based website editor is straightforward to use, in that you can easily stack different sections of a page on top of each other.

However, BigCommerce’s editor is still fairly straightforward, with many of the key features you’ll need being accessible from the left-hand sidebar.

Screenshot of BigCommerce's website editor with tools for customization — Though the editor's features were a little overwhelming at first, I could make my way through the navigation bar to get to grips with it fast. Source: Website Builder Expert

A few things I could tweak from the navigation bar included:

My website’s style, which allowed me to tweak its overall design
The header and footer design
My homepage’s color palette
The appearance of buttons and icons

To add new content to my website, I clicked on the “Widgets” icon, which enabled me to drag and drop different elements onto the page, be it text, imagery, a hero banner, or call to action buttons.

Though these elements were easy to drag onto the page, I couldn’t add them anywhere I wanted. Instead, I could only drag them onto specific areas that were highlighted in blue. This felt quite limiting, since it restricted the number of ways that I could edit my website’s layout.

Screenshot of BigCommerce's Editor with a blue cta button added to the website design — I could drag this button onto one of my pages, but I couldn't add it underneath the text where I wanted it to be. Source: Website Builder Expert

Additionally, there were some parts of my website’s content that I couldn’t change directly from the editor, which didn’t feel intuitive.

For instance, to edit the default text on the “Shippings & Returns” page, I had to leave the editor and go back to my dashboard. I then had to:

Click on “Storefront”
Select “Web pages”
Tap on the correct page

After all of this, I could finally edit the text that was on the page. It’s a frustrating experience, and it would make a bit more sense if I could change it directly from the website editor instead.

Screenshot of the BigCommerce backend where you can edit the Shipping and Returns policy text — From the backend, I could finally edit the default text on shipping and returns, which did feel like a longwinded process, especially if you only need to make a small tweak. Source: Website Builder Expert

3. BigCommerce's Themes

If you want to change store’s your default theme, you can look for one on BigCommerce’s Marketplace. I could access this from under the “Storefront” tab on the dashboard.

At the time of writing, there are over 100 BigCommerce themes on offer, but only 12 free themes to choose from if you’re on a budget. Paid themes can range from $100-$400, though you’ll only need to make a one-time purchase to secure one.

Screenshot of BigCommerce's template marketplace with filtered fashion and jewelry templates — From the marketplace, I could filter templates via category. This included fashion and jewelry, arts and crafts, and animals and pets. Source: Website Builder Expert

I found that the quality of the themes really vary depending on the industry they are categorized under. For instance, some of the themes in “Fashion & jewelry” had a product zoom feature, while other categories didn’t.

When I clicked on a template, I was able to view a list of features that are included. I recommend researching and comparing each template thoroughly, so you can find one that best fits your store’s needs and has the exact features you’re looking for.

When deciding on a design, I could preview a theme or view its demo website beforehand. Additionally, I could switch my template any time I liked – a useful option if you change your mind, or ever want to take your store’s aesthetic into a different direction.

Screenshot of a demo website homepage of one of BigCommerce's pet industry templates — I enjoyed looking through the demo website for this theme, since it gave me a better idea of what my new store might look like in action. Source: Website Builder Expert

Most BigCommerce themes are fully mobile responsive, which will make sure that your website visitors have a seamless user experience on mobile devices. In fact, with 74% of users more likely to return to a mobile-friendly website, this is an essential feature to have!

However, be aware that you can’t edit your mobile layout directly from the editor, because the theme automatically reformats to fit mobile screens. Though this is handy if you’re a beginner, or don’t want to worry about tweaking your mobile design yourself, it could be a problem if you’d like slightly more control over how your website looks. Keep that in mind!

4. BigCommerce's Sales Features

As you build your online store, you’ll also have a strong range of BigCommerce’s built-in sales features to work with, spanning payments, abandoned carts, shipping, and more. I’ll explore these features in more detail below:

Abandoned Cart Recovery

With BigCommerce, you can send automated abandoned cart recovery emails to shoppers who have left their items in the shopping cart at checkout. You can even personalize these emails and include discount codes, which is another way to entice customers to follow through with a purchase.

