Top 12 Cheapest Website Builders in 2023: From $4/month
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Sticking to a budget is important, especially in the current economic climate, so value for money is a key factor when looking at website builders. We’ve split this list into four website niches to help you find the builder for you.
We’ve ranked Squarespace as our cheapest website builder for portfolios, costing just $14.40 per month when you use our special WBE discount code. When it comes to building an online store, however, Square Online’s $12-per-month plan takes the top prize, with Weebly proving itself the cheapest builder for small businesses at just $6 per month. Finally, WordPress.com comes in first place for blogging, costing $4 per month.
Every website builder on this list has been tested by us – some of them are more worthy of your money than others, but all of them are trustworthy brands. We’ll give you the skinny on each, arming you with all the information you need to make the right choice.
Cheapest Website Builders for Small Businesses
- Weebly – $6 per month
- Hostinger – $2.79 per month with discount code WBE
- GoDaddy – $9.99 per month
- 1&1 IONOS – $1 per month for the first 12 months
- Squarespace – $14.40 per month with discount code WBE
Cheapest Website Builders for Online Stores
- Square Online – $12 per month
- Wix – $27 per month
- Squarespace – $20.70 per month with discount code WBE
- Shopify – $29 per month
- Big Cartel – $9.99 per month
Cheapest Website Builders for Portfolios
- Squarespace – $14.40 per month with discount code WBE
- GoDaddy – $9.99 per month
- Jimdo – $9 per month
- Strikingly – $8 per month
- Wix – $16 per month
Cheapest Website Builders for Blogs
- WordPress.com – $4 per month
- Squarespace – $14.40 per month with discount code WBE
- Wix – $16 per month
- Weebly – $6 per month
- GoDaddy – $9.99 per month
Compare the Best 12 Cheap Website Builders
Price isn’t the only important thing when it comes to website builders. This chart compares the key features of each platform’s cheapest paid plan, so you can see which ones offer the best value. Use the arrows to compare the platforms side by side.
BEST IN TEST | |||||||||||
Wix | Squarespace | Shopify | GoDaddy | Square Online | Weebly | Hostinger | Jimdo | 1&1 IONOS | WordPress.com | Strikingly | BigCartel |
Overall Rating 4.8 | Overall Rating 4.7 | Overall Rating 4.1 | Overall Rating 4.1 | Overall Rating 4.2 | Overall Rating 3.4 | Overall Rating 3.4 | Overall Rating 2.7 | Overall Rating 3.4 | Overall Rating 3.2 | Overall Rating 3.4 | Overall Rating 3.1 |
Starting from | Starting from | Starting from $29 | Starting from $9.99 | Starting from $12 | Starting from $10 | Starting from
| Starting from $9 | Starting from $7 | Starting from $4 | Starting from $8 | Starting from $9.99 |
Free plan or free trial Free plan | Free plan or free trial 14-day free trial | Free plan or free trial 3-day free trial, then 3 months for $1/month | Free plan or free trial Free plan | Free plan or free trial Free plan | Free plan or free trial Free plan | Free plan or free trial No | Free plan or free trial Free plan | Free plan or free trial No | Free plan or free trial Free plan | Free plan or free trial Free plan | Free plan or free trial Free plan |
Storage space 3GB+ | Storage space Unlimited | Storage space Unlimited | Storage space Unlimited | Storage space Unlimited | Storage space 500MB | Storage space Unlimited | Storage space 5GB | Storage space Unlimited | Storage space 6GB+ | Storage space 1GB+ | Storage space 10GB |
Free custom domain | Free custom domain | Free custom domain | Free custom domain | Free custom domain | Free custom domain | Free custom domain | Free custom domain | Free custom domain | Free custom domain | Free custom domain | Free custom domain |
Advert-free on cheapest plan | Advert-free on cheapest plan | Advert-free on cheapest plan | Advert-free on cheapest plan | Advert-free on cheapest plan | Advert-free on cheapest plan | Advert-free on cheapest plan | Advert-free on cheapest plan | Advert-free on cheapest plan | Advert-free on cheapest plan | Advert-free on cheapest plan | Advert-free on cheapest plan |
Sales tools on cheapest plan | Sales tools on cheapest plan | Sales tools on cheapest plan | Sales tools on cheapest plan | Sales tools on cheapest plan | Sales tools on cheapest plan | Sales tools on cheapest plan | Sales tools on cheapest plan | Sales tools on cheapest plan Optional | Sales tools on cheapest plan | Sales tools on cheapest plan | Sales tools on cheapest plan |
We’ve been testing website builders for over 10 years. In that time, we’ve seen great website builders – and some terrible ones, too. We’ve seen awesome free platforms and really bad paid platforms, and along the way, we learned to look for value as well as price.
Today, our research focuses on value for money as one of the most important parts of our methodology. This includes:
- Whether a platform has a free plan or free trial
- The cheapest paid plan available
- The most expensive paid plan available
- Which features are available on each plan
The last “feature versus price” area of investigation especially helps us to understand whether a platform offers good value for money. Sure, a cheap plan is great, but how much storage does it offer? Will you have adverts shown on your site, or gain access to SEO tools so your site can begin to rank in Google’s results pages?
We’ve tried and tested every single website builder on this list, so we know that each one has value to offer the right user. The only job left is to find you your perfect platform, so you can start building your website!
This is why some of the website builders we’ve listed in first place below don’t always come with the best overall rating. It’s important that you weigh up what’s important to you, and what features are non-negotiable before you commit to a website builder. The chances are that if you choose one just for the small price tag, you might find it lacking in other areas.
Short on time? Our 4-question quiz will match you with your ideal web builder in under a minute
Take the Quick Matching QuizCheapest Website Builders for Small Businesses
#1. Weebly: $6 per month
Best cheap starting point for a small business website
Weebly
Best cheap starting point for a small business website
- Good website features
- Customization is limited
- No mobile formatting
Free plan available
Paid Plans: $6 - $29 / month
Weebly Gallery
Weebly At A Glance
Weebly is a great website builder for small businesses that are just starting out. Its affordable prices make it easy to get online quickly, but the premium packages will also serve you well as your business grows and requires a more feature-rich offering. Overall, Weebly won the top spot for value for money in our research, scoring a perfect 5 out of 5.
Weebly is part of the Square family on online selling tools. If you need to sell products through your Weebly website, you can do so, even for free! You just need to create a Square Online account, from which you can manage your Weebly site and Square-powered online store.
Top tip: We’d recommend you go direct to Square Online and make your account there (Weebly will redirect you there anyway).
$6 per month Personal plan need to knows:
- Connect your own custom domain
- No free domain
- 500MB storage
- Adverts display on your site
- SEO features
- Chat and email support (no phone support)
However, there are some things that Weebly still needs to improve upon. The lack of an ‘undo’ button was something our users found particularly frustrating, in addition to the fairly limited overall customization, and the lack of mobile formatting.
- Personal: $6 per month
- Professional: $12 per month
- Performance: $26 per month
At $6 per month, Weebly’s Personal plan is a great choice if you’re just starting out, but just be aware that it does come with some limitations. For instance, you’ll still have to contend with advertisements all over your website, plus you’ll only get 500MB of storage. There’s no free domain, either! Additionally, if you want to secure that low price point, you’ll need to commit to a two-year plan in order to get it. Overall, however, value for money is really where Weebly shines, which is why it scores an impressive 5 out of 5 in our research!
Despite this, they all feature a clean and professional design that would be well-suited to a small business. Plus, they’re all free, so you won’t need to pay extra and increase your monthly cost.
It performs very well in the SEO department, and is equipped with a wide range of features, including a handy guide if you’re new to Search Engine Optimization. It also comes with a password-protected members’ area, a chatbot function and its own inbuilt analytics system for tracking your site’s success. You can also choose to add email marketing to your site, using Weebly’s very own Weebly Promote. There’s a free plan available for this, or you can upgrade to a paid plan, starting from $8 per month.
There’s even a $0 ecommerce plan by Square that you can choose for your Weebly site – just look out for higher than average transaction fees.

