7 of the Best Website Builders in 2023

As more and more people start building websites, more and more people are looking for the best website builder. While there isn’t really a “best” website builder, there are certain website builders that would be better for certain use cases, like if you’re a complete newbie to website building or a seasoned veteran of the field.

To clarify what’s good for who, here are my contenders for the best website builder.

However, first things first…

What is a website builder?

A website builder is a tool or platform where individuals and businesses can build their own websites for personal or professional use without needing advanced coding or programming skills. A website builder also tends to provide a user-friendly interface and customization to the user’s preferences.

A website builder typically includes a drag-and-drop interface, which facilitates the building of a professional website without code. The drag-and-drop interface includes elements like text, images, videos, forms, social media integrations, and much more.

Many website builders also have other tools that can help with the process of building and maintaining a website, such as SEO tools, a free domain, web hosting services, and more.

What is the best website builder?

Here is my shortlist of the best website builder options:

• Hostinger Website Builder
• Shopify
• Squarespace
• GoDaddy Website Builder
• WordPress Site Builder
• Webflow
• Jimdo

Although it is better known as a web hosting service, Hostinger also offers a drag-and-drop website builder that uses AI to shorten the website building process to minutes instead of hours or days, making it an incredibly easy website builder to use. Hostinger websites also have incredibly low server response times, which is vital for any website to run smoothly.

Of course, as Hostinger is a web hosting platform as well, you get a custom domain, a free SSL certificate, and web hosting included with your website builder.

Features:

AI Website Builder

To start with Hostinger’s AI-driven website builder, there’s a bit of a process you need to go through.

After paying for the tool, you get to choose between using a template for your website or the AI-powered website builder. Of course, considering what this article is about, I’ll be talking about the second option.

Once you’ve selected the second option, you’ll be asked a few questions about your website, including name, description, and type of website (e.g. online store, blog, portfolio, etc.).

From there, you can choose from a handful of suggested designs. If none of them are what you’re looking for, you can have Hostinger re-generate them.

Once you’ve chosen a design, you’re in. You now have access to what sets Hostinger website builder apart from other AI website builders: customization.

Their website builder has an intuitive drag-and-drop editor, with access to dozens of website templates to choose from if you don’t want to start from scratch. You can even switch templates if you regret your first choice.

Website Templates

Speaking of templates, Hostinger offers its users a whole host of website templates for all different use cases.

From online store templates to portfolio and CV templates, you have complete control over where you start your website-building process.

Plus, all of the templates are designed for mobile devices, use HTML5, and follow modern design principles and trends.

Extra AI Tools

As mentioned above, Hostinger uses AI to help build a website catered to your needs. However, that’s not the only artificial intelligence tool that Hostinger gives its users access to.

You use Hostinger’s AI logo maker to, well, create a logo for the website you’ve just had created for you, and you can use their AI business name generator if you’re stumped on a name for your new site.

As for on-site tools, there is the AI heatmap. Just like a weather forecast, Hostinger displays what your website visitors will focus on before they even visit your website, displaying a range from “cold” (blue) to “hot” (red). This can be very helpful for your landing pages, as you know exactly where viewers’ eyes are drawn and can adjust your website layout and design elements to capitalize on that visual real estate.

Pricing: Hostinger’s website builder has incredibly simple pricing. They have one tier, and that tier will cost you $11.99 per month and includes a free domain, free email, ecommerce features, AI features, and up to 100 websites. Also, as mentioned previously, a free SSL certificate and free web hosting are included as well.

If you’ve heard of e-commerce, you’ve likely heard of Shopify. It’s the preferred platform of nearly everyone with an online store and a product to sell and accounts for a whopping 10% of US e-commerce.

If you have a product to sell and want to build an online store, then Shopify is the “right” website builder for you.

Features:

Website Builder

Shopify’s website builder is designed for the lowest common denominator, meaning that it tries to provide the best and simplest experience for anyone regardless of their skill level, whether they be web developers or complete newbies to the field.

Users can drag and drop whatever blocks they want with their WYSIWYG editor and create an online store that fits their brand using colors, fonts, photo galleries, responsive designs, and more.

Also included with the Shopify website builder is a large variety of website templates, both free and paid. These are tagged with certain features that they include, and you can search for themes with specific features like a sticky header, age verification, EU translation, and much more.

Ecommerce Functionality

Of course, as Shopify is an e-commerce platform first and a website builder second, they have a heavy focus on ecommerce functionality.

You can snag your custom domain as soon as you join Shopify, and start to build a website from there. That website includes standard ecommerce features like the ability to add products, customize displays, and manage inventory, the last of which you can do through an Excel or CSV file, eBay, or Magento.

Shopify also includes a secure online shopping cart with your online store and integrates with over 100 payment gateways including credit cards, Apple Pay, Amazon Pay, PayPal, and much more.

Free Tools

Similarly to Hostinger, Shopify gives its users access to a lot of free features, a total of 23 in fact.

This includes things Hostinger does like a logo and business name generator, plus a whole bunch of ecommerce features like a pay stub generator, invoice generator, a wholesale marketplace, and much more.

