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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 200 hours of data collection in 2024, allowing us to create data-driven recommendations so you can find the right fit for your business.

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 – 40%
- Looking at the ecommerce capabilities of a website builder
Website Features – 15%
- We review the quality and quantity of features, such as marketing and SEO
Help and Support – 12%
- We test what support channels and resources are available for businesses
Design Functionality – 10%
- Looking at templates and design options
User Experience – 10%
- We test each ecommerce website builder ourselves to test its ease of use
Customer Score – 8%
- Reviewing how well a builder performs against its competitors
Value for Money – 5%
- We look at pricing plans and what you can get for your money

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.

Unfortunately, Shopify is a little let down by its expensive pricing plans and reliance on third-party integrations. Still, you get what you pay for – with Shopify, that’s a powerful home for your online store.

Because of this, I recommend Shopify for growing or large businesses as opposed to small businesses only looking to sell a few products here and there. It’s ideal for building a store but only if you need the advanced functionality that Shopify provides, such as multiple inventory locations and localized selling tools.

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

FAQs

Shopify has over 8,000 apps to choose from, helping business owners with everything from selling to marketing. Shopify’s app store highlights popular apps and trending integrations, but we 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.

You’ll need to pay for one of Shopify’s plans to start selling products online. These range from $29 to $299 per month (billed annually). We recommend checking out Square Online instead which lets you sell online with its free plan. That said, you’ll miss out on the impressive sales features and robust product backend that Shopify provides.

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. Unfortunately, Shopify Shipping can only be used for orders shipped from the US and Canada currently, and you’ll need to integrate additional shipping software if you plan on selling through social media platforms or marketplaces.

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Shopify Pricing Review

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Researched by

Updated on March 22, 2024

See Shopify Pricing Plans

Our independent research projects and impartial reviews are funded in part by affiliate commissions, at no extra cost to our readers. Learn more

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 Maura Monaghan

Last Updated on May 4, 2020

Let’s be honest, we all want a good deal by getting the most out of purchases while paying the least possible. Times are tough and every dollar counts.

But when it comes to picking a tool to build your business, pricing consideration is just one factor out of many, and I’d argue that this factor should not be the most important one. After all, what will help you reach your goals — automatically opting for the cheapest tools around, or selecting the best tools available, even if they cost more per month?

Shopify Plans

Shopify offers three pricing plans:

Shopify Basic costs $29 per month, with 2.9% + 30¢ per online transaction.
The main Shopify plan costs $79 per month, with 2.6% + 30¢ per transaction.
Advanced Shopify costs $299 per month, with 2.4% + 30¢ per transaction.

The fully hosted Shopify Plus platform starts at $2,000 per month.

Top tip! Save 10% on all Shopify plans if you sign up to an annual plan, or 20% if you sign up for two years.

shopify pricing compared tothe price of pizza — While you shouldn't dwell on the price of Shopify (yes, it's not the cheapest tool out there), it still won't cost you an arm and a leg to set up and run a fully-functioning online store with lots of helpful features.

During our internal testing, Shopify earned a 3.5/5 stars in our “value for money” category. Granted, Shopify is not the cheapest ecommerce builder in the market. But in my view, it is one of the best and it’s getting better every year.

You can see our full review of Shopify here.

Check out our ecommerce comparison chart or best ecommerce platforms article to see how Shopify stacks up against its competitors.

What’s Shopify doing in response to the Covid-19 pandemic?

It’s an uncertain time to be starting or growing any business, but don’t worry – Shopify totally gets that. In fact, it has introduced a bunch of awesome new measures to support small businesses in the coming months. These include:

Making physical and digital gift cards available on all plans. That way, your customers can support you without buying any physical products right now.
$200 million available in small business funding (US only). As part of a government partnership, Shopify Capital is offering funding to help small businesses develop at a time when they may be low on cash.
Extending its free trial to 90 days. Shopify has extended its free trial from 14 days to 90, giving merchants even longer to try the service risk-free.
Community support and live webinars. Virtual ‘meetups’ with the Shopify community to share wisdom and support.

Big kudos to Shopify for its speedy response, and its commitment to supporting small businesses now and always.

0 How Much Is Shopify?

Try Shopify free for 14 Days

The cost of Shopify’s pricing plans per month are:

Basic Shopify: $29
Shopify: $79
Advanced Shopify: $299

Shopify's monthly price plans range from $29 to $299 per month.

Shopify Plans Comparison

The different plans bring with them different features and abilities. Here’s the rundown on exactly what each plan offers.

Features	Basic Shopify	Shopify	Advanced Shopify
Monthly Price	$29.00	$79.00	$299.00
Online Credit Card Rates	2.9% + $0.30	2.6% + $0.30	2.4% + $0.30
In-Person Credit Card Rates	2.7% + $0	2.5% + $0	2.4% + $0
Transaction Fees	Shopify Payments = 0.0% Other Processors = 2.0%	Shopify Payments = 0.0% Other Processors = 1.0%	Shopify Payments = 0.0% Other Processors = 0.5%
No. of Products	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
24/7 Support	Yes	Yes	Yes
Discount Codes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Blogging	Yes	Yes	Yes
Free SSL	Yes	Yes	Yes
Gift Cards	No	Yes	Yes
Detailed Reporting	No	Yes	Yes
Abandoned Cart Recovery	No	Yes	Yes
Advanced Reporting	No	No	Yes
Real-Time Shipping	No	No	Yes
Features	Basic Shopify	Shopify	Advanced Shopify

You can click here to see the actual pricing table on Shopify’s website.

Basic Shopify ($29/month)

Starting a small business, or trying to build an online storefront for an existing one? If your store is tiny, and you just need a little ecommerce functionality, this is the plan for you. But if your products are expensive or you sell a lot of them, that pricey 2.9% + 30¢ transaction fee will add up fast.

S hopify ($79/month)

If your small business is growing rapidly, you’ll need a robust website. This plan includes more granular reporting data and features like gift cards and abandoned cart recovery.

A small business might not miss these features, but the bigger you grow, the more revenue you’ll add. If your site currently returns around $5000 in monthly revenue, then this is the plan for you.

Advanced Shopify ($299/month)

A medium to large online business can always grow more. If your goal is to grow ten times larger, this plan comes with stellar shipping, rock-bottom transaction fees, and even more advanced reporting.

This option is designed for companies with monthly revenues in excess of $10,000. Sure, it’s pricey, but the businesses using this plan can recoup some or all of the monthly cost thanks to the additional features and lower fees.

Besides the obvious monthly pricing differences, here are a few other differences you should pay attention to as well:

Credit Card Rates – decreases marginally for higher plans
Transaction Fees – decreases significantly for higher plans
Abandoned Cart Recovery – very useful tool to help you earn more profits automatically. Detailed discussion here.

What About Shopify Lite and Shopify Plus?

If the pricing for Shopify’s three plans won’t work for you, don’t despair. Shopify has a super inexpensive option and an enterprise-level one — even if neither one gives you a website, exactly. Here’s what these plans offer.

Shopify Lite

The Shopify Lite plan won’t give you a complete online store. Instead, it integrates with a pre-existing website or social media page, letting you chat with customers, accept credit cards, and create invoices.

This option is great for a hobbiest who already has an established corner of the internet, and no plans to expand. It costs just $9/month.

Shopify Plus

Shopify Plus is an enterprise-level ecommerce plan targeted at big businesses: You’ll pay for more powerful features and for website hosting, ensuring your site never crashes when traffic surges.

The plan is aimed at operations with $1 million or more in annual revenue, and costs $2,000 or more per month. To get a custom quote for Shopify Plus (not listed on the table above), you have to speak to Shopify directly.

Shopify Plus (Enterprise Level Users) Review – If you’re in the big leagues and your business generates 6 to 7 figures in sales per year, this is how Shopify Plus can help you grow even more.

Now that you’ve compared your options, feel free to click the button below and start testing out the plan that’s best for you!

0 How to Save 20% on Shopify

Try Shopify free for 14 Days

One thing you should note is that on Shopify’s pricing page, the monthly price for each plan assumes you pay on a month-to-month plan.

What this means is that if you decide to cancel, you just stop paying. Period.

If you decide to go on the 1-year or 2-year plans, you save 10% or 20%, respectively.

Monthly vs Annual Costs

Shopify Prices:

Shopify Pricing Plans	Shopify Basic	Shopify	Advanced Shopify
Monthly	$29.00	$79.00	$299.00
1-Year $/month	$26.10	$71.10	$269.10
Savings (%)	10%	10%	10%
2-Year $/month	$23.20	$63.20	$239.20
Savings (%)	20%	20%	20%

All too often, businesses fall into the trap of settling into a month-by-month plan, and not really giving it much thought. Granted, with a month-by-month plan, you’ve got a lot of flexibility. But when you consider that you can save up to $1,435.20 over two years by signing up in advance, it pays to be a little more forward-thinking.

Shopify had the highest customer score of any ecommerce platform in our user testing. And remember, you’ve still got a 14-day free trial to test it out first.

When using Shopify, it pays to be forward-thinking

If you have an established store, consider signing up for a one-year or two-year plan to save up to $1,435.20.

0 Shopify Credit Card Rates Explained

On Shopify’s pricing table, the Credit Card Rates sections relate to the rates you get charged if you decide to use Shopify Payments to handle your payment processing.

When you use a credit card to purchase online or offline, there is a fee that you will pay no matter what – a payment processing fee.

When you go to your local grocery store to purchase something with your credit card, the grocery store pays a processing fee to their payment processor to collect payment from your bank and deposit it into their bank. That’s just how the world of commerce works. All merchants pay this fee.

That said, the only thing you can control are the credit card rates and that is determined by which payment processor you choose to use.

With Shopify Payments, their credit card rates / payment processing rates for online transactions are as follows:

Basic Shopify Plan – 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction
Shopify Plan – 2.6% + 30 cents per transaction
Advanced Shopify Plan – 2.4% + 30 cents per transaction

These fees are on a per transaction basis, not on a per-item sold basis. So if someone buys 10 widgets from you in one single transaction, the 30 cents is charged only once and not on each item.

(Note: If you sell products in-person using Shopify’s Point-of-Sale system, the credit card rates are lower)

Brief description of how Shopify works with payment provider Stripe

Shopify Payments is currently available to stores in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

If you’re not located in these countries, Shopify is fully integrated with over 70 different payment processors to accept credit cards from all over the world. You can see their list of payment processors here.

Shopify Payments Guide – If you’re looking for more information about Shopify payments, check out our further discussion.

0 How to Avoid Shopify Transaction Fees

I see complaints about Shopify’s transaction fees quite often, usually from merchants concerned about the impact on their profits.

Basic Shopify charges 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction, while Advanced Shopify drops just half a percentage point to 2.4% + $0.30.

But Shopify’s transaction fees aren’t your only option, and this Q&A should throw some light on the alternatives.

Of course, nobody likes to pay more fees especially if you don’t think it’s necessary. However, I feel that the concept of Shopify’s transaction fee is commonly misunderstood.

Let’s spend a few minutes investigating why transaction fees exist on top of monthly plan fees, if it’s unique to Shopify (or if they’re just a bunch of greedy people), and what you can do.

How do transaction fees work?

Each time a customer purchases from you (a transaction), depending on which Shopify plan you subscribed to, a transaction fee will be charged. The fees are 2% for the Basic Shopify plan, 1% for the Shopify plan, and 0.5% for the Advanced Shopify plan.

What are transaction fees for?

When shoppers visit your online store, they browse around before making a decision to purchase. It takes resources for Shopify to power your ecommerce website to ensure that it stays up and doesn’t crash on you.

So the idea is that the transaction fees help Shopify keep your store open and operating at optimal levels, no matter how many visitors you have on your website at one given time (10 visitors or a million visitors).

Doesn’t the monthly plan fee cover this already?

Yes and no. The monthly fee mainly gives you access to the Shopify platform and selling tools to get your online store published and working. The transaction fees exist to continually keep your store powered, and is only charged when someone purchases your product.

What about other similar ecommerce builders? Do they charge transaction fees?

Yes, but in different forms.

For BigCommerce (Shopify’s closest competitor), even though they don’t charge transaction fees for each sale you make, if you generate more than a certain sales dollars per 12 months, they automatically bump you to up to a higher plan so you’ll end up paying more per month. Shopify doesn’t “force” you to upgrade to a higher plan, no matter how much sales you generate per month.
For Wix (an ideal ecommerce builder for newcomers), you won’t have to pay any transaction charges. However to sell products on Wix, you need to be on either the eCommerce or VIP plan, which are a little bit more expensive per month. Be aware that you will need to pay a percentage per transaction to your payment gateway provider, who each charge their own rate (all payment gateway providers charge this fees).
For Volusion, they limit the amount of bandwidth you have per month (think of bandwidth also as “power” that keeps your website running. The more shoppers visit your store, the more bandwidth it uses), whereas Shopify gives you unlimited bandwidth. Once you exceed the bandwidth limit with Volusion, you’ll have to purchase additional bandwidth from them (which they don’t list how much it costs, so it’s going to be a nice surprise.)

So transaction fees appear in different forms for ecommerce platforms similar to Shopify.

Is there any way to remove Shopify’s transaction fees?

Yes. If you use Shopify Payments, they’ll remove all transaction fees.

What’s the catch? Assuming if I use Shopify Payments and Shopify removes all transaction fees, how can they keep my ecommerce website powered?

Shopify Payments help you process payments from your customers (collect money from your customer and deposit it into your bank account). This is the credit card fee as discussed in detail above.

If you use Shopify Payments, then Shopify will earn the credit card fees.

This allows them to waive the transaction fees. So instead of paying transaction fees plus credit card fees, you just have to pay credit card fees if you use Shopify Payments. You’d have to pay this regardless even if you use another payment processor (such as PayPal).

Will using Shopify Payments cost me anything more?

No. Shopify will waive transaction fees (saving you money), and the credit card rates are actually lower than payment processors such as PayPal (saving you money). The fee per transaction is fixed, there are no international fees (if you sell to customers outside of your country) and there are no monthly fees.

Is using Shopify Payments going to save me more money compared to using other similar ecommerce builders?

Yes. As discussed, if you use BigCommerce, they force you to upgrade to a higher plan if you exceed certain sales levels. Shopify doesn’t require you to upgrade at all. So theoretically, you can sell $1 million worth of products and you can remain subscribed to Shopify’s lowest plan at $29 per month.

With BigCommerce, you’ll have to upgrade to a higher plan and pay more. If you use Volusion, they limit the amount of bandwidth and if you exceed the limit, you’ll have to purchase more from them.

Shopify gives you unlimited bandwidth.

Are a lot of Shopify users using Shopify Payments?

Yes. According to Shopify, 85% of their users are using Shopify Payments when it is available (for users located in the US, Puerto Rico, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Singapore) as at the end of 2017.

This shouldn’t be surprising at all as users get to save transaction fees, have lower credit card processing fees, and can start receiving funds after 2-days.

FAQ Summary

When it comes to fees per sales transaction, it’s best to use Shopify Payments. Not only will Shopify waive all transaction fees, the credit card processing fees are also lower than PayPal (and most other payment processors).

It doesn’t cost you anything more to use Shopify Payments as you’ll need a payment processor to handle payments anyway.

0 Additional Shopify Costs to Be Aware Of

Running an ecommerce business comes with a few extra costs beyond the basic website plan. Here are the extra add-ons and charges you might need to consider.

Apps

A variety of third-party providers offer apps designed to work with Shopify websites in the online Shopify app store, home to more than over 1,400 apps.

The prices and the functions can vary wildly: One free app lets customers chat with a business directly though the Apple messages app, while another app offers enterprise level product sourcing and supply chain management and charges $299 per month.

Domain Name

You can register a domain name through Shopify: The service starts at $14 for a 1-year registration. Visit Shopify’s domain name page to search for your business name to see if it’s still free.

Email Hosting

Shopify doesn’t offer email hosting itself, but If you own a Shopify domain, you’ll be able to set up free and unlimited email forwarding to the domain from a third-party email hosting service. The extra cost kicks in when you’re paying for that hosting service: typical email hosting charges range from $1 to $5 per month.

You don’t need to pay for those add-ons in order to try the 14-day Shopify free trial! Feel free to click through the link below.

0 Shopify Prices: Summary

I hope this discussion addresses the more commonly misunderstood aspects of what it costs you per month to use Shopify.

Shopify is one of the best hosted ecommerce builders available in the market today (see our full review here). They’re not the cheapest, but they do offer the best value for money.

They have a very broad range of ecommerce tools, offer you access to their App Store (over 1,400 apps), and an ecosystem of theme designers and experts. Shopify is a very strong and fast-growing online store builder.

If you’re looking for a low-cost ecommerce builder, then Shopify is not the right platform for you (see our ecommerce comparison chart for alternatives).

But, if you’re serious about building a successful online store, Shopify is an excellent platform to help you achieve your goals.

Their plans are not outrageously expensive and are actually quite affordable, giving you the tools and infrastructure to get started. Imagine if you were able to earn $1,000 per month from your business, the $29 per month plan is quite manageable.

Then, if you were to grow your sales to $5,000 per month over time, the monthly cost starts to become negligible.

So, while $29 or $79 per month sounds expensive when you first get started, keep in mind what your business sales goals are over the medium to long-term. If you only want to generate $200 per month, then Shopify is probably not for you.

But if you want to generate thousands of dollars per month over time, Shopify is a strong platform to help you do just that.

0 FAQs

Do I need a business license for a Shopify business?

You might need a business license for a business operated on a Shopify website, but it depends on your state or city’s policy. If your state uses sales tax, however, you’ll likely need to get a resellers sales tax certificate, which typically requires an application and a nominal fee.

Does Shopify charge for refunds?

No, Shopify does not charge a transaction fee for a fully refunded transaction. Shopify automatically removes the charge or, if it has already billed you, will issue you a credit on your next invoice.

However, if a purchase has only been partially refunded, Shopify does still allow the original transaction fee to remain.

Does Shopify have any hidden fees?

Shopify doesn’t have any hidden fees: You’ll pay for your specific plan, and then you’ll pay an additional transaction fee for every transaction made on your store. While you can also buy any additional apps or domain names you want, you shouldn’t be surprised by anything on your invoice.

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

Written by

Researched by

Updated on March 22, 2024

Our independent research projects and impartial reviews are funded in part by affiliate commissions, at no extra cost to our readers. Learn more

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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Shopify Prices Review – Just How Much Does Shopify Cost?

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Researched by

Updated on March 22, 2024

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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 Sadie

Last Updated on March 5, 2020

Let’s be honest, we all want a good deal by getting the most out of purchases while paying the least possible. Times are tough and every dollar counts.

Shopify Plans

Shopify offers three pricing plans:

Shopify Basic costs $29 (about £22) per month, with 2.9% + 30¢ (about 25p) per online transaction.
The main Shopify plan costs $79 (about £61) per month, with 2.6% + 30¢ per transaction.
Advanced Shopify costs $299 (about £230) per month, with 2.4% + 30¢ per transaction.

The fully hosted Shopify Plus platform starts at $2,000 per month.

In this article you’ll learn:

What you actually get from each Shopify pricing plan.
Credit card rates – using Shopify Payments versus PayPal.
Which is price plan is the right choice for you.
The truth about transaction fees (Q&A) – common misunderstanding.

You can see our full review of Shopify here.

Check out our ecommerce comparison chart or best ecommerce platforms article to see how Shopify stacks up against its competitors.

0 How Much Is Shopify?

Try Shopify free for 14 Days

The cost of Shopify’s pricing plans per month are:

Basic Shopify: $29 (about £22)
Shopify: $79 (about £61)
Advanced Shopify: $299 (about £230)

Shopify's monthly price plans range from $29 to $299 per month, which equates to about £22 to £229 GBP*.

Monthly vs Annual Costs

One thing you should note is that on Shopify’s pricing page, the monthly price for each plan assumes you pay on a month-to-month plan.

What this means is that if you decide to cancel, you just stop paying. Period.

If you decide to go on the 1-year or 2-year plans, you save 10% or 20%, respectively.

Shopify Prices:

Shopify Pricing Plans	Shopify Basic	Shopify	Advanced Shopify
Monthly	£22.00*	£61.00*	£230.00*
1-Year £/month	£20.00*	£55.00*	£207.00*
Savings (%)	10%	10%	10%
2-Year £/month	£17.85*	£48.60*	£184.00*
Savings (%)	20%	20%	20%

*Prices are calculated approximations, and the prices are offered in USD on site.

The savings are better on the longer plans, but plenty of customers appreciate the flexibility of a monthly plan: Shopify’s annual report notes that more users have opted for the month-to-month pricing rather than the 1-year or 2-year plans.

Shopify Plans Comparison

The different plans bring with them different features and abilities. Here’s the rundown on exactly what each plan offers.

Features	Basic Shopify	Shopify	Advanced Shopify
Monthly Price	£22.00*	£61.00*	£230.00*
Online Credit Card Rates	2.9% + £0.20	2.6% + £0.20	2.4% + £0.20
In-Person Credit Card Rates	2.7% + £0	2.5% + £0	2.4% + £0
Transaction Fees	Shopify Payments = 0.0% Other Processors = 2.0%	Shopify Payments = 0.0% Other Processors = 1.0%	Shopify Payments = 0.0% Other Processors = 0.5%
No. of Products	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
24/7 Support	Yes	Yes	Yes
Discount Codes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Blogging	Yes	Yes	Yes
Free SSL	Yes	Yes	Yes
Gift Cards	No	Yes	Yes
Detailed Reporting	No	Yes	Yes
Abandoned Cart Recovery	No	Yes	Yes
Advanced Reporting	No	No	Yes
Real-Time Shipping	No	No	Yes
Features	Basic Shopify	Shopify	Advanced Shopify

*Prices are approximations, converted into GBP from USD on site. You can click here to see the actual pricing table on Shopify’s website.

