Website building professionals are considering 2026 a peak of the digital age. Having a professional website is essential for any business, whether you are a small business owner, a freelancer with a portfolio, or a blogger. Hence, you will need a website builder. But not everybody does web development or has enough time to build their own website. This is when the website builders come into the picture. These are the builders that will be building a website for you. These platforms will create a website tailored to your needs, considering your business and facts. Today, we will be discussing everything that is related to website builders and also the factors to select the best free website builder. If you are using a website builder or just searching for one, you might have some questions about it.
What is Website Builder
A website builder is a platform or software that allows you to create any type of website without manual coding, operating on a "what you see is what you get" principle. These builders provide a visual representation of your future website, which is then delivered for your business or personal use. Most website builders are hosted platforms, eliminating the need to separately set up web hosting or domain names. Some even include built-in SEO tools, blogging platforms, and other features to help users manage all aspects of their website. Website builders are an excellent solution for those who need to quickly establish their business or require a website urgently. Both free and paid options are widely available. A significant advantage of any website builder is its all-in-one approach, providing everything you need without the hassle of managing separate services and technical configurations. This allows you to concentrate entirely on your content and business objectives.
What Makes the Best Free Website Builder?
A website builder should have a great balance between ease of use, customization, and functionality. Some of the key factors to consider while choosing the best free website builder are
- User-Friendliness: Whether the website or the platform or the software is a drag-and-drop editor or not, an intuitive interface makes designing pages more accessible.
- Design flexibility : Design flexibility should be considered as well; high-quality templates and customization are options that should be included in the free plan.
- Feature Set : Look for any built-in SEO tools, mobile responsiveness, any kind of storage space, and access to essential plugins.
Always consider these three factors before choosing any kind of free website builder. The builders listed here are often considered the best platforms for beginners and offer a seamless upgrade path beneficial for any kind of business.
10 best website builders
1. Wix
Wix is one of the most popular website builders. It is usually known for its flexibility and ease of use. It provides you with hundreds of customizable templates and tools. Whether you are building any kind of personal blog or business site, Wix always helps you through that, and Wix offers you the tools you need to bring your vision to life.
Feature :
1- It is a drag-and-drop editor.
2- It offers built-in SEO and marketing tools.
3- Provides you with advanced design flexibility.
4- Provides you with more than 800+ templates.
Pros :
1- It is a very business-friendly platform
2- Reliable performance and uptime are guaranteed for sites built with this.
3- Large templates and an app ecosystem.
4- Provides you with wide flexibility.
Cons :
1- As it is a free plan, ads pop up continuously.
2- Template switching requires rebuilding your site. You cannot switch templates while
making your website.
Pricing : A free plan is available. The paid plan starts from Rs 250 per month.
2. Shopify
Shopify is one of the powerful e-commerce website builders that helps any user to build their own website quickly. It is suitable for people who are looking to sell products online.
Feature :
1- Built-in payment gateways and checkout systems are available on this website.
2- It also offers a store management dashboard.
3- It has advanced inventory management.
4- It has a POS (Point of Sale).
5- Offers with multi-channel selling (Amazon, eBay).
Pros :
1- It is a platform that is secure, scalable, and offers reliable hosting.
2 - A wide range of paths and integration is included.
3- It is rich app marketplace
4- Best option for e-commerce businesses.
Cons :
1- No free plan is available; only a free trial is available.
2- Transaction fees apply unless using Shopify payments.
Pricing: A 3-day free trial is available, and 20 rupees per month for 3 months is available. The basic plan starts at 1499 per month.
3. WordPress
WordPress is one of the popular websites that helps in building websites. WordPress.com offers a hosted version of the popular WordPress, i.e., CMS. It is great for content-focused websites and provides you customization even in its free plan.
Features :
1- Multiple themes with flexibility in designs available.
2- Mobile-friendly designs are also available.
3- SEO and schema markup tools are there.
4- Has powerful blogging and CMS features
Pros :
1- Ideal for any content-heavy website that you want to build.
2- The upgrade option is available to WordPress.org.
3- It is known for its flexibility.
4- Have robust and supportive resources.
Cons :
1- You will have limited access to any free plan.
2- Ads will be displayed unless you upgrade your plan.
Pricing: Pricing-free plans are available, and paid plans start from Rs.160 per month.
4. GoDaddy’s Website Builder
GoDaddy’s Website Builder is a really popular website builder. It is a quick solution for any kind of logic-launching basic website, especially for small businesses, owners, and entrepreneurs looking to get online fast.
Features :
1- Templates from various industries are available.
2- You get built-in email, marketing, and social media tools.
3- Provides you with 24/7 support.
4- Offers you the industry-specific templates.
5- AI website creation.
Pros :
1- Quick setup is done on this website builder.
2- Easy to use.
3- Provides you with the one-stop solutions (hosting + domain + builder).
Cons :
1- Limited creativity flexibility will be provided to the user.
2- Design options are very basic, and you could say they are not up-to-date.
Pricing : Pricing is like this: free plans are available, and for the paid plans, it starts from $9.99 per month.
5. Squarespace
Squarespace is a well-known, sleek design template and is popular among creators.
Features :
1- Select from award-winning design templates.
2- Run your business with e-commerce features.
3- Learn the basics and improve your skills with the online sessions.
4- It has an advanced analytics dashboard.
5- It has built-in marketing.
Pros:
1- Wide range of template designs to meet your personal and professional needs
2- Great for portfolios or any kind of business website.
3- It has sleek, professional designs.
Cons:
1- No free plan is available on this platform.
Pricing: Pricing is a 14-day free trial. You can get it. And for the paid plans, it starts from 1300 per month.