Do We Recommend Weebly’s Cheapest Plan?
Yes… but not forever! The Personal plan is an excellent starting point for any fledgling business because it allows you to get online with minimal hassle. However, as your brand starts to gain traction, you’ll find it easy to outgrow this plan fairly quickly.
If you do want a more professional feel from the get-go, we’d recommend jumping straight to the Professional plan. This will cost you $12 per month, which is a big step up but, in our opinion, offers better value for money.
Weebly is owned by popular ecommerce platform Square Online, which powers its decent ecommerce functionality. Although this is a highly affordable ecommerce option, we’d recommend looking out for higher transaction fees than you’d see on cheap premium plans.
Top tip: You will need to create a Square account to access and manage an online store on Weebly. In fact, Weebly will redirect you to Square when you try to add an online store. We’d recommend you go straight to Square Online if you’re looking to sell for free or through a Weebly site.

#2. Hostinger: $8.99 $2.79 per month (use code WBE)
The small business cheap website builder to watch
Save Up to 78% With Hostinger!
Don’t miss Hostinger’s exclusive offer! Our dedicated discount code – WBE – will be automatically applied when you click through one of our links. Get up to 78% off Hostinger’s premium plans, allowing you to get online from just $2.79/month.If starting a small business is your goal, you can get up to 67% off ecommerce plans so you can start your business for only $4.99/month.
Plus, with all annual plans, users get an additional 3 months on the house and a free domain, too!
Hostinger - Web Builder
The small business cheap website builder to watch
- One to watch
- Experimental AI tools
- Good customer score
Free trial available
Paid Plans: $2.69 - $39.99 / month
Hostinger Gallery
Hostinger is the new kid on the block, but it’s already making big waves in the website-building world. Its standout feature is its ease of use, meaning that practically anyone will be able to use it to get a website up and running in no time. It also boasts some cutting-edge features, such as its AI writer which is super useful for smaller businesses that can’t afford to source freelancers. Despite all this, it’s still growing in a lot of ways, and anyone can see there are some rough patches. We awarded it a customer score of 2.8 out of 5 to reflect this, but that doesn’t mean it will stay that score forever.
$2.79 per month ‘Website’ plan need to knows:
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Unlimited storage
- Free domain for a year (or connect your own)
- Inbuilt AI tools
- Blogging tools
- Free email for 3 months
- Integrate with Google Analytics
- Can’t sell on this plan
It’s definitely improved since last time I tested it, it was a lot easier to navigate.
This is perfect if you’re looking for a straightforward, no-frills attached website to accompany your business.
The reason for its simplicity, however, is that it isn’t as feature-rich as some of the other builders out there. It provides the basics, but if you want anything too advanced, you’ll need to have a bit of coding knowledge to get there, which isn’t exactly what we’d call beginner-friendly!
The Business package is ideal for small businesses, and comes with enough features to support you when you’re just starting out, including some basic sales features.
Keep an eye on Hostinger’s prices, as it often run sales, reducing the total cost by up to 78%. Currently, with our dedicated code WBE10, you can get the cheapest Website plan for just $2.79 per month.
Hostinger used to fall down when it came to customization possibilities. In order to keep things simple, you couldn’t do too much to your templates to make them stand out from the crowd. It was the trade-off for the easy-to-use editor. But in our research, Hostinger shot up dramatically in design functionality by 16%, going from a 3.1 out of 5 to a 3.6 since we last tested it. You can use visual guides and dynamic columns to snap elements into exactly where you want them, whcih is helpful for beginners new to web building.
However, its cheapest Website plan does include a free email address for 3 months, a free domain for one year, basic SEO tools to help with growth, Google Analytics integration, and unlimited storage space and bandwidth. Not bad for just $2.69 per month!
All Hostinger’s plans come with a set of unique AI tools that make it feel like a very contemporary builder. These include an AI writer for acing keyword-rich copy as well as a logo builder that’s super useful if you need to keep costs down and don’t want to hire a designer.
Do We Recommend Hostinger’s Cheapest Plan?
Yes, we do, but not if you want to sell products. The Website plan is super affordable at just $2.79 per month, making it great for small business sites on a budget. And the $4.99 per month Business plan is perfect for small businesses that want to use their website as a source of information and sell a few products, but if you need it to function as an online store, we’d suggest opting for another provider.

#3. GoDaddy: $9.99 per month
Fastest cheap small business website builder
GoDaddy
Fastest cheap small business website builder
- Hands-off ADI building
- Strong marketing focus
- Cheapest plan is limited
Free plan available
Paid Plans: $6.99 - $469.99 / month
GoDaddy Gallery
GoDaddy’s artificial design intelligence makes it the fastest way to build a small business website – and at $9.99 per month, it’s pretty cheap too! Every plan includes GoDaddy Insight, which provides a tailored action plan to help boost your online presence – the perfect tool for small businesses. GoDaddy has risen significantly in our rankings, achieving an overall score of 4.4 out of 5, which is up 11.6% from its previous position, demonstrating a real commitment to improvement. This is a good sign for anyone looking for long-term growth in their website builder!
$9.99 per month Basic plan need to knows:
- 1-month free trial
- No free domain
- No adverts on your website
- 24/7 phone support
- GoDaddy Insight analytics
- No built-in SEO website optimizer
- Integrate with one social platform
- Offer one-time appointments (no recurring bookings)
- No ecommerce
GoDaddy is super beginner-friendly, because it does most of the hard work for you. It uses Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI), which asks you a few questions, then uses your answers to create a personalized website for you. That’s why it scored an impressive 4.1 out of 5 stars in our ease of use testing.
The ADI builder means that your template comes with relevant features already built-in, and you can jump straight into making it your own and filling out your own content before publishing.
GoDaddy comes with a free plan, in addition to its four premium pricing plans, all of which have a one-month free trial, so you can test it out risk-free before starting out properly. The cheapest premium plan costs $9.99 per month when you pay annually:
- Basic: $9.99 per month
- Premium: $14.99 per month
- Commerce: $16.99 per month
- Commerce Plus: $29.99 per month
While the Basic plan gives you a decent set of tools, it’s designed for very basic websites. Most small businesses will likely feel its limitations before too long, due to its lack of SEO tools, limited social media integrations, and restrictive appointments features.
With GoDaddy, you don’t start off by choosing your own template, because your site is created for you through the ADI editor. However, that doesn’t mean you’re limited to what it chooses for you, because you can switch up your layout and design pretty easily. Customization is limited, so complex branding will be a struggle, but it’s enough to put your own stamp on your site.
GoDaddy is designed to support entrepreneurs and small businesses – this much is clear in its suite of marketing tools. GoDaddy Insight is particularly useful – it ranks your site compared to similar businesses, and provides a custom action plan to help you improve.
However, unless you’re a brand new small business, you may find the features on the cheapest plan limiting. A big let down is the lack of advanced SEO capabilities, and a lack of recurring online appointment bookings. There’s also no free domain, so be sure to leave room in your budget to buy one!
Do We Recommend GoDaddy’s Cheapest Plan?
Yes, but not forever. GoDaddy’s cheapest plan is great if you need a simple site and you want to get it published quickly. Essentially, it’s the perfect starting point, especially given how useful its GoDaddy Insight tool is! However, you’ll want to upgrade as your business grows. This is because GoDaddy’s more expensive plans offer greater value for money, especially when it comes to advanced SEO tools.