Basic Shopify (£22/month)

S hopify (£61/month)

If your small business is growing rapidly, you’ll need a robust website. This plan includes more granular reporting data and features like gift cards and abandoned cart recovery.

A small business might not miss these features, but the bigger you grow, the more revenue you’ll add. If your site currently returns around £4000 in monthly revenue, then this is the plan for you.

Advanced Shopify (£230/month)

This option is designed for companies with monthly revenues in excess of £8,000. Sure, it’s pricey, but the businesses using this plan can recoup some or all of the monthly cost thanks to the additional features and lower fees.

Besides the obvious monthly pricing differences, here are a few other differences you should pay attention to as well:

Credit Card Rates – decreases marginally for higher plans
Transaction Fees – decreases significantly for higher plans
Abandoned Cart Recovery – very useful tool to help you earn more profits automatically. Detailed discussion here.

What About Shopify Lite and Shopify Plus?

Shopify Lite

This option is great for a hobbiest who already has an established corner of the internet, and no plans to expand. It costs just $9/month (about £7/month).

Shopify Plus

Shopify Plus is an enterprise-level ecommerce plan targeted at big businesses: You’ll pay for more powerful features and for website hosting, ensuring your site never crashes when traffic surges.

The plan is aimed at operations with £750,000 or more in annual revenue, and costs £1,500 or more per month. To get a custom quote for Shopify Plus (not listed on the table above), you have to speak to Shopify directly.

Shopify Plus (Enterprise Level Users) Review – If you’re in the big leagues and your business generates 6 to 7 figures in sales per year, this is how Shopify Plus can help you grow even more.

Now that you’ve compared your options, feel free to click the button below and start testing out the plan that’s best for you!

0 Shopify Credit Card Rates Explained

On Shopify’s pricing table, the Credit Card Rates sections relate to the rates you get charged if you decide to use Shopify Payments to handle your payment processing.

When you use a credit card to purchase online or offline, there is a fee that you will pay no matter what – a payment processing fee.

That said, the only thing you can control are the credit card rates and that is determined by which payment processor you choose to use.

With Shopify Payments, their credit card rates / payment processing rates for online transactions are as follows:

Basic Shopify Plan – 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction
Shopify Plan – 2.6% + 30¢ per transaction
Advanced Shopify Plan – 2.4% + 30¢ per transaction

These fees are on a per transaction basis, not on a per-item sold basis. So if someone buys 10 widgets from you in one single transaction, the 20 pence is charged only once and not on each item.

(Note: If you sell products in-person using Shopify’s Point-of-Sale system, the credit card rates are lower)

Shopify Payments is currently available to stores in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Shopify Payments Guide – If you’re looking for more information about Shopify payments, check out our further discussion.

0 How to Avoid Shopify Transaction Fees

I see complaints about Shopify’s transaction fees quite often, usually from merchants concerned about the impact on their profits.

Basic Shopify charges 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction, while Advanced Shopify drops just half a percentage point to 2.4% + 30¢

But Shopify’s transaction fees aren’t your only option, and this Q&A should throw some light on the alternatives.

Of course, nobody likes to pay more fees especially if you don’t think it’s necessary. However, I feel that the concept of Shopify’s transaction fee is commonly misunderstood.

Let’s spend a few minutes investigating why transaction fees exist on top of monthly plan fees, if it’s unique to Shopify (or if they’re just a bunch of greedy people), and what you can do.

How do transaction fees work?

What are transaction fees for?

Doesn’t the monthly plan fee cover this already?

What about other similar ecommerce builders? Do they charge transaction fees?

Yes, but in different forms.

For BigCommerce (Shopify’s closest competitor), even though they don’t charge transaction fees for each sale you make, if you generate more than a certain sales dollars per 12 months, they automatically bump you to up to a higher plan so you’ll end up paying more per month. Shopify doesn’t “force” you to upgrade to a higher plan, no matter how much sales you generate per month.
For Wix (an ideal ecommerce builder for newcomers), you won’t have to pay any transaction charges. However to sell products on Wix, you need to be on either the eCommerce or VIP plan, which are a little bit more expensive per month. Be aware that you will need to pay a percentage per transaction to your payment gateway provider, who each charge their own rate (all payment gateway providers charge this fees).
For Volusion, they limit the amount of bandwidth you have per month (think of bandwidth also as “power” that keeps your website running. The more shoppers visit your store, the more bandwidth it uses), whereas Shopify gives you unlimited bandwidth. Once you exceed the bandwidth limit with Volusion, you’ll have to purchase additional bandwidth from them (which they don’t list how much it costs, so it’s going to be a nice surprise.)

So transaction fees appear in different forms for ecommerce platforms similar to Shopify.

Is there any way to remove Shopify’s transaction fees?

Yes. If you use Shopify Payments, they’ll remove all transaction fees.

What’s the catch? Assuming if I use Shopify Payments and Shopify removes all transaction fees, how can they keep my ecommerce website powered?

Shopify Payments help you process payments from your customers (collect money from your customer and deposit it into your bank account). This is the credit card fee as discussed in detail above.

If you use Shopify Payments, then Shopify will earn the credit card fees.

Will using Shopify Payments cost me anything more?

Is using Shopify Payments going to save me more money compared to using other similar ecommerce builders?

Shopify gives you unlimited bandwidth.

Are a lot of Shopify users using Shopify Payments?

This shouldn’t be surprising at all as users get to save transaction fees, have lower credit card processing fees, and can start receiving funds after 2-days.

FAQ Summary

It doesn’t cost you anything more to use Shopify Payments as you’ll need a payment processor to handle payments anyway.

0 Additional Shopify Costs to Be Aware Of

Running an ecommerce business comes with a few extra costs beyond the basic website plan. Here are the extra add-ons and charges you might need to consider.

Apps

A variety of third-party providers offer apps designed to work with Shopify websites in the online Shopify app store, home to more than over 1,400 apps.

Domain Name

You can register a domain name through Shopify: The service starts at $14 (around £11) for a 1-year registration. Visit Shopify’s domain name page to search for your business name to see if it’s still free.

Email Hosting

You don’t need to pay for those add-ons in order to try the 14-day Shopify free trial! Feel free to click through the link below.

0 Shopify Prices: Summary

I hope this discussion addresses the more commonly misunderstood aspects of what it costs you per month to use Shopify.

Shopify is one of the best hosted ecommerce builders available in the market today (see our full review here). They’re not the cheapest, but they do offer the best value for money.

If you’re looking for a low-cost ecommerce builder, then Shopify is not the right platform for you (see our ecommerce comparison chart for alternatives).

But, if you’re serious about building a successful online store, Shopify is an excellent platform to help you achieve your goals.

Their plans are not outrageously expensive and are actually quite affordable, giving you the tools and infrastructure to get started. Imagine if you were able to earn £1,000 per month from your business, the £22 per month plan is quite manageable.

Then, if you were to grow your sales to £4,000 per month over time, the monthly cost starts to become negligible.

So, while £22 or £61 per month sounds expensive when you first get started, keep in mind what your business sales goals are over the medium to long-term. If you only want to generate £100 per month, then Shopify is probably not for you.

But if you want to generate thousands of pounds per month over time, Shopify is a strong platform to help you do just that.

0 FAQs

Do I need a business license for a Shopify business?

Does Shopify charge for refunds?

However, if a purchase has only been partially refunded, Shopify does still allow the original transaction fee to remain.

Does Shopify have any hidden fees?

Found This Guide Helpful?

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Wix Review

Written by

Researched by

Updated on March 22, 2024

Build My Wix Site For Free Today

Our independent research projects and impartial reviews are funded in part by affiliate commissions, at no extra cost to our readers. Learn more

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

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 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?

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 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 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.

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.

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 has three regular ecommerce plans ranging from £13 to £22 per month (billed annually).

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.

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

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Updated on March 22, 2024

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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?

Website B

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

Found This Guide Helpful?

Question – Did this guide benefit you? Leave a comment below.

Do you know anyone who can benefit from this guide? Send them this page or click on the share buttons on the left.

You’ll be helping us out by spreading the word about our website, and you’ll be helping them out!

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The 3 Best Cloud Hosting Services 2024

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You’ve made the decision to move your website to a cloud hosting service, but if you’ve only used web hosting in the past, you might not know exactly where to turn.

Reasons for switching to cloud hosting include needing higher performance from your site, expecting rapid growth, and experiencing traffic surges at certain points of the month or year. All of these situations can benefit from switching to the cloud.

We’ve done some of the legwork for you and have compiled a list of the best cloud hosting providers available. We’ve looked at a range of features that would be perfect for a startup or a small to medium-sized business.

Our top three picks for the best cloud hosting services:

Best Cloud Hosting Providers

DreamHost – Least expensive cloud hosting
SiteGround – For customizable configurations
Hostinger – For beginners

If you’re ready to learn more, keep reading!

DreamHost: Best Cloud Hosting Service Overall

Rating: 4.4/5

DreamHost is a solid option for cloud hosting, and is, in fact, 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 good reason, DreamHost is one of the most popular tools among developers.

Quick 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 We Like

Lots of security features, including configurable firewalls and data corruption protection
Unlimited data transfers
Usage-based billing
Only pay for the first 600 hours used each month
Can use Windows servers

❌ What We Don’t Like

No free telephone support
No money-back guarantee
Relatively low storage

Who We Recommend DreamHost For

Plans and Pricing

DreamHost Plans — DreamHost plans and pricing, with features for cloud hosting. Source: Website Builder Expert

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. Below is a chart with all of the plans available, but the most popular pricing is:

512MB RAM for a maximum of $4.50/month (recommended for simple static websites)
2GB RAM for a maximum of $12/month (recommended for small or medium-sized ecommerce stores or those with richer media content)
8GB RAM for a 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: WebsiteBuilderExpert

Read our DreamHost Pricing Review for a closer look at how much DreamHost costs.

Infrastructure and Performance

DreamHost offers fast publishing; your pages will be live within 30 seconds. If you have time-sensitive promotional events or you’re providing news in a competitive industry, a delay in going live could be detrimental. It has accelerated networks and next-gen processors to enhance performance.

You’ll also be able to take full control of your server thanks to full root access. This means you’ll be able to configure software, change your system settings, and increase your security to the level you feel most comfortable with. It can also make troubleshooting easier, since you’ll be able to access the system logs and run diagnostic tools. You can use Linux, BSD, or Windows.

If you’re looking to scale, DreamHost will grow with you, even to the point of helping you run your own private cloud, when and if you get to that point. The code is open source, and DreamHost offers help with migration to your private cloud.

As far as negatives go, be aware that DreamHost only has data centers in the USA, which can be difficult for international users. If you cater almost exclusively to those in the USA, this shouldn’t be an issue.

DreamHost perfromannce graph — We tested DreamHost six times to work out its average performance score, which was 82.94%. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

Security

DreamHost uses Ceph, which detects corruption or degradation of your data for durability. You will be responsible for your own backups, however, which does add something else to your plate. The platforms are pre-configured to be secure, but you will also get a configurable firewall so you can tinker with the default settings to reject any traffic you don’t want.

You’ll get free SSL certificates, HTTP/2 support, and malware remover as well.

Support

DreamHost offers 24/7 chat and email support; this is included with hosting. It also offers a callback option, but the price isn’t included with your hosting plan. You can pay for them separately; one callback is $9.95, or you can pay for up to three callbacks each month for $14.95/month. If you anticipate needing a lot of phone support, this could add up quickly and make the plan cost-prohibitive.

DreamHost has an impressive 100% uptime guarantee, and if your site is down, you’ll be compensated one day’s prorated fees for each hour of downtime.

Read our full DreamHost review.

SiteGround: Best for Customizable Configurations

Rating: 3.7/5

SiteGround offers a high level of customization, so it’s not necessarily recommended 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.

✔️ What We Like

Automatic and easy scaling
A wide range of options, fully customizable
Fully managed
Easy onboarding
Daily backups

❌ What We Don’t Like

No Windows servers
High price
Doesn’t include free domain

Who We Recommend SiteGround For

Plans and Pricing

SiteGround plans and pricing for cloud hosting. Source: Website Builder Expert

SiteGround has four cloud hosting plans to choose from that come with standard options, and it also gives you 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 – recommended for small to medium ecommerce stores or content websites

$100/month
4 CPU cores
8GB RAM
40GB SSD space

Business – recommended for medium ecommerce sites or sites with scheduling needs

$200/month
8 CPU cores
12GB RAM
80GB SSD space

Business Plus – best for large ecommerce platforms, educational institutions, or high-traffic news sites

$300/month
12 CPU cores
16GB RAM
120GB SSD space

Super Power – for large organizations with complex workflows, hospitals, or software developing companies

$400/month
16 CPU cores
20GB RAM
160GB SSD space

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

Here’s a screenshot of the options available when you build your custom cloud. You can move the sliders back and forth to create the cloud hosting plan that works for your specific needs. You can also add more CPU, memory, or storage as needed on the fly for quick scaling. The same deal applies as above: If you sign up for three months, you’ll save 5% and if you sign up for six months or a year, you’ll save 10%.

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

Here are some additional thoughts on SiteGround pricing.

Infrastructure and Performance

SiteGround uses the Google Cloud, which provides excellent reliability and speed. It uses PHP and MySQL to ensure quick website performance, and its upload speeds are 30% faster than the average. Some of the latest technologies integrated into your access will be Brotli, TLS 1.3, and OCSP Stapling. You get these automatically; you don’t have to wait or pay extra.

SiteGround also uses a system that allows for the caching of dynamic HTML pages. Since the pages are cached and the server doesn’t have to generate pages from scratch with each visit, this also boosts responsiveness.

Keep in mind that SiteGround hosting doesn’t support Windows servers, so this might be a disadvantage for you if you don’t prefer Linux.

SiteGround performance average graph — As you can see from the graph, SiteGround performed a little less consistently than DreamHost. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

Security

SiteGround uses Security Optimizer to provide security. This is an all-in-one WordPress security solution for those using WordPress. SiteGroud has IDS/IPS systems to block bots and attackers, and it has strict privacy policies when it comes to protecting users’ data. These features can be complex if you don’t have technical expertise. Also, they can be resource-intensive, which could impact your site’s performance.

A free SSL certificate is included with each domain on the cloud plan.

It also backs up accounts daily and keeps seven offsite copies; if you use SiteGround, you can also create instant backups as needed.

Support

One place SiteGround shines is with its customer support. The satisfaction rate is close to 100%, and the customer service agents are friendly, helpful, and capable. You’ll have the option of a 24/7 live chat, phone support, and help desk tickets.

In addition, there’s an extensive knowledge base and automated solutions available, so you might not even have to speak or chat with an agent.

The guaranteed uptime is 99.9%, and if your uptime falls below that, you’ll get a free month of hosting.

Read our full SiteGround review.

Hostinger: Best for Beginners

Rating: 3.6/5

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. Hostinger also offers good support, as long as you don’t mind relying on chat.

✔️ What We Like

Relatively low cost
Has an intuitive custom control panel
Lots of security measures
30-day money-back guarantee
24/7 customer support
No-code Hostinger website builder
Cloud servers around the world

❌ What We Don’t Like

No phone support
No Windows servers
High renewal fees

Who We Recommend Hostinger For

Plans and Pricing

Hostinger plans and pricing. Source: Website Builder Expert

Hostinger offers three cloud hosting plans which operate on a monthly fee schedule. Right now, new users get three months free when they sign up for 48 months. As long as you sign up for at least one year, you’ll get a free domain for the first year.

Cloud Startup – recommended for small- to medium-sized sites and small ecommerce stores

$8.99/month when you sign up for 48 months+3 months free (renews at $19.99/month)
$24.99/month when you sign up for just one month
3GB RAM
2 CPU cores
200GB NVMe storage

Cloud Professional – recommended for medium-sized sites and ecommerce stores or for web design agencies who host client websites

$14.99/month when you sign up for 48 months+3 months free (renews at $32.99/month)
$39.99/month when you sign up for just one month
6GB RAM
4 CPU cores
250GB NVMe storage

Cloud Enterprise – recommended for large-scale websites, enterprise-level applications, and e-learning platforms

$29.99/month when you sign up for 48 months+3 months free (renews at $54.99/month)
$64.99/month when you sign up for just one month
12GB RAM
6 CPU cores
300GB NVMe storage

Read our Hostinger Pricing Review for more help choosing the best plan for your needs.

Infrastructure and Performance

Hostinger performance average graph — Hostinger scored an average of 76.22% in our perfromance tests. Source: WebsiteBuilderExpert

Hostinger has cloud servers all over the world, so if you have a global market, your users will have access. The data centers are in the USA, the UK, France, India, Singapore, Brazil, Lithuania, and the Netherlands. It uses the most updated cloud computing technology, including CloudLinux with LVE containers. This ensures the best performance at all times.

Each plan includes a free CDN that will cache content near the end users to reduce costs and improve load times.

Keep in mind that Hostinger doesn’t support Windows servers, which is a disadvantage if that’s your preference.

Security

Each plan comes with robust security measures, including enhanced DDoS protection, firewalls, Cloudflare-protected nameservers, malware scanners, and secure access managers. You’ll also get free WHOIS privacy protection for your domain. Hostinger employs 24/7 server monitoring and firewall protection, as well. Daily backups are automatic.

One potential issue to keep in mind is that when security measures are reliant on third-party services, such as many of these are, performance could be affected if those third-party platforms experience any issues or downtime.

Support

Hostinger offers free 24/7 customer support, but only via chat. There’s no phone support available, which can be an inconvenience if you would prefer to speak to a person or if you need to be walked through something step-by-step.

The uptime guarantee is 99.9%, and if Hostinger fails to maintain the uptime in any given month, you’d need to contact them to request a credit of 5% off of your monthly hosting fee.

Read our full Hostinger review.

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 will 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

Website Builder Expert knows that you’re relying on us to give you the best information out there when it comes to choosing the best cloud hosting provider. We’ve put in almost 2,000 hours of research and analysis to help you narrow down your options and choose the right one for you.

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

If it sounds like an involved process, that’s because it is! Read more about our hosting research process.

Summary

We’ve gone over three of the best cloud hosting providers, and 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. Any of the three we’ve described for you would be good options, however!

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.

FAQs

Shared and cloud are two different types of hosting. Shared hosting involves multiple sites sharing the same server. Cloud hosting involves multiple sites sharing the resources of multiple servers. Cloud hosting isn’t bound to one location, and is therefore less prone to outages – if one server goes down, another can pick up the slack.

Cloud hosting offers a lot of variation, so the price you pay depends on the resources you want and need. Generally speaking, it can start at around $5/month and cost into the hundreds, depending on what you need and which cloud hosting provider you choose.

You can, but it’s not something we recommend. Good hosting is about accessibility – anyone, anywhere should be able to access a website at any time. Setting up your own server requires a lot of technical know-how, and chances are you’ll end up spending more for a less reliable server.

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

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Updated on March 22, 2024

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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.

Interested in Our Number One Pick for Small Business Hosting?

HostGator scores highly across the board, from help and support to performance. It’s our top choice for a reason – with a rating of 4.9 out of 5!

Show Me More of HostGator!

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

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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.

Looking for a Trustworthy Hosting Provider?

Bluehost performed consistently well in our research. Its reliability, affordable plans, and wealth of features are hard to resist!

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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!

Want To Get Great Value for Money?

DreamHost’s feature-rich plans and low prices combine to offer a budget-friendly and high-quality option.

Take Me to DreamHost

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.

Want To Save Money With Hostinger?

If affordability and features matter more to you than uptime and support options, then Hostinger has all the tools your site will need for success.

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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!

Interested in InMotion’s Shared Hosting?

InMotion is a strong all-rounder with great features on its shared plans. It also boasts some of the best security measures of any provider!

Take Me to InMotion

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!

Is Help and Support a Priority?

GoDaddy Hosting is a little more expensive than other plans, and it doesn’t perform as well overall, but you’re paying for quality features and support. Try it for yourself!

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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.

Looking for an Affordable Alternative to the Top Providers?

iPage could be for you! Its simple and cheap payment plan makes it a great option for small businesses on a budget.

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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.

Want To See More of A2 Hosting?

If you think A2 Hosting might be the perfect match for you, take a look at what it has to offer – from generous features to 24/7 support.

Yes! Show Me A2 Hosting!

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.

Is Site Speed a Key Feature for You?

IONOS can’t be matched! Our research found it to be the best hosting provider for site speed and uptime, so why not give it a go?

Show Me More of IONOS

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!

Is HostGator the Perfect Match for Your Small Business?

HostGator is the best small business web host – but is it right for you? If it’s ticking your boxes, don’t hesitate – take a look today!

Let's Find Out - Take Me to HostGator!

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

FAQs

Web hosting is how your website or web page gets live on the internet. You essentially purchase space online to house all the files that make up your website. Hosting providers like HostGator and Bluehost handle the technical side of things and supply the servers to keep your site running smoothly.

Our top hosting service for small businesses is HostGator! It’s super affordable, full of helpful features, and has the best support services.

Depending on the length of time you’re willing to commit for, web hosting can cost businesses as little as $1.99/month. For small businesses, we recommend opting for shared hosting packages, which come at cheap promotional rates.

Aside from scanning uptime rates, you’ll also want to be clued up on the support and security on offer. One-click installation is another important feature, so if you need hosting for a certain CMS, make sure this is available.