On average, these emails win back 12-15% of customers according to BigCommerce, while personalized emails are six times more effective than regular ones.

The only downside is that this feature isn’t provided on BigCommerce’s cheapest plan (whereas it is on Shopify’s cheapest plan). As you can see, it’s a really valuable tool to have, which is why I recommended the Plus plan over the Standard plan.

Screenshot of BigCommerce's abandoned cart email settings and fields to change the message — Under "Marketing" in "Settings," I could tweak the abandoned cart recovery emails that are sent out to users. Source: Website Builder Expert

Payment Options

When you’re taking payments online, you’ve got over 65 integrated payment providers to choose from that serve 230 countries (including over 140 currencies). With one-click setup, BigCommerce does its best to get you paid fast. Payment providers I could set up on my store included:

Digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay
Fastlane by PayPal for quicker customer checkout times
Pay in installment options like Clearpay or Klarna
Popular payment gateways like Stripe and Square

Screenshot of BigCommerce's payment section and a list of payment options available — I liked that I could add payments in one place from my dashboard, which included digital wallets and offline payment methods like check or bank deposit. Source: Website Builder Expert

POS Integrations

Though BigCommerce doesn’t have its own POS software like Shopify or Wix, it does enable you to sync online and in-person payments with a variety of third-party POS providers.

BigCommerce has more POS integrations than other ecommerce platforms (like Squarespace, which is only partnered with Square), including:

Clover
Square
Epos Now
Vend
iZettle
Hike

If you sell a lot in person, or have a physical store, BigCommerce can help you keep your inventory synced and your finances centralized with its available POS options.

Screenshot of BigCommerce's app store and some POS apps available — From the app store, I could find some POS integrations for easy in-person selling integration that included a PayPal and Square app. Source: Website Builder Expert

Shipping Options

BigCommerce gives you a range of shipping options, such as real-time shipping quotes, free shipping for your customers, and the ability to set up shipping zones for different countries – all done through BigCommerce’s dashboard in its “Shipping” settings.

BigCommerce Shipping comes with tons of perks, but the main one is that I could easily manage all of my shipping methods from one central hub, allowing me to:

Set up local pick up for shoppers who want to pick up goods from a physical retail location
Calculate shopping costs based on order value or the total weight of items
Print out shipping labels by installing an app like ShipStation
Create advanced shipping rules by installing an app like Shipper HQ

Screenshot of BigCommerce's Dashboard Showcasing multiple shipping option toggle for your store — I could easily toggle some shipping options, like free shipping, on and off from my dashboard. This made it easy to keep track of shipping in one location. Source: Website Builder Expert

Additional Apps

If you do want to expand your site beyond these functions, you can – you’ve still got over 600 apps to choose from in the BigCommerce app store, and will benefit from the staggering 400 API calls per second the platform is able to handle.

BigCommerce has a much more limited app store than its competitors. But that’s only because it has so many impressive in-house features already. You just don’t need as many apps as you would with Shopify, for example. This keeps costs lower, because you don’t have to pay out for third party add-ons every month.

Screenshot of the SEOKart app installed onto a BigCommerce dashboard — I could install apps, like SEO Kart, in only a few clicks. They're then stored on your dashboard for easy access when you need them. Source: Website Builder Expert

5. BigCommerce's Inventory Tools

On top of BigCommerce’s key sales features, the platform also comes with inventory tools that makes it easier for businesses to scale up their operations, which I’ll be exploring in more depth below.

Product Types

BigCommerce allows you to sell physical, digital, and service-based products without having to use an app (often at an extra cost), since options for these product types are already built into the editor. This means less hassle and less cost, because you don’t have to worry about using third party apps.

One thing that does require an app, however, is subscriptions/recurring billing. Though, there’s a choice of free and paid apps to add this functionality.

Product Variants and Categories

When you add your products, BigCommerce makes it easy to customize the items you’re adding to your store by using different variants. For instance, if you have a t-shirt that comes in different colors or sizes, you can add these variants to your listings.

