Easiest Website Builders & Beginner-Friendly Options

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Squarespace is the easiest website builder for beginners, offering the most intuitive interface and drag-and-drop editor following our testing of 12 top platforms.

After more than 300 hours of data collection and 54 thorough user tests, I’ve put together a list of the top five easiest website builders to master.

Key Takeaways 🔍

  • Onboarding, editor style, navigation, and support are key considerations
  • Squarespace’s editor and interface are the easiest to use
  • Hostinger provides a growing suite of beginner-friendly AI tools
  • Shopify has made recent updates to improve the usability of its editor
  • Wix gives you total creative control with its drag-and-drop editor
  • GoDaddy’s builder is very simple to understand

Quick Comparison: Which Is Easiest?

We compared the top five easiest website builders by price, AI tools, and support options below:

Swipe right to see more
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Squarespace

Hostinger

GoDaddy

Wix

Shopify

Today's best price
Today's best price

85% off in the current Sale:

$12.99

$1.99/month + 3 months for free

Today's best price
Today's best price
Today's best price
Free plan or free trial

14-day free trial

Free plan or free trial

7-day free trial

Free plan or free trial

Free plan

Free plan or free trial

Free plan

Free plan or free trial

3-day free trial

Help & Support Options

Email (24/7), live chat, social media, help center, community forum, hire a Squarespace expert, podcasts

Help & Support Options

Email (24/7), live chat (24/7), social media, knowledge base, Hostinger Academy, tutorials

Help & Support Options

Phone (24/7), live chat (24/7), social media, knowledge center, community forum, tutorials, podcasts

Help & Support Options

Phone (24/7), live chat, social media, help center, SEO Learning Hub, Wix Learn, community forum

Help & Support Options

Phone (Shopify Plus users only), email, live chat (24/7), social media, help center, community forum, AI chatbot

Autosave
Autosave
Autosave
Autosave
Autosave
AI website builder
AI website builder
AI website builder
AI website builder
AI website builder

How Does the Pricing of the Easiest Website Builders Compare?

Compare the pricing of the website builders on this list with our table:

Free plan or trial Starting price (billed annually) Renewal price? Cheapest ecommerce plan (billed annually)
Squarespace 14-day free trial $16 per month Start price renews at the standard rate $16 per month
Hostinger 7-day free trial $3.49 per month Start price renews at $12.99 per month $4.49 per month
GoDaddy Free plan $9.99 per month Start price renews at $16.99 per month $20.99 per month
Wix Free plan $17 per month Start price renews at the standard rate $29 per month
Shopify 3-day free trial $29 per month Start price renews at the standard rate $29 per month

1. Squarespace

  • Best for: design-focused websites such as creative portfolios 
  • Price: $16 to $99 per month (billed annually)
  • App for on-the-go management? Yes, Squarespace app
  • Read our Squarespace review

Squarespace is the easiest website builder for beginners with design-focused websites, thanks to its user-friendly interface, drag-and-drop editor, and unique templates that need minimal improvements.

Badge showing Squarespace as easiest builder in our 2025 research

How Easy Is Squarespace’s Setup Process?

Squarespace’s sign-up process is very straightforward, and takes you through to its AI website builder, Blueprint AI, after two simple onboarding questions.

Squarespace Blueprint uses your goals and brand personality to design a unique website in minutes. The AI builder consists of five steps and offers many more styling and personalization options than Hostinger or GoDaddy.

For more guidance on using Blueprint AI, watch our video walkthrough:

Can I Choose a Template?

You can choose to set up manually with one of Squarespace’s templates by exiting Blueprint at any time during the setup. There are over 190 themes to choose from, although Squarespace provides “Best template matches” based on your website type and goals.

How Does Squarespace’s Editor Work?

Squarespace uses a drag-and-drop editor, which gives you lots of creative control. While I found this level of freedom overwhelming when using Wix, Squarespace’s grid guidelines and setup checklists provide added support for beginners.

Moving an element in Squarespace's website editor to highlight the grid structure
While I didn’t have the complete freedom of Wix’s editor, Squarespace's grid guidelines made it easy to keep my pages tidy and elements aligned. Source: Website Builder Expert

Squarespace does not include an autosave feature, which isn’t great for beginners. If you’ve taken 10 minutes changing your website design only for the editor to crash, it will be frustrating re-doing what you’ve done, so keep this significant downside in mind.

What AI Tools Are Available?