Hostinger and iPage offer the cheapest shared hosting plans, starting at $1.99 per month. Out of the two, Hostinger offers better value on its plans, combining cheap prices with better features than iPage.

Generally, there are two payment options: monthly or annually. Paying annually will usually shave a few bucks off the monthly fee as you’re committing to the provider for the year. On the flipside, you get more flexibility by paying monthly and it’s easier to switch providers down the line.

Web hosting is a lot more technical than simply building a website, and it can seem daunting at first. Luckily, website builders like Wix and Squarespace come with their own hosting included. If you’re an absolute beginner, we recommend this option.

If you’re planning to build a website with WordPress then we recommend Bluehost. It has seamless integration with WordPress and even comes with help and support guides for how to run a successful WordPress site.

Typically, most hosting providers will include shared hosting, VPS, and dedicated hosting to make sure they can accommodate sites of all sizes.

Shared hosting is primarily for smaller sites and essentially has you renting out space in the server. Think of it like having a room in an apartment building.

VPS (Virtual Private Server), is the next step up and is a great middle-ground for those wanting more small sites with better performance or medium to larger sites, depending on the plan. Instead of a room, you’re now getting the whole apartment.

Dedicated hosting is the most expensive kind of hosting and only for the largest of sites. You basically have the entire apartment complex at your disposal.

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BigCommerce Pricing: Are the Plans Worth Your Money?

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Updated on March 22, 2024

Pick My Perfect BigCommerce Plan

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BigCommerce Pricing Review

Rating

Review by Lucy Carney

Last Updated on April 14, 2023

We’ll be exploring exactly how much BigCommerce costs, explaining each plan in detail, and revealing the extra costs you should be aware of.

BigCommerce, a leading ecommerce website builder, has three price plans ranging from $29 to $299 per month, plus an extra custom-priced Enterprise plan. BigCommerce has a 15-day free trial so you can try it totally risk-free.

Here’s a quick breakdown of each of BigCommerce’s price plans…

BigCommerce Pricing Overview

In testing, BigCommerce scored four out of five stars for its value for money. It has tons of built-in features, meaning you don’t have to splash out on apps in order to grow your store. And that 15-day free trial is longer than the trial offered by rival Shopify.

BigCommerce lost a star because it’s one of the slightly more expensive options out there. That said, its cheapest plan is only 95 cents more per month than the Shopify equivalent!

Find Out More

Compare BigCommerce with its top competitors in our Ecommerce Website Builder Comparison Chart
Your business deserves the best. Discover the Best Ecommerce Platforms in our full review.
Want to know more about BigCommerce? Check out our full BigCommerce Review first.

BigCommerce Plans Up Close

BigCommerce pricing is unique because you have to upgrade as you grow. When you hit a certain sales cap per year, BigCommerce will move you onto a more advanced plan (although many stores choose to do this sooner in order to access more advanced features).

We’ve explained the rationale for this in the next section, but for now, here are the key features you get with each BigCommerce pricing plan:

* beyond this limit, you can pay an extra $150 per month for each extra $200k in online sales, up to $1m (you’ll need to move to the Enterprise plan after that). Great for thriving stores generating between $150k and $1m in revenue.

Do You Want to See More BigCommerce Features?

BigCommerce comes with a ton of high quality selling features – too many to list here anyway. Check out the full list for more!

Yes! Show Me A Full List of Features

All plans include:

Unlimited products, file storage and bandwidth – sell as many products as you want, without worrying about your store exceeding its limits
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
No transaction fees – keep all the money you make on sales
24/7 live customer support – expert help to answer any technical or business questions

But which plan is right for your business? Read on for our assessment:

Standard Plan: $29 per month

Best for new stores
Suitable for stores with revenue up to $50k

If you’re just getting started, the Standard plan will give you everything you need and more.

The Standard plan may be the cheapest, but it still comes with a generous amount of features packed in.

As with all BigCommerce plans, it gives you an unlimited amount of products, storage, bandwidth, and staff accounts – plus zero transaction fees!

On top of that, it lets you sell across multiple sales channels, including eBay, Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Other features include product ratings and reviews, discount and gift card creation, and real time shipping quotes.

Unexpected extra costs are the number one reason customers abandon orders, so being able to offer discounts and real-time shipping quotes are beneficial for your store’s conversion rates!

This plan can support up to $50k in online sales revenue per year, making it perfect for businesses that are starting out and looking to grow.

Plus Plan: $79 per month

BigCommerce’s most popular price plan
Includes abandoned cart recovery + other additional tools
Best for growing stores
Suitable for stores with revenue up to $180k/year

The Plus plan gives you everything from the Standard plan, plus some extra tools to help you increase customer conversions. These include:

Customer groups – by building customer groups, you can reward frequent shoppers via loyalty programs
Abandoned cart saver – use automated emails to win back customers who abandoned their carts at checkout
Persistent cart – save customers’ shopping carts to their account, so that 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

This plan is for 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!

Pro Plan: $299 per month

Priced at $299 per month and boasting an impressive range of features, the Pro plan is designed for big businesses with big budgets.

This plan takes everything from both the Standard and Plus plans, and piles on even more features with the focus on taking your business to the next level.

You unlock:

Google customer reviews– a tool that lets you collect customer feedback and view product ratings
Product filtering – help customers quickly find the products they’re looking for using filters such as size, color, or brand
Custom SSL – if you’ve already bought an SSL elsewhere, you can transfer it to your BigCommerce store

These are useful features for further scaling an already established online store and refining your customer experience.

Enterprise Plan: Custom

Additional service and support features – API support, express routing, priority support, and strategic account management
Suitable for businesses earning over $400k/year

For the largest ecommerce stores, the Enterprise plan lets you max out on everything BigCommerce has to offer:

Custom product filters – use custom product fields as filters in faceted search, which helps customers narrow down their options
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

Did You Find Your Perfect Plan?

It’s worth picking a plan that suits your needs as well as your budget. Head over to BigCommerce to learn more and to get started!

Yes! Show Me BigCommerce’s Plans

Find Out More

Once you’ve picked your perfect plan, what’s next? Find out in our full guide on How to Build an Online Store for 9 easy steps!

Why Does BigCommerce Make You Upgrade?

BigCommerce pricing is unique because you have to upgrade as you grow. When you hit a certain sales cap per year, BigCommerce will move you onto a more advanced plan.

Here’s a recap of the ‘caps’ for each plan:

Standard – $50k. Good for smaller ecommerce stores.
Plus – $180k. Good option for medium-sized stores or fast-growing stores.
Pro – $400k; beyond this limit, you pay an extra $150 per month for each extra $200k in online sales, up to $1m. Great for thriving stores generating between $150k and $1m in revenue.

Good to know… If you’re a merchant selling a high volume of very low margin products, BigCommerce’s pricing may not be worth it. You may find that you’re hitting the threshold for revenue, but still struggling to make decent profits.

It’s in your best interests to upgrade if you hit your revenue cap. In fact, it’s often worth upgrading long before then.

For example, say you’re on BigCommerce’s Standard plan, and your store is generating over $50k in revenue a year. You’ll find that you don’t have a choice: you must upgrade to the Plus plan.

And 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 as 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 still have to ask.

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.”

Are You Ready to Grow Your Store?

If you’re eager to see your sales soar to new heights, BigCommerce has the tools to help. Find your perfect plan today.

Yes! Pick My Perfect BigCommerce Plan

Find Out More

Not sure if BigCommerce is right for you? Check out our BigCommerce vs Shopify comparison to see which platform performed better in our research.

BigCommerce Pricing vs Competitor Pricing

Shopify is BigCommerce’s closest competitor in terms of product offering. They have a really similar pricing structure, but with a few key differences.

For one, Shopify charges platform fees (i.e. commission) for any products bought through its platform (unless they were purchased using Shopify’s own payment gateway, Shopify Payments). This fee sounds small – it’s between 0.5 and 2% – but below you can see the impact this can have over time:

Annual Cost of Using Shopify

* Commission is 0% if the purchase is made through Shopify Payments.

Annual Cost of Using BigCommerce

Additional Costs

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 at the checkout or further down the line.

This is why 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 to your site who you are, and introduces what your website is about.

Buying a domain name from BigCommerce will cost you from $12.27 for one year. This is about the same as Shopify in terms of price (Shopify domain names start at $13), while Wix will give you a domain name free for a year if you sign up to a Premium plan (such as Wix eCommerce).

Find out more

Check out our beginner’s guide What Is a Domain Name? for a full introduction to domains.

#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 processing fees for debit and credit cards start at 2.9% + $0.30 per order, 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 commission fees. This means that credit card rates are the only fee you need to worry about – simple!

This sets BigCommerce apart from its rivals – even Shopify charges a commission unless you use its in-house payments system.

#3. Themes

While BigCommerce has a small range of free themes for you to choose from, it’s possible you may want to pick a premium theme instead.

Premium themes range in price from $135 to $300 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.

Did you know that 94% of first impressions depend on your website’s design? And it only takes about 0.05 seconds for people to form that vital first impression, so be careful picking your store’s theme!

bigcommerce pricing themes — BigCommerce provides a variety of both free and premium themes.

Find out more

Need help designing your online store? We’ve got you covered with our detailed guide on How to Design a Product Page

Looking for inspiration that doesn’t cost extra? Check out our gallery of Free Ecommerce Website Templates

#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 is pretty reliant on its app store.

However, BigCommerce does have an app store of its own, so if there’s a particular feature you want, you can go a-looking.

There’s a selection of free apps, as well as paid ones which vary in price. For example, BigCommerce’s top paid apps (including ShipStation and Google Shopping) range from $9 to $50 per month.

Many apps come with either a free trial or a free plan, so you can choose whether or not to pay for an upgraded service.

bigcommerce pricing apps — You'll find a range of apps in the BigCommerce App Store - many paid apps also have a free plan or trial.

There are tons of apps to choose from, and it can be hard to choose! One feature that’s sometimes overlooked is a good contact form – consumers are most likely to trust a business that’s easy to contact, so look for apps that’ll help you build good customer relationships.

#5. BigCommerce Partners

If you want to give your store a boost and 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.

bigcommerce partners pricing — You can pay for a BigCommerce Partner if you want help growing your business.

#6. BigCommerce Cancellation

We love the fact that BigCommerce offers a monthly plan – it’s flexible, affordable, and the perfect way to find out if BigCommerce is right for you beyond the 15-day free trial.

However, if you choose BigCommerce’s monthly plan and then decide it’s not for you, make sure you cancel two working days before your term ends. Otherwise, BigCommerce assumes you want to carry on using its builder and will continue charging you.

This is a common complaint we see from customers who didn’t realize this was the case, so don’t get caught by surprise. Don’t wait until the last minute to cancel – set yourself a reminder, and do it a couple of days before you need to just to be safe!

Conclusion: Is BigCommerce’s Pricing 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 one is best for…

BigCommerce Pricing: Summary

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 needing scalable features to support their continued growth.
Enterprise plan: custom pricing. Best for fully established stores needing an extra level of sophistication in their features and support.

The Standard plan is the one we recommend for most new sellers. However, our 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 rates are the main three to factor into your budget.

It’s always best to try before you buy, so we highly recommend jumping on BigCommerce’s 15-day free trial. If you’ve already made the most of the trial, snap up your perfect plan to get started for real!

Are You Ready to Get Started With BigCommerce?

Jump on BigCommerce’s 15-day free trial, or pick your perfect price plan to start building your store today. Why wait?

Yes! Take Me to BigCommerce Now

BigCommerce Pricing FAQs

In this review, we’ve covered the key aspects of BigCommerce’s pricing.

You might still have questions about BigCommerce’s cost. Let’s run through some BigCommerce pricing FAQs that we haven’t answered already.

If there are any questions we haven’t covered in this review, make sure to post them in the comments section at the bottom!

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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Best Website Builders for Small Business: Compared for 2024

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Updated on March 22, 2024

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Looking to set up a website for your small business? Not sure which website builder best suits your business priorities and needs? Need to sell online? We’ve carried out in-depth research to bring you our top choices – and Shopify is the best small business website builder.

The Best Small Business Website Builders

Shopify – For selling products or services online
Wix – For promoting your small business
Squarespace – For aesthetic designs
GoDaddy – For expert guidance

We’ve narrowed down our list to the top four small business website builders and Shopify is the best overall with an impressive rating of 4.9 out of 5. It offers unbeatable ecommerce features, including customizable checkout pages and native POS systems, making it a great option for businesses looking to sell products or services.

Below, we’ll discuss all of these website builders in detail to help you find the right fit for your small business, whether you’re looking to get online quickly or you’re after features to help you promote your brand. We know these are some of the key factors small businesses care about.

How to Choose a Small Business Website Builder

Unsure which website builder to choose for your small business? You should identify your priorities and needs before committing to a plan.

Looking to sell online? Consider Shopify which comes jam-packed with powerful ecommerce features to help you sell and market your products to customers
Want to grow your audience? Wix is your best bet for impressive marketing tools and personalized SEO support
Is a stylish website a priority? Squarespace’s aesthetic designs make producing a stunning website easy
Need a helping hand? If all of this seems overwhelming, try a website builder like GoDaddy that offers expert guidance

Another key factor for beginners or small businesses just starting is affordability. You don’t want to make a large dent in the budget right away, and there are plenty of cost-effective website builders to choose from. You can review the cheapest premium plans of our top choices in the table below:

As you can see, GoDaddy is the best value for money, with its premium plans starting from $10.99 per month (billed annually). But, depending on the needs of your small business, we recommend checking out more premium options, such as Shopify or Wix, if you want access to advanced features or ecommerce functionality. You can also check out our list of small business website examples for inspiration.

Take our short quiz to receive a personalized website builder recommendation:

What is more important to your small business?

See Shopify Pricing Plans

Best for Selling Products: Shopify

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 that offers high-quality sales features, such as inventory management tools and multichannel integration. You might already be signed up to a website builder, so it’ll just be a case of upgrading to an ecommerce-friendly plan.

To cut to the chase, 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, make it a powerful solution for small businesses of any size that want to sell online.

We wouldn’t recommend Shopify if you only have a few products to sell, though – you’ll get the most out of the platform and its sales tools if you have a complex or growing inventory. If you’re just starting out, we suggest looking at Wix which is better suited for smaller product catalogs – you’ll need to upgrade to a higher plan for unlimited storage and advanced sales tools, such as automated sales tax. These features are available on Shopify from its cheapest plan.

Shopify Pricing: Shopify’s plans range from $29 to $299 per month (billed annually). Get started with its 3-day free trial before receiving your first month for $1 if you choose the Shopify Basic plan. This is a good starting point for small businesses, providing unlimited products and up to 1,000 inventory locations.

I’d recommend Shopify as the best 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 & SMS marketing!

Ollie Simpson Research Executive

Multichannel Selling

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

When it comes to multichannel integration, you can connect Shopify with its POS system for offline selling, a range of social media platforms, including TikTok and Instagram, or online marketplaces. We like that Shopify merchants can download the Shopify Marketplace Connect app to gain access to marketplaces like eBay and Amazon. This helps you meet customers in the places they’re already browsing and shopping, so you don’t need to rely on your website as the sole channel for sales.

I built my small business website with Shopify...

Lindsay Schoneveld

Owner

Konfession is a Canadian business that creates burn-to-reveal candles with anonymous secrets hidden inside, sent in by strangers from around the world. The goal is to create less judgment by spreading love, laughter, and mental health awareness!

Q&A

When did you start using Shopify, and how long did it take to build a website?

I started designing my website in 2020 and it took me a couple of months to design to my liking. However, the design process is neverending.

What do you like most about Shopify?

My most favorite – and probably the newest – feature is how Pinterest now connects directly to your Shopify account. You can now have a full Shopify catalog on your Pinterest page! Your followers can buy directly from Pinterest.

Does Shopify support your website’s growth? Is Shopify a good website builder for small businesses?

Yes, there are different levels for Shopify. Once you need to upgrade they’re there to help! Just a click of a button. I would highly recommend Shopify for anyone who is new to website design and for anyone who is starting their journey with entrepreneurship!

Payment Options

Shopify Payments set up in the Shopify backend — To set up Shopify Payments I simply had to answer a few business-related questions. Source: Website Builder Expert

Any small business looking to sell products must offer a range of payment options to their customers – this increases your chances of landing a sale since customers have more choices when completing their purchase.

Shopify supports over 100 different payment gateways, as well as Shopify Payments which eradicates transaction fees if chosen. Using Shopify’s native payment gateway is the easiest way to take payments through the website builder, making the checkout experience more convenient for both the business owner and the customer.

We also think it’s worth mentioning Shopify Bill Pay, a new feature from our top-rated small business website builder that helps stores manage and pay business bills through Shopify’s dashboard. This helps business owners keep everything in one place.

Security

If you’re considering selling online, you must ensure your security is airtight. Shopify provides a built-in SSL certificate, two-step verification, customer log-ins, and ensures your website is PCI compliant. The majority of these measures are offered by all major website builders, but we liked Shopify’s additional fraud analysis tool which helps small businesses recognize fraudulent orders.

Making sure you have good website security is critical when selling online – you want your customers to have confidence that your website will keep their data secure. With Shopify, you can rest assured that your website and small business are in safe hands.

Read our Shopify Review for more information.

Best for Marketing Your Business: Wix

Looking to promote your business online and grow your audience? Need help optimizing your website successfully for search engines? A good website builder should support your marketing efforts so you can get more eyes on your website and small business.

Wix is our top choice, providing a diverse range of website features and high-quality marketing tools, such as:

Built-in email marketing
Internationalization features, supporting 180 languages and auto-translation
Keyword support from Semrush integration

All of these features from Wix support your business efforts to promote your website and expand your audience reach. The great thing about Wix is that the majority of tools are built-in and you can start building your website for free – though we recommend upgrading to one of its premium plans to remove ads and unlock additional features.

With other builders, like Shopify, you’ll need to browse a large app market for additional features, such as email marketing. But, do you have time to shop around for the right third-party apps or would you rather have everything at your fingertips within your website builder’s dashboard?

Wix Pricing: For a professional small business website, choose one of Wix’s premium plans, ranging from $16 to $159 per month (billed annually). Marketing power differs with each plan, so make a note of what you need more subscribing. We recommend Wix’s Core plan ($27/mo) since you unlock more lead-capture forms and site chat.

Marketing Features

Your website’s marketing features can be used to build audience engagement and increase your brand’s visibility online. It’s a great way to share expertise on your niche subject or announce exciting business news – and an email or social post can serve as a reminder to people that your business exists!

Wix provides a built-in email marketing package with its website builder plans, allowing you to set up automated workflows, use brand assets from your website, and generate personalized messages so you can speak directly to your audience and customers. Wix partnered with Mailchimp at the end of 2023 to help businesses further streamline and coordinate communications.

SEO

Wix, like most major website builders, handles the SEO basics – letting you edit meta titles and image alt text, for example. But we love how Wix delivers SEO guidance to website owners and small businesses.

Wix creates a personalized SEO plan for your small business once you sign up, meaning you can action its recommendations quickly to ensure your website follows SEO best practices. This will help your website appear and rank in search engine results, allowing users to find relevant content to their query. When we tested this out for ourselves, we got a detailed checklist within a minute.

Personalized SEO checklist produced by Wix — Wix gave me a personalized SEO checklist after I answered a few questions about my business. Source: Website Builder Expert

In addition to Wix’s SEO checklist, Wix provides a thorough SEO Learning Hub and access to the keyword research tool, Semrush. A recent addition to Wix’s SEO suite of tools is its AI Meta Tag Creator, freeing up your time by handing the task to AI. So, it’s no surprise that Wix scores a perfect 5 out of 5 in our SEO testing – with only Shopify sharing the same rating.

Organic search remains one of most impactful and cost-effective marketing channels available. Small businesses that invest the time and resources into building their online presence, and high-quality relevant content, not only build a stronger brand identity but also achieve sustained long-term success.

Caitlin Hathaway Content Strategist

AI Tools

Website builders have been busy when it comes to adding AI tools to their features, rolling out new services like Wix’s AI Meta Tag Creator or Shopify Magic which helps you generate impactful product descriptions.

With Wix, you can use AI to build your website in just a few minutes (which is great for small businesses just starting out and looking to get online quickly). You can also make the most of Wix’s AI Text Creator to generate website copy, blog posts, product descriptions, and more.

However, when trialing the AI tool ourselves, we found the prompt to be a little restrictive since it made us choose a topic before adding keywords. That said, we liked the variety in the topic options, from “Team intro” to “FAQs”.

Wix AI Text Creator form with prompt for a pottery business and suggested copy produced by AI — After clicking “Create Text”, Wix’s AI Text Creator generated three suggestions for me instantly. Source: Website Builder Expert

Whether you use AI to help create your entire website or write a fresh blog post, AI tools can be a useful way to cut down on time-consuming tasks and support your overall marketing strategy. The best part is that AI is still very new to the website builder industry, meaning AI products will continue to evolve and launch. For example, Squarespace has already made hints at new AI features, including image support and an AI assistant in the editor.

Read our Wix Review for more information.

Best for Aesthetic Designs: Squarespace

We know that first impressions make all the difference, which is why template variety, sleek design elements, and quality content are so important. If this sounds like something your small business wants to prioritize, then Squarespace is your best bet for a stylish website.

We especially recommend Squarespace for artist websites and creative businesses – or anyone looking to focus on visuals and appearance over other factors, such as ecommerce or backend power.

Squarespace uses the popular drag-and-drop style editor – but with a twist. When editing, you’ll notice a grid-style overlay, helping you snap elements into position. While this might sound more restrictive than other website builders, Squarespace’s grid layout helps your elements align neatly with one another. You’ll find it difficult to create anything messy or bland when using Squarespace, once you combine its editor with the quality of its designs and templates.