Pricing: Shopify does offer a free trial, although that trial is only for 3 days. That is a little short, but it is something if you want to test out the platform. As for their paid plans, Shopify starts at $39 per month which includes their website builder and all of their ecommerce tools.

Note: There is a “Starter” plan which will cost you $1 per month for 3 months and $5 per month after that, and that allows users to sell products through social and messaging apps instead of a store.

As one of the most famous names in the “best website builder” debate, Squarespace is a well-known website builder that people have been using to build their websites since 2003.

Squarespace is one of the go-to platforms for businesses to build a professional website, with ~4% of the world’s over 1 billion websites built using the platform. Considering how Squarespace is an easy website builder that nearly anyone can use without requiring advanced technical skills or coding expertise, it’s no surprise that a large amount of the world’s websites are built on the platform.

Features:

Website Builder

As with most website builders of Squarespace’s ilk, the goal is to make building a website as simple as possible and reduce the task from daunting to doable.

Their drag-and-drop interface isn’t unique to Squarespace, but it is incredibly simple to use and allows even the least tech-savvy users to create beautiful websites without too much effort.

Also, if you ever need any help building your website, Squarespace offers customer service support options like webinars, a help center, and a community form for you to use as you please.

Plus, if you don’t want to start from scratch, you can always use one of the many website templates Squarespace offers. All you need to do is define what your site is about and state your top goals for the site, and you’re done; Squarespace has put a bunch of customizable website templates in front of you to choose from. They’re good templates, too.

Integrated E-Commerce

Shopify isn’t the only platform with e-commerce capabilities; you can use Squarespace as well to set up your own online store/online stores and sell online until you’re out of stock.

One of the best aspects of Squarespace’s e-commerce features is that you can handle shipping and fulfillment, taxes, and payments all from one platform due to the host of integrations Squarespace offers. You don’t have to spread your online store out between a handful of applications; you can do it all from Squarespace.

Other Squarespace Apps

Squarespace has been around long enough and their influence has grown large enough that they’ve dipped their toes into other fields as well. Here are a few Squarespace subsidiary apps:

• Acuity Scheduling: an external scheduling solution for appointment-based businesses.
• Bio Sites: a simple way to share your website and what it’s about in one link.
• Unfold: an app to aid your business’ social media presence and marketing efforts.
• Tock: a platform for the hospitality industry to book reservations and events.

Pricing: Squarespace offers its users a 14-day free trial to test-drive their platform, and their paid plans start at $16 per month.

Again, another company that isn’t primarily known for website builders is GoDaddy, but the GoDaddy website builder can compete with the bigger names. It is a powerful (free) website builder that relies on simplicity for its websites and your ability to design them.

The big allure of using GoDaddy website builder is that you can buy and host your domain on the same platform you build your website on, and this draw is aided by the fact that GoDaddy offers one of the best free website builders on the market.

Features:

Ease of Use

If there’s one thing that GoDaddy’s website builder should be known for, its the ease of use. Their website builder and all of their website templates are clean and modern, and the interface used to actually build a website is intuitive for all users, regardless of previous website-building experience.

The downside that comes with this incredible ease of use is a lack of customization options. While all of the GoDaddy templates are customizable, they are basic and can’t be fully customized to accommodate whatever unique experience you may have wanted to create.

Online Store & POS System

As with their website builder, GoDaddy offers users a wide variety of templates for their online store. Users can also keep an eye on their website’s analytics through a Google Analytics-style dashboard snapshot, where users can track where they are getting sales from and in what volume.

Using GoDaddy to create your online store, you can accept online payments and keep transaction fees low with a fee of 2.3% + $0.30, which is lower than most other leading providers. To make these transactions, you can sell on Instagram, Google, Etsy, eBay, Facebook, Amazon, and more.

On top of that, if your business is an in-person affair as well as an online store, GoDaddy has their Smart Terminal and POS system which includes a dual-screen design, built-in payment processor, barcode scanner, and receipt printer. You can also use the GoDaddy Card Reader and take your business on the go, where customers can tap, insert, and swipe their cards to process payments.

Marketing and SEO Tools

Once you have an online store built, you need to put the word out there to start raking in sales. Luckily, as a part of GoDaddy’s online store builder, there are many marketing features that can be used to do just that.

Here are a handful of the ways you can put your website out there and market/remarket your products:

• Email marketing: turn visitors into customers and retarget abandoned carts to drive sales.
• Social media post creation: using GoDaddy Studio (formerly Over), you can easily create stand-out social media posts.
• Review widget: display business reviews from Yelp, Google, or Facebook on your site.
• Instagram/Facebook connect: link your Facebook profile and Instagram posts to the website builder and view performance from the GoDaddy dashboard.

Pricing: Unlike most website builders on this list, GoDaddy offers a free plan for their website builder. This free plan includes their website builder, built-in marketing tools, and access to 24/7 customer service support. Their paid plans start at $9.99 per month, and you’ll have to pay more than that for e-commerce features.