As well as Squarespace’s Blueprint AI builder, it offers AI tools to help with setup, branding, content generation, and SEO and marketing:

  • Brand Identity: Creates cohesive website content in line with your brand information and tone
  • Beacon AI: An AI assistant that can generate product pages, descriptions, and create smart discounts for audience segments and sales moments
  • Text generation: Writes website and email copy, descriptions for videos and courses, blog outlines and drafts, and generates section background images
  • SEO Scanner: Audits your site’s SEO and provides optimization recommendations that can be tweaked and instantly actioned

✨ Find a full list of Squarespace’s AI tools in our Squarespace review

What Support Options Does Squarespace Offer?

Squarespace customer service offers:

✅24/7 live chat

✅24/7 email support

✅A detailed Help Center full of guides and tutorials

Which Squarespace Plan Should I Use?

I recommend subscribing to Squarespace’s Basic plan ($16/mo), which unlocks a free custom domain and unlimited bandwidth, as well as the ability to sell products online.

Use the comparison table below to see Squarespace’s pricing and additional fees:

Price (billed monthly) Price (billed annually) Transaction fee Processing fee
Basic 🛒 $25 per month $16 per month 2% 2.9% + $0.30
Core 🛒 $36 per month $23 per month 0% 2.9% + $0.30
Plus 🛒 $56 per month $39 per month 0% 2.7% + $0.30
Advanced 🛒 $139 per month $99 per month 0% 2.5% + $0.30

2. Hostinger

  • Best for: Beginners who want a fast, AI-guided setup process
  • Price: $1.99 to $2.99 per month (for a 48-month term)
  • App for on-the-go management? No, but you can edit via mobile site
  • Read our Hostinger website builder review 

Hostinger is the best choice for fast, AI-guided setup, generating complete websites in under 60 seconds. Hostinger’s AI website builder and in-editor tools act as a design and content team, making website completion effortless.

How Easy Is Hostinger’s Setup Process?

Hostinger has the easiest and quickest AI-powered setup, although its one-step process required more manual personalization in the editor than Squarespace’s.

Hostinger's AI builder provided prompt examples which could be improved for better results by clicking the "Improve description" button. Source: Website Builder Expert

Since Hostinger’s AI website builder works on a single prompt, it produces generic results which require personalization in the editor. Still, with draft generation in under one minute and an array of in-editor AI tools, Hostinger’s a good choice for beginners on a time crunch.

Can I Choose a Template?

Hostinger offers over 170 prebuilt website templates, covering categories such as blogs, ecommerce, portfolios, and business and services. It also offers “Link in bio” templates that can be added to social media channels.

How Does Hostinger’s Editor Work?

To make the building process as easy as possible, Hostinger – like all of the builders on this list – gave us a checklist of steps to complete, including similar tasks to Squarespace, such as “Update your logo in the header” and “Optimize your site for SEO”.

Setup checklist in Hostinger's website editor
Hostinger’s editor gave me a running checklist of steps to complete, including SEO. Source: Website Builder Expert

Hostinger’s editor contained design options, management tools, and website settings in a single home. This made it much easier than Shopify’s busy backend to jump between content creation and optimizing for SEO, making Hostinger much more beginner-friendly.

On the other hand, its simplicity means you lose out on the more powerful features that Shopify offers, which you may find limiting as you develop your website or scale your business.

What AI Tools Are Available?

  • Text generation: Writes blog, email, and website copy, that can be finetuned with the AI text editor
  • Reach: Generates marketing emails from AI prompts and tracks progress
  • Product generator: Uses images to auto-generate product descriptions
  • SEO Assistant: Generates titles, meta descriptions, and high-performing keywords from a brand description
  • Logo maker: Describe your business vision and get a personalized logo

✨ See the rest of Hostinger’s AI tools in our Hostinger review

AI blog post creation pop up box in Hostinger
We tested Hostinger’s AI tools to write a blog post – we could even change the tone of voice to match our website style. Source: Website Builder Expert

What Support Options Does Hostinger Offer?

✅ 24/7 live chat

✅ Knowledge base

✅Video and written tutorials

Which Hostinger Plan Should I Use?

Hostinger’s Premium Website Builder plan ($3.49/mo) is the best option for basic websites, since it includes access to the AI website builder and built-in marketing tools. However, the Business Website Builder plan ( $4.49/mo) is required for selling online.