Squarespace Pricing: Plans range between $16 and $49 per month (billed annually). Squarespace and Wix cost the same to start, but Squarespace is better value for money, offering better quality features for the price point.

Template Quality

3 beauty templates by Squarespace — I could filter Squarespace’s themes to look specifically at industries or categories, such as “Health & Beauty”. Source: Website Builder Expert

Squarespace’s templates cover a wide range of industries, including “Fashion”, “Media & Podcasts”, “Real Estate & Properties”, and “Travel”. You can browse its selection without needing to sign up, and each template works harmoniously with every Squarespace element, feature, and design option. So, while you can’t technically change templates after your initial choice – like Wix – you can create a completely new look without starting from scratch. You can even edit your Squarespace website on the go with its app!

Squarespace offers around 160 templates to choose from – a far cry from Wix’s 800+ templates, but we’re focusing on quality over quantity here. Alternatively, you can create something from scratch with Squarespace’s AI builder, Squarespace Blueprint. However, we’d recommend a premade theme if you value uniqueness and individuality since you can tweak these to suit your small business with ease. The AI-generated templates come out quite similar-looking.

Content Tools

What you put on your pages matters. Squarespace excels in this department, providing 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 the location of your small business really easy to spot.

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

Using elements like these, or even carousels and charts, help make your content digestible to website visitors. People consume information in different ways, so breaking up your content into alternative formats ensures your key points are delivered.

Read our Squarespace Review for more information.

Best for Expert Guidance: GoDaddy

You don’t need to be an expert in building or running a website from the get-go. If you feel like you’ll want a helping hand, or appreciate a few educational resources to help you get started, then we recommend choosing GoDaddy which offers expert guidance and support.

GoDaddy Pricing: GoDaddy offers a free plan and three premium plans, ranging from $10.99 to $20.99 per month (billed annually). Support remains the same across all plans, so if you’re looking to get online for an affordable fee, we recommend GoDaddy’s cheapest option, the Basic plan. In fact, GoDaddy is the best value for money – GoDaddy offers nearly all of the same standard features that you’d find on Wix, Squarespace, or Shopify, such as SEO and marketing tools, but for a fraction of the price.

Sure, ecommerce tools or high-quality website features are important, but they’re worthless unless you understand how to use them.

Ideally, a website builder will offer a variety of help and support channels, such as live chat or phone support – website owners can then choose the channel they’re comfortable with, improving the overall customer service experience. This makes sure your needs and pain points are heard if you ever run into trouble, addressing issues quickly and freeing up valuable time that can be spent on running your business instead.

Here’s what you can expect from GoDaddy:

24/7 phone support
Social media support
24/7 live chat
Knowledge center with tutorials and guides
Community forum
Expert support from GoDaddy’s team to help with website maintenance, SEO, and more

Unfortunately, you can’t reach out to GoDaddy via email – if this is a support channel you require, we suggest looking at Shopify or Squarespace. Despite this, we were particularly impressed by GoDaddy’s live chat response time. In our tests, GoDaddy responded in less than 10 seconds.

Three GoDaddy guides to help with website building in GoDaddy's help center — We love the additional resources on GoDaddy, such as these guides and courses to help enhance your website builder knowledge. Source: Website Builder Expert

Read our GoDaddy Review for more information.

Our Testing Methodology

We’ve conducted in-depth testing on the top website builders for small businesses to bring you data-led recommendations. Our goal is to help you find a website builder that meets your needs – we cover the good, the bad, and everything in between so you have all of the facts.

For small businesses, we look at seven core categories:

Sales Features – 38%

We look at the ecommerce features on offer to support your online store, from payment options to abandoned cart recovery.

Website Features – 20%

Looking at the quality and quantity of a website builder’s features, such as SEO, AI, and marketing.

Help and Support – 17%

We test a builder’s help and support options and knowledge centers because we know every small business might need a helping hand now and then.

User Experience – 10%

We look at a website builder’s ease of use and accessibility by testing the builders ourselves.

Design Functionality – 7%

This category covers a website builder’s aesthetic capabilities and design options, such as templates and mobile editors.

Value for Money – 5%

We review a website builder’s pricing plans and what you can get for your money.

Customer Score – 3%

To see how a website builder performs in the market and against competitors.

Following our testing, each website builder is awarded a rating out of five, which we then use to determine our rankings.

Best Small Business Website Builders: Summary

We’ve shared our recommendations depending on your small business needs, but our top choice is Shopify. It offers a powerful all-in-one solution for small businesses, performing well across our research categories. It also has the best sales features out of all the builders we tested – we highly recommend this builder if you’re looking to sell online.

If you’re still unsure, here’s a reminder of our top four small business website builders and how they can help you:

Shopify is the best small business website builder overall, but we specifically recommend it for businesses looking to sell online
Wix offers high-quality website features, helping small businesses promote their websites online
Squarespace is ideal for designing a stylish website, especially for creative small businesses – see how well it performed in our best website builder for artists and best website builder for musicians research
GoDaddy provides small businesses with responsive help and support, and its affordable plans make it the best value for money

See how Shopify, our recommended choice for small businesses, compares to the rest in our detailed comparison pages: Shopify vs Wix, Shopify vs Squarespace, and Shopify vs GoDaddy.

All of these website builders offer either a free trial or a free plan, so you can try them out first to help you find the right fit for your small business.

FAQs

Wix and GoDaddy both offer free plans, while Shopify and Squarespace offer free trials. That said, GoDaddy wins when it comes to value for money. While a free plan can be a good place to find your feet and get started, we recommend upgrading to a premium plan as soon as possible for a professional look and advanced features. GoDaddy’s paid plans start from $10.99 per month (billed annually).

While most website builders include a custom domain in their premium plans, you’ll be able to connect an existing domain to your new website easily. You should find an option to do so within your website builder’s settings, or you can visit their help center for step-by-step guidance. Just remember it can take up to 48 hours for the DNS settings to fully sync.

In our research of scheduling and booking tools, Wix and Squarespace both score 5 out of 5. The two website builders include an online booking tool as a built-in feature, meaning you don’t need to source it from a third-party provider. You can also connect Wix and Squarespace’s scheduling system with your external calendar, as well as integrate payments, so clients and customers can secure and pay for their appointments in a single place.

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Shopify Pricing 2024: Which Plan Should You Choose?

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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 March 6, 2024

Shopify is our top-rated ecommerce website builder, offering unparalleled sales features to business owners looking to grow and expand 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. You can also take advantage of Shopify’s introductory deal and get your first month for $1.

Shopify Pricing Plans

Shopify Starter ($5) – For side hustles
Basic ($29) – Best for small businesses looking to grow
Shopify ($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

Knowing which plan to pick will depend on your business size, needs, and budget. We’ll review each plan in detail, flag additional costs to consider, and compare Shopify’s pricing to other website builders in the market.

How Much Does Shopify Cost?

Shopify's three pricing plans with fees and key features displayed — Shopify’s plans offer a range of features, such as multiple inventory locations. Source: Website Builder Expert

Shopify has three core plans: Basic, Shopify, 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 month for $1 with Shopify’s introductory deal.

Short on time? Get a quick overview of Shopify’s plans below:

There are additional costs to consider, such as templates and transaction fees, but we’ll unpack those later.

Is Shopify Good Value for Money?

Shopify scores a low 2.6 out of 5 in our value for money testing because of its expensive plans and short free trial. This is one of the weakest scores from the 16 website builders we tested – Wix and Squarespace easily outperform Shopify when it comes to price. In fact, GoDaddy is the best value ecommerce website builder overall, so consider reading our GoDaddy Ecommerce Review if affordability is a key factor for your website.

We compared the minimum standard features you’d expect from an ecommerce plan, such as built-in marketing tools and SEO, and noted the price you’d need to pay. Shopify grants businesses all of these features from its cheapest plan which costs $29 per month, but a lot of these essential features are available at a cheaper price point with other builders. For example, you can start selling with Wix for $27 per month and its SEO tools are available on its free plan.

That said, Shopify is a dedicated ecommerce website builder, offering unparalleled sales features – its starting prices are naturally higher because of this. Plus, Shopify is constantly rolling out new features and improving existing tools, evident in its recent bi-annual Shopify Editions Winter ‘24 update.

The other major website builders, such as Wix, offer both website building and ecommerce plans – the cheapest plan usually lacks ecommerce features, unlike Shopify which provides these from the start.

So, if you run a rapidly growing online store and need the features and functionality to support that, Shopify’s price point is worth it.

Let’s take a closer look at each of its plans.

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. We recommend the Basic plan if you’re running a smaller business that needs room to grow since it gives you a great 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 – we got a response to our 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 – we 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

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. 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.

Shopify: $79 – For Established Businesses

The Shopify 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 Shopify plan provides further support for expanding online stores:

Up to 88% shipping discount, a considerable uplift from the Basic plan
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

We recommend choosing the Shopify plan if your business is seeing substantial growth over time. It’s a good stepping stone of a plan – a middle ground between Shopify’s cheapest plan which supports new merchants and the high-growth businesses that Shopify’s Advanced plan caters to.

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 to show exactly what you need to look at
Enhanced 24/7 chat support meaning your business can get rapid help during urgent situations
Up to 15 staff accounts – when comparing to the Shopify 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 weekend in 2023

The Advanced plan is best for businesses at the top of their game – for the high price point, we 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.

Alternative Shopify Plans

However, 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 – For Side Hustles

If you’re not looking to build an entire website, Shopify Starter lets users sell across social media platforms and messaging apps, such as Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp. The plan costs just $5 per month (billed annually), making it considerably cheaper than Shopify’s primary options.

We 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.

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. We recommend upgrading to the Basic plan if you’d like to fully customize your online storefront and unlock additional tools, such as blogging and discounts.

Shopify Starter homepage — Shopify Starter is ideal for side hustles and businesses looking to get started on social media. Source: Website Builder Expert

Shopify Plus: From $2,300 – For Industry Giants

Used by titans of industry, such as Mattel and Sony, Shopify Plus is ideal for incredibly successful and high-growth businesses. It provides scalable and customizable solutions for businesses, including expert strategy guidance and technical support from Shopify.

Pricing starts from $2,300 per month and the plan is available for either a one-year or three-year subscription – businesses can arrange to get in touch with Shopify to find out more.

Enterprise: Custom Pricing – For Limitless Business Growth

Similar to Shopify Plus, Shopify’s Enterprise plan targets businesses leading their industries and markets – but with custom pricing. With the Enterprise plan, businesses simply unlock further tools for innovation so they can create a plan to support their business needs.

Additional Fees: What To Expect

Shopify isn’t a cheap website builder – its plans are expensive from the start. Still, the blow to your budget is softened by access to Shopify’s impressive ecommerce features and robust product backend. Unfortunately, there are additional costs to consider before choosing a Shopify plan which can quickly increase your overall spend.

Premium Templates

At the time of writing, Shopify has around 12 free templates to choose from. In comparison, all of Wix’s 800+ templates are free to use. Shopify’s premium themes range between $140 to $400 – this is a one-off cost, but a pricey add-on when combined with your Shopify plan.

Paid Apps

You can improve Shopify’s built-in features by paying more for third-party apps from Shopify’s app store. With over 8,000 apps to choose from, such as Printify to support print-on-demand selling, and Linktree to simplify sharing links online. It’s not surprising that select apps can request an additional fee. For example, Linktree’s premium plans start from $5 per month.

Shopify's app store filtered to show apps for selling — I could filter Shopify’s app store to show me integrations that support selling products. Source: Website Builder Expert

Domain Name

You’ll also have to shell out for a custom domain name if you want your online store to have a professional look. With Shopify, this can cost around $15 per year for a .com domain name.

Transaction Fees

One of the most considerable additional costs relates to customers shopping with your store. If you’re using Shopify Payments, the website builder’s in-house payment processor, then you’ll face the following credit card rates depending on your plan:

	Basic	Shopify	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%

While you can choose from over 100 third-party payment processors, such as Stripe or PayPal, we recommend using Shopify Payments to keep these credit card rates as low as possible for each online transaction.

You’ll also be able to remove transaction fees when using Shopify Payments – without Shopify Payments, each transaction will incur both transaction fees and credit card fees.

The transaction fees differ depending on your plan – the Basic plan charges 2%, the Shopify plan charges 1%, and the Advanced Shopify plan charges 0.6%.

How To Save Money With Shopify

We know that Shopify is expensive, especially in comparison to other website builders, like Wix and GoDaddy. However, there are a few ways to save money when choosing to build an online store:

Sign up for an annual plan rather than paying monthly – you can save 25% if you choose a yearly subscription
Use Shopify Payments to avoid transaction fees – you’ll still need to pay credit card fees, but Shopify’s in-house payment solution removes any additional third-party transaction fees
Use a free theme instead of a premium template – we particularly love Shopify’s free template, “Crave”, because of its modern, bold, and colorful look
Get your domain name from a different registrar – Shopify’s .com domain costs around $15 per year, whereas GoDaddy costs $11.99 for the first year

Shopify recently launched a Total Cost of Ownership calculator as well, helping businesses compare ownership costs (such as platform and operating fees, like apps and maintenance). This is a great way to see how Shopify can help your online store minimize its expenses and boost sales.

How We Test Website Builder Pricing

Through our research process, we carried out over 200 hours of testing and data collection across seven primary categories – one of which is value for money. 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
Whether a website builder offers the minimum standard features, such as SEO, and at what price point are these features available

We then award each ecommerce website builder, like Shopify, a score out of five based on its performance in the value for money category.

Shopify Pricing: Our Recommendation

To recap, Shopify is the best ecommerce website builder on the market in 2024 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) – get started for just $1 for the first month.

Because it’s an expensive entry point for small businesses, we 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.

FAQs

Shopify has three main plans to choose between, ranging from $29 to $299 per month (billed annually). You can pay for your chosen plan every month or opt for a yearly contract.

Yes. You can either purchase a domain name from Shopify itself (for a charge), or use your existing domain. Shopify does provide a free myshopify.com domain name to each online store when you sign up, but that doesn’t look too professional so we recommend purchasing a custom domain name as soon as possible.

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Building a Business Website in 10 Simple Steps

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Updated on March 22, 2024

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Using a website builder for small businesses: that’s the main method we recommend when building your online business.

We particularly recommend Wix. It’s a dream for tech beginners, and doesn’t require huge amounts of tech-savviness or hands-on effort to maintain. That said, setting up your business website with a website builder is a process – but fortunately, it’s one we’re well-equipped to help you with.

Below, we’re using our years of website-building experience to take you through the key steps to getting your business online in no time.

This guide will focus on the DIY website building route, but – if you’re interested in hiring a web designer – we’d highly recommend using this web design service comparison tool built by our trusted partners at Expert Market. It’s 100% free for Website Builder Expert readers to use, and you can view tailored pricing information with zero obligation.

Good to know: This article will focus on websites for businesses that aren’t looking to sell online. If you’d like to set up an online store, check out our complete guide to Building an Ecommerce Site.

1. Define Your Business Website Goals and Target Audience

Although we recommend using a website builder to create your website, regardless of which option you choose, there are a few things you need to decide on before you start building. You might be excited to dive straight in and begin, but taking a moment to do some serious planning will save you a lot of trouble further down the line!

Peter Erlandsson, founder of allguitarstuff.com, highlights the benefits of getting your ducks in a row before you get started:

‘As boring as the planning phase might be, it will serve you well in the future. A well planned site has consistent branding, a setup that makes it easy and seamless to grow and develop, and lots of content that is optimized for SEO (search engine optimization) with the right keywords in mind.’

Below, we’ve listed a few key elements to consider before you let your creative juices flow – including defining your business website goals and target audience.

Determine the Main Purpose of Your Website

Why are you building a website? It might seem like an obvious question, but it’s the most important of them all.

Websites have the tools to accomplish a number of different goals, so knowing what you want yours to do is the best way to avoid confusion and provide a smooth customer experience. After all, no one wants to go to a Chinese restaurant expecting to eat Italian food – only to be served sushi!

It’s the same with websites. Your customers will have certain expectations, and it’s your website’s job to meet them. Whether you want to use it as a platform to sell goods, or simply provide information about your business, knowing this in advance will make it much easier to build a website that works for you and your customers.

Identify Your Target Audience

It’s rare for a company to target all kinds of users – for each business or industry, there’s a particular type of person they’ll be gearing their products, website, and marketing towards.

Figuring out your target audience early on in the game can be particularly helpful when it comes to making important design decisions later on. The demographic you’re aiming for can have an impact on the images and copy you use, and it might even influence smaller details like your font and color scheme, too.

Do Some Competitor Research

It’s pretty rare for any business to come up with a completely unique idea nowadays. That means one thing: there are going to be other companies out there offering the same thing as you!

Doing thorough competitor research, then, can give you a good idea of what you should and shouldn’t be including in your business website. You don’t have to limit your investigations only to websites in the same industry as you, either. Take a look at some of your personal favorites, and ask yourself what it is about them that you like. Is there anything you can incorporate into your own site to make your business stand out from the rest?

Catherine Cooke, founder and CEO of Upskillwise.com, had this to say about the importance of checking out the market before you get started:

“When building a business website, it’s important to look at what your competitors are doing. You want to stand out against your competition, but you also want to align yourself with industry standards. Find three or four elements of their web design that you can mimic, and find another three or four elements where you think you can do something completely different. This will tell users who visit your website what kind of service or product you offer and help you stand out and stick in their memory long after they’ve clicked away.”

Find Out More: Check out our shortlist of Corporate Website Design Examples for inspiration.

Set Clear Goals for Your Business Website

Before diving into the process of creating your business website, it’s vital to establish clear goals for your online presence.

That means determining what you aim to achieve with your website: whether it’s generating leads, increasing online sales, building brand awareness, or providing valuable information to your audience.

By defining your goals early on, you can align your website design, content, and functionality to effectively support and drive those objectives. This clarity will also guide your decision-making throughout the website creation process: ensuring that your business website serves its purpose – and contributes to your overall success. This is also a useful step in business design, which can be a good thing to think about in these early stages of setting up your brand.

“In the post-Covid world, having a digital presence for your business is arguably more important than having a physical presence, at least in the case of some industries. And one of the simplest ways to have an online presence is by building a website. It is inexpensive yet so effective.”

Madhav Goenka is the Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Frazile, a digital marketing agency. He has helped startups, as well as large companies, build a stronger online brand to get them more leads and sales.

Find Out More

Looking for inspiration? See our list of Small Business Website Examples for inspiration. Or, if your audience will be other businesses, check out our selection of the Best B2B Websites Examples to see how other top B2B brands designed their sites.

2. Get a Domain Name

A domain name is your website’s unique address. It’s often the first thing that potential customers will see, so it’ll play a very important part in forming their first impressions.

Because of this, it’s a good idea for businesses to have domain names that are the same as, or similar to, their company name. For example, our domain name is websitebuilderexpert.com.

When choosing your domain name, make sure you do your research to check that there aren’t any similar ones floating around. You also want it to be fairly short and easy to spell. We’d recommend avoiding abbreviations or unnecessary hyphens, too. This will reduce the risk of errors and make it easier for customers to spell your domain name!

Top Tip!

Although you want your domain name to be relevant to what you do, it’s a good idea to try and keep it broad, where possible. Being too restrictive with your name can hinder business growth later on. It’s a good idea to choose something that’ll be just as relevant in five years’ time as it is now.

You’ll need to pay an initial cost to register your domain, and then pay a yearly fee to keep it registered going forwards. Doing this will secure your domain name and make sure that nobody else can take it.

A domain name typically costs around $10 to $12 per year. You can usually get your domain directly through your website builder, or via a separate domain registrar. Popular domain name providers include Domain.com and NameCheap.

Most website builders (such as Wix) include a free domain name for the first year. For any subsequent years, you can pay for your domain name directly through your builder.

Good to know...

When choosing your domain name, make sure you also think about your top-level domain (TLD), too. This is the bit at the end of your address, for example, .com or .org. Different TLDs have different prices, with the most common ones usually costing the most. When your business gets a bit bigger, it’s worth purchasing as many TLDs associated with your domain name as possible, so that other businesses can’t buy them and divert customers away from your website.

3. Create an Email Address

To make your business look more professional and established, you’ll need a custom email address. For example, yourname@yourbusiness.com instantly looks more credible than yourname@gmail.com.

The most common way to format business email addresses is to include the business’s domain name.

For example, our email address is info@websitebuilderexpert.com.

Getting a custom business email address is quick, cheap, and fairly easy. There are even ways to get a free business email if you know how!

We recommend using Google Workspace, which is powered by Google.

how to build a business website - g suite gmail

It’s basically Gmail for businesses, except you have a personalized email address. You get the user-friendly interface, reliability, and security of Gmail, with prices starting at $6 per month for each business email address.

Good to know...

G Workspace is fully integrated with some of our recommended website builders. If you choose to use one of these website builders, it’ll be easy for you to set up your own personalized business email addresses – you won’t even need to sign up to G Workspace separately. For example, Wix allows you to create a business email address by purchasing a subscription to Google Workspace Mailbox from your dashboard.

4. Choose a Website Builder

Now, on to one of the most important steps: choosing your website builder!

It’s important to mention at this point that there isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ solution when it comes to choosing the right business website builder. Different businesses will have vastly different needs – a trendy new restaurant, for example, will require something totally different from a small law firm.

That said, having tested over 50 website builders, we can confidently say that Wix is our top choice for building a business website, with Squarespace also offering a great option. You can’t go far wrong if you pick any one of these platforms, but you can check out our best website builders for small business ranking to see even more options.