6. Weebly
Weebly is owned by Square. It is a platform that is beginner-friendly and has very solid features for any small business or online store.
Features:
1- It has a drag-and-drop editor, which is very important.
2- It can integrate any kind of shopping cart into it.
3- Gives you free SSL certificates.
4- It has the app center for extra functionality.
Pros :
1- Good e-commerce tools are free of cost.
2- Easy-to-use interface.
3- It is a very beginner-friendly platform.
4- It has smooth integration with Square for the payments.
Cons :
1- Ads are on the free version.
2- Limited templates are provided.
Pricing : Free plans are available, and paid plans start at Rs. 480 per month.
7. Zyro
Zyro is a comparatively new builder for hot-string, offering fast, AI-driven website creation. It is a perfect website builder for those who want to have a website with very basic features.
Features :
1- AI content generation and heatmaps are available.
2- Lightweight and responsive templates will be available.
3- It has the grid-based editor.
4- It also has free hosting with SSL.
Pros :
1- Extremely fast website building, as it uses AI generation.
2- Affordable pricing is also considered to be a positive side of this website.
3- AI tools really save time in the design and content.
Cons :
1- Fewer templates and competitors are there.
2- Fewer third-party integrations are available.
Pricing : No free plan is currently available. Only free trials are available. For paid plans, it starts from Rs. 149 per month.
8. Webflow
Webflow is a more advanced builder aimed at designing websites than any other website design. It combines a visual builder with a very powerful code-level customization
Features:
1- The key feature of this platform is that it has full HTML and CSS control.
2- CMS for dynamic content is available.
3- It has the hosting on AWS with fast performance.
4- Provides you with the visual development with code-level control.
Pros :
1- High design flexibility is provided.
2- Strong CMS integration is there.
3- Known for being highly scalable for advanced projects.
Cons :
1- It is normally not a very beginner-friendly platform.
2- The free plan has Webull's branding. There will be a watermark on it.
Pricing : Free plans with a Webflow domain and paid plans start from 1200 per month.
9. BigCommerce
BigCommerce is an enterprise-level eCommerce platform that focuses on scalability. It is ideal for any kind of business to grow that needs more advanced online selling tools to grow.
Features :
1- Multi-channel selling capabilities are provided.
2- Strong SEO features are there.
3- Focuses a lot on the scalability of the project.
4- Simple store creation.
Pros :
1- Excellent analytics and reporting are
2- Scalable for any kind of larger business.
3- Considered as the great option for the personal projects and small sites.
Cons :
1- No free plan is available on this platform.
2- Customization can be complex sometimes
Pricing : For the pricing, it's a 15-day free trial, and for the plan, it's 2000 per month.
10. Strikingly
Strikingly is a simple website builder that focuses on one-page websites. It's ideal for personal brands, portfolios, and landing pages.
Features :
1-It contains a one-page site template.
2- Mobile-optimized designs are available.
3- Marketing tools (email, SEO, analytics).
Pros :
1- This website is extremely easy to use.
2- Great for any simple and elegant website.
3- Easy for beginners to launch the project.
Cons:
1- This website is not suitable for any kind of complex work.
2- Customization is very limited. You cannot customize it according to your own.
Pricing: A free plan is available, but the paid plan starts from 600 per month.
Should You Use a Website Builder for Your Site?
Website builders are a great medium for you to build your website according to your business or need. Website builders are a great option for many users who are just beginners or don’t know coding. Using a website builder helps you build your website instantly in an affordable and easy way without hiring a professional. However, if you want to have a more customizable website, you need to have a CMS like WordPress.org, or you can also hire a web developer to build the website you want to build. Free website builders are not always recommended to people who want to build a highly professional website for their business.
At last, website builders offer you a great opportunity or an entry point to the world of development, where you can express yourself or your business in front of the world. But many developers and business owners require customization of their website, but they don’t have the skills. So, it totally depends on you how you want a website, and according to your needs, you can choose the website builder for your site.
How to Choose the Best Website Builder?
Choosing the best website builder comes down to your priorities for what you want to have in your website. You should always be outlining the necessities or the priorities that you want in your website from the beginning, before choosing any kind of website builder. Whether it is a free platform, you are paying for it. Start by identifying your primary goals and start having or building a blog and a business idea, and a presentation you can make.
Compare the builders based on many factors like ease of use, availability and updated versions of designs and templates, availability of e-commerce tools, SEO and marketing features, and so on. Of course, price and scalability are the main factors you shouldn’t miss before choosing any kind of website builder.
At last, before choosing any kind of website builder, always try a free plan so that you can have a rough idea about the website builder before buying the premium subscription of that builder. Always check reviews and testimonials of these website builders. There are many websites that you can just go through. Some of them are good firms, have good reviews, etc. Choosing the best website builder helps you make your website even more attractive, responsive, and easy to use for your targeted audience, and it will help your business grow even more.
Conclusion
Free website builders are very powerful resources for anyone looking to create a website without technical coding skills. For beginner-friendly options, you can try Wix and Weebly. If you are looking for advanced platforms, Webflow and Shopify are the best. Some of the other factors you should consider are the kind of website you want, your goals, and key features. The right platform will obviously help you to launch and grow your online presence even more.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the easiest website builder for beginners?
Wix and Weebly are two website builders that are very easy for beginners.
2. Which website builder is best for e-commerce?
The best eCommerce website builders are Shopify and Wix
3. Can I create a website for free?
Yes, there are many platforms where you can build a website for free, like Wix, WordPress.com, etc.
4. Which website builder is best for SEO?
Webflow and WordPress.com offer you strong SEO tools.
5. What are the limitations of free website builders?
Free website builders sometimes don't provide you with any flexibility. And also those with the SEO tools have many ads running, which distracts you from your work.