For a full breakdown of Hostinger’s pricing and associated fees, look at the table below:

Price (billed monthly) Price (billed annually) Ecommerce? Transaction fee Processing fee
Premium Website Builder $12.99 per month $3.49 per month No N/A N/A
Business Website Builder 🛒 $18.99 per month $4.49 per month Yes 0% Third-party gateway rates

3. GoDaddy

  • Best for: Building simple websites quickly 
  • Price: $9.99 to $20.99 per month (billed annually)
  • App for on-the-go management? No
  • Read our GoDaddy review 

GoDaddy is the fastest website builder for beginners because its section-based editor requires no prior experience to create a basic site. This simple interface means that GoDaddy is a great starting point for users who don’t need the advanced features of more powerful builders, like Wix or Shopify.

GoDaddy onboarding asking what kind of business you have
GoDaddy asked me some simple questions to get my website started. Source: Website Builder Expert

How Easy Is GoDaddy’s Setup Process?

GoDaddy’s onboarding is fast and simple, and uses a five-question onboarding survey to generate a customized website template in approximately 30 seconds half the time required by Wix and Hostinger.

Can I Choose a Template?

GoDaddy has over 200 templates, covering categories such as photography, online store, blog and website, and fashion and beauty.

To change your GoDaddy theme after onboarding, you simply click “Theme” in the editor and “Try a new look” to browse options.

How Does GoDaddy’s Editor Work?

GoDaddy’s section-based editor and sidebar settings are used to change your theme, although customization options are outdated compared to Squarespace’s modern aesthetics.

GoDaddy has a range of in-editor tutorials and AI tools to help beginners build their site, but users should always review AI-generated content for factual accuracy before publishing.

GoDaddy website editor tour pop up describing colors and design
GoDaddy’s editor tour was one of the most present, taking me through everything step-by-step. Source: Website Builder Expert

What AI Tools Are Available?

  • GoDaddy Airo: A package of AI tools to help small business owners create a site and grow an online presence. GoDaddy Airo also has a premium tier, Airo Plus, with branding and marketing tools to scale your site further
  • Social post generator: Creates and schedules social media marketing posts
  • Marketing Consultant: Get a personalized marketing strategy and ads for email, social media, and search engines
  • AI prompt library: A range of premade AI prompts for website building tasks that can be customized and pasted into AI chatbots. The library is organized by category, industry, and business objectives

✨ See more of GoDaddy’s AI features in our full GoDaddy review

What Support Options Does GoDaddy Offer?

✅ 24/7 live chat

✅ 24/7 SMS chat

✅ 24/7 phone support

If you have the budget, you can:

✅Hire a GoDaddy Expert to chat about your website’s goals or get support with marketing, web design, social media, or SEO

✅Use GoDaddy’s Essential Web Design Service (a one-time fee of $499.99) to get your website built for you, including pages and content

Form to hire a GoDaddy expert to support your website goals
GoDaddy goes the extra mile by offering expert support for hire, making the building process even easier if you’ve got the budget to spend. Source: Website Builder Expert

Which GoDaddy Plan Should I Use?

I recommend the Basic plan ($9.99/mo) for new or small businesses, since it includes access to GoDaddy’s core AI, marketing, and social media tools. However, the Commerce plan ($20.99/mo) is required to sell products.

Use our comparison table to see GoDaddy’s pricing and transaction fees in more detail:

Price (billed monthly) Price (billed annually) Transaction fee Processing fee
Free $0 per month $0 per month N/A N/A
Basic $21.99 per month $9.99 per month N/A N/A
Premium $39.99 per month $14.99 per month N/A N/A
Commerce 🛒 $44.99 per month $20.99 per month 2.7% + $0.30 Third-party gateway rates

4. Wix

  • Best for: Having creative control over website design with no coding
  • Price: $17 to $159 per month (billed annually)
  • App for on-the-go management? Yes, Wix App.
  • Read our Wix review

Wix offers the highest level of creative control for beginners via its drag-and-drop editor and conversational AI onboarding. However, the amount of options and features available on Wix may feel overwhelming for users wanting a streamlined build, especially compared to GoDaddy or Squarespace.

How Easy Is Wix’s Setup Process?

Wix’s AI website builder onboarding is highly intuitive, creating a personalized setup checklist and website design in under one minute. Wix’s AI chatbot writes notes on your priorities throughout the conversation, making it more attentive than Hostinger’s rigid prompt-to-website process.

Watch our video walk through of Wix’s AI website builder for more information:

Can I Choose a Template?

Wix provides over 2,000 free and unique templates to choose from, which can be used as an alternative to the AI website builder.

How Does Wix’s Editor Work?

Wix’s drag-and-drop editor allows you to place elements exactly where you’d like. Unlike, Shopify and Squarespace, Wix also has an autosave feature, removing the risk of losing design progress.