Below, we’ll give you a quick rundown of each of our top website builders, so you can judge the one that’s best for you.

1. Wix

Best Overall Website Builder

Learning how to use Wix is really simple. That’s probably why Wix is the builder that users were most likely to recommend following our user testing. It comes with over 800 professionally designed templates covering a huge array of industries – including food service, which is partly why Wix also earns the title of best restaurant website builder.

Wix at a glance:

Pricing: Free plan available, paid plans start at $16/month (billed annually)
Design: Extensive collection of over 800 templates, covering pretty much every industry you can think of
Features: Massive app market with over 300+ apps for adding niche functionality to your site
Support: Includes phone, email, forum, and help center

Who is Wix best for?

Users that need a lot of design help and guidance. Wix offers pre-populated template designs, so you can easily swap in your own business images and content instead of starting from scratch. Alternatively, you can use Wix ADI – this is an artificial intelligence design software that simply asks you what you like, then takes your ideas and builds a custom website design for you.
Users that need more flexible tools for a specialty business website. If you need apps – for example, an online booking/reservation app or a restaurant/order takeout app – Wix is a safe bet. Its app market is one of the most extensive in the industry.

Do You Like the Sound of Wix?

Wix is a strong all-around web builder that’s great for beginners, while still offering tons of creative control and cool features.

Yes! Show Me More of Wix

2. Squarespace

Beautiful Designs, and Ideal for Scaling Your Business

Squarespace is like the Apple of business website builders. It can help you create visually stunning, minimalist business websites that capture your visitors’ attention. Learning how to use Squarespace isn’t quite as straightforward as it is with Wix, but its award-winning templates are worth the slightly steeper learning curve.

Squarespace at a glance:

Monthly Plans: Paid plans start at $16/month (billed annually). There’s no free plan, but you can take a 14-day free trial
Template Designs: Squarespace takes a ‘quality over quantity’ approach to template design, offering a curated selection of 60 templates across key industries
Features: No app market, but good quality inbuilt features (although less choice than with Wix)
Support: Includes 24/7 email, live chat, and help center

Who is Squarespace best for?

Users who want to create a visually stunning website for businesses in more creative industries, such as photography or design. You can see some examples here.

Do You Want a Beautiful Website?

Squarespace is a design-focused builder that combines the best designs on the market with powerful tools. Take a closer look!

Yes! Show Me Squarespace

Find out more:

Squarespace Review – learn more about what it’s got to offer
Squarespace Pricing – an in-depth look at its pricing plans
Wix vs Squarespace – see which platform wins in our comparison

5. Plan Your Website Structure

When creating a business website with a website builder, it’s crucial to plan your website structure to ensure an organized and user-friendly experience for your visitors.

Here are some steps to help you define the main sections and pages of your business website and create a tailored navigation menu:

1. Identify Main Sections

Start by identifying the primary sections that make up your business website. Common sections include Home, About Us, Products/Services, Blog, Contact Us, and potentially others based on your specific business needs.

Consider the nature of your business and the information you want to convey to your visitors – and think about the essential components that best represent your business.

2. Organize Content

Next, break down each main section into subcategories or pages. For example, under the Products/Services section, you might have separate pages for each of the individual products or services you offer – or for their different categories.

While you’re at it, be sure to organize your content logically: keeping in mind the user’s journey, and the information they’re seeking when visiting each section. Ensure a clear and intuitive flow from one page to another.

3. Create a Navigation Menu

Design a navigation menu that reflects your website’s structure. Typically, the navigation menu is placed prominently at the top of the page or in a sidebar.

Use clear and concise labels for each menu item, reflecting the corresponding section or page’s content. But above all, keep it simple – and avoid overwhelming your website’s visitors with too many menu items!

4. Tailor Navigation for Your Business

Be sure to customize your navigation menu to align with your business needs. If you offer different services or have specific features, highlight them in the menu for easy access – and prioritize the most important sections or pages by placing them in the main menu, or using prominent visual cues.

5. Test and Refine

After planning your website structure and navigation, test it yourself – and seek feedback from your family and friends. Evaluate (honestly!) how easily you can navigate through the different sections and pages. Then, make any necessary adjustments to improve user experience.

6. Pick a Template

Now that you’ve chosen your website builder, it’s time to pick your template, which will act as your design springboard. This is our favorite step, as it’s the first time you’ll be able to stretch your creative fingertips and get a real sense of how your business website could look.

If you build with Wix, you’ll have total freedom to customize your template however you want, which means – for better or worse – you could end up with something completely different from what you started with.

Squarespace isn’t so keen to hand over the creative reins – but that’s not a bad thing, given that Squarespace’s templates are award-winning.

Whichever builder you go with, you won’t be short of options:

Wix: Over 800 templates, with 214 classed as ‘Business’
Squarespace: Over 110 templates, with 27 classed as ‘Professional Services’ and 37 as ‘Local Business’

Top Tip!

When picking your design, it makes sense to start out with the template that most closely resembles your end goal. Filtering by industry is helpful here – for example, if you’re starting a fitness website, you may be able to find fitness-specific templates.

Before making your choice, you can preview each template. When you find the one for you, simply click and start editing! You can preview and try out as many templates as you like before publishing. Some website builders even lets you switch your template after your site has gone live, which can be handy for future redesigns.

Be warned though – this isn’t the case with all website builders. Wix, for example, doesn’t allow you to change your theme once you’ve published your site.

When settling on a template for your own website, try to look beyond the more superficial details, like font, colors, and images. Whichever builder you use, this stuff will be really easy to switch out.

Instead, focus on the structure of the site, the layout of the pages, and the general ‘feel’: does the template feel modern and ‘edgy,’ or more safe and traditional? Is it more ‘in your face’ or understated? Think about how this matches up with your brand identity.

Further Reading:

How to Choose Your Perfect Website Template Design – a how-to guide that shares three simple rules to help you pick the right template design for your website.
Collection of Free Website Templates – drag-and-drop web builders offer you a range of free templates to choose from. Check out some of the best here!
The 10 Best Business Website Templates – our digest of the finest-looking, most functional business site themes on the market.

7. Create Engaging and Relevant Content

Once you’ve settled on your template, you’re ready to start customizing and swapping out all the placeholder content for your own. This is the point where you can also add extra pages or sections if you want to.

Generally, website builders make this part of the process dead easy, but their formats aren’t always identical. For example, Wix is a drag-and-drop builder, and has an extensive list of customization options. Squarespace, on the other hand, isn’t strictly drag-and-drop. Rather, the majority of changes are made in the sidebars, with limited customization happening on the actual page.

We recommend spending some time familiarizing yourself with your builder’s specific editor before you get going with serious personalization.

In terms of pages, all business websites will need:

A strong homepage – Visitors should be able to work out what you do quickly, and navigate to other sections smoothly.
An informative ‘About Us’ page – Tell people your story, and add pictures of your team.
A clear ‘Contact’ page – Customers need to know where they can find you, and how best to reach you.

Many businesses will also need:

A products/services page – Talk about what you do best, and add images if you have them.
A blog – This can help demonstrate your expertise, keep your site feeling fresh, and help your site perform well with search engines – but only if you can commit to posting to it fairly regularly.
High-quality images, videos, and other multimedia elements related to your business – to engage your audience in a way that’s immersive and interactive.

Heads up! We’ve got plenty of guides to help out with this:

How to Design a Winning Homepage – what to include, and in what order.
How to Write an About Us Page – expert tips and examples to help your business sparkle.
Digital Skills to Learn at Home – how to make your business website stand out from the competition.
30 Factors That Influence Website Credibility – a helpful list of things to include on your website to boost trust in your business.
How to Start a Business Blog – your guide to creating a beautiful blog to go with the website this guide’s going to help you complete!

If you haven’t already, now is a good time to check out the competition. What pages do you like on their website? Is there anything you’ve missed on yours? Any pitfalls you’re keen to avoid? Your website should look individual, yes – but it’s good to know what your customers will be expecting to find.

Some More Helpful Resources

How to Make a Logo in One Minute – Without Any Design Skills: Learn how you can create professional logos without using fancy (and complicated) image editors like Photoshop.
Where to Find High-Quality Images for Your Website on the Cheap: Discover the top five resources where you can find beautiful images to boost the professionalism of your website.
How to Choose a Good Color Scheme for Your Website: Picking the right color scheme for your website can help brand your business, as well as influence your visitors’ psychology. Check out our guide on how to choose and use color.
How to Pick the Perfect Font Style Design for Your Website: Choosing the right font style design can hugely improve your overall website design, as well as improve your visitors’ experiences. Find out how to pick the right font for your website here.
How to Use Video Background on Your Website: Adding a video background to your website can make it look trendy and professional, and “wow” your visitors. Find out how to add one, and learn more about the dos and don’ts.
How to Create a Membership Website: Do you want to make some content exclusive only to members? Our step-by-step guide shows you how to set up a membership model, then build and market your membership site!
Interview with Lucas Crumb: Flying High with Lux Jets: Need some inspiration? We interviewed Lux Jets owner Lucas Crumb about how he built his private-jet chartering business from the ground up using Wix.

8. Integrate Essential Features for Your Business

Now that you’ve sorted out your pages and populated them with your own content, it’s time to add in some extra features.

This is normally done through adding ‘apps’ from the builder’s own app market, although some only offer inbuilt features.

Wix App Market — Wix’s app store is packed with different add-ons to help boost your website through the ranks

Squarespace Extensions — Squarespace offers ‘extensions,’ rather than apps, and their selection is more limited than that of Wix

Using apps, or extensions, helps you to improve the functionality of your website by beefing it up with some additional features. This is particularly handy for small business owners because it gives you the freedom to pick and choose the apps that are most relevant to your brand.

Here are some examples of apps and features that we think can work well for business websites:

Forms – this gives your customers an alternative way to contact you, and helps you organize your enquiries. You can also encourage people to sign up for email communication.
Social media integration – whether it’s in the form of buttons linking to your social accounts, an embedded Instagram gallery, or a live Twitter feed, there’s an app for that.
Cookie alerts – be transparent with your visitors about how you’re using their data, and give them the option to change this.
Live chat – another useful (and increasingly popular) way to connect with your customers in real time.
Google Maps – an interactive map to help your customers find you.
Customer testimonials – show customer comments and testimonials on your site. Adding social proof to your website will boost trust and conversions.

Top Tip!

If you’re looking to sell a few products on your business website, why not use Square Online Checkout links? These checkout links make it super easy for you to securely accept payments through your website without the hassle of needing to buy and install an ecommerce app.

To get started, create a free account with Square Online, give whatever product you’re selling a name and a price, and create a checkout link to place on your website. Simple!

But this is really just the tip of the iceberg! All the examples we’ve listed above are from Wix, simply because it has one of the biggest app markets (with over 300 apps).

This selection works across many different business types, but there’s also a bunch of industry-specific apps for more niche functionality – check out Wix Stores, Wix Bookings, Wix Restaurants, Wix Hotels, and Wix Video as examples.

Squarespace offers something slightly different. Because Squarespace’s plans have quite a variety of features already built-in, users have the option of downloading a limited number of ‘extensions.’ Don’t worry – these are exactly the same as apps – it’s just the terminology that’s different! They’re particularly handy if you want your website to have ecommerce functionality attached.

More Information

How to Make a Booking Website: Thinking about setting up a booking website? Our step-by-step guide walks you through the process

9. Optimize Your Business Website for Search Engines

It’s all very well and good having a beautiful website, and adding that all-important contact page to encourage your customers to connect with you. But if they never see your website because it doesn’t make it to the first page of the search engine results, then all your hard work will be in vain.

When you type a search term like ‘best brunch in Chicago’ into Google’s search bar, a complex algorithm analyzes over 200 factors to decide on the results you’re presented with, and their order.

Mastering this algorithm and using it to your own advantage is a fine art, so we’ve put together three simple steps you can take to help optimize your business site.

Make Sure Your Site Loads Quickly

Users don’t like slow websites – the majority will abandon your site if it takes longer than 3 seconds to fully render – and therefore neither does Google.

There are a few ways to improve your site speed, one of which is making sure you aren’t packing it full of heavy images. Compressing these using a tool such as Kraken.io is a quick and easy way of reducing your file size in a few seconds, but without compromising the quality of your visuals. This way, you can keep your website image-rich without bloating your pages.

On the topic of images, we also recommend that you give all of your files keyword-based names, and provide clear and relevant alt text when uploading them to your website. Not only does this have clear SEO benefits, but it also makes your site more inclusive, helping those with visual disabilities access your images.

In addition to this, avoiding stock photos is also a good way of building a reputable brand presence. Using your own images means that you can select graphics that are specifically related to your brand and won’t be found on any other site. You can also employ User-Generated Content (UGC) by repurposing posts from your customers – with permission of course! Given that consumers are 2.4 times more likely to view UGC as authentic, this is great for boosting your standing in the eyes of Google.

If you’re not sure whether your site speed is up to scratch, you can run your page through a free page load speed tool (we like PageSpeed Insights by Google) to identify any problem areas. It’s a good idea to do this regularly – especially when you’ve uploaded new content!

Don’t Forget About Mobile

More Google searches are now carried out via mobile than via desktop, so it’s crucial that your site reformats well for smaller screens. All the website builders we’ve included on this list have fully mobile-responsive templates, so should reformat automatically – just be sure to test this out before you hit publish.

Use Keywords (Sparingly)

Take advantage of a free keyword finder like Google Ads Keyword Planner to identify particularly popular searches. Once you know what key terms people are searching for, you can then integrate them naturally into your content. These keywords act a bit like signposts, signaling to Google who you are and what you’re doing. Using them strategically will make your site more likely to reach the first page of search engine results.

Going back to our brunch example, you might find that ‘best breakfast in Chicago’ has a measly search volume of 10 users per month, but ‘best brunch in Chicago’ is way more popular, with hundreds of monthly searches. As a result, you’d want to update your content to advertise ‘brunch’ rather than ‘breakfast’ so you can scoop up all those extra searches.

Once you’ve found a few popular (and relevant) key terms, it’s time to start including them in your content. Make sure to use these terms naturally in your copy – Google can tell if you’re simply ‘keyword stuffing’ for rankings. Keep creating good content, and trust Google to join the dots!

Of course, this isn’t an exhaustive list. There are plenty of other ways to up your SEO health – such as securing high-quality backlinks, as well as including internal links to keep your visitors clicking. Connecting your site up with your social media is also a great way of fleshing out your brand and making it feel more three-dimensional, too.

Overall, however, it’s important to know that all of Google’s ranking factors hinge on quality and user experience – so if you prioritize that, you can’t go too far wrong.

Optimize your page titles and meta tags

Make your page titles concise – yet descriptive – and keep them between 50-60 characters to ensure they’re displayed in their entirety in search engine results.

Some other best practices for page titles are:

Including relevant keywords that accurately represent the content of the page. This helps search engines understand the topic and improves the chances of ranking for those keywords.
Ensuring each page on your website has a unique page title to avoid confusion and provide distinct information about the content.
Creating compelling page titles that entice users to click through by incorporating persuasive language or indicating the value they can expect from the page.

As for meta descriptions, here’s our best-practice advice for putting them together:

Summarize the page content with meta descriptions that provide a concise summary of the page’s content in 150-160 characters. This is the snippet that appears below the page title in search results.
Include keywords naturally within the meta description to signal to search engines the relevance of the page to users’ queries.
Craft meta descriptions that grab attention and entice users to click by highlighting unique selling points, benefits, or a compelling call-to-action.
Ensure that the meta description accurately represents the content on the page to maintain consistency and credibility.

10. Publish, Monitor, and Update

Once you’ve followed these steps to build a beautiful business website, there’s only one thing left to do: hit that publish button!

Before you send your creation out into the world, though, we recommend giving it a final once-over. This includes checking how it renders on different screen sizes, and on different internet browsers, too.

After your site has been published, it’s always good to get another pair of eyes on it to make sure everything works properly, and to check you haven’t missed anything. Recruit your family and friends for some urgent user testing. This way, any issues can be ironed out as soon as possible.

Once you’re confident that everything’s working well and your traffic is on its way from a slow trickle to a steady stream, it’s time to sit back, relax, and bask in your success…

…but not for long! Like every great masterpiece, there’s no such thing as a ‘finished’ website.

Not only do you need to keep on top of updates – uploading new blog posts, adding new projects or services, and updating your ‘About Us’ page with new team members or achievements – but you also need to monitor how people are using your site, and take steps to improve their experience.

There are three tools we’d recommend for this – click on each one below to read more about Google Analytics, Hotjar, and Optimizely.

Google Analytics

Firstly, be sure to link your site up with Google Analytics. This is a free tool, and the website builder you use will offer a guide to adding what’s known as a tracking ID to your site, so Google Analytics can start collecting data on how your site is being used.

You can use Google Analytics to find out:

Who your audience is, i.e. their age, gender, and location
Your most popular pages
Which pages people spend a long time on, and which pages people ‘bounce’ straight off

You can use insights like these to make adjustments to your site, and to inform how you make content in the future.

Hotjar

This is a great tool for showing you how people are interacting with your site in a much more visual way. You can add Hotjar to specific pages to measure where people are clicking, and how far down they are scrolling.

We’d especially recommend using Hotjar to test your homepage. It’s a great way to identify points where the user is struggling. It might be that they’re expecting something to be clickable that isn’t, or are spending too long trying to navigate through an overly-complicated menu. You may find that your key content is buried too far down the page, and only a tiny percentage are scrolling far enough to interact with it.

Hotjar is free up to 2,000 page views per day, and then costs $29+ per month (with a free trial).

Optimizely

Once you’re getting a significant amount of traffic, think about signing up to Optimizely. This is a way to test the impact of changes to your site under ‘perfect test conditions’. You can use Optimizely to run what’s known as an ‘A/B test’, where half your audience is shown the original version of the page, and half are shown the updated one. You can then check which performs better against your chosen metric.

Good to know...

We recommend you install Google Analytics as soon as possible, but Hotjar and Optimizely are both worth considering later down the line.

Summary: Creating a Business Website with a Website Builder

Before we leave you with our FAQs – and, hopefully, everything you need to create your own business website with a website builder – let’s quickly recap each step of the business website creation process:

Define your business website goals and target audience
Get a domain name
Create an email address
Choose a website builder
Plan your website structure
Pick a template
Create engaging and relevant content
Integrate essential features for your business
Optimize your business website for search engines
Publish, monitor and update

That’s (pretty much) all from us! So good luck, enjoy, and let us know how you get on building your own business website in the comments.

FAQs

You can create a business website in a matter of hours if you really want to! Yes – it really is that quick and easy!

Using a website builder means your business can have a brand spanking new, and professional looking, website in no time at all. We recommend allowing a day or two to really get your site up and running to a level you’re happy with.

Most website builders have free plans, or at least free trials, that mean you can create a business website for nothing! However, free plans do come with restrictions that can be limiting for your business, for example, displaying adverts for your website builder on your site. This doesn’t give off a very professional image, but you can get rid of them by upgrading to a paid plan for a modest monthly fee.

Wix has a free plan that you can use for as long as you want. So if you’re set on creating a business website for free, give Wix a whirl!

You can technically create a small business website for free using a website builder free plan. However, in order to make a really professional looking business website, with a personal domain and free of adverts, costs start from around $5 a month.

We recommend Wix as the best business website builder. It has fantastic features and is a really flexible and easy to use platform.

According to our research, SiteBuilder comes out as the easiest to use website builder, with Wix in a close second place.

Wix has a free plan that you can use for as long as you like. To upgrade to its cheapest monthly plans, Wix starts at $5 a month. Check out our guide on the cheapest website builders for more information.

With a website builder, you won’t need to source your own hosting. All of this will be covered in your chosen plan. You can leave the complicated stuff to the website builder and focus on unleashing your creativity.

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How Much Does a Website Cost? (Full Breakdown)

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Updated on March 22, 2024

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There are three ways to build a website: with a website builder, with WordPress, or by hiring a professional designer. The route you pick will affect the overall cost of building your website – website builders are by far the cheapest option. So, if you want to save money we recommend choosing a web builder.

If you choose to use a website builder, it could cost you as little as $9.99 per month, whereas using WordPress increases that monthly price to anywhere between $11 and $50. Hiring a website designer is the most expensive option, with an upfront price tag of over $10,000.

Being clear on costs and getting good value for money is important in today’s economic climate – you need a website that meets your needs, serves your visitors, and doesn’t put a strain on your funds. Below, we’ll take a deep dive into all three methods, giving you a rundown of all the full costs involved, so you can choose the best route for your budget.

First of all, let’s play a quick game: which website do you think costs the most?

how much should website cost custom site getaway — Website A

Homepage for game studio Chairian Works featuring a game on a phone — Website B

Website C

What did you guess? If you chose Website A, then you’d be correct – it’s a custom-made site, meaning it probably cost around $5,000. The other two designs are… drum roll please… website templates from DIY website builders Wix and Shopify. With Wix, it only costs $16 a month to build an ad-free website (or get 10% off with our code TAKE10), and you can build a stylish online store with Shopify for just $1 for the first month.

It’s pretty hard to tell which design costs more just by looking at them, which shows that there is no right or wrong way to build a website. However, it is important to consider the varying costs before learning how to build a website.

How Much Does Building a Website Typically Cost?

On average, though, you can expect to pay an upfront cost of around $200 to build a website, with an ongoing cost of around $50 per month to maintain it. This estimate is higher if you hire a designer or developer – expect an upfront charge of around $6,000, with an ongoing cost of $1,000 per year.

There are three main ways to build a website: use a website builder, build with WordPress, or hire a web designer. Which method you choose will have a huge impact on how much your website costs. For example, creating content can be free with a web builder, but can cost over $5,000 if you’re using a web designer.

