13 Best Website Builders of 2023 (Free and Paid)

Are you ready to launch your own website?  

This is a complete guide to the best website builders in 2023.

You may have come across Webflow, Wix, Squarespace, Kadence WP (for a self-hosted Wordpress site) and Shopify somewhere online. These are some of the most popular website builders but there’s a lot more you’ll discover here.

That’s why I wrote this guide with you in mind. Just to help you choose the best site builder for your needs.

This guide will show you:

• What the best website builders are
• What a really a site builder really is
• What makes a great website builder
• FAQ about website builders
• How to avoid the next ‘fancy’ tool that might waste your money
• And lots more…

So if you’re a beginner or don’t like to mess around with codes, let’s go ‘all in’ and show you the best website builders that will work for you.

What Are The Best Website Builders?

Here are my top picks for the best website builders for 2023:

1. Webflow
2. Wix
3. Squarespace
4. WordPress.org
5. Shopify
6. Weebly
7. Ucraft
8. Zyro
9. Duda
10. Web.com
11. HubSpot Content Management System
12. WordPress.com
13. GoDaddy Website Builder

Alright, let’s dive right in. Let’s break down each of the 13 best website builder software of 2023:

1. Webflow

The best website builder that lets you design what you want

Webflow is a popular website builder that gives you the freedom to design any type of website. It’s perfect for designers and people with some experience. Overall, Webflow is great player in the website building space with all the essential features you need..

It uses containers to structure pages. Unlike other website building programs, which use sections, boxes, or other design elements.

Webflow consists of a single fluid page. This means that you can add new containers within an existing container, run experiments, and modify your site without having to write HTML code. Users can also add images and videos directly to their sites.

The Webflow web builder comes with a huge variety of templates, each with its own unique features.

Most of the templates have the same basic design, but you can customize them to create the look and feel that you want. The Webflow interface is user-friendly, so people with little or no design experience can still use the program.

Key Features

• Design and run your website without writing code
• Fast and reliable web hosting by AWS
• Create gated content
• Customized logic-based workflow
• Launch and manage an online store
• Secure your website with advanced security tools

Pros

• The site builder is user-friendly
• Easily create immersive experiences with your site
• Create beautiful websites in a visual canvas (no coding required)
• Create content-driven web pages
• Quickly monetize members-only content
• Optimize your website for organic searches

Cons

• It has a slight learning curve (beginners might find it a bit challenging to start0
• Not a lot of 3rd party integrations available yet
• It’s not a ‘true’ drag and drop site builder
• While you can use it to build your website for free, you need to add a paid plan to actually go live

Pricing

Here’s a summarized version of Webflow’s pricing:

• Basic ($15/month or $12/month paid annually): This plan is good when you want a simple site that doesn’t require a CMS.
• CMS ($20/month or $16/month paid annually): Launch your blog or content-driven website with the best tools.
• Business ($45/month or $36/month paid annually): If your site will get a lot of traffic, this plan can help you accomodate that.
• Enterprise: You may need to contact the customer service to get custom pricing for this plan.

2. Wix

The best website builder for all-around use

Wix is a popular and versatile website builder. When you choose Wix as your website builder of choice, you’ll be pleased to discover its user-friendly interface.

There are numerous options for design and editing, including drag-and-drop elements. Moreover, the interface is straightforward and easy to use, making editing a breeze.

It offers tools and templates to create a custom website, as well as guides and examples to help you get started.

There are no coding skills needed to make changes to your site – just a click of the mouse!

The Wix website builder allows you to add, delete, and modify content as you please.

Just drag and drop the elements you want to place on your site. Adding text is easy too – click on the text to open the text editor. You can then change the color, font, size, and SEO settings.

Key Features

• Create a stunning website for your business
• Reliable web hosting and custom domain
• Add flexible grids and custom design with Editor X
• Explore 800+ designer-ready templates
• Robust and easy-to-use Analytics & Reports
• Sell online and manage fulfillment

Pros

• Wix offers drag and drop site builder (making it fun to design your site)
• Choose a template, customize, and add flexible grids
• You can add a custom domain to your website
• The user interface is clean and easy to use.

Cons

• The Starter plan still shows Wix ads on your site
• Wix claims to help you with SEO, but it’s a pain in the neck
• It doesn’t offer unlimited plans

Pricing

How much does Wix cost per month? Here’s a quick breakdown:

• Connect Domain ($4.50/month): This is the most basic plan to get you started with creating a simple website. This plan will show Wix ads.
• Combo ($8.50/month): When you want more options, the Combo plan is perfect. It’s for personal use. It doesn’t display Wix ads.
• Unlimited ($12.50/month): It’s best suited for entrepreneurs & freelancers. Get unlimited bandwidth, and more.
• VIP ($24.50/month): Get all the features in ‘Unlimited’ and First Priority Support.