Pop up explanations for Wix's editor icons
I appreciated the in-editor support from Wix, from icon explanations to a more detailed tour. Source: Website Builder Expert

One thing to note is that you can’t change your Wix template once it’s live, which adds some pressure during the setup process. That said, Wix offers the best customization options and template range of any other builder on the list. So, if you have the time, you’ll have no trouble tweaking your Wix template to suit your needs.

What AI Tools Are Available?

  • Aria: A business assistant that monitors performance, generates personized analytics and recommendations, and carries out tasks such as adding products
  • Text generation: Create website copy, social media captions, and blog posts in your brand voice
  • AI agents: Dedicated agents to support with all areas of your business, from administrative tasks to email inbox management to marketing strategy
  • AI Site Chat: A chatbot to answer FAQ from website visitors 24/7
  • Business Launcher: Creates a detailed plan of action for starting a new business

✨ See the full list of Wix’s AI features here

What Support Options Does Wix Offer?

✅Live chat

✅Social media

✅ 24/7 phone support

Which Wix Plan Should I Use?

I recommend using Wix’s free-forever plan to build your site and then upgrading to remove ads and unlock additional features. Wix’s Light plan ($17/mo) is best for simple sites, but upgrade to the Core plan ($29/mo) for ecommerce functionality.

See the comparison table below for a breakdown of Wix’s pricing plans:

Price (billed monthly) Price (billed annually) Transaction fee Processing fee (Wix Payments)
Free $0 per month $0 per month N/A N/A
Light $24 per month $17 per month N/A N/A
Core 🛒 $36 per month $29 per month 0% 2.7% + $0.30
Business 🛒 $46 per month $39 per month 0% 2.7% + $0.30
Business Elite 🛒 $172 per month $159 per month 0% 2.7% + $0.30

5. Shopify

  • Best for: Online businesses that want easy inventory management
  • Price: $29 to $299 per month (billed annually)
  • App for on-the-go management? Yes, Shopify App
  • Read our Shopify review 

Shopify is the most beginner-friendly builder for ecommerce, though it has a steeper learning curve than Wix or Squarespace. For example, Shopify’s sections-based editor is more rigid and restrictive than Wix’s fluid drag-and-drop interface.

How Easy Is Shopify’s Setup Process?

Shopify’s onboarding is highly beginner-friendly, and uses a short questionnaire and personalized 11-step checklist to guide business owners through the initial setup.

Shopify suggests starting with adding products to your account before customizing your website, which streamlines the editing process and reduces the jumps between the frontend and backend.

Personalized checklist by Shopify to help set up a website
Shopify gave me a personalized setup checklist following the onboarding process. Source: Website Builder Expert

Can I Choose a Template?

Shopify offers over 1,000 templates that can be used as an alternative to its AI website builder, although only 24 of these are free and the rest incur a one-off payment of $100 to $500.

Shopify also allows you to switch your template after your site is live by installing and publishing a new theme, which gives it more flexibility than Wix.

How Does Shopify’s Editor Work?

Shopify uses a section-based editor which is more restrictive with element placement than Wix. However, the Shopify Winter ’26 update introduced AI-generated sections, allowing users to create and rearrange page sections via a sidebar without manual coding.

Unfortunately, like Squarespace, there’s no autosave functionality, so you’ll need to keep an eye on your work as you go.

Squarespace's website editor
I found it difficult to create a unique-looking homepage with Shopify because of its lack of a drag-and-drop editor. Source: Website Builder Expert

What AI Tools Are Available?

  • Shopify Magic to generate product descriptions. This made adding new products quick and simple, especially when paired with Shopify’s robust product backend
  • Shopify Sidekick, an AI-powered assistant that makes the whole process of building and managing a website as simple as possible

✨ Read our Shopify review for a full list of Shopify’s AI tools

Using Shopify Magic to create a product description
I used Shopify Magic to help generate product descriptions in seconds. Source: Website Builder Expert

What Support Options Does Shopify Offer?

24/7 AI chatbot

Email

✅Phone

✅Social media support

Help center

The AI text generator is pretty good for what it is, especially for product descriptions… it makes your website look professional.

headshot of Sam Jagger
Sam Jagger Senior Writer

Which Shopify Plan Should I Use?

Shopify Basic ($29/mo) is the best option for small businesses, since its unlimited products and AI marketing and business support tools provide lots of room to grow your business.