#4. 1&1 IONOS: $1 per month for the first 12 months
The cheapest plans, but comes with limited features
IONOS
The cheapest plans, but comes with limited features
- Excellent load speed
- Customization is limited
- Pretty outdated overall
Free trial available
Paid Plans: $0.5 - $35 / month
1&1 IONOS Gallery
1&1 IONOS is specifically designed to get businesses online, and it stands out from the crowd thanks to its incredibly cheap pricing plans, some of which start at just $1 per month for the first year! It’s also good for scalability as your business grows, and allows you to translate your website into multiple languages for better global reach.
$1 per month Starter plan need to knows:
- Free domain for the first year
- Professional email address
- Limited customization and design abilities
- Good Online marketing tools
- No ads
- Prices renew at a higher rate in the second year of subscription
On the other hand, though, it is very easy to add additional pages and expand your website. Plus, each new page is a blank canvas, meaning you can structure it however you like. This is great if you like to have a bit more control over your design, but it could pose problems if you just want to get your website up and running as quickly as possible.
There are three website builder plans to choose from:
- Starter: $1 per month
- Plus: $5 per month
- Pro: $10 per month
It’s worth noting that these are introductory prices, meaning that when you renew your plan for the second year, the price will jump up. This increases the yearly cost of the Starter plan to $5, the Plus plan to $10, and the Pro plan to $15 per month.
It’s also tricky to get any real creative control with this website builder. Customization is limited, and you’re often restricted by the template you’ve chosen.
The MyWebsite Now builder is also designed specifically to help beginners get online quickly. It’s ideal if you aren’t bothered about creating a website with all the bells and whistles attached, but instead, want something functional to promote your business.
Do We Recommend 1&1 IONOS’ Cheapest Plan?
Not Really. In fact, we’d recommend going straight to the Plus plan. This is because, although it’s incredibly cheap at just $1 per month for the first year, the Starter plan offers limited customization and isn’t very scalable.
With the Plus plan, however, you can create a more dynamic website, and translate it into multiple languages. It also allows you to connect your site to social media, as well as integrate a blog and advanced features such as photo galleries, parallax scrolling, and video backgrounds.

#5. Squarespace: $14.40 per month with discount code ‘WBE’
Best for beautifully designed small business websites
Squarespace
Best for beautifully designed small business websites
- Excellent brand presence
- Good marketing features
- Inbuilt analytics
Free trial available
Paid Plans: $16 - $49 / month
Squarespace Gallery
Squarespace is one of the big hitters of the website-building world, and for good reason. It’s an ideal choice for small businesses thanks to its inbuilt analytics tool, good SEO performance, and extensions library. It provides a supportive framework for small businesses to grow in strength and reach. Plus, it’s great value for money, especially when you take advantage of our exclusive WBE 10% discount code, reducing the price for the Personal plan from $16 per month to just $14.40.
$14.40 per month Personal plan need to knows:
- Connect a custom domain
- Free domain for the first year
- No adverts
- Unlimited storage
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Comprehensive SEO features
- Awesome 24/7 customer help and support
- No ecommerce on cheapest plan
- Basic analytics software
Its editor uses rows to organize its designs, giving you the ability to reorganize elements within a section. This might be too restrictive if you like free reign to drag-and-drop wherever you please, but it’s great for those with little design experience who want to keep their website as tidy and attractive as possible.
Its annual plans range from $16 to $49 per month if you choose to pay the full cost upfront:
- Personal: $16 per month
- Business: $23 per month
- Basic Commerce: $27 per month
- Advanced Commerce: $49 per month
If $16 per month sounds a little pricey to you, we’ve got some good news: you can get 10% off the full price when you use our exclusive WBE discount code. Simply enter the code ‘WBE’ at checkout, and you’ll be able to reduce your monthly payments down to $14.40. Sounds like a bargain, doesn’t it?
It is worth noting that you won’t be able to edit your website’s base code if you’re on the Personal plan. This kind of advanced customization is only available from the Business plan up. If you’re a beginner, though, this limitation will give you a safety net, so you won’t ever accidentally edit the code by mistake and affect your website’s stylish look!
If you need any additional functionality, be sure to take a look at Squarespace’s extensions library. This is the equivalent of an app store, and gives you access to plugins such as Delighted, Quickbooks, Mailchimp, and Smart SEO.
Do We Recommend Squarespace’s Cheapest Plan?
Yes, we do! Its personal plan comes with just enough features to get your small business up and running, and the beautiful templates are sure to make an impression on your potential customers. Plus, when you do outgrow this plan, Squarespace has three others to choose from, so you can scale your business with confidence.

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Cheapest Website Builders for Online Stores
#1. Square Online: $12 per month
Best value online store builder
Square Online
Best value online store builder
- Sell unlimited products
- 2.9% + $0.30 fee per sale
- Super easy to use
Free plan available
Paid Plans: $12 - $79 / month
Square Online Gallery
Square Online strikes a great balance of offering affordable starter prices while providing scalable features. From day one on its $12 per month Professional plan, you can sell an unlimited number of products – it’s also easy to use, and is especially ideal if you want to sync an offline business with your online store.
$12 per month Professional plan need to knows:
- Sell an unlimited number of products
- Free domain for one year
- No adverts on your store
- Automatic syncing with Square POS
- Offer pickup, delivery, or shipping
- No abandoned cart
- No product reviews
- 2.9% + 30 cents transaction fee
Square Online is easy to use, making it a great choice for beginners or for sellers eager to start making money quickly. The setup process is quick and simple, and helps you along by asking questions about your business so it can tailor your site to your needs.
However, things do get a bit tricker once you enter the editor. This is because Square uses its own terminology for well-known ecommerce features, and sometimes it’s tricky to find the element you’re looking for amongst the many tabs in the toolbar. Once you’re familiar with it, though, it couldn’t be easier to get your store up and running.
Square Online has a free plan, and it’s immediately better than others based on the fact that you can sell an unlimited number of products!
To remove adverts from your storefront, you’ll need to choose one of Square Online’s three premium plans, which start at $12 per month when you pay annually:
- Professional: $12 per month
- Performance: $26 per month
- Premium: $72 per month
The cheapest Professional plan removes adverts, provides a free domain for one year, or lets you connect to your own custom domain if you have one. Other features on this plan include Instagram integration, Square POS syncing, curbside pickup, order status text alerts for customers, gift cards, and more.
Square Online scored well for design in our research. It doesn’t start you off by choosing a template – instead, it creates a tailored store for you based on the information you provide during setup. This means you end up with a store that follows best ecommerce practices for your industry.
You get enough tools to edit your design, and the end result is usually a clean, modern looking storefront that does its best to show off your products.
Square Online provides the usual ecommerce necessities, such as inventory management, shipping tools, and gift card creation. However, it reserves more advanced features – such as abandoned cart recovery and shipping discounts – for the more expensive plans.
It also throws in some more unusual features, which show that Square Online is paying attention to sellers’ needs and moving with the times. Examples include order text alerts, curbside pickup, and in-store customization, which lets customers edit their orders and set their pickup hours. All these features are available on the cheapest plan.
Do We Recommend Square Online’s Cheapest Plan?
Yes! Square Online’s cheapest $12 per month Professional plan is perfect for a small online store. Even though it’s missing weightier features like abandoned cart recovery, it still offers amazing value for new sellers needing an attractive, feature-rich store.

#2. Wix: $27 per month
Best quality website builder for ecommerce
Wix
Best quality website builder for ecommerce
- Sell unlimited products
- 0% transaction fee
- Great creative freedom
Free plan available
Paid Plans: $16 - $59 / month
Wix Ecommerce Gallery
Wix is a website builder that also provides ecommerce plans for those wanting to build an online store. Its $27 per month cheapest plan strikes a good balance between brand-focused creative freedom and growth-driven sales tools, making it perfect for small businesses with plans to expand.
$27 per month Business Basic plan need to knows:
- Sell an unlimited number of products
- Free domain for one year
- No adverts on your store
- 20GB storage
- Abandoned cart recovery
- Sell on social channels
- Customer accounts available
- No marketplace integration
- 0% transaction fee
- Doesn’t support multiple currencies
Wix is a beginner-friendly way to build an online store. Its drag-and-drop editor is very intuitive and great for branding, as you can drag anything anywhere. You get helpful tips and hints as you build, too – this on-page support is a real standout feature for Wix!
There’s some slight discord between your storefront design and managing your store inventory – you have to switch between the two in your dashboard – so it’s easiest if you have a small product range.
Wix has a large number of plans, but only three allow online selling. The cheapest costs $27 per month when you choose to pay annually, or you can select a different plan:
- Business Basic: $27 per month
- Business Unlimited: $32 per month
- Business VIP: $59 per month
The Business Basic plan comes with helpful features for launching and then growing an online store. You can sell an unlimited number of products for starters, plus you get abandoned cart recovery and social media selling, both of which are useful for scaling up sales. There are no transaction fees on any of Wix’s plans.
Wix has a huge number of online store templates to choose from – around 110! These templates cover a wide range of industries and niches, from fashion to pets, sports, and even CBD!
You also get free reign over your template’s customization – you can change fonts, colors, and the layout as much as you like. This can be great for creating a unique brand, but can also be overwhelming, and result in a cluttered design if you’re not used to ecommerce best practices.
Wix’s cheapest Business Basic plan is designed for new or small online stores, providing basic ecommerce tools to get you started. These include:
- Unlimited number of products
- 20GB storage space
- 5 video hours
- Sell on social channels
You also get more advanced tools included to help you grow your store, including abandoned cart recovery, customer accounts, and $300 worth of ad vouchers.
Do We Recommend Wix’s Cheapest Ecommerce Plan?
Yes! It’s a great value plan for small online stores – and we especially like the fact it gives you room to grow with tools such as abandoned cart recovery. There are no transaction fees, even on the cheapest $27 per month Business Basic plan, and you can sell an unlimited number of products.