3. Squarespace

The best website builder for creatives and artists

Squarespace is a drag-and-drop website builder platform that enables you to create a professional-looking website quickly and easily with just a few clicks.

With the help of its intuitive interface, you can add and remove content blocks, create and edit custom modules, and integrate various social media channels.

The program includes templates for both personal website and commercial sites and offers a variety of content block options.  

Squarespace has a clean and friendly user interface, which makes it ideal for non-coders such as photographers, filmmakers, podcasters, musicians, etc.

For the past 7 years, Matt D’Avella, a popular YouTuber with 3 million+ subscribers has used Squarespace to power his website.

The Squarespace site builder also allows you to add different types of sections to your site.

You can also create lists, galleries, and online stores, which are customizable.

You can even create multiple pages or collections, manage each one separately, and choose specific modules to include on your site.

Key Features

• A true drag and drop site builder
• A huge collection of 100+ award-winning templates
• Launch your creative blog to showcase your work
• Squarespace integrates well with other apps
• Start an eCommerce store easily
• Social media tools to get active on Facebook, Instagram, etc.
• Website Analytics and actionable reporting

Pros

• An intuitive drag and drop builder
• Easily import/export data
• It integrates with G Suite
• Squarespace puts a priority on site speed
• The templates are highly customizable

Cons

• Squarespace is a bit expensive in comparison to the competition
• It lacks advanced marketing tools
• Editing and adding new content could use some improvement

Pricing

See how much Squarespace costs per month:

• Personal ($16/month): This starter plan gives you a free custom domain, SSSL security, 30 minutes video storage, etc.
• Business ($26/month): Get unlimited bandwidth, unlimited contributors, premium templates, etc.
• Basic Commerce ($35/month): Start your eCommerce journey with a plan that suits you. SSL security, free domain, video storage, templates, etc.
• Advanced Commerce ($54/month): Everything included in ‘Basic Commerce’ and more.

Note: You can save 30% (on Business Plan) of the monthly cost and 25% on every other plan, if you choose the yearly plan.

4. WordPress.org

The best website builder for self-hosted websites and blogs

When you’re ready to start your own website, WordPress.org is a perfect choice.

This Content Management System (CMS) offers the ability to create stunning websites and blogs by using plugins and the Gutenberg editor. If you’re planning to start a blog and take search engine optimization (SEO) serious to rank in Google, then WordPress.org is perfect for you.

To get the most out of WordPress.org, you can install the Kadence theme which I use here on navidm.com. Then you can easily customize every aspect of your website, and build landing pages and a beautiful homepage.

If you want even more powerful marketing and SEO tools for WordPress, the Thrive Suite can take your WordPress website to the next level.

Although WordPress.org does not offer a drag and drop interface website builder (yet), it does offer a number of features for building a website with ease. Especially when you use a powerful plugin like the Elementor.

You need to register a domain name before you can build a site with WordPress.org. Once your domain is registered, your web hosting service will allow you to install the WordPress software on their server.

There are also ton of free plugins and themes to use to enhance the beauty and functionality of your website.

Key Features

• Access to a huge library of free themes to use
• The Gutenberg editor is powerful, you can build a stunning landing page with it
• Reusable blocks make WordPress.org so much fun to use
• WordPress.org is supported by most hosting platforms and servers
• Google prefers WordPress.org sites and blogs over Wix, Weebly, etc.
• Add additional functionality to your site with plugins

Pros

• Pick a free mobile-responsive template to use
• It’s easily customizable
• Build a successful online business powered by Content
• Start your website in under 30 minutes
• There’s no limit to the number of pages to add

Cons

• It requires a learning curve
• Too many plugins slow down your WordPress site
• You may have to purchase a premium theme as the free ones are too basic
• The improved Gutenberg Editor can be confusing for beginners

Pricing

WordPress.org is a free Content Management Software. You pay nothing to use it. However, you’ll have to pay for a domain name and choose between web hosting services like Hostinger or Cloudways which costs $3 – $30/month depending on the plan you choose.

5. Shopify

The best website builder for eCommerce and online sellers

Shopify is a powerful website builder for eCommerce businesses and online sellers.

The Shopify website builder is a great way to create a website that looks professional and sells your products in a full featured online store.

It’s easy to add sections and add your own content. To use the website builder, you must choose a plan and set up an account.

Once you’re all set up, you can start using the tools to create your eCommerce website.

Shopify lets you customize many aspects of the design. You can change the colors, fonts, and images of different elements.

The Shopify e commerce website builder is also easy to use. You can add images and even embed YouTube videos onto your Shopify website.