Check out the monthly and annual breakdown of Shopify’s pricing with our pricing table below:

Price (billed monthly) Price (billed annually) Transaction fee Processing fee
Basic 🛒 $39 per month $29 per month 2% 2.9% + $0.30
Grow 🛒 $105 per month $79 per month 1% 2.7% + $0.30
Advanced 🛒 $399 per month $299 per month 0.6% 2.5% + $0.30

How Do I Choose an Easy Website Builder?

Knowing what to look for will depend on your website’s needs, but with ease-of-use as a priority, consider these factors:

  • Onboarding – Look for personalized AI checklists and in-editor tutorials
  • Editor style – Check whether the editor is drag-and-drop or sections-based and if AI tools are available
  • Features – Know which features are built in and whether the builder has an app market for extra functionality
  • Support options – Check how useful the guides are and whether the online support is fast and effective

I recommend making the most out of free plans and free trials, where possible, and watch our video below to help you choose:

Our Testing Methodology

To provide data-led, quality recommendations for the easiest website builders to use, we put each through rigorous testing. To do this, we tested the website builders on the six categories of most importance to small businesses and website owners.

To create an accurate list of the easiest website builders, my ranking focuses entirely on the findings of our User Experience category. This included 54 tests with ordinary people, covering 1,200 individual testing areas.

However, I also used data from two other categories to provide the most valuable information:

  1. Help and Support: What help and support options are available? How fast are the responses? And are they thorough?
  2. Design Features: We tested the simplicity and accuracy of AI website builders, the range and quality of templates, and the flexibility of the design

I also regularly test each website builder myself, so I can assess its ease of use and accessibility. This allows me to speak from experience when discussing the website builder’s pros and cons.

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

Which Easy Website Builder Should You Choose?

To recap, Squarespace is the easiest website builder to use overall. Its beginner-friendly editor, impressive features, stunning templates, and dependable support, make it a great option for anyone – no matter your skill level.

If you’re looking for a smooth design experience, I recommend using a builder with a drag-and-drop editor, such as Squarespace, Wix, and Hostinger. For selling online easily, try Shopify and its powerful sales features. And, if you want to get your website up and running quickly, choose GoDaddy.

All of these website builders offer simple setup processes and beginner-friendly tools – but what I find easy might not be easy for you, and vice versa. You can try Squarespace’s 14-day free trial to give our easiest website builder a go for yourself.

FAQs

Wix’s drag-and-drop editor offers users total creative freedom, but it can be overwhelming for beginners. Complete novices to designing a website can easily face decision paralysis and uncertainty over what different editing tools do.

With Squarespace, users can expect a drag-and-drop editor as well, but an added grid framework helps you snap and position elements into place with ease. Plus, Squarespace’s general interface and editor are much easier to navigate.

If you’re looking to create a simple portfolio or blog, you won’t need to sign up for Shopify. Shopify caters to online stores, especially those with growing or large inventories. And, for the expensive price point (from $29/month), you’ll be overpaying if you only need to build a portfolio or blog.

For portfolios, Squarespace’s creative designs and booking feature are ideal for showcasing work, connecting with clients, and building a presence online. For blogs, Wix has the best blog management tools, as well as monetization capabilities.

It’s very difficult to move website builders if you exhaust a platform’s plans. You’ll need to export your products, manually transfer content, and redesign your site with your new chosen builder’s editor. That’s why it’s important to assess a website builder’s scalability before you subscribe, to ensure you don’t hit a ceiling too soon.
Written by:
Annie Angus is a Writer for Website Builder Expert with a passion for shaping jargon-heavy research into digestible content. She has previously researched and written about industries ranging from tech to fashion, and now, after testing our top website builders such as Wix and Squarespace, she is enthusiastic to share her findings with our readers. With first-hand experience in utilizing social media and online marketplaces to grow a small handmade clothing business, Annie understands the priorities and concerns held by SME owners, and knows precisely what they look for in a website builder. She combines this unique perspective with her knowledge of website builders to produce engaging content spanning all areas of the small business journey, from creating a strong website to growing and maintaining an audience.
Researched by:
natasha_willett
I love to understand human behavior and the cognitive biases that drive us to do what we do. For over nine years I have worked as a mixed method researcher – research using a mix of numerical data and personal experiences – across a range of sectors, from insurance and policy development to finally arriving at Website Builder Expert five years ago. Fascinated by consumer decision-making, I meticulously built our leading ranking methodology to explore where providers like Wix sit within a competitive industry and what value they truly bring to our audience.
As a member of the Market Research Society, I’m an advocate for high ethical, commercial, and methodological best practices. All of this combines to give you the most ethical recommendations based on real data.

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