#3. Squarespace: $20.70 per month with discount code ‘WBE’
Best cheap option for brand-focused stores
Squarespace
Best cheap option for brand-focused stores
- Sell unlimited products
- 3% transaction fee
- Best storefront designs
Free trial available
Paid Plans: $16 - $49 / month
Squarespace Gallery
Squarespace’s cheapest ecommerce plan costs $23 per month, billed annually. This is perfect for small ecommerce businesses who are design-conscious and brand-focused – thanks to Squarespace’s top-notch designs, you can create a beautiful, unique store. You won’t get a powerful ecommerce suite, but you will get a sturdy starter sales pack. Plus, if you use WBE’s exclusive 10% discount code, you can save yourself some cash and reduce your monthly price down to $20.70!
$20.70 per month Business plan need to knows:
- Sell an unlimited number of products
- Free domain for one year
- No adverts on your store
- Advanced website analytics
- No POS integration
- No abandoned cart
- No products on Instagram integration
- 3% transaction fee
Squarespace lets you create an online store without needing any coding skills – you start with a professionally designed template, which you can customize using Squarespace’s section-based drag-and-drop editor.
We recommend taking some time to familiarize yourself with Squarespace, as, on first viewing, it might not seem like the most intuitive platform and can take a while to get used to. However, first impressions can be deceptive – Squarespace actually came out as the top builder in our ease of use testing, achieving the highest score of 4.2 out of 5! What’s even more impressive is that this is a 15% increase from its previous score in our pre-2021 rankings.
Squarespace has three ecommerce plans. You may be familiar with its $16 per month Personal plan, but this doesn’t support online stores. The cheapest ecommerce plan is the Business plan, which costs $23 per month when billed annually:
- Business: $23 per month
- Basic Commerce: $27 per month
- Advanced Commerce: $49 per month
The Business plan is a sort of half ecommerce solution. It’s really designed for business sites that want to sell products in addition to hosting their main website.
You get basic ecommerce tools on the Business plan – you can sell an unlimited number of products, create gift cards, and accept donations. However, there is a 3% transaction fee, which isn’t present on the two more advanced ecommerce plans.
Squarespace always wows when it comes to design, and its online store templates are no exception. It has ecommerce-specific designs that come prebuilt with helpful pages and features automatically included, such as “Shop Now” calls to action and product galleries.
Squarespace does have a strong ecommerce offering, but most of its serious sales features are reserved for the Basic Commerce and Advanced Commerce plans.
However, you will find helpful features on the $23 per month Business plan, including:
- Promotional pop-ups
- Donations
- Gift card creation
- Order, inventory, and product catalog management
- Payment, taxes, and shipping tools
Do We Recommend Squarespace’s Cheapest Ecommerce Plan?
Kind of… We recommend it if you’re selling products on the side, or you specialize in subscriptions or digital sales. If you’re starting a dedicated online store, you’ll realistically need the $27 per month Basic Commerce plan, which removes transaction fees and unlocks POS, ecommerce analytics, and the ability for your website visitors to checkout on your own domain.
The $20.70 per month Business plan is good value (especially thanks to our discount code ‘WBE’!) if you’re selling a small number of products, but struggles to impress if you’re looking for a powerful suite of sales tools for your store.

#4. Shopify: $29 per month
Best cheap option for larger stores
Shopify
Best cheap option for larger stores
- Sell unlimited products
- 0% - 2% transaction fees
- Advanced sales tools
Free trial available
Paid Plans: $29 - $299 / month
Shopify Gallery
Shopify is a dedicated ecommerce platform – its primary function is to help merchants build, run, and grow online stores. That means all its plans, themes, and features are tailored to selling online, making it more suitable for larger businesses. Its cheapest plan costs $29 per month, with the next tier starting at $79 per month, so make sure you need its features if you want value for money.
$29 per month Basic Shopify plan need to knows:
- Sell an unlimited number of products
- No free domain
- No adverts on your store
- Multichannel selling
- Abandoned cart recovery
- Discount codes and gift card creation
- Shipping discounts available (up to 74%)
- Print shipping labels
- 2% transaction fee, unless you use Shopify Payments
- POS integration
Shopify could be easier for beginners – it’s a powerful, feature-heavy platform, so it takes a little longer to build with than a more simple online store builder.
That said, Shopify’s logical layout and inventory-focused approach was a big win with our users during testing, showing that even tech novices can easily get up and running with a powerhouse like Shopify!
Our users liked how Shopify guided them through their store setup. You won’t have your store live in five minutes, but you won’t feel like banging your head against a wall either.
Shopify is a pretty advanced ecommerce platform, and it shows in its pricing. There’s no free plan, but it does provide a 3-day free trial on all plans, and $1 per month for three months on the Basic plan, so you can test it out. Its cheapest plan costs $29 per month:
- Shopify Basic: $29 per month
- Shopify: $79 per month
- Advanced Shopify: $299 per month
The prices increase quickly between plans, so think ahead before committing – will you be able to upgrade in the future?
Shopify relies a lot on apps to add features to your site, and to help you scale without needing to upgrade your plan every five minutes. There are some free apps and some paid.
We recommend browsing Shopify’s app store and adding up which apps you might need to get an idea of extra costs to budget for as you build and grow your store.
All of Shopify’s designs are created specifically for online stores.
There are nine free themes, but most of them are paid – the cheapest of these costs around $100, with the most expensive costing $180. If you don’t like any of Shopify’s free themes, this is a big upfront cost that you’ll need to budget for!
In terms of design, Shopify’s themes look great. They’re all mobile responsive, cover a range of industries, and some come with multiple styles to choose from. Themes are tailored to specific industry, with relevant features automatically included.
Shopify is a powerful online store builder that comes packed with features. On the cheapest plan, you can expect:
- Two staff accounts
- Multichannel selling across marketplaces and social media
- Inventory syncing with up to four locations
- Abandoned cart recovery
- Discount codes
- Gift cards
- Shipping discounts
- Print shipping labels
- Fraud analysis
- Shopify POS Lite – accept in-person payments
- Sell in 133 currencies and up to 20 languages
There are even more exciting features on the advanced plans, including real-time shipping rates, manual foreign exchange rates, and professional reports.
Shopify’s greatest asset is its huge app store – it’s pretty reliant on third-party integrations, so chances are you’ll need to install at least a few apps to get the most out of your store.
Do We Recommend Shopify’s Cheapest Ecommerce Plan?
Kind of… if you need its big-hitting features. There’s no denying that Shopify is a powerful ecommerce platform. But if you don’t need most of its tools, then even its $29 per month plan can feel expensive. Remember to budget for a theme, apps, and a domain too – Shopify doesn’t include a free domain in any of its plans. To get real value, you need to be serious about scaling up your store and making use of its features.

