15 Best Website Builder Platforms for 2021 (Based on Users Choice)

Are you looking for the best website builder platforms for 2020? What could help you make an elegant website? Don’t worry. We’ll be tackling this question in this comparison article and help you choose the best website builder for your site.

Website builders allow users to design and build their websites without the need for major coding knowledge or hiring an expert web designer. There are many website builder platforms on the web varying from the services they provide.

It’s important to choose the website builder that works the best for you. However, there are some points that you have to keep in mind before choosing the best platform for you. And, we have talked about it.

Let’s get started.

What to Look For?

Among tons of website builders, choosing the best for your site can get very confusing and hard. But there are some important points and features that your website builders should include. This will help make your process of website building very easy and effective.

You have to be aware of the following important points while getting the best website builder for your site.

i. Ease of use

The main purpose of website builders is to make the process of building a website easy and hassle-free. If the builder itself is hard to use and set up, then it would hold no actual meaning. Therefore, it’s crucial for a website builder to be easy to use and you need to make sure that it comes with a simple editing tool. It should provide you with a hassle-free way to design your website.

ii. Cost-efficient

You have to always be mindful of what you want and if you can afford it. If you’re just getting into making your site, then you probably don’t have much of a budget to invest in the site too. Many website builders bill you yearly so you also have to look into long-term costs. It’s important to see if the website builder you want falls under your budget.

Among different options, choosing the cheapest might not be the best way as you can miss out on important features. Therefore, you have to be cautious about what you choose and if it’s cost-effective.

iii. Features

A good website builder needs a good set of features and functionality for your site. One of such important features is SEO. With an increasing number of websites, it’s crucial to have a good ranking in search engine results. And, SEO feature helps you optimize your site to rank better in search engine results.

One of the other important features your website builder should have is social sharing. The website builder of your choice should also include basic features and functionality to make your site responsive and mobile-friendly for everyone to access.

iv. Support

There always is a possibility for you to get into some problems while building your website. It can really affect your website and the productivity of a company. To minimize the effect and get help during those situations, it’s important to look for a website builder that provides 24/7 support.

You have to see if the website builder has a good reputation for customer support and satisfaction before going for that.

The website builder’s main purpose is to help you build your site easily and support you through the steps. This can break or make your site. Therefore, it’s important to choose the best website builder platform for your site after enough research.

Let’s get into the list we’ve prepared to help you with that.

15 Popular and Best Website Builders for 2021

All the listed website builders are best and listed based on the user’s choice. Some platforms are more useful for niche-based websites like eCommerce. But, you can also use website builders to make your desired websites easily.

1. WordPress.org

Started in 2003, WordPress.org is one of the two flavors of WordPress along with WordPress.com. WordPress is the most popular website builder which powers more than 40% of the websites on the internet.

WordPress.org is a self-hosted and open-source website builder platform that provides you with full control over your site. It’s free to use and will only require a few minutes to set up your website. As a self-hosted website builder, you have to take care of the hosting and domain name services.

Pros:

• You have complete control over your site.
• You can easily build any type of website like eCommerce, personal, and more.
• It provides a huge library of free and premium plugins and themes.
• You can easily add different functions and features using plugins.
• Supports easy to use drag and drop page builders like Elementor and Divi.
• Has an active community and many expert support options.
• Cost-effective.

Cons:

• Slight learning curve for managing your system.
• You have to take care of the domain name and hosting.
• Manage updates, plugins, performance, and backups on your own.

Pricing:

WordPress is a free platform but for a self-hosted solution, you need to pay for hosting services which are around $7.99/month and $14.99/year for a domain name.

2. Constant Contact Website Builder

Powered by intelligent A.I, Constant Contact Website Builder can build a website in minutes using its easy drag and drop tools. It comes with several templates that you can choose from for your site. It’s a fully hosted platform so you don’t have to care about hosting service and it also provides you with a subdomain like yoursite.constantcontact.com.

Constant Contact Website Builder is featureful and comes with features like logo builder, website analysis, and different eCommerce features too. Although the free version shows ads banners on your site, you can get the paid version to monetize it. And the paid version also includes domain and Secure Socket Layers (SSL) certification.

Pros:

• Easy drag and drop tools for design purposes.
• Requires no coding skills.
• Provides several features to get started.
• Comes with a free custom domain and SSL for paid options.

Cons:

• Doesn’t support many third-party plugins
• Displays banner ads for free packages.
• Third-party platform integration is limited.

Pricing:

Constant Contact is 3 plans: A free plan which costs you nothing, a Starter that is around $10/month, and a $20/month Business plan which comes with more eCommerce features.

3. Wix

As one of the best website builder platforms, Wix, requires no prior coding knowledge. It’s very easy to set up and start building your site. It comes with different templates for your every need and is very easy to customize for any type of website. Wix provides responsive website designs compatible with all sorts of mobile devices.