Website builders are usually the cheapest way to build a website. While WordPress is technically a free, open-source platform, you have to pay for hosting, themes, and plugins, and even professional help from a developer, which can increase your total cost.

Hiring a web designer is the most expensive option, but it’s the best choice if you need absolute control over the build and customisation of that site or that offers the highest levels of complex functionality.

Realistically, you don’t want to pay less than $5,000 for a web designer, otherwise, you might end up with a disappointing end result that you’re not happy with, but that you’ve still paid a few thousand for.

You need to choose the right method for you. Hiring a web designer is more expensive, but it takes the technical hassle out of your hands. Using a website builder is cheap and easy, but you don’t get the same level of control as you do with WordPress. WordPress gives you flexibility, but it’s the most time-consuming and hands-on approach.

We’ll walk you through each option, explore the various costs involved, and explain how to ask the right questions to get the most out of your money.

If you’re short on time, you can watch our video breakdown, instead!

Further reading:

Website Builder Comparison Chart – Check out the best website builders side-by-side to make your decision even easier

10 Best Website Builders – Use our expert reviews to help you decide which platform is right for you

Cheapest Website Builders – Learn how to build a beautiful website on a budget

How Much Does a Website Cost Using a Website Builder?

$5 – $50 per month

Using a website builder is the cheapest way to build a website, and is best for:

Technical novices
Anyone who needs a website live sooner rather than later
Personal websites and portfolios

The full range of website builder prices ranges from free all the way up to around $500 per month. However, most new sites will fall within the $5 to $50 per month bracket.

Top Tip!

It’s often cheaper to buy a website builder plan in an annual or 36-month contract than pay monthly. For example, Wix’s Light plan monthly is $23, but if you choose the 24-month plan upfront it works out at only $13 per month, meaning you will have saved $240!

Using a website builder is the cheapest way to build a website, and is best for:

Technical novices
Anyone who needs a website live sooner rather than later
Personal websites and portfolios

The full range of website builder prices ranges from free all the way up to around $500 per month. However, most new sites will fall within the $5 to $50 per month bracket.

Let’s address the elephant in the room first – the free plan. The truth is, if you’re building a website that anyone else is going to see, you need a paid plan instead of a free plan. This is because free plans come with various limitations, the most common being:

Ads displayed on your website
A free, non-custom domain, such as www.mywebsite.wix.com
Limited features, such as low storage and bandwidth allowances
No ecommerce features, meaning you can’t sell online
Basic customer support

The free plan is only suitable for trying out the website builder, seeing if it’s the right fit for you, and for building test sites to hone your skills and try out new ideas without any financial pressure.

It’s the free plan that usually gives website builders a somewhat bad reputation for being cheap and poor quality, but that’s not the case as long as you choose a good-quality builder. We try and test builders so that we can recommend the top brands to our readers, to help you build a better website and get more for your money.

Here’s the cream of the crop and how we rated them:

Short on time? Our 4-question quiz will match you with your ideal web builder in under a minute.

What type of website do you want to create?

Submit

How Much Do the Best Website Builders Cost?

Wix pulls ahead of the other two by having a free plan. Squarespace provides a free 14-day trial, and Shopify’s free trial is 3 days. You can’t sell for those 3 days, but you will get 1 month for $1 if you decide to sign up after.

The cheapest paid plan for each builder is:

Wix: $16 per month
Squarespace: $16 per month
Shopify: $29 per month

It’s worth noting that each of these builders has a discounted version of its plan operating at one time or the other:

Wix – $14.40 per month with our code TAKE10
Squarespace – $14.40 per month with our code WBE10
Shopify – Free trial, then $1 for first month

Below, you can see a more in-depth breakdown of the prices involved with each builder:

Wix's four website builder plans with price and features listed below each plan — When I first wanted to build a website, I saw that Wix's premium plans start from just $16 per month.

Are Website Builders Worth Your Money?

With a high quality website builder, you can create a truly professional website. Sure, if you choose poor tools, then you’ll end up with a shoddy product – but if you’re careful about the builder you choose, then you can set yourself up for success.

What we’re trying to say is, it’s worth spending a little extra on a better builder than simply picking out the first one you find. You’ll get much better value for money from a builder such as Wix or Squarespace, for example, than a low-rated option such as SiteBuilder or IONOS.

We research all our builders extensively, with both our writers and research team having months of hands-on practice building websites with each builder to craft our scores. Said scores then get updated each year to make sure our research is as fresh as possible to give you the perfect recommendation.

For example, Wix is our best overall builder because it consistently updates itself with the top-of-the-range features, earning a 4.8 out of 5. Squarespace, on the other hand, has slightly weaker features (4.6 out of 5) but is our best value for money builder with a 4.6 out of 5 because it gives the majority of these features on its cheapest plan. Wix, meanwhile, only has a 3 out of 5 for value for money, as it locks these features away behind its more expensive plans.

With the top-rated builders, it’s a balancing act between features vs. value for money that will most influence your decision. For the lower-rated builders like IONOS or SiteBuilder, you could go for them, but in our view it wouldn’t really be worth you time or money.

Here’s a breakdown to help you decide how much you might need to pay for a website builder for your website:

Building a Store With Shopify

Olivia Bondarev

Founder of BottleEngraving.com

Olivia Bondarev is the founder of BottleEngraving.com, an online store dedicated to custom laser engravings on wine and liquor bottles for all occasions. A mother of three, Olivia runs the store single-handedly through Shopify.

Shopify is incredibly user-friendly, even for those without special skills. It offers 24/7 customer support and excellent SEO and marketing tools.

Q&A

How long have you used Shopify?

I have been using Shopify since March 2022 to run my store BottleEngraving.com

Did you set aside a budget before committing to building a website? If so, how much?

Yes, I have set aside $700 for expenses such as the domain, Shopify yearly subscription, and Shopify theme.

Were there any surprise costs once you started?

The unexpected charges were for additional apps for Shopify, including the Google Shopping Feed App and Age Verification App, among others.

Are there any ongoing costs you have to manage?

Yes, I do have to pay monthly subscription fees for apps such as ShipStation.

What do you like about the platform? Any negatives?

Shopify is incredibly user-friendly, even for those without special skills. It offers 24/7 customer support and excellent SEO and marketing tools.

Would you recommend the platform?

Absolutely! I believe Shopify is the best platform for online stores or rental shops.

Is there anything you would have done differently?

I would suggest offering more free apps in Shopify and creating a promotional platform similar to Etsy or Amazon for Shopify users.

a backend screenshot with text boxes for inputting product info — The backend is where you add your products. Shopify wanted us to add them before editing our store's design.

Get Shopify for $1 for first month

Save money on our top rated ecommerce platform.

View Deal

What Costs Are Involved Using a Website Builder?

Professional Help: $0

You won’t need to pay for any professional designers to help out with your site, as builders are easy to use and quick to get the hang of. You pay for a subscription, either monthly or annually, and this is the main cost you’ll need to budget for.

Domain Name: $12 per year

A lot of website builders include a free custom domain in their plans – this usually gives you a free domain of your choice for your first year, after which you’ll need to pay. Domains vary in price, but average around $12 per year for a common one such as .com.

Apps: $3 – $60 per month

If you want to add apps to your site, then there’s often a mix of free and paid ones to choose from. Paid apps aren’t usually expensive, ranging from $3 to $60 per month – you get to pick which apps to install and which plan you want, so you’re in total control of this cost.

Themes, Hosting, or Security: $0

You don’t need to pay for themes, hosting, or security for your website – these costs are all included in your website builder subscription.

Shopify's app store, showing product sourcing apps — I browsed Shopify's app market to find suitable extensions for my store.

Website Builder Cost: Summary

Average price range: $5 – $50 per month

The best website builders are:

Wix: Starting at $16 per month
Squarespace: Starting at $16 per month
Shopify: Starting at $29 per month

What do you pay for?

Subscription (monthly or annually): $6 – $50 per month
Domain name: $12 per year
Optional apps: $3 – $60 per month

Total cost estimate: $10 – $111 per month

Find out more

Discover the Best Cheap Website Builders to make a small budget go further
Wix is our top-rated website builder, but what are its plans like? Get a detailed look at our Wix Pricing guide.
Want to learn more about domains? Check out our What Is A Domain Name? Beginner’s Guide for a full introduction
Take a look at all the costs involved with How Much Does It Cost to Start a Blog
Find out exactly how much an SSL Certificate Cost will be to your website

How Much Does a Website Cost Using WordPress?

$35 – $780 upfront cost, then $11 – $50 per month

Using WordPress gives you a lot more control over your website – and your budget. It’s best for:

Those with a little technical confidence
Anyone who wants full customization
Blogs, business sites, and very large websites

The cost of a WordPress website is pretty hard to pin down. It depends on a lot of different factors, because there’s a lot of different aspects to think about when setting up a WordPress site.

On the one hand, WordPress is free. There are free themes and plugins too, so in theory, it should be easy to keep costs low. However, you might find you need a premium theme, and then there’s hosting to think about (and pay for). If you hire a WordPress developer, your total website cost could quickly creep up into the thousands.

There are various costs that can affect the total price of building a WordPress website, but the main one is hosting. You can get away with using free themes and plugins, but hosting is an essential and important cost that’s vital for getting your WordPress website online.

So, how much does it cost to host a WordPress website? It depends on your provider. There are tons of hosting providers out there to choose from, and some are better than others. For WordPress, we recommend using Bluehost (and so does WordPress itself, come to that!)

WordPress homepage — Be sure to download and use the most up-to-date version of WordPress.

Top Tip!

If you’re serious about WordPress, we suggest getting to grips with HTML. This is the code language WordPress uses, and you’ll find out that to take your customizations to the next level, you will have to get to grips with it.

What’s the Best WordPress Hosting Provider?

Bluehost is the number one WordPress hosting provider, making it the highest quality host you can choose for your WordPress website. No, it’s not the cheapest on the market – but with prices starting at $2.95 per month, it’s not going to break the bank, either.

Why is it the best? Not only does it come with an official recommendation from WordPress itself, it also wowed us in our research – just check out its scores!

Okay, okay, we know what you’re wondering: Just how much will a Bluehost hosting plan cost me?

Here’s the quick answer: between $2.95 and $49.95 per month, depending on which plan you need. Here are the starting prices for each of Bluehost’s WordPress-specific hosting plans:

Shared WordPress hosting: $2.95 per month, renews at $10.99 per month
WooCommerce hosting: $9.95 per month, renews at $24.95 per month
Managed WordPress hosting: $19.95 per month, renews at $29.99 per month

Bluehost’s WordPress-specific hosting plans come with features to help you run your WordPress site, such as automatic backups and automatic WordPress installation, to save you time and hassle.

Columns showing Bluehost's four shared hosting plans, pricing, and features — I could simply toggle between Bluehost's 12-month and 36-month pricing to find the best deal.

Find out more

Read our Bluehost Review to learn about Bluehost’s pros and cons
Take a closer look at Bluehost’s plans in our Bluehost Pricing Review

How Much Do the Best Web Hosts Cost?

Although Bluehost is the best WordPress hosting provider, it’s not the only option. Here’s a quick run-down of the best WordPress hosting providers according to our research, and their prices plans:

Inmotion page dedicated to all the wordpress hosting features woth red icons — InMotion has tons of high quality features to offer WordPress users, from pre-installation to automatic updates and free backups.

Bluehost is the best overall, for both shared and managed WordPress hosting. InMotion offers a strong set of managed WordPress plans, making it a great Bluehost alternative if you’re looking for something more robust, but be mindful that it’s more expensive. HostGator only provides shared WordPress hosting, but it does it well.

You can see how we scored these WordPress hosts in our research below:

Other top WordPress hosts include:

iPage – starting at $3.75 per month
DreamHost – starting at $2.59 per month
SiteGround – starting at $1.99 per month
WPEngine – starting at $20 per month

As you can see, there’s a lot of variation in how much it costs to host a WordPress website. Some hosts offer just shared or just managed WordPress hosting plans, which affects the price – managed hosting tends to be more expensive.

Of course, you don’t have to choose WordPress specific hosting, but we highly recommend it – you’ll save a lot of time and headaches by letting your host handle some of the techy stuff!

Building a WordPress Website

Ffion Wright

Founder of Blog as a Job

Ffion has worked for some of the biggest companies in the world like HP Inc, Gartner, and Facebook. She now brings her expertise to you with Blog As A Job, teaching you how you can turn your writing into a career through her own WordPress site.

With WordPress, you can create a unique design that truly represents your brand, which is crucial in setting yourself apart from the competition.

Q&A

How long have you used WordPress?

I’ve been using WordPress for the past 5 years. It all started when I decided to turn one of my hobbies into a business and needed a website where I could sell products. After considering a few options like Etsy and Shopify, I ultimately decided to go with WordPress as it was the most cost-effective platform with the most customization options.

Since then I’ve started many websites on WordPress including my current passion, Blog as a Job, where I help people create, optimize and monetize a WordPress site so that they can run their website (or blog) as a full-time job.

Did you set aside a budget before committing to building a website? If so, how much?

I estimated my starting costs to be around $70 per year for my hosting and domain, and $50-$100 for a premium theme.

Were there any surprise costs once you started?

Not a surprise per se but I quickly realized the free WordPress themes available weren’t customizable enough for what I wanted and that I would need to invest in a premium theme to get the features that I needed.

Are there any ongoing costs you have to manage?

The hosting, domain name and premium theme all renew annually. Besides these expenses, I don’t have any other ongoing costs at the moment. However, as my site and audience grow, I’ll need to consider upgrading my plan with my email automation platform and consider premium security and backup solutions

What do you like about the platform? Any negatives?

What I really like about WordPress is the flexibility it offers in terms of website design. With WordPress, you can create a unique design that truly represents your brand, which is crucial in setting yourself apart from the competition. As someone who doesn’t have a coding background, I often need help with making changes to my website or fixing a mistake I’ve made. Fortunately, between my hosting provider, the paid theme support team, and the extensive community of WordPress experts on forums, I always have access to support.

Would you recommend the platform?

Always! I’ve created several websites on WordPress and wouldn’t recommend anything else, especially to those who want to start a professional online presence for their business.

Is there anything you would have done differently?

There’s no point in having a beautiful WordPress website if no one’s going to see it. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of starting to write blog posts without an SEO plugin. This meant that I had to spend a lot of time revising and editing my posts to improve their SEO score once I had installed a plugin. In hindsight, I wish I had installed the plugin at the beginning to save time and effort.

However, this experience taught me the importance of SEO and the role it plays in making your content more visible to search engines. Now, I always prioritize optimizing my website with SEO tools from the start to ensure that my content reaches the right audience and drives traffic to my site.

Which Type of Hosting Should You Pay For?

Managed WordPress, shared WordPress, ecommerce… how on earth are you supposed to pick the best one for you, and find one to suit your budget? You don’t want to overpay for a plan you don’t need – or shoot your site in the foot by skimping on a plan that’s too limiting for your needs.

We’ll quickly walk you through the different types of WordPress hosting, and hopefully point you in the direction of the plan that’s best for you, your site, and your budget.

Top Tip!

The most important hosting aspect you should know is uptime. This is the amount of time the provider will keep your site live. They can’t keep them up forever, but even a 1% drop in uptime is 87 hours per year, so make sure you choose one with a good track record.

What Extra Costs Are Involved Using WordPress?

Okay, so we’ve covered the main cost associated with creating a WordPress website. But what about other costs aside from hosting? Let’s run through how much it costs to build a website when you consider extras such as domains, plugins, and themes.

Professional Help: $300 – $100 per hour

Many beginners use WordPress, but if you want a complex or custom website, then chances are you might need to hire a WordPress developer to help make your ideas a reality. This is optional, so we won’t be factoring this cost into the final WordPress total, as many people build quite happily without a developer’s help.

However, if you do need to hire someone to help you with your WordPress site, you’re looking at a cost anywhere between $30 and $100+ per hour. Usually, the more you pay, the better the developer is likely to be – but always do your research before hiring someone.

Spending around $100 per hour on a developer may sound like a lot, but that’s within the average cost you should expect to pay for a capable WordPress specialist.

Domain Name: $12 – $85 per year

You need a domain for your WordPress website to help people find you online!

Unlike with website builders, you don’t get a free branded subdomain, so you need to pick out a custom domain from day one. This is usually part of the sign-up process when you create a hosting account, making the whole registering process super easy.

Domains vary in price depending on the hosting provider you register with, and the domain you pick (such as .com versus .rich) – these two factors will hugely affect how much you should expect to pay for your domain.

On average, though, domains cost anywhere between $12 and $85 per year. The good news is that some web hosts, such as Bluehost, give you a custom domain for free for your first year – after that, you’ll need to pay the yearly domain fee.

Plugins: $0 – $100+ per year

Plugins add functionality to your WordPress website, such as contact forms, testimonials, newsletter subscriptions, and whatever else you want your site to have! Popular plugins include adding ecommerce or multilingual functionality to your WordPress website.

There are free plugins and paid plugins, so it’s up to you how much you want to spend adding new features to your site. Some plugins come with different plans, so that you can start off using the free plan and then upgrade to unlock a better version.

The cost of plugins range from $0 to $100+ per year.

WordPress plugins — WordPress has thousands of plugins to choose from, but I had to be sure to remove any that I wasn't using anymore.

Themes: $0 – $50 per theme

Just like plugins, there are both free and premium themes for you to choose from. Free themes are a great way of getting started, and you can find some stylish ones in the WordPress theme directory. Just bear in mind that they might not be as professional or loaded with features as premium themes, which can cause you to rely more heavily on plugins further down the line.

Premium themes tend to be around $50, but can reach up beyond the $200 mark – however, this is a one-time charge, after which the theme is yours to customize and edit for as long as you wish.

The upside to using a premium theme is that it usually comes with more support and regular updates, to stop it from breaking or becoming outdated, and also has features built-in to save you spending money on premium plugins. Think of it as a theme and plugin bundle!

It’s totally your choice whether to use a free or premium theme – just remember to think about your website and its essential features when choosing.

Security: $0 – $200 per year

Any hosting provider worth it’s salt will come with security features built into its plans. However, WordPress sites can be pretty vulnerable to online attacks, so it’s worth investing in some extra security measures.

There are free security plugins available – for example, Sucuri is a security plugin that scans, blocks, and removes threats from your site. The plugin is free, but if you want a Sucuri account and access to all its features, then the cheapest Sucuri plan costs $199.99 per year.

Sucuri isn’t the only option, so it’s worth doing some research. Other popular choices include:

Wordfence – $0 – $99 per year
JetPack Security – $0 – $299 per year
Cloudflare – $0 – $200 per month
iThemes Security – $80 – $199 per year
All in One WP Security & Firewall – $0

WordPress Website Cost: Summary

Average price range: $200 upfront cost, $11 – $50 per month ongoing cost

WordPress cost: free!

The best web hosts are:

Bluehost: Starting at $2.95 per month
InMotion: Starting at $4.49 per month
HostGator: Starting at $7.95 per month

What do you pay for?

Hosting subscription: $2.95 – $50 per month
Domain name: $12 – $85 per year
Premium plugins (optional): $5 – $100+ (some one-off, some ongoing)
Premium themes (optional): $55 – $200+ (one-off)

Total cost estimate:

Upfront cost: $250

Ongoing cost: $3.95 – $150 per month

Note: It’s worth knowing that hosting providers often charge you for your plan upfront. So if you choose a 12-month plan, you’ll be paying a lump sum rather than month-by-month. This means you could pay an upfront fee of $35 to $600 upfront for hosting alone, depending on which plan you choose.

Find out more

Discover the Best Cheap Web Hosts and compare over 50 of the cheapest plans in our helpful review
Want a closer look at the Best WordPress Hosting Providers? Find out more in our full comparison
Read our WordPress Pricing review for an even closer look at the costs involved in creating a WordPress website

How Much Does a Website Cost Using a Web Designer?

$5,000 – $30,000 upfront cost

Hiring a web designer to plan and create your site puts your project firmly in the hands of the professionals. You don’t get to totally sit back and relax – you’ll need to work with your web designer to create a site you love – but it does take a lot of the heavy lifting away from you.

Hiring a web designer is best for:

Anyone needing a very complex website
Those with zero time or technical confidence
Big budgets and big, custom websites

This is possibly the hardest cost to estimate, because different web designers will charge different rates depending on the project and their own experience. You might choose an agency or a freelancer, and this will also affect the cost.

On the whole though, you’re looking at a cost between $5,000 and $30,000 to get someone to create your website for you.

We tried and reviewed the design agency Hibu, so we can give you a more accurate estimate based on their charge rates. However, remember that other agencies and freelancers will have their own pricing tables.

When we tested Hibu, we paid an upfront cost of $449, and then an ongoing fee of $129 per month.

Hibu’s upfront quotes range between $99 and $449, which covers the creation of your website. This is dependent on how many pages you need, which features you want, and if you need to sell through your site.

There is then an ongoing fee, which ranges from $99 to $159 per month. This covers hosting and security, grants access to support, and lets you create maintenance requests.

Price is pretty important here, because if you pay less than $5,000, you could end up with a poorly designed website – and run into problems pretty quickly as you try to maintain it. This is not an option if you’re not confident in your budget, so don’t overstretch yourself!

hibu testimonials — Good web design agencies should be putting reviews and testimonials front and center, like Hibu does on its homepage.

Top Tip!

There are a ton of sites that specialize in connecting you to a web designer. Companies like Upwork, Behance, and Fiverr all connect you with professionals whose style you can get a load of before hands, choosing the right person for the job.