#5. Big Cartel: $9.99 per month
Cheapest ecommerce website builder
Big Cartel
Cheapest ecommerce website builder
- Sell up to 50 products
- Basic sales tools
- 0% transaction fee
Free plan available
Paid Plans: $9.99 - $19.99 / month
Big Cartel Gallery
Big Cartel is a small-scale, basic ecommerce website builder that’s perfect for someone looking to sell on a platform one step above a marketplace. It could be easier to use, and its features could be better, but it’s a great budget option for selling a few products. The best thing about Big Cartel is how cheap it is – it has a free plan, while its cheapest paid plan only costs $9.99 per month when you choose to pay annually.
$9.99 per month Platinum plan need to knows:
- Sell up to 50 products
- 0% transaction fee
- No free domain
- Connect your own custom domain
- No adverts on your store
- No abandoned cart recovery
- Google Analytics integration
- Only 5 images per product
- Sell online and in-person
Big Cartel has a user-friendly onboarding process that helps you along by providing prompts and tips. While this is helpful for first-time sellers, in testing, our users found it difficult to progress with – in fact, Big Cartel is the most difficult ecommerce platform we’ve tried so far!
It’s worth noting that, despite seeming very beginner-friendly, you do need coding skills to get the most out of Big Cartel – which is sure to be off-putting for those without coding knowledge.
Big Cartel is one of the few ecommerce platforms that let you sell for free. You can sell up to five products at no cost – and if you outgrow this, you can upgrade to a paid plan. There are three paid plans, ranging from $9.99 to $29.99 per month:
- Platinum: $9.99 per month
- Diamond: $19.99 per month
- Titanium: $29.99 per month
The cheapest Platinum plan lets you sell up to 50 products. This plan provides standard selling features – you can upload five images per product, use a custom domain, track shipments, and manage your inventory, for starters.
Big Cartel has a small collection of designs to choose from. They’re modern, clean, and even fun – they’re all mobile-optimized, too, and you can switch your template at any time.
That said, Big Cartel’s templates aren’t the most dazzling, and customization is limited – this is where coding skills are really helpful to take your storefront to the next level. Otherwise, you and your customers may be left feeling uninspired when it comes to visual branding.
Big Cartel covers the basics, from Google Analytics integration to discounts and promotions. However, it’s missing some notable ecommerce must-haves, including abandoned cart recovery.
The features available remain the same across all three premium plans – the only change is the number of products you’re allowed to sell.
Most ecommerce platforms let you sell an unlimited number of products on the cheapest plan and upgrade features on more expensive plans, so it’s worth asking yourself exactly what you’re paying the extra money for with Big Cartel.
Do We Recommend Big Cartel’s Cheapest Plan?
Kind of… but only if you’re selling a few products on the side. Big Cartel’s $9.99 per month plan is hard to dismiss purely because it’s so darn cheap. If you have a few products to sell, its basic features and limited designs may not pose a problem. But if you want to start a real online store, you’ll get more value for your money with a better platform than this.

Building or Running an Online Store? Find Out More
- Use our 1-minute web builder matching quiz to find your ideal platform for building an online store – simple select the “E-Commerce Online Store” answer to the first question
- Compare the best ecomemerce platforms side by side in our Online Store Builders Comparison Chart
- Create an online store step-by-step with our helpful guide: How to Build an Online Store
- Fill your marketing needs with our list of the Best Ecommerce Email Marketing Software
Cheapest Website Builders for Portfolios
#1. Squarespace: $14.40 per month with discount code ‘WBE’
Best cheap portfolio builder
Squarespace
Best cheap portfolio builder
- Best for portfolios
- Best designs around
- Great value plans
Free trial available
Paid Plans: $16 - $49 / month
Squarespace Gallery
Squarespace is our highest-rated portfolio website builder – it scored 4.8 out of 5 in our research, beating all its competitors. You get awesome features such as strong SEO tools and unlimited storage, plus award-winning template designs. All of that for $16 per month is great value for money, but it’s even better when you use our exclusive WBE discount code! Enter ‘WBE’ at checkout to get 10% off your chosen plan, reducing your monthly payments to as little as $14.40.
$16 per month Personal plan need to knows:
- Connect your own custom domain
- Free domain available
- No adverts on your site
- Unlimited storage and bandwidth
- Full suite of SEO features
- 24/7 support
- Access all templates
- Basic analytics
- No ecommerce
Squarespace might not be as straightforward as some other builders out there, but recent improvements have made a big impact! In our user testing, it scored an impressive 4 out of 5 for ease of use, which is a 15% improving on its pre-2021 ranking. This now makes it one of the simplest builders on the list.
We’d recommend taking your time to get acquainted with the editor, but once you know what you’re doing, building a website on this platform could not be more stress-free. Its editor clearly signposts all the most important elements, and its row-oriented layout is perfect for keeping your design clean and professional.
Unlike most of the other portfolio website builders we’ve looked at, Squarespace doesn’t have a free plan. Instead, it comes with a 14-day free trial, which is a risk-free way to try out its premium offering. You don’t need card details to sign up, just an email, so it’s easy to get started.
Squarespace has four price plans, ranging from $16 to $49 when you pay annually:
- Personal: $14.40 per month (with our discount code ‘WBE‘)
- Business: $23 per month
- Basic Commerce: $27 per month
- Advanced Commerce: $49 per month
The Personal plan is pretty well-stocked with features. Unlimited storage and bandwidth are great for media-heavy portfolios, strong SEO tools will help clients find your work, and a free domain saves you a little extra money.
The main things missing are ecommerce tools – you can’t sell on Squarespace’s cheapest plan. Instead, you need the $23 per month Business plan if you want to start selling through your portfolio.
Whichever plan you opt for, make sure that you take advantage of our exclusive WBE discount code. Entering ‘WBE’ at the checkout will save you 10% of the total cost, and if you choose the Personal plan, will reduce your monthly payments to just $14.40.
Squarespace has the best templates designs on the market, claiming the highest score of 4.7 out of 5 in the design category. If you’re design conscious, it’s the perfect choice. All templates are mobile responsive and favor large images, with plenty of white space for a modern look.
You don’t have to pay any extra for Squarespace’s templates – they’re all included in the price of your plan. Customization is easy, and you can really make the template your own. You’d need to upgrade to the $23 per month Business plan if you want to customize using code.
Squarespace designs most of its features in-house, meaning there’s a real focus on quality, which is why we awarded it a score of 4.4 out of 5 for its website features. Its blogging and SEO tools are worth a special mention for being particularly extensive, and most portfolio templates come with contact forms and newsletter sign-ups automatically built-in for you to use or remove.
You can add extra features to your site using Squarespace Extensions, which lets you integrate your portfolio with select third parties such as Printful, QuickBooks, and Smart SEO. This allows you to customize your site’s features as well as its design!
Do We Recommend Squarespace’s Cheapest Plan?
Yes, especially if you use your special WBE discount! If you need a beautiful, modern portfolio with great designs and features, then Squarespace’s $14.40 per month Personal plan is a great fit. You won’t be able to sell online, though, so bear that in mind – otherwise, it’s a great value plan for small but professional sites.

#2. GoDaddy: $9.99 per month
Cheapest for getting your portfolio up and running quickly
GoDaddy
Cheapest for getting your portfolio up and running quickly
- Hands-off ADI building
- Strong marketing features
- Cheapest plan is limited
Free plan available
Paid Plans: $6.99 - $469.99 / month
GoDaddy Gallery
If you want to get your portfolio off the ground as quickly as possible, GoDaddy is a great option. It uses design assistance to create a custom site for you in the blink of an eye, which is why it’s often referred to as the fastest website builder out there. It also comes with a wealth of valuable features, such as social media marketing, inbuilt email marketing, and 24/7 support, however, these are limited if you choose the Basic plan. Overall, however, it should be noted that in our 2021 research, GoDaddy achieved an overall score of 4.4 out of 5, which is up 11.6% on its old ranking, and showing massive improvement across the platform.
$9.99 per month Basic plan need to knows:
- Connect your own custom domain
- No free domain
- No advanced SEO tools
- GoDaddy Insight analytics
- No adverts
- 24/7 phone support
- No ecommerce tools
That’s not to say that you have no creative control over your design if you do use the ADI builder. Once GoDaddy has built your site, you can still use the editor to add your own content and adjust the overall design. It’s great if you don’t want to spend hours tweaking away, but would rather get your website up and running as soon as possible!
- Basic: $9.99 per month
- Premium: $14.99 per month
- Commerce: $16.99 per month
- Commerce Plus: $29.99 per month
Each of GoDaddy’s plans does exactly what it says on the tin, with the Basic plan offering the bare minimum. It allows you to organize one-time appointments with prospective clients, as well as connect with one social media platform, and send up to 100 emails per month.
However, more developed portfolios will require a more thorough roster of marketing tools. To add to this, the Basic plan’s lack of SEO features is a significant drawback that reduces its effectiveness, particularly because you’ll want as many people to visit your portfolio as possible. It’s even more disappointing given that almost all website builders nowadays include SEO on their paid plans, with many extending this to their free plans, too.
You can make some edits to your website’s final look, such as rearranging the order of the rows, changing the color scheme, and switching up your font, but for the most part, GoDaddy does all of the hard work for you.
If you want more control over how your portfolio works, we’d recommend considering either Squarespace or Wix.
However, its lack of SEO features lets it down, plus the fact that many of its tools are limited unless you upgrade. For example, you’ll only be able to send up to 100 emails, and you can’t integrate with more than a single social media platform. It’s not the most conducive choice for website growth!
Do We Recommend GoDaddy’s Cheapest Plan?
Yes, but not forever. Thanks to its excellent analytics features and the speed at which you can publish your website, GoDaddy is ideal for getting your brand-new portfolio website off the ground. However, the lack of advanced SEO tools limits how far your website can grow, and won’t help you increase the number of prospective clients on your site. Therefore, we recommend upgrading when you can!