I also liked that I could tweak the pricing and imagery of each variant, or add additional details like height and weight to ensure that my product listings were as accurate as possible.

Screenshot of BigCommerce's dashboard, with a product listing that has multiple variants added to it with SKUs and pricing — I also liked that BigCommerce automatically generated a SKU for each new variant. This saved me a bit of time! Source: Website Builder Expert

Multi-Channel Selling

If you’re already selling on other online channels – or you plan to be – BigCommerce has multi-channel selling features to support you.

From the “Channel manager” in the dashboard, I found multiple channels I could integrate with my store, including:

Online marketplaces like Amazon, Facebook, Walmart, and eBay
Social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok
Affiliate marketing channels like impact.com

Most of these integrations enable you to sync up your inventory and product listings across all platforms. For example, if you adjust a product title in the back end of your site, the change will carry across all platforms, which cuts out a lot of manual work for you.

Screenshot of BigCommerce's dashboard showcasing a Google Ads channel integration with related apps to download — On BigCommerce's "Channels manager," I could integrate my store with Google Ads. Source: Website Builder Expert

6. BigCommerce's Help and Support

When you’re making money through your website, any problems can be costly. Fortunately, BigCommerce has help options in place to get you sorted quickly and easily.

However, the help and support channels available will depend on what price plan you’re on. On the Standard plan and above, BigCommerce does come with 24/7 phone and live chat support. Additionally, the live chat support, though automated, gave me quick response times in our testing – under 10 seconds to be exact!

Screenshot of BigCommerce's dashboard and a chat bot answering a question on theme changes — I accessed the chat bot from my dashboard to ask it a question on theme changes. I could also type in "agent" at anytime to be connected with a staff member. Source: Website Builder Expert

There’s also email support. In fact, when you sign up for a free trial, you get an email come through that offers an appointment for a 10 minute call to discuss your business, its goals, and how BigCommerce can help you succeed.

I could also access email support from the dashboard. I clicked on the “Email support” tab, and was redirected to a separate page where I could specify if I needed product support or billing support. It was then a matter of filling in either form with my request.

Screenshot of a BigCommerce email form used to contact staff on product issues — Alongside typing up a detailed help message, I could attach an image to the email form to support my case. Source: Website Builder Expert

Lastly, if you’re on the Enterprise plan, you can unlock priority support. This includes an onboarding consultant, as well as prioritized phone calls. With instant connections to the most senior and highly-trained support staff, you’ll receive the highest-quality support for your store.

How We Tested BigCommerce's Website Builder

To review BigCommerce accurately, I drew from our ecommerce website builder research. This featured in-house testing that enabled us to get up close and personal with the platform, and see how well it fared in terms of value for money, ease of use, design flexibility, and other important aspects.

As huge part of our research, we got real people to build a store with BigCommerce to a set brief, within a time limit. Afterward, we interviewed them about their experience.

Here are a few key insights from our BigCommerce testers:

“Yes it’s difficult, yes it’s not overly easy to use, but you can see why – it’s because it’s basically there to run your business for you. But creating a website was not the easiest of experiences.”
“Everything was where it should be, but there were just so many options that trying to find the one you want just takes a while longer, that’s all.”
“Being able to comfortably create a brand by using this website builder is more or less redundant unless you are willing to spend a huge amount of time learning how to customize the already created themes. I would just simply give up because I don’t have time to offer.”

After testing the platform for an hour, only 56% of users would recommend it – that’s versus 88% for Shopify and 72% for Wix. This final verdict has influenced how we’ve rated BigCommerce overall, and has influenced the information used in this review to help you decide if it’s right for you.

BigCommerce Review: Conclusion

Though BigCommerce isn’t our strongest website builder (Shopify and Wix currently sit at the top of our ranking), its effective sales features – including extensive inventory tools, numerous shipping and payment options – and bustling app store make it a brilliant choice for powering large or fast-growing businesses.

On the other hand, if your store isn’t large or scaling, or you’re a total beginner who’d prefer a more straightforward back end and editor interface, you may want to consider another ecommerce website builder instead.

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