What Affects the Cost Of Hiring a Web Designer?

Here are some things to think about when hiring a web designer, which will all factor into the final cost of building your website:

How complex is your website plan?
Do you want the designer to handle hosting, domains, and plugins for you? Or do you just want them to design and build your site?
Will you need them to carry out ongoing maintenance on your site? Or will you do this yourself?
Do you have a premade template you want the designer to customize? Or do you want the designer to build your site from scratch?
What sort of features do you need? For example, will you be selling online?
How many pages is your website going to be? You’ll need to know this beforehand to get an accurate quote.

It’s often a good idea to manage your own hosting and domain name, because then it’s in your name and under your control. This makes running your site easier, and gives you a bigger say over your site – for example, it’ll make moving hosting providers much easier.

Bluehost domain registration setup with two options in boxes — I was able to set up both my hosting and choose my domain name with Bluehost.

Cost of Building a Website: Web Designer Breakdown

So, what exactly are the costs involved in hiring a web designer? The table below breaks down the different factors that you pay for, to give you a better idea of exactly what you’re paying for, and the average costs involved:

This highlights some of the often unseen costs of using a web designer, such as having to train to use your own website after they’ve made it. The average cost of hiring a web designer to build your website is $6,760.

You’ll likely find there’s some overlap here with the WordPress building method, because many designers and developers use WordPress to create their sites.

In fact, one way of cutting down the cost of hiring a web designer is to buy a premium WordPress theme and then ask the designer to customize it for you, rather than getting them to build you a site from scratch. If you’re looking to save where you can, this is a good middle-ground, which we’ll discuss in more detail next!

How to Reduce the Cost of Hiring a Web Designer

Okay, you might be thinking you can’t afford to spend over $6,000 for a web designer to create your site. What you mustn’t do is find a designer with dirt-cheap prices to save funds – you won’t get value for your money this way.

If you’re super tight for cash, the reality is you should probably head to either the website builder or WordPress section of this article, because a web designer is supposed to cost thousands of dollars. You usually get what you pay for when it comes to hiring a designer!

However, there is a way to slightly lower the cost of hiring a designer to create your site. And that’s to buy a premade WordPress theme, and ask a designer to customize it for you.

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

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

This is a good option if you are not ready for an entirely custom website, and if 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 $300 and $1,000 for template customization – the average is around $600 for this sort of service.

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

However, for a full, custom job from a capable designer, you’re looking at at least $10,000.

How Much Does It Cost to Create Website Content? $50 – $80 per hour

Once the framework of your site has been designed, you need content for your website. Designers can charge for content creation by the hour, or by project:

$50 – $80 per hour
$250 – $500 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 $100 – $1500 depending on the extent of the branding design you need.

You may also want to budget for ongoing maintenance costs. That’s usually about $100 – $500 per year, provided you don’t make any major alterations to your website design.

Here’s a summary of the various costs involved in hiring a professional to build your site for you:

Overall, the most expensive option is to hire a web designer to build you a site from scratch. This will cost you somewhere around the $10,000 mark. There are certain things you can do to bring the cost down, such as keeping your site to a minimum number of pages and being ruthless with the features you need.

You can save some money by buying a premade theme, and then asking a designer to customize it for you – this customization usually costs around $600.

However, what you mustn’t do is try to save money by hiring a web designer on the cheap. You’ll still end up paying a few thousand, and chances are you’ll end up with a website you’re not 100% happy with!

WordPress' extensive theme directory — There's a whole selection of free themes in the WordPress theme library, or you can pay $2-$200 for a premium theme from a third party site.

Web Designer Website Cost: Summary

Average price range: $6,000 – $10,000+

Two charges:

Upfront cost: $5,000 – $10,000+

Ongoing charge: $500 – $1,000 per year

What do you pay for?

Security and hosting included in some packages (always check)
Web design
Website creation
Content creation
Ongoing maintenance

Total cost estimate:

Upfront cost: $6,760

Ongoing cost: $500 – $1,000 per year

Find out more

Got the budget, but unsure about how best to work with a designer? Our 8 Tips For Working With a Web Designer has got you covered

Before You Start

Building a website is, in our opinion, one of the most exciting things you can do. And it’s understandable, even advisable, to have big dreams for your website. But don’t get carried away and expect too much too soon.

Here are some tips that we’ve put together, to help you save money further down the line.

Start Small

Everyone makes mistakes the first time they build a website, so take the time to practise. There are plenty of free and cheap options where you can brush up on your building skills, without the pressure of knowing you’ve got a lot of money invested in the project.

Starting out small limits your potential losses, and reduces the chance of you falling over common stumbling blocks later on (when you’ve got more money on the line). Just have fun to start with!

Find out more

Discover the Best Free Website Builders to try building websites with no financial risk.

Be Realistic

You might have big plans for your website. You could be dreaming of all the bells and whistles, complex programming, shiny design features, and interactive elements galore – but remember to be realistic, and set achievable goals for yourself when you’re starting out.

A new website isn’t going to match up to the likes of Amazon or Facebook, for example. It doesn’t have to be boring, but it should be within your scope to create. There are three main things that determine how high you can set your website goals:

Your budget – the bigger your budget, the more you can spend on fancy features.
Your tech skills – the more advanced your tech skills, the more you can do yourself.
Your time – the more time you have, the more work you can put into your site.

This isn’t to say that if you’re broke, busy, or a total tech novice that you’ll end up with a lame website – it simply means you need to spend your time and money wisely to get the best results. We’ll show you how to do this in the rest of our guide!

Ask the Right Questions

We already know the first question: How much does a website cost? But there are other questions you need to ask to work out the answer, and keep sight of the bigger picture.

By thinking about all these things before you start building your website, you’ll find you can get a more accurate answer to the question: how much will my website cost? You’ll be in a better position to both save money, and make your money go further in building your website.

Here’s a quick summary to help you get an idea of which building method might best suit your needs and your budget:

Website Builders: If you want to dip your toe into the world of website building without worrying about your technical skills or needing a large budget, website builders are perfect for creating a professional site without any hassle. You can run your own site without investing too much time or money.
WordPress: If you want full control over your website, don’t mind handling the technical side of things, and have wriggle room in your budget, then WordPress is a sensible option. You also have the choice to hire a developer to help you if you want.
Web Designer: If you have a big budget and would prefer someone else to handle everything, then a web designer can take the work out of your hands. This is also recommended if you have complex needs beyond your own technical abilities.

Next, we’ll recap the three main methods of building a website and how much it costs to build a website with each one, to help you pick the best value option for you.

How Much Does a Website Cost? Conclusion

We’ve walked you through the costs involved in making a website, from using a website builder to hiring a professional designer to build it for you. Hopefully you now have a clearer idea of the best method for you, and which one best suits your budget.

Remember that working out how much a website costs isn’t just about money. It’s also about the other resources you have, such as time, tech skills, and design skills. If you have tons of time, you can learn new skills, but if you’re pressed for time and have a large budget, you can delegate the work to a professional.

Thinking about what you want from your site, how much time and money you can realistically put into your site, and how you want to run your site on a day to day basis, will all help you make the most of your money in the long run.

Although every site comes with its own unique set of costs, here’s a recap of our estimates, to help you pick the best option for you.

Website Cost: Recap

Use a website builder: $0 – $50 per month – cheapest option
Use WordPress: $35 – $780 upfront cost, $11 – $50 per month ongoing cost – lots of control over how cheap (or expensive) your site ends up being
Hire a web designer: $500 – $10,000+ – minimal time investment, but most expensive option

Whether you’re counting out every cent or have a huge budget to play with, there is a website building option for you. The most important thing is to get value for your money. Here’s a summary of each method to help you pick the right one for you:

We recommend using a website builder if:

You have a tight budget
You’re a first-time builder
You’re short on time
You want to have a go at creating a site yourself
You don’t want to deal with all the technical stuff

We recommend using WordPress if:

You have a little more wriggle room in your budget
You want total control over your site
You have plenty of time
You want a high level of customization
You’d enjoy handling all the technical stuff

We recommend using a web designer if:

You have a large budget
You don’t want the responsibility of creating a site yourself
You’re very short on time
You need a very complex or custom design
You’d be happy letting a professional manage your site

Building a website doesn’t have to be expensive – as long as you pick the right method and get value for your money, your website will be worth every cent. Happy building!

FAQs

If you are using a website builder, we recommend a budget of at least $1000 so you can not only pay for the monthly plan but also have a little set aside for any other issues you may come across, such as wanting to increase in scale.

If you plan on using WordPress and a hosting provider, your budget should increase to at least $1500 as there are a lot more ongoing fees to keep track of.

And if you wish to pay a web designer to build your site, we recommend a budget of anywhere from $5000 to $10,000. Certainly the more expensive option, but you are paying a professional instead of dong it all yourself.

The average monthly cost for a website is going to be anywhere from $50 to $120. This not only pays for a website builder but also hosting providers and security extras you will need if you’re going with WordPress.

Building a website can take as long as it needs, but from our experience, the quickest you can build a fully functional website with all the necessary text and branding is about 3 hours.

That said, it will typically take around 50 to 150 hours to properly experiment and bring your dream website to life. From there, you will also probably be making little optimizations and changes as it goes along, so its good to get familiar with the editor and all its design features.

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3 Web Design Software to Easily Help You Build an Awesome Website

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Updated on March 22, 2024

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Our independent research projects and impartial reviews are funded in part by affiliate commissions, at no extra cost to our readers. Learn more

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

Compare The Top Web Design Software

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

Get Free Personalized Advice

“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).

If you are unsure about which is best for you, take our short quiz to get recommendations tailored to your needs:

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:

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

Here’s a full comparison table including Wix and other ecommerce website builders.

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 March 22, 2024

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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?

Yes! I Want to Try Shopify

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.

Is Shopify the Best Choice For You?

Shopify is perfect for large stores! It can support stores of all sizes with its awesome sales tools and huge app market.

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.

Do You Have Big Plans For Your Store?

BigCommerce is perfect for fast-growing online stores, thanks to its built-in features and multichannel integrations. You can try it free for 15 days!

Yes! I Want to Visit BigCommerce Now

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.

Do You Love Analytics?

Volusion helps you grow your store by tracking performance using its top notch analytics tools. You can try it free for 14 days!

Yes! I Want to Try Volusion Now

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.

Do You Want Total Flexibility?

WooCommerce is a powerful, flexible ecommerce solution that’s extremely popular and pretty easy to get started with too!

Yes! I Want to Visit WooCommerce Now

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.

Do You Want to Get the Best Out Of Magento?

We recommend using SiteGround hosting to power your Magento store. Check out SiteGround to see what it’s got to offer.

Yes! I Want to Visit SiteGround Now

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.

We Recommend Shopify to Most Sellers

If you’re in doubt, jump on Shopify’s 14-day free trial to see if it suits your needs – it’s a risk-free way to start building your online store!

I Want to Try Shopify

FAQs

For most people, we recommend hosted ecommerce solutions like Shopify and BigCommerce. This is because these options are more accessible to a wider range of people. They already have all the tools built in for you to create your online store, so you can start selling quickly and easily without knowing a line of code.

Self-hosted ecommerce solutions like Magento and WordPress (with WooCommerce) are more advanced. While this means they’re more flexible, it also means they’re more complicated to set up and manage. If you’re confident with code and technology, these are a great choice. If not, they can be overwhelming and expensive for you to run.

See our Ecommerce Comparison Chart for a full list of hosted ecommerce options. Or, check out our WordPress Review to find out more about self-hosted platforms.

There’s no perfect answer! The good news is there are tons of options, so you can find a price to suit your budget. If you want to sell online for $20 or less, check out our Best Ecommerce Platforms Review, which includes website builders like Wix and Weebly.

For dedicated hosted ecommerce solutions, Shopify starts from $29 a month, and BigCommerce starts from $29 a month. Self-hosted solutions are a lot harder to calculate because hosting plans vary so much.

You can get hosting for as low as $2.95 a month from Bluehost, up to as much as $119.99 a month on a different Bluehost plan. It really depends on the size and needs of your store. Remember to include the cost of add-ons in your budget too.

We recommend Shopify! It’s the best all-round ecommerce solution. It’s designed to help you get your online store up and running, whether you’re a small business or ecommerce empire. It’s got all the sales features you could need, from abandoned cart recovery to shipping labels. It has something for everyone and is our top choice for running your online store.

Want to find out more? Read our Shopify Review for a full look at this leading ecommerce solution.

There are tons of things that go into making an online store successful, but, there are some important features which benefit all businesses and which you should look out for when choosing your ecommerce solution.

The main one is getting an SSL certificate. This stands for Secure Sockets Layer and makes your site a safe place for customers to enter their payment details and information. This means it’s essential for any online store.

Shopify and BigCommerce both include an SSL certificate for free in all their payment plans.

Yes, definitely! These are dedicated ecommerce solutions, which means they have all the tools and features you need to create a successful online store and get selling. From printing shipping labels to creating discounts, you have the tools to build your store and make money right at your fingertips.

If you want to find out more about getting started, why not check out our guide on How to Build an Online Store.

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 March 22, 2024

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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 artificial intelligence system called “Wix ADI“(stands for Artificial Design Intelligence) 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 artificial intelligence system called “Wix ADI“(stands for Artificial Design Intelligence) 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 (see offer code) and Wix.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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Squarespace Review 2024: The Easiest Website Builder To Use

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Updated on March 22, 2024

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Squarespace is one of the best website builders on the market, offering users a seamless user experience from start to finish. Its popular drag-and-drop editor and cost-effective plans make Squarespace ideal for beginners, and creatives will be more than happy with the design options available.

In this Squarespace review, I’ll explore why the builder is so user-friendly and what you can get for your money – a deep dive into the platform’s features to determine if it’s the right builder for you.

Squarespace Pros & Cons

For an overview of the website builder, I’ve pulled together a list of Squarespace’s standout qualities and drawbacks:

What We Like

✔️ It’s the easiest website builder we’ve tested thanks to its drag-and-drop editor and AI design guidance

✔️ Over 160 aesthetically-pleasing templates to choose from, covering a broad range of industries and website types

✔️ If you want to offer bookable services or appointments, Squarespace’s Acuity Scheduling tool costs $16 per month

✔️ Add ecommerce functionality to your website for selling products and services online

What We Dislike

❌ Squarespace’s grid overlay in the editor can be useful for beginners but it does limit your creative freedom

❌ There’s no autosave when editing which seems like a flaw when Squarespace gives a lot of attention to designing a website

❌ Unlike Wix, Squarespace doesn’t offer a free plan – you can get started with its 14-day free trial instead

My Experience With Squarespace

Squarespace is the easiest website builder we’ve tested in 2024, outperforming 16 other platforms due to its simple drag-and-drop editor, intuitive interface, and beautiful templates. These perks make it easy for users to set up a website with Squarespace.

When testing Squarespace’s free trial myself, I was first presented with two questions:

What’s your site about? – I could choose from a selection of options, such as “Food” or “Gaming”
What are your top goals? – I could select as many relevant options as I wanted, such as “Build community,” “Sell products,” and “Offer a contact form”

From there, Squarespace gave me the option to choose from its professionally designed templates (with suggestions based on my responses), or I could build a template from scratch. Since I’ll discuss templates in detail later, I chose to use Squarespace Blueprint, a guided web design experience powered by AI.

Squarespace Blueprint stage to build your homepage — Squarespace Blueprint took me through a five-step process to create a custom template. Source: Website Builder Expert

With Squarespace Blueprint, I was first asked for my website’s title. The next step is to build a homepage, choosing from a list of sections, such as the “Intro section” or “Social section.” I had the freedom to add or remove what I wanted, and I could choose from a variety of somewhat basic layouts for each section as well.

The final stage of Squarespace Blueprint includes adding pages to the site, deciding on a color scheme, and selecting a font style. Your decisions are not set in stone – you can edit everything in Squarespace’s editor.

Squarespace AI asking the user to choose a writing style to set up a website — I could change the writing style of Squarespace’s AI text generator. Source: Website Builder Expert

Once I was happy with my design, Squarespace gave me the option to personalize my website’s copy using Squarespace AI. After sharing a brief description of my website, I could choose a tone of voice, from options such as “Professional” or “Quirky.” I appreciated that the AI tool generated examples of each writing style so I could get an understanding of how the text would appear.

While the onboarding process wasn’t the quickest overall – especially when compared with the speedy setup of GoDaddy – Squarespace Blueprint provided a unique experience. For businesses short on time, Squarespace Blueprint takes the hassle out of designing and editing your pages.

That said, I would recommend choosing one of Squarespace’s templates because the designs are stylish and modern. The AI-generated templates look quite simple and bland in comparison, and there’s little variation between designs.

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

After this, I finally 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 pattern to add structure to its editor. This is useful if you’re looking to snap elements together or keep things aligned on your page, especially if you’re new to building websites. In my experience, it also helped to speed up the overall process.

However, if you’re looking for complete creative control, you’d be better off with Wix, which lets you drag elements anywhere on the page. Squarespace’s grid editor can feel restrictive since you’re bound to moving elements within the set lines.

You should also be aware that 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, I was relieved to see that Squarespace prompts you to save if you decide to exit the editor.

How Much Does Squarespace Cost?

Squarespace has four premium plans – the same number as Wix. Though both builders start at $16 per month, Squarespace is more affordable in the long term and offers better value for money. Its plans range from $16 to $49 per month (billed annually).

Squarespace Pricing Plans

Personal ($16) – For simple sites, like portfolios
Business ($23) – To start selling products and services
Commerce Basic ($27) – Removes transaction fees and lets you sell on socials
Commerce Advanced ($49) – Provides advanced sales features like abandoned cart recovery

You can also get 10% off your Squarespace plan with our code “WBE10”.

Squarespace's four pricing plans and key features — I recommend choosing Squarespace’s $23 per month Business plan – it's the cheapest option if you want to sell products or services. Source: Website Builder Expert

Unfortunately, Squarespace doesn’t have a free plan, but you can get started with its 14-day free trial instead. You won’t need any card details to access the trial – simply sign up with an email address to test out the builder for yourself.

Once you’re ready to upgrade, the plan you pick will depend on the needs of your website. If you’re building a simple or largely informational website, like a portfolio, you’ll be content with Squarespace’s Personal plan.

For a slight price increase, I recommend choosing the $23 per month Business plan. You’ll unlock ecommerce functionality and additional features, including a branded Google email address and promotional pop-ups.

Check out our Squarespace Pricing Review to see which plan is right for you.

Designing With Squarespace

Squarespace is one of the best website builders for design and aesthetics, offering over 160 Squarespace templates to choose from. In comparison, Wix has 900+ templates in its library – as a result, Wix takes the top spot in our design research, leaving Squarespace in second position.

That said, Squarespace’s templates have a high-quality finish and cover a wide range of industries, such as “Fashion” and “Fitness,” despite offering fewer options than Wix. I particularly like the “Montclaire” template for artist websites because of its minimalist approach to showcasing work. Squarespace’s recent 2024 Super Bowl ad, directed by Martin Scorsese, also introduced a new template called “Hello Down There.”

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

Once you’re in the editor, Squarespace gives you access to a lot of professionally designed elements and sections to add to your site. This is especially useful for content-heavy sites looking to display information in creative ways, such as accordions or scrolling banners.

I also loved that I could save favorite sections to revisit at a later time, giving me the freedom to experiment when designing my pages.

Squarespace's design sections library, specifically showing people/team sections — I had plenty of section styles and layouts to choose from with Squarespace. Source: Website Builder Expert

Squarespace’s Features

Squarespace provides a generous suite of built-in features, including website analytics to help users monitor their site’s performance and email marketing tools. You can also explore the Squarespace Extensions page for additional functionality – with roughly 40 integrations to choose from, it’s not as large-scale as Wix or Shopify’s app market.

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.

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, including Wix and Shopify.

With Squarespace, you can easily manage your site’s SEO from its SEO panel. Here, you can tweak your page’s SEO settings or view a useful SEO checklist to help you optimize your site for search engines.

However, 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.

Marketing

All websites need to engage with their target audience, whether you’re looking to simply showcase your work or sell products online. 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 selection of campaign types — I could edit my email marketing template and tweak its style to suit my brand. Source: Website Builder Expert

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).

Selling Online With Squarespace

Squarespace has improved considerably since last year’s research and takes third place in our ecommerce website builder research, sitting just behind Shopify and Wix. You’ll need either the Business, Commerce Basic, or Commerce Advanced plan to sell with Squarespace – prices start from $23 per month (billed annually).

Squarespace does have better sales features than Wix overall. For example, Squarespace’s ecommerce plans include unlimited products, whereas Wix’s plans have a limit of 50,000 products.

However, Squarespace falls short when it comes to internationalization, requiring manual translation and only supporting a few languages – an area where Wix shines. This isn’t ideal if your store is looking to expand into new markets.

I recommend the Business plan as a good starting point for small businesses, but if you have a larger or growing inventory, one of the two Commerce plans will be best. Both the Commerce Basic plan and Commerce Advanced plan remove transaction fees entirely, plus you’ll get access to advanced sales features, like abandoned cart recovery and low-stock labels.

Read our Squarespace Ecommerce Review page for a detailed look at its sales features.

Squarespace’s AI Tools

Squarespace is a little underwhelming when it comes to AI features and seems to lag behind the competition. Wix, for example, recently announced its new AI website builder, and Shopify’s Winter ‘24 Edition included the reveal of an AI-powered storefront search feature.

Unfortunately, we haven’t heard much from Squarespace since the Squarespace Refresh in October 2023. This did give us a sneak peek at Squarespace’s vision for AI in the future, including AI image support and an AI assistant, but these features are still in development.