#3. Jimdo: $9 per month
Good for building a cheap, ad-free portfolio
Jimdo
Good for building a cheap, ad-free portfolio
- ADI and classic editor
- Basic features
- Cheap plans with no ads
Free plan available
Paid Plans: $9 - $24 / month
Jimdo Gallery
Jimdo is a no-frills-attached builder that offers two ways of creating a website – using its ADI builder, or its classic editor. We’re going to focus on its ADI builder for now, as this enables you to get your website live quickly. Both methods come with a free plan, however, its features are limited, making website growth tricky.
$9 per month Start plan need to knows:
- 10 GB bandwidth
- Free domain
- 5GB storage
- Can connect your own domain
- Customer support response between one and two days
- Maximum number of 10 website pages
- No social marketing tools
However, once you get into the editor, things get a bit confusing. Its layout isn’t very intuitive, and it’s hard to know which icons do what. Compared to the simple ADI process, any extra customization feels limited, which is why Jimdo only scored 3.4 out of 5 in our ease of use testing.
- Play: $0 per month
- Start: $9 per month
- Grow: $14 per month
Although the free plan looks like an attractive option for getting online without spending a cent, it is severely limited. You won’t be able to have more than five ad-strewn website pages, which is very restrictive for a professional portfolio, and there’s no help and support available if you get stuck.
Opting for the Start plan solves many of these problems, as it removes ads and comes with a free domain name. You’ll also have access to more SEO features, too. However, we still don’t rate it that highly on account of the fact that there’s a page limit of 10, and it could take between one and two days for help and support services to get back to you.
Unless you opt for the most expensive Grow plan, you won’t be able to have more than 10 pages on your website, and you also won’t be able to integrate your site with social media, either. Most shocking perhaps is that help and support are prioritized depending on your plan level. This means that those on the start plan will have to wait up to two days for a response, in comparison to a mere four hours for users on the Grow plan. If you choose the free plan, you won’t get any help and support at all.
Do We Recommend Jimdo’s Cheapest Plan?
Not really. This is because, although advert-free, Jimdo’s cheapest plan comes with a very limited feature set that won’t suit you if you’re looking to grow your portfolio and expand your digital reach. We’d recommend the free plan even less, although it is a good way for you to investigate the Jimdo platform and see if you like it.

#4. Strikingly: $8 per month
Good for cheap one-page portfolios
Strikingly
Good for cheap one-page portfolios
- Build one-page portfolios
- Strong customer support
- Sell up to 5 products
Free plan available
Paid Plans: $8 - $59 / month
Strikingly Gallery
Strikingly produces single-page portfolio websites, and aims to deliver a beginner-friendly editor interface for easy building. Whilst it does offer this, at times it can be a little too basic, and the single page layout isn’t suitable for large portfolios. Instead, it’s better for showcasing a small amount of work digitally.
$8 per month Limited plan need to knows:
- Connect your own custom domain
- Free domain for the first year
- Best for one-page websites
- 1GB storage per site
- 50 GB bandwidth
- Sell up to 5 products
- 5% transaction fee
- Live chat function on-page and 24/7 support
- Publish two Limited plan sites for the price of one
On occasion, however, its simplicity works against it. It’s likely that as you become more experienced, you’ll quickly outgrow what this platform has to offer. There’s a good chance that you’ll become frustrated quickly, and long for more advanced functionality.
- Free: $0 per month
- Limited: $8 per month
- Pro: $16 per month
- VIP: $49 per month
The cheapest Limited plan is actually pretty generous, giving you a free domain for the year and allowing you to publish two Limited features for the price of one. It’s also unusual to see an entry-level plan with ecommerce functionality, but Strikingly allows you to sell up to 5 items. Despite these positives, however, you still won’t be able to get rid of the Strikingly branding unless you upgrade to a Pro plan.
It’s a good thing, then, that you can switch templates at any time. We think this is an easier choice than trying to make adjustments to your existing website design. It’s a lot less stressful, too!
As mentioned above, the Limited plan comes with a free domain for the first year, however, it’s worth bearing in mind that this then renews at $24.95 per year for each custom domain. Compared to other domain registrars, this is very expensive, and we’d recommend shopping around before you commit to this!
Do We Recommend Strikingly’s Cheapest Plan?
Not really. The fact that the $8 per month Limited plan doesn’t get rid of Strikingly’s branding is a real mark against it, and it will damage the professionalism of your portfolio from day one. Additionally, it won’t be well-suited to larger portfolios because of its one-page layout. If you want to make a good impression on your visitors and showcase more of your work, we recommend the Pro plan.

#5. Wix: $16 per month
Best all-around general website builder
Wix
Best all-around website builder
- Can do it all
- Cheap 3-year plan
- Lots of creative freedom
Free plan available
Paid Plans: $16 - $59 / month
Wix Gallery
Wix is a website builder that can do a bit of everything, so it comes well set up to support a portfolio website. Expect a range of stylish, minimalist templates perfect for positioning your work in the spotlight, and robust SEO tools that will help increase traffic and clients.
$16 per month plan need to knows:
- Custom domain
- Free domain for a year
- No ads on your website
- 3GB storage space
- 30 minutes of video playback
- 24/7 customer care
- Pay less per month if you commit to a three-year plan
Wix’s editor can get a bit overwhelming at times but it’s also sprinkled with helpful hints and tips, too. Clicking on the question mark icon is the best way to get a little expert help if you’re ever stuck. This is particularly useful if this is your first experience of building a website.
- Combo: $16 per month
- Unlimited: $22 per month
- Pro: $27 per month
- VIP: $45 per month
These options might look pricey, but the longer you commit to using Wix, the cheaper your monthly payments will be. It offers contracts that run monthly, yearly, every two years, and every 3 years. If you opt for the 3-year option, you’ll only have to pay $11 per month for the Combo plan. Of course, the downside here is that you’re then tied into using Wix for longer than you might like!
However, out of 800 themes, there are bound to be a couple of bad eggs, so we recommend taking some time to find the one that’s perfect for you. This is especially important because once you’ve made your selection and published your site, you won’t be able to change your mind and switch templates at a later date.
In addition to this, Wix allows you to add a blog, which not only helps to engage your visitors, but will also give your SEO a boost.
Do We Recommend Wix’s Cheapest Plan?
Yes! Wix’s Combo plan is a great starting point for anyone building a portfolio, and its attractive templates provide a contemporary, minimalistic style that will really help your work pop off the page. Plus, we love the ability to insert images and videos wherever you like – it means you can display your pieces where and however you want!