The Shopify website builder also allows you to manage inventory and set up collections and gift cards. You can edit your products’ SEO settings and add keywords to them to ensure that they’re optimized for search engines.

Key Features

• A simple website editor with visual customization
• Mobile storefront
• Shopping cart to sell products online
• A wide array of eCommerce website templates
• Seamless integration with 100s of apps
• Product catalog & listings

Pros

• Quickly set up your website with a pre-made template
• Easy to set up and manage your online store
• Easily customize your website and its pages
• It integrates with Printful, which allows you to run a PoD business
• The user interface is clean and intuitive

Cons

• No flexible pricing
• Not all features are available in every country
• You’ll always need an add-on, which in turn increases the cost

Pricing

Here’s how much Shopify costs each month to use:

• Basic ($29/month): If you’re new to eCommerce, start with the Basic plan and scale later.
• Shopify ($79/month): Growing businesses will benefit from the additional features in this plan. It’s a great plan for selling online or in-store.
• Advanced ($299/month): When you’re ready to scale your eCommerce business and access advanced marketing tools with rich reporting, this is the ideal plan.

6. Weebly

The best free website builder with stunning templates

Weebly is one of the best website builders that give you the freedom to build websites without coding skills.

The platform allows you to create a website for any purpose and is easy to use.

Weebly has a great selection of professionally-designed themes for websites.

Whether you’re creating a blog, portfolio, or online store, the Weebly publishing tools will give you total control over your content.

There are several premium plans to choose from.

You can also use the free plan to start building a site for your own use or to test it out. If you’re planning to sell a product or service, a premium plan is recommended.

Key Features

• Launch a beautiful website, tell your story
• A powerful free website builder
• Easily customizable designer-ready templates
• Access to all-in-one eCommerce tools
• Track visitors and get customer insights

Pros

• An easy drag and drop site builder
• Easily manage your website and online store
• Weebly uses an auto-save function (so you don’t lose your progress)
• Many pre-designed templates to choose from
• Weebly is affordable compared to Squarespace

Cons

• Some website layouts and placements are hard to customize
• The mobile app doesn’t do much
• Uploading an image is a pain in the neck

Pricing

See the pricing breakdown of Weebly:

• Free ($0.00/month): Get started with your basic website. You can’t use a custom domain and other features.
• Personal ($6/month): Kick off your website with more features, connect a custom domain name, etc. You can pay $9/month if you don’t want the yearly plan.
• Professional (12/month): Ready to connect your domain and be flexible with customizing your website? This is the plan for you. It costs $16/month if you’re not comfortable with the yearly billing.
• Performance ($26/month): You save big on this yearly plan, gain access to advanced features that drive business growth. It costs $29 month-to-month.

7. Ucraft

A better website builder solution for freelancers and store owners

Ucraft is an easy-to-use website builder. With this software, you can create and launch your website in minutes.

Using Ucraft to create a professional-looking website is a great idea if you’re new to website building or aren’t comfortable with writing codes.

The user interface is easy to use, and it includes the majority of tools needed to build a site.

The preview button shows how your site will look on various devices. You can select a theme from 80+ free templates, or you can create a custom design from scratch.

Ucraft has excellent options for adding pages. You can choose to add primary, secondary, or system pages. You can also create subpages.

The layout is easy to customize, and there is an integrated chat feature. As for SEO, you can customize the SEO of individual pages.

Key Features

• An intuitive website builder. No coding experience is required.
• A wide collection of 100+ templates to choose from
• Use the drag-and-drop editor to quickly build your website
• Create and host your website on Google Cloud
• Create a professional-looking website in minutes

Pros

• Ucraft is quite easy to use, especially for non-coders
• The drag and drop website builder has a clean UI
• Pick from 100+ saved blocks for CTAs, FAQs, and Sliders.

Cons

• Integration with third-party apps are limited
• The extended features are not available in the Pro plan
• Uploading a royalty-free icon takes a lot of time

Pricing

How much does uCraft cost? Let’s see:

• Free Plan: Create a 15 pages, connect your domain, secure your site with SSL, and get unlimited bandwidth.
• Pro Website: An extended plan that costs $10/month when paid annually. Get a free domain, create an unlimited number of pages, use advanced elements, unlimited bandwidth, and every other feature included in the Free Website plan.
• Pro Shop: Start your website with as little as $21/month (paid annually). Get every feature in Pro Website, including SEO tools, designer tools, blogging tools, 24/7 support, and a multilingual website.
• Unlimited: Design a professional website with this plan that costs $69/month (paid annually). Access to all Pro Shop features, plus add an unlimited number of pages, integrate with 50+ payment methods, add 20+ shipping methods, etc.