Ah, WordPress. I’m not sure I need to say much about it, as over 43% of the web is built using WordPress. Hell, I’m writing this article on WordPress, and while I don’t have much experience with other website builders, I can say that WordPress is the best website builder for me.

Features:

Themes

Before you start building your website, you start with a theme. Themes are a pre-design step of building any website and are the quickest way to establish the visual identity of your site without requiring extensive coding or design skills.

There is a large variety of free and paid themes you can choose from, and they differ in design style, layout options, purpose/industry, customization, plugin compatibility, and more.

Website Builder

As a large chunk of the internet might agree, WordPress’s website builder is possibly the best website builder overall.

The interface isn’t as simple as a website builder like Squarespace or Wix, but it makes up for that with a depth of features and the ability to customize every block you drag and drop into your website to perfectly fit whatever you’re going for. This is done using the Gutenberg editor, and there are many modifications and add-ons to it that you can download using plugins.

Plugins

Another benefit of WordPress being such a large platform is the breadth of plugins that are available, both free and paid. From SEO tools to e-commerce platforms, you can pretty much find any plugin that you need for your website. Here are a few examples of what you can find on the plugin market:

• E-commerce plugins (ex. WooCommerce)
• Page speed optimization (ex. Smush)
• SEO tools (ex. RankMath, Yoast)
• Pop-ups (ex. OptiMonster)
• Booking & Scheduling (ex. Calendly)

This isn’t an exhaustive list, and there are many more uses for WordPress plugins. Because the WordPress community is so large, there are always new plugins being developed and if you can’t find one for your use case at the moment, there’s a chance one fitting your needs is in development right now.

Pricing: Luckily, you can use WordPress for free. Like most free website builders, though, there are significant limitations placed on your usage, like no access to plugins until you pay for their Business plan. Their paid plans start at $12 per month.

Webflow is another free website builder that prides itself on the ability to use code as much or as little as you want. This gives users complete and granular control over every aspect of your website’s design, positioning block elements exactly where you want them to be.

As you work, Webflow also automatically converts your visual website design into clean and concise HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Compared to the other website builders on this list, Webflow certainly has a more complex interface and deeper breadth of features, which makes it much more suited to advanced users or developers.

Features:

Webflow Designer

The Webflow Designer is the flagship feature of the platform and is where you actually do the website-building using a drag-and-drop editor and an interface similar to Photoshop.

There is a pretty massive learning curve with the editor as it is definitely daunting to people without experience in web development, but the reward for following that learning curve is complete and utter control over every aspect of your website’s design on a granular level.

Webflow CMS

Webflow’s CMS is the second part of the website-building puzzle, and you can use it to manage your site and its content without having to use the Designer tool.

This includes things like blogging or changing website copy and uses the Webflow CMS Editor to do so.

Resource Bank

Under the name of Webflow University, Webflow offers a host of courses and lessons for new users to start learning everything from basic website design to CSS styling. On top of that, Webflow offers users access to 24/7 customer support all around the globe, to help users with any problems that they can’t solve themselves.

Pricing: Webflow does have a free plan for general websites which lets you learn the platform but not much else. They categorize their plans into General and Ecommerce, and they only offer a free plan for the General category. Their paid plans start at $18 per month and $29 per month for General and Ecommerce respectively.

Out of all the best website builders, Jimdo is likely the cheapest and most bare-bones.

It is a perfect platform is you want to create a simple website or online store and get yourself listed in search engines and social media quickly, but doesn’t offer too much in terms of customization beyond that point.

It is a free website builder, however, so that does make up for its lack of a feature set at least a bit.

Features:

Website Builder

Jimdo is one of the best website builders in terms of simplicity, as their drag-and-drop interface is as intuitive as it can get. You get a helping hand through the beginning of your website, where you answer a few questions about what website you want to create and Jimdo’s ADI will create a website structure for you with copyright-free images included.

Plus, all Jimdo websites are made for mobile and can be customized for each platform so your website looks great on whatever device it’s viewed on.

Facebook & Instagram Promotion

If you’re looking to expand your online store’s influence, you can use Jimdo to sell on Instagram and advertise on both Instagram and Facebook.

To start selling on either platform, you simply need to create your website, select the Facebook & Instagram option in the Jimdo dashboard, hit “Connect” to link your Facebook/Instagram account, select your Facebook Business Manager account, and choose the assets you want to connect, like your Facebook page, catalog, pixel, and ad accounts. From there, you’re done; you can now sell seamlessly on social media platforms from Jimdo.

Logo Creator

Just like their website builder, Jimdo has a drag-and-drop logo creator which can be used without paying for one of their plans.

To create a logo, all you need to do is enter your business name and get started with their drag-and-drop editor. Choose an icon, colors, and a font, then you’re free to download and use that logo wherever you want.

They also give a bunch of examples of logos created with their logo creator, so you can take inspiration from them if you’re stumped on where to start.

Pricing: Jimdo does offer a free plan with all base features and a free domain plus a .jimdosite.com subdomain; their paid plans start at $9 per month with a custom domain included. Search engine optimization comes with later plans, and even with their more expensive plans, Jimdo might just be the cheapest website builder.