Building or Running a Portfolio? Find Out More
- Use our easy 1-minute web builder matching quiz to find the ideal platform to build your portfolio – simply select the “Portfolio” answer for the first question
- We reveal the Best Portfolio Website Builders using our carefully tailored research
- Squarespace is the best portfolio builder, but is it worth $12 per month? Read our Squarespace Pricing Review to decide
Cheapest Website Builders for Blogs
#1. WordPress.com: $4 per month
Cheapest website builder for blogging
WordPress.com
Cheapest website builder for blogging
- Built for blogging
- Built-in analytics
- Coding skills helpful
Free plan available
Paid Plans: $4 - $45 / month
WordPress.com Gallery
WordPress.com is a cheap website builder that was built for blogging, making it a powerful but affordable choice. It has a free plan and four paid plans, with the cheapest costing only $4 per month when you choose to pay annually.
$4 per month Personal plan need to knows:
- Free domain for one year
- 6GB storage
- Reduced adverts on your site
- WordPress.com footer branding
- Email support (no live chat support)
- No Google Analytics integration
- Accept payments
- Basic design customization
WordPress.com isn’t very beginner-friendly compared to other website builders. However, it is much easier to use than WordPress.org, the famous open-source platform.
If you want the power and blogging tools of WordPress.org without so much technical jargon, then WordPress.com is a great choice. If, however, you want a totally user-friendly website builder, you may find it challenging getting started.
In our user testing, WordPress.com received low “likely to recommend” scores from participants, who found it confusing to use.
That said, WordPress.com does combat its steep learning curve with useful tips and hints while you build, which is a great help!
WordPress.com has a totally free plan, plus four paid plans. It’s a pretty scalable choice, but most of all, it’s an extremely cheap website builder, with its starting plan costing only $4 per month when paid annually:
- Free: $0 per month
- Personal: $4 per month
- Premium: $8 per month
- Business: $25 per month
- Ecommerce: $45 per month
The cheapest paid plan, Personal, comes with a free domain for one year and 6GB storage space. You get less adverts on your site than the free plan, but there’ll still be WordPress.com branding in your site’s footer.
You don’t get certain features, such as the ability to upload videos or integrate with Google Analytics, but it’s still a great value plan for so little money.
WordPress.com’s template designs are great if you’re building a blog. There are both free and paid designs to choose from, so there’s an option for all budgets.
The downside of WordPress.com’s design is its limited customization.
It’s pretty restricted unless you can code, in which case you can edit your site’s CSS for greater design control. You get a basic version of this on the cheapest plan, but for full customization options, you need the $8 per month Premium plan.
WordPress.com comes with a huge range of blogging features. It’s a website builder that’s built for blogging, so it’s no surprise it scored an impressive 4.3 stars out of 5 in our features testing.
You can expect everything from comment management to social bookmarking to support your blog, as well as features such as social media integration and helpful analytics tools.
Do We Recommend WordPress.com’s Cheapest Plan?
Yes! If you’re creating a blog, WordPress.com’s $4 per month Personal plan is a great value choice.
You get plenty of features included on this plan, with built-in blogging tools and access to free blogging-specific themes. You get a free domain for one year, and lots of storage – 6GB is more than a lot of starter plans offer.
However, beginners may get less for their money because of WordPress.com’s steep learning curve. We recommend trying its free plan before committing to a paid plan for this reason.

#2. Squarespace: $14.40 per month with discount code ‘WBE’
Best for blogs with high-impact design
Squarespace
Best for blogs with high-impact design
- Best blogging features
- Exceptional blog designs
- Save 10% with WBE
Free trial available
Paid Plans: $16 - $49 / month
Squarespace Gallery
When it comes to blogging, Squarespace delivers the whole package. It serves up exceptional designs, as well as offering blog-specific SEO and blogging features that really pack a punch. However, it is more expensive than other builders, although you can save 10% off the cost if you use our exclusive WBE discount code, reducing it from $16 to $14.40.
$14.40 per month Personal plan need to knows:
- Connect a custom domain
- Free domain for the first year
- No adverts
- Unlimited storage
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Comprehensive SEO features
- Awesome 24/7 customer help and support
- No ecommerce on cheapest plan
- No blog-specific analytics
However, this approach to website-building is pretty divisive – you either love it or you hate it! If you like to work with a clear structure, you’ll appreciate the boundaries, but if you prefer to have more creative control, you might find the restrictions frustrating.
- Personal: $14.40 per month (with our discount code ‘WBE‘)
- Business: $23 per month
- Basic Commerce: $27 per month
- Advanced Commerce: $49 per month
Unfortunately, Squarespace doesn’t offer a free plan, but it does have a 14-day free trial, so you can test it out and make sure it checks all of your boxes before you commit. If you opt for the Personal plan, however, it is worth bearing in mind that you won’t be able to sell anything through your site. That means that if you ever want to monetize your blog, you’ll need to upgrade to the Business plan.
Regardless of which you go for, you can save some money and reduce your overall cost even further by using our exclusive WBE discount code. Just enter ‘WBE’ at the checkout, and you’ll receive 10% off. This means that the Personal plan will only cost you $14.40 per month. We’d say that’s a bit of a bargain!
It does have a few drawbacks, though. The search function, for example, is only available on a few templates (Brine, Farro, and Skye), and you won’t be able to directly edit your website’s code if you’re on the Personal plan.
- Comments
- An RSS feed
- The ability to display blogging categories
- Social sharing
- Blog post scheduling
- Blog-specific SEO tools
The two major things missing from this list, however, are an archive function, and blogging analytics. This last feature, at least, can be fixed by connecting your blog to Google Analytics.
Do We Recommend Squarespace’s Cheapest Plan?
Absolutely! Squarespace’s cheapest plan is excellent value for money and it’s perfect for bloggers. It gives you access to a wide range of blogging tools, and its templates ensure that yours will be the best-looking blog on the block.

#3. Wix: $16 per month
Best for combining a blog with a website
Wix
Best for combining a blog with a website
- Easiest platform to use
- Free plan available
- Great creative freedom
Free plan available
Paid Plans: $16 - $59 / month
Wix Gallery
Wix has made significant improvements in recent years, meaning that its blogging capabilities are now some of the best. In fact, our research showed that it’s actually the second-best overall platform for blogging after Squarespace. This is because it’s very beginner-friendly and has a ton of blogging features to take advantage of. Plus, it’s a convenient one-stop-shop for building a blog and a website all within the same space.
$16 per month plan need to knows:
- Custom domain
- Free domain for a year
- No ads on your website
- 3GB storage space
- 30 minutes of video playback
- 24/7 customer care
- Pay less per month if you commit to a three-year plan
- No inbuilt search function
Because of this, it’s important that you don’t let Wix’s editor put you off at first. It can be a bit overwhelming, because there’s so much to see and do, and the fact that the blogging functions are stored separately from the other website features can be confusing. However, Wix is on hand to help. If you ever find yourself a little stuck, click on the small question mark icons for some extra support.
- Combo: $16 per month
- Unlimited: $22 per month
- Pro: $27 per month
- VIP: $45 per month
Wix isn’t what we’d traditionally consider cheap, however, there is one way to keep your costs down if you’re sure this is the builder for you: select a three-year plan. The longer you commit to staying with Wix, the less you’ll have to pay. If you choose to pay for three years instead of the standard one, your monthly costs, for the Combo plan, will reduce to $11!
Each template comes with great customizability thanks to the free-range drag-and-drop editor. You can change your color scheme and fonts, add personalized images and galleries, as well as inserting videos to really bring your blog to life.
- Writer profiles
- Analytics
- The ability to display blog categories
- Comments
- Social sharing and bookmarking
- Blog post scheduling
- Blog specific SEO
Anything Wix doesn’t offer upfront can be added via its extensive app library. For example, because it doesn’t include a search function, this is something that will need to be integrated separately. Just bear in mind that some apps come with an additional cost attached, so they could push your monthly outgoings up.
Do We Recommend Wix’s Cheapest Plan?
Yes, we do! Wix’s cheapest Combo plan is perfect for bloggers, not least because it allows you to choose your own domain name and gets rid of those pesky adverts. Although it might not be the cheapest option, the price does reflect the quality on offer, so if this is something you value, we think it’s worth paying a bit more for.