Here are the AI tools you can expect from Squarespace now:

AI website builder – Squarespace Blueprint is powered by AI to help you generate a custom template for your website, but this isn’t as hands-free an experience as other AI builders
Text generation – use AI to create content for text boxes, generate product descriptions, and fill out email marketing campaigns

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

How Can Squarespace Protect Your Site?

All Squarespace websites offer “white glove website security,” meaning you’ll receive a reliable and high-quality service from the website builder. Every website using a Squarespace custom domain will be bundled with a free SSL certificate. This helps protect your website’s data, reassures visitors, and it also boosts your site’s credibility with search engines.

You can also rest assured that Squarespace is PCI-compliant (to protect online payments), follows global data privacy laws (to keep your data secure), and monitors for cyber threats and DoS attacks 24/7.

If you want to take extra precautions, you can enable two-factor authentication on your Squarespace account, review your account’s login activity for suspicious activity, and password-protect any pages you desire.

Squarespace 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 support team.

Still, I was impressed by Squarespace’s Help Center since most guides included a video along with links to other resources – supporting users with different learning styles.

However, I was slightly disappointed in Squarespace’s live chat. While it’s nice to interact with a human instead of AI, it took over 30 seconds to get a response. This doesn’t seem too extreme, but the AI-powered live chats of Squarespace’s competitors (like Wix and Shopify) responded almost instantly.

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

How Does Squarespace Compare to Competitors?

Squarespace is our second-best performing website builder in 2024, but is it the right fit for you? Take a look at how it compares with other leading website builders in the table below:

Wix is our top-rated website builder overall, offering users a comprehensive solution with powerful features, over 900+ templates to choose from, and dependable support options. It’s also an impressive choice if you’re looking to sell online thanks to its versatility.

That said, Shopify is the best ecommerce website builder out there, providing dedicated sales features and room to scale your business until you’re among the titans of your industry.

GoDaddy has the fastest setup and affordable plans. With pricing that ranges from $10.99 to $20.99 per month (billed annually), GoDaddy is the best value for money builder we’ve tested in 2024.

If you’re still not sure what website builder is right for you, take our 4-question quiz for a personalized recommendation from the experts:

What type of website do you want to create?

How We Test Squarespace

To fairly review Squarespace, we rely on our rigorous in-house research process. We regularly test every website builder we recommend so that we can share accurate and impartial recommendations.

After 200+ hours of testing and data collection across 398 areas of investigation, we can confidently say we know Squarespace inside and out. Our review examines six key areas that we know are important to our readers:

Website Features – 30%
- Looking at the quality and number of features on offer
Design Functionality – 25%
- Reviewing a website builder’s aesthetic capabilities, through templates and design options
User Experience – 17%
- We test every builder ourselves so we can share our experiences and assess how easy it is to use
Help and Support – 10%
- Looking at how website owners can contact a platform or get support
Value for Money – 10%
- We review pricing and what’s available with each plan
Customer Score – 8%
- Comparing a website builder to its competitors in the market

Each category is given a unique weighting and a builder is awarded a score out of five depending on its performance in each of these testing areas.

Squarespace Test Summary 2024

I’ve tested a lot of website builders as part of the Website Builder Expert team and Squarespace always delivers a delightful experience. It’s so easy to use, and I never run into any difficulty no matter what type of website I’m trying to build, whether that’s a creative portfolio, photography website, or online store. This is why we’re so quick to recommend the builder to beginners – it’s a great starting point for anyone scared of technology!

I’d recommend choosing one of Squarespace’s templates, instead of using Squarespace Blueprint to begin with. The templates are polished and trendy, so you’ll only need to make a few tweaks here and there to fit your brand. And, with the grid-style drag-and-drop editor, it’ll be hard to make anything very ugly. Squarespace really sets you up for success with its user-friendly editor.

Another thing I love is how seamless it is to jump between the website editor and backend settings. While you’ll need to remember to manually save each time, it’s simple to navigate between setting up email campaigns to managing your site’s SEO.

Emma Ryan Senior Writer

Squarespace Review: Should You Choose It?

From our 2024 research, Squarespace is the easiest website builder to use by far. I’ve explored its user-friendly editor in detail, highlighted its stylish templates, and examined the features on offer, from website security to SEO.

Like Wix, Squarespace is a reliable option for a wide range of users, whether you’re looking to build a creative portfolio or set up an online store. That said, I highly recommend choosing Squarespace if you’re a beginner at building websites because of its intuitive interface and simple setup process.

FAQs

Squarespace is one of the best website builders for blogging. We recommend it for art blogs in particular because of its creative templates, but you’ll get access to a ton of features, including scheduling tools, blog analytics, and comments. It’s not as well-rounded as Wix for blogging though – Wix lets you publish blog posts on its free plan whereas you’ll have to pay for one of Squarespace’s premium plans to do the same.

Based on our 2024 research, Wix is the best website builder overall. It caters to a wide range of users with its 900+ templates, impressive website features, and dependable 24/7 support options. That said, Squarespace takes second place in our research, so it’s still an excellent choice. Squarespace doesn’t offer the same level of creative freedom as Wix, but Squarespace is easier to use on the whole and its professionally designed templates are stunning. Both Wix and Squarespace start at $16 per month (billed annually).

We’d recommend choosing Squarespace if you’re looking to build a creative or content-heavy site, but Wix is the better option for selling online.

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Weebly Review 2024: Pros & Cons

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Updated on March 22, 2024

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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 $23 and $27 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.

FAQs

Yes. Weebly has been around since 2007, making it a contemporary of website-building giant Wix. To date, 30 million people have created a website with Weebly.

Wix is the better website builder. Although Weebly has everything a small site needs to get started, it can’t compete with the much better functionality and versatility of Wix. It’s severely lacking in comparison and doesn’t support growth in the same way that Wix does.

If you want more information about Wix, I recommend checking out our comprehensive Wix Review, where we take a deep dive into everything that Wix offers.

At present, Square has no plans to discontinue the Weebly website builder. However, the payment giant isn’t doing much to bring it up to scratch, either. Weebly will continue to exist, but no new features have been released in recent years, meaning it’s pretty much stayed the same since 2018. We aren’t too hopeful that this will change in the future.

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Wix vs Weebly | Discover Why Users Prefer Wix (2024)

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Updated on March 22, 2024

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Wix and Weebly are two of the biggest names in the website builder world. However, they both offer vastly different things and each is suited to a particular type of user. So how are you supposed to know which one is better for you?

Well, there’s no need to worry because we’ve done the hard work for you, comparing these two website builders to see which one comes out on top. Spoiler: it’s Wix. But that’s not to say that Wix will be best for everyone. In fact, Weebly has its advantages, too. So if you want to know exactly what makes Wix shine and figure out which is the best fit for you, read on!

Our Recommendations

Wix vs Weebly: Comparison Table

Find Out More:

Read our full Wix Review to delve deeper into whether Wix is right for you
Read our Weebly Review for more information on Weebly’s strengths and weaknesses

Set Up

We’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.

There are two options when setting a website up with Wix, but before we reached that stage, we were given the chance to tell Wix’s AI about our business and website. This is optional, but if you do choose to use Wix’s AI, you’ll be redirected to a chatbox where you’ll answer a number of questions about your business and your website. This information will then 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 that Wix’s AI setup process was very simple and straightforward and I was able to skip any questions that weren’t relevant.

After this, we were then presented with two options: use AI to build our site, or pick a template and do it ourselves. If you choose to use AI, Wix will build the site for you, based on answers to specific questions. This option 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 more control, you can take the second option and do everything from scratch yourself. We chose this route for our test site and were invited to tell Wix about our business, after which we could choose a template from over 800 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 ways of building my website – using AI or doing it myself from scratch.

Once we went through these initial steps, Wix took us to our dashboard. There’s a lot of information on the dashboard, and at first we worried that it might feel a bit chaotic, however, Wix uses a checklist to keep everything streamlined. The checklist showed us a list of tasks to complete while setting up our website, the first of which was adding our 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.

The process of signing up with Weebly is very similar. Once we’d hit the “Sign Up” button on the homepage, we were invited to enter some details about our business. We were then directed to a screen asking what kind of website we wanted to build.

This is where Weebly diverges from its competitor slightly. We were 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 us – you can still use exactly the same ecommerce tools on Weebly as you can on its parent platform. So for our test site, we 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.

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, we were directed to the template catalog to choose a theme for our 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.

The Winner

Set Up Winner: Wix

Wix offered users more options when it came to getting their site set up. We were able to use AI to build our website and populate it with our business’ core details, therefore saving us time and effort. Weebly didn’t offer this, and the split between Square Online and Weebly can leave users confused about which option they need to pick if they want to start an online store. For this reason, Wix came out on top here.

Pricing and Value for Money

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

Weebly Pricing Plans

At first glance, it’s clear to see that Weebly is cheaper in terms of face-value spend. Not only that, but Weebly is one of the only website builders out there that allows you to sell for free. This is a big bonus for small businesses looking to get their online store off the ground.

Comparatively, if you opt for Wix, you’ll need to sign up for the Core plan 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.

Of course, there are some limitations when it comes to Weebly’s free plan. For example, you’ll have to put up with Square branding on your website and, although you can sell an unlimited number of products, you won’t be able to sell any digital items. In addition, you won’t have access to a shipping calculator or shipping labels, either. Even so, for most small businesses, this is a great way of selling online without having to spend a cent.

Outside of ecommerce, however, Weebly struggles to hold its own against Wix’s seemingly never-ending list of features. 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.

For this reason, we recommend the Core plan as the best value for money out of Wix’s four tiers. This is because it gives you access to all the features you’ll need to do these things. We don’t recommend Wix’s Light plan because you barely get anything for the money you pay. The only real advantage to this is being able to connect a custom domain, which you can’t do on the free plan.

For Weebly, our preferred plan is the Professional plan. For only $12 per month, you’ll get a free custom domain, be able to remove Square branding, enable popups, and get access to phone support which isn’t available on the cheaper plans.

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 add tools and features to your website using third-party integrations. However, it’s worth bearing in mind that these third-party apps often come with an extra cost and you’ll have to sign up for a subscription that’s separate from your website builder plan. As a result, these costs can quickly rack up, so we recommend choosing a website builder like Wix that comes with most of the tools and features you need already built-in.

The Winner

Pricing and Value for Money Winner: Weebly

Although Wix’s broad range of features justifies its more expensive plans, Weebly comes out as the winner for pricing and value for money. Its plans are much cheaper and the fact that businesses can sell for free is a huge bonus that Wix can’t compete with. Overall, this makes Weebly the more attractive option for new businesses and online sellers.

More Information

If you want a more in-depth look at the pricing plans offered by Wix and Weebly, we recommend you check out our pricing reviews below:

Editor

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. Both Wix and Weebly use drop-and-drag editors, but there are some key differences between the two.

With Wix, we found we could drag any element we wanted virtually anywhere. The editor had a handy grid guideline that showed us where the edges of the webpage were so we could make sure we weren’t cutting any images or text off, but other than that, we were free to be as creative as we wanted.

The Wix Editor showing a text box being edited. — As well as moving anything where 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.

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 we were able to move things around, we couldn’t just plop anything where we wanted. Instead, we had to work within Weebly’s pre-set boundaries. This did make it easier for us to keep a grip on the design and for those of you who like more structure, this will be ideal. If, however, you want unlimited customization options, Wix is the better choice.

The Weebly editor showing a text box being edited. — Weebly’s editor is much stricter, and I had to work within its preset rows, which was good for keeping things neat, but stopped me from fully making the site my own.

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, we’d say it comes with a steeper learning curve than the Weebly editor.

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. If you want choice, Wix gives it to you in bucket-loads.

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.

In contrast, Weebly is much more pared-back. It offers the basics, so if you struggle with choice paralysis, Weebly makes things simple. However, this does mean you’re likely to run into a creative wall eventually. For example, Wix offers different menu layouts, whereas, with Weebly, you don’t get a choice. Ultimately, this means you’ll find it challenging to make a website that totally reflects your brand with Weebly.

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.

Another drawback of Weebly’s editor is that you can’t edit your mobile view. You can view what your website will look like on mobile devices, but you won’t be able to change anything about it. This is because Weebly claims that all of its templates are auto-responsive, so automatically adjust to different screen sizes. We’ll explore how accurate this is later on, but in terms of design, it means your hands are tied which we found frustrating.

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.

Finally, Weebly has yet to join the rest of the website-building world and jump on the AI bandwagon. When we tested the builder, we couldn’t find any AI tools to assist in building our website.

This is a stark contrast to Wix which has fully embraced AI. As soon as we opened the Wix editor, we were greeted with a popup inviting us to let Wix create all our written content for us. In practice, this was very slow to load, but we like that Wix is adding tools that are designed to make the building process easier and faster for its users.

The Winner

Editor Winner: Wix

Both Wix and Weebly have drag-and-drop builders that are easy to use, however, Wix allows you to move any element anywhere, whereas Weebly works within a 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.

It also offers AI tools designed to make the building process faster and easier, as well as providing a separate mobile view editor so you have complete control of how your website appears on various screen sizes. These are both tools that Weebly doesn’t offer. As a result, Wix takes the gold medal in this category.

Templates

When it comes to templates, Wix wins the award for sheer volume. It offers over 800 options, 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, we 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. — Wix has over 800 templates to choose from, although they aren’t all visually striking, there’s something for every industry. Source: Website Builder Expert

Weebly, on the other hand, has a smaller selection of themes, but none of them wowed us. Compared to Wix, they felt plain and boring and you might find yourself too limited by the options available. This is especially true considering that customization in the editor is limited, so you might find it difficult to make a website that’s truly reflective of your brand.

We were disappointed to see that the themes on offer haven’t really changed much in the last five years. We’d like to see Weebly bring out some new and exciting designs, rather than sticking with the same old options.

Wix and Weebly allow you to preview a template before you choose to start editing it. We 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.

As well as advanced customization, it’s difficult to tailor Weebly’s themes in even the most basic areas. For example, you won’t be able to change your theme colors, as 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 design and is frustrating because many brands take a long time purposely choosing specific colors for their business.

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.

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. If you do want to swap them over, you’ll need to start your website from scratch which is disappointing and time-intensive. Weebly, on the other hand, allows you to change the theme, although you will need to do a little reformatting.

Because so many people browse the internet on mobile devices nowadays, mobile responsiveness and mobile-first design is key to building a successful website. Wix nails this, 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.

The Winner

Templates Winner: Wix

Compared to Wix’s extensive library of themes, Weebly pales in comparison. Its designs are attractive, but plain and boring, and the lack of variety lets the builder down. Plus, its templates aren’t mobile-responsive and we weren’t able to change our theme colors to represent our business.

In contrast, Wix has so many templates you’re bound to find something to suit you, and the excellent customization meant we could fully tailor our template so it perfectly matched our business. Out of the two, Wix is the uncontested winner when it comes to its templates.

Selling

For those businesses who want to sell online, both Wix and Weebly allow you to build an online store. All you need to do is add a store page from the pages menu in either editor. This will create a page for you to display your products. So far, so simple!

When it comes to actually adding your products to your website, Wix allows you to do this in the dashboard. In the “Products” section, we were able to enter our 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.

You can access the inventory feature in the dashboard, too, which helps you keep track of your stock. We were also able to set up “Back-in-Stock” notifications so that our customers would be alerted when a sold-out product was once again available. We particularly like this, because it encourages potential customers to revisit your site and boosts the chances of a sale.

When it comes to shipping, Wix allows you to set shipping rules on a product-by-product basis. You can also set multiple shipping options which we 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.

Similarly to Wix, once we added our store to our Weebly website, we were prompted to input our products, but this time, we weren’t required to leave the editor to do it. Instead, a popup appeared where we were able to add all the usual information, as well as specify whether each product had any variations such as color. The whole process felt pretty seamless and we liked that there was less back and forth than with Wix.

We also really liked that we were 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 our mind while we were 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.

Shipping has its own section in the Weebly dashboard, which we initially found a little confusing, especially because we didn’t feel it was overly obvious how to reach the dashboard from the editor. Once we’d discovered we had to press the “X” in the top left-hand corner, this became much clearer.

Within the “Shipping” section, we were required to add our sender address before we could set out shipping rules. Weebly also offers a shipping calculator to help you set your rates, 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.

There isn’t an inventory tab on Weebly’s dashboard which we found a little strange. Instead, the product list serves this purpose, letting us view our stock levels as well as assign categories. As a result, this feature feels pretty basic. With Wix, however, having everything in a separate inventory section gave the process a more dynamic edge and we felt like we were able to track stock responsively in real time

When it comes to payment methods, Wix blows Weebly out of the water. Firstly, it has its own payment processor, Wix Payments, which handles all transactions in-house. If you’d rather use a third-party payment processor, Wix partners with over 80 different payment providers worldwide, including PayPal, Stripe, Square, Klarna, and Braintree to name a few. Integrating with these processors is all super easy, too, and Wix will lead you through it step-by-step.

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.

When it comes to Weebly’s payment providers you only have a choice of three: Square, Stripe, or Weebly. 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, we’re 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.

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. We found this pretty disappointing, particularly for small businesses that are just starting out.

The Winner

Selling Winner: Wix

Although it’s a big plus that small businesses can sell for free on Weebly, we 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 comes out in the top spot for ecommerce.

Find Out More

Check out our Wix Ecommerce Review to learn more about setting up your store with Wix
Read our Weebly Ecommerce Review for an in-deth look at this free ecommerce option!

Marketing

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, as well as a Wix SEO assistant that regularly reviews your website to check for any issues. Plus, you can also connect your site to 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.

We struggled to find Weebly’s SEO settings at first, which was surprising considering it made it so easy for us to set our product SEO in our online store. After we finally located it in the “Pages” section, we found it lacking. There were no helpful SEO checklists or guides, and we 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 with the Essentials plan for $10 per month.

In comparison, Weebly’s email marketing service, Weebly Promote, only allows you to send two email campaigns for free. After this, you’ll need to subscribe, 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

One area that Wix aces is its social media marketing. Wix allowed us to create social media posts and then track content performance all in the Wix dashboard. This is great news for businesses with a solid social media strategy. For users who don’t have a stash of ready-made content, Wix also grants access to Wix Creator, Vimeo, or Adobe Express to help you along. Weebly doesn’t offer anything like this, limiting its social media integration to simple homepage icons.

Good to Know!

Since Square purchased Weebly in 2018, the website builder hasn’t made any new updates or improvements, and as far as we can tell, it has no plans to do so in the future. As a result, the tools and features that we’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.

The Winner

Marketing: Wix

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.

How We Test Website Builders

When undertaking website builder comparisons like this one, we draw on a whole host of research to make sure that our judgements are fair and based on facts. This research is made up of careful market analysis, hands-on experience, rigorous data collection, and carefully weighted scores.

When testing builders, we focus on six key areas specifically:

Ease of use
Website features
Value for money
Design functionalities
Help and support
Customer score

In addition, we test all of the website builders ourselves, so we can draw on our personal experience when making recommendations.

We review our research process every year and regularly re-test website builders so that we can evaluate new features and respond to the changing needs of our audience. As a result, we’re able to give you honest recommendations that are designed to meet your needs.

Wix vs Weebly: Summary

That rounds up our comparison of Wix and Weebly! We’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, as well as how easy it is to build and customize a website that truly reflects your business.

That’s not to say that Weebly isn’t without its positives, though. This platform is ideal for businesses on a budget that aren’t concerned about being able to customize every inch of their website. Plus, if you want to sell online for free, Weebly is your best bet!

For more information on either of these website builders, we recommend taking a look at our individual reviews of each. Here, we dig deeper into what each platform offers:

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?

FAQs

The answer to this depends on what you’re looking for. Overall, though, Wix is better than Weebly because it offers more tools and features. It also feels more robust and professional. In addition, Wix is constantly improving and rolling out new features, whereas Weebly has stagnated over the last few years, with no major improvements or updates made. This means that users shouldn’t expect Weebly to introduce new features anytime soon – what you see now is what you’ll get forever. In terms of scalability potential, however, we’d say that Wix is by far the better option.

Since Square purchased Weebly in 2018, the platform has been pushed to the wayside, with its development stagnating. It’s still a good option for ecommerce businesses just starting out, especially because you can sell for free, but we would urge caution for businesses with big plans for growth. Scalability with Weebly is nonexistent.

Weebly is simpler to use, but only because it’s so basic in terms of tools and features. Wix’s learning curve is a little steeper as a result of the sheer volume of things it can do and offer to users. That’s not to say that Wix is difficult to use, though. In fact, we’d say it’s one of the easiest website builders out there.

At face value, yes, Wix’s plans are more expensive than Weebly’s. However, it’s much more feature-rich so you get a lot more for the price you pay.

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Wix vs WordPress: Which One Is Best for Your Website?

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Updated on March 22, 2024

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Depending on your unique needs, both Wix and WordPress could be suitable options for your next website. However, if you need to set up quickly, you’ll want to check out Wix first since the all-in-one website builder has everything you need to set up in no time – no technical expertise required.

But because Wix’s key features are built into its website builder, you may find this platform restrictive down the line, especially if you want to expand your website in a certain way. That’s where WordPress shines. Since WordPress is a content management system, you’ll have more control over your website.

Keen to see which platform is best for blogging? Who’s the best for your business’ online store? Keep reading to see how Wix and WordPress compare and discover which platform is best suited to your unique needs.

Wix vs WordPress: Which Is Right For You?

Wix – Best for its all-encompassing website features
WordPress – Best for complete creative control

Need to make a quick decision? Take our short quiz containing even more website builders to choose between.

What type of website do you want to create?