#4. Weebly: $6 per month
Best value blogging plans
Weebly
Best value blogging plans
- Cheap, feature-rich plans
- Stylish blogging designs
- No mobile formatting
Free plan available
Paid Plans: $6 - $29 / month
Weebly Gallery
Weebly is a website builder with strong blogging and SEO tools, and a range of affordable price plans – a combination that makes it the best value blogging website builder we’ve tested. However, its cheapest plan does come with some limitations to be aware of, and if you want to pay the lowest price of $6 per month, you’ll need to commit to a 1-year plan from the very start.
$6 per month Personal plan need to knows:
- Connect your own custom domain
- No free domain
- 500MB storage
- Adverts display on your site
- Chat and email support (no phone support)
- Ability to sell unlimited products through your blog
First off, Weebly is easier to use than WordPress.com. It uses drag-and-drop editing, where you drag section blocks around to design your site as you’d see it live on-screen. You can code if you want to, but it’s not essential.
That said, Weebly could be easier still. Its customization is fairly limited, which our users found frustrating during testing and affected its overall ease of use score. On the whole, though, Weebly shouldn’t present a challenge to beginners.
Weebly has a totally free plan, which displays adverts on your site, and three paid plans ranging from $6 to $26 per month:
- Free: $0
- Personal: $6 per month
- Professional: $12 per month
- Performance: $26 per month
The cheapest $6 per month Personal plan is an extremely affordable entry plan, but it does come with some drawbacks. You don’t get rid of adverts displaying on your blog, for example – there’s no free domain either, and you only get 500MB storage.
It’s worth mentioning that you can sell an unlimited number of physical and digital products on the Personal plan, which is an unusually generous feature at so low a price. If you want to monetize your blog, this plan is a great choice!
Weebly has a small but stylish range of blogging templates. You can switch your template any time you like, and – the best part – all Weebly’s templates are free. While with WordPress.com you have to pay for the really good designs, with Weebly, you won’t encounter any extra costs when picking out your favorite template.
Weebly scored 4.2 out of 5 for its blogging features in our research. Its blogging-specific tools include in-house analytics, a comments section, and scheduled publishing.
Other helpful features include strong SEO tools to help your blog rank in search results, and a huge app store full of free and paid apps to easily grow your website.
Do We Recommend Weebly’s Cheapest Plan?
Yes! But only if you’re creating a personal blog. The limitations on Weebly’s $6 per month Personal plan mean it’s not suitable for professional projects – you have a very small amount of storage, and there will be adverts displayed on your site.
While it does offer great value for money with its feature-rich plans, cheap ecommerce tools, and low price tag, you’d need to upgrade to the $12 per month plan to see more professional results.

#5. GoDaddy: $9.99 per month
Cheapest for an ad-free blog
GoDaddy
Cheapest for an ad-free blog
- Uses ADI for faster setup
- Helpful autosave feature
- One-month free trial
Free plan available
Paid Plans: $6.99 - $469.99 / month
GoDaddy Gallery
GoDaddy uses design assistance to create a personalized site for you, making it the fastest way to build a website – we’ll discuss this more in ease of use below. While GoDaddy has plenty of great marketing tools included on all its plans, there are some basics missing from its $9.99 per month Basic plan (ironically).
$9.99 per month Basic plan need to knows:
- Connect your own custom domain
- No free domain
- No SEO tools
- GoDaddy Insight analytics
- No adverts displayed on your site
- 24/7 phone support
- No ecommerce tools
GoDaddy uses Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) to create a website for you that’s tailored to your specific needs. If you tell GoDaddy you’re building a blog, for example, it will automatically generate a blogging template for you. It’s super easy, and the main reason why GoDaddy scored 4.1 out of 5 in our ease of use testing.
During setup, you enter details such as the name and nature of your site, pick your favorite styling options, and GoDaddy presents you with a ready-made site!
This makes GoDaddy one of the fastest and easiest builders to create a website with, because it does most of the work for you. You can tweak the design and fill out your own content, but you don’t have to build your site from scratch.
GoDaddy offers a free plan in addition to its four price plans, all of which come with a one-month free trial, so you still have plenty of time to test out its tools. The cheapest GoDaddy plan costs $9.99 per month when you choose to pay annually:
- Basic: $9.99 per month
- Premium: $14.99 per month
- Commerce: $16.99 per month
- Commerce Plus: $29.99 per month
The cheapest Basic plan lives up to its name, covering the basic essentials for launching a new, small site. You can integrate with one social media platform and send up to 100 emails per month, which growing blogs may find limiting.
The biggest drawback to the Basic plan is the lack of GoDaddy’s inbuilt SEO website optimizer tool. Weebly and WordPress.com both offer SEO features for less money, so it’s a shame that GoDaddy reserves this higher level of SEO functionality for those ready to pay $16.99 per month. Despite this, it still ranks relatively well in regards to value for money, scoring 4.3 out of 5 in this category in our research.
You don’t start by picking your template with GoDaddy – instead, you use the design it creates for you and customize from there. You can switch up your design, change your color scheme, and so on, but on the whole, its customization options are very limited.
This is a website builder for those who value speed above design – if you want full control over your blog’s aesthetic, you’re better off with a builder like Weebly.
GoDaddy does okay for blogging features – you’ll find the usual blog posts and RSS feed easily enough. However, where it really shines is its marketing and analytics tools, which you may find helpful for taking your blog to the next level.
For example, GoDaddy Insights gives you a tailored action plan to help you achieve your website goals, and see how you’re performing compared to similar websites online.
That said, GoDaddy’s features are pretty limited on its cheapest plan. You have access to GoDaddy Insights, but not full access to GoDaddy’s SEO tools, which seems a little counterproductive.
Do We Recommend GoDaddy’s Cheapest Plan?
Yes, but only for a short time! GoDaddy comes with some awesome perks such as design assistance and analytics tools, plus the fact that you’ll be able to get your blog up and running in no time. However, the Limited plan lives up to its name, and it won’t take you long to grow out of, especially when you reach a point where you need more advanced SEO features.

Building or Running a Blog? Find Out More
- Use our easy 1-minute web builder matching quiz to find the ideal platform to start your blog – simply select the “Blog” answer for the first question
- Browse our list of the Best Blogging Platforms to find your best match
- Unsure about the difference between WordPress.com vs WordPress.org? We have the answers!
- Our helpful eight-step guide How to Start a Blog walks you through the process from start to finish
Cheapest Website Builders: Summary
Whether you need a blog, portfolio, online store, or small business website, you now know the cheapest website builders for your specific project. WordPress.com is the cheapest of the cheap at just $4 per month, but always make sure you pick a plan that meets your needs – it’s the best way to ensure you get the most value for your money.
Here’s a quick recap of the cheapest website builders and how much they cost:
Cheapest Website Builders for Small Businesses
- Weebly – $6 per month
- Hostinger – $2.79 per month with code WBE
- GoDaddy – $9.99 per month
- 1&1 IONOS – $1 per month for the first 12 months
- Squarespace – $14.40 per month with WBE discount code
Cheapest Website Builders for Online Stores
- Square Online – $12 per month
- Wix – $27 per month
- Squarespace – $20.70 per month with WBE discount code
- Shopify – $29 per month
- Big Cartel – $9.99 per month
Cheapest Website Builders for Portfolios
- Squarespace – $14.40 per month with WBE discount code
- GoDaddy – $9.99 per month
- Jimdo – $9 per month
- Strikingly – $8 per month
- Wix – $16 per month
Cheapest Website Builders for Blogs
- WordPress.com – $4 per month
- Squarespace – $14.40 per month with WBE discount code
- Wix – $16 per month
- Weebly – $6 per month
- GoDaddy – $9.99 per month
Some cheap website builders are definitely better than others. Always check which features you’re getting for your money, to make sure you get the best deal you can.
FAQs
A handful of builders offer free plans, but they’re essentially glorified demos. Wix has a free plan, for example, but your site will have ads, and you won’t be able to attach a domain to it – not terribly professional. Free plans are great for testing the waters, but that’s about it.
Weebly is the best website builder for small business, because it has the best features to help scale your website – as well as the greatest number of apps. Also, it’s the best builder for SEO (Search Engine Optimization), which is crucial for helping people find your business online more easily.
Both platforms offer free plans, but Weebly works out cheaper than Wix because it offers a lower entry price plan. However, Wix is actually better value for money than Weebly overall – it has better features and customer support, and it’s easier to use.
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