Like, Constant Contact, Wix is a fully hosted platform that takes care of hosting and subdomain for you. Wix allows you to easily include a blog to your website for more interaction. It’s a fully hosted platform, so you don’t have to worry about hosting services. It also provides you with a free subdomain that looks like sitename.wixsite.com

Pros:

• Comes with a huge number of templates to choose from.
• Requires no coding skills.
• Comes with a free subdomain.
• Different customization options using third-party integrations.
• Easy drag and drop builder.
• Comes with SSL.

Cons:

• The free subdomain allows Wix to show ads on your site.
• You need to subscribe to the domain name registrar for the custom domain name.
• Limited third-party add-ons.
• Limited eCommerce features.
• Migrating to other platforms is tedious.

Pricing:

Wix has a free option that is limited and comes with the Wix subdomain. It also has plans for $14.95/month and $26.95/month.

4. Squarespace

Favorable by many small businesses, Squarespace is one of the best website builder platforms. It has an easy drag and drops designing tools for a website. You can easily design and customize websites of different niches with no coding knowledge.

Squarespace allows you to establish an online presence. You can create elegant and attractive websites with various designs to choose from. It’s a hosted platform that provides robust hosting services for your site.

Pros:

• Easy to use drag and drop tools.
• Comes with various templates and fully customizable.
• Provides custom domain and robust hosting services.
• Built-in SSL encryption.
• Responsive and mobile-friendly website creation.

Cons:

• Lacks third-party feature extensions.
• eCommerce platform allows limited payment portals.

Pricing:

The Squarespace websites plan starts from around $12/month and the cost starts at around $26/month for an online store plan.

5. Shopify

Specializing in eCommerce websites and online stores, Shopify is one of the best website builder platforms. Shopify allows an easy designing process to make your eCommerce website. It’s a fully hosted website builder platform which takes care of your website without you having to do anything.

Shopify powers over 500k business websites. It comes with an easy drag and drops tool for designing so you require no coding knowledge. It’s a fully hosted platform and takes care of your site hosting.

Pros:

• Easy drag and drop design tool.
• No coding knowledge is required to create a responsive website.
• Specific for eCommerce and comes with every eCommerce related feature.
• Manages backups and updates.
• Integrated with Shopify payment.

Cons:

• Expensive.
• Transferring your website to another platform can be a hassle.
• Charges transactions free for you to use payment gateway.

Pricing:

The basic plan for Shopify starts at around $29/month with the ability to upgrade it for more money. The advance plan can go up to $299/month

6. Weebly

With tons of designs, Weebly is one of the best website builder platforms on the web. Similar to Shopify, it’s a fully hosted platform and manages the software for you. It comes with tons of great designs that you can choose for your site.

Weebly has a great page builder that allows you to create an elegant website using its live page editor function. You need no coding knowledge to start crafting your site on Weebly. It’s packed with different features like contact forms, galleries, and sliders.

Pros:

• No coding knowledge required
• Comes with tons of website design.
• Comes with a live page editor feature.
• Has different features and functions.

Cons:

• Few integrated features.
• Limited third-party integrations.
• Free plans have Weebly branding on sites and subdomains.
• Charges 3% transaction fee for every sale.

Pricing:

Weebly comes with a basic plan which is free of costs. It also provides different paid options which start from around $8/month.

7. WordPress.com

Similar to WordPress.org, WordPress.com is another flavor of WordPress. But it’s not a self-hosted platform like WordPress.org. It’s one of the best website builder platforms which takes care of hosting and domain name for your site.

WordPress.com is a free platform that allows you to add tons of free plugins and use different themes. If you’re not comfortable with self-hosted WordPress.org, then WordPress.com is best for you. It also has a paid option.

Pros:

• Takes care of hosting and domain name for your site.
• Easy to use and no setup required.
• Mobile-friendly design.
• Tons of themes and plugins to choose from.
• Provides expert support.

Cons:

• The free version is limited.
• Doesn’t offer drag and drop features like other platforms.
• Offers less customization than WordPress.org.
• You can’t control the ads shown on your site.

Pricing:

It has both free and premium plans. The free plan is very limited whereas the premium plan starts at around $4/ month and can go up to $25. 

8. BigCommerce

A fully hosted platform, BigCommerce is one of the best eCommerce-specific website builder platforms. It allows you to easily create an eCommerce website and online stores with its different built-in features. It takes care of your website management, security, and updates without you having to do anything.

BigCommerce allows you to focus on growing your eCommerce business. You can also integrate your site to different payment gateways like Stripe, PayPal, and more.

Pros:

• Fully hosted platform.
• Comes with different built-in features.
• Comes with different premade website designs.
• Takes care of your software update, management, and website security.
• Does Not charge any transaction fee.
• Integration with different payment gateways.

Cons:

• Slightly expensive.
• Migrating your site can be a hassle.

Pricing:

Cost starts from $29.95/month

9. GoDaddy Website Builder

Along with a hosting service and domain name, GoDaddy also provides one of the best website builder platforms. GoDaddy website builder is an easy-to-use website builder which comes with its hosting service.

You can use its grad and drop tool to design your professional-looking website. It comes with 100+ website templates to choose from to make your site look elegant.

Pros:

• Easy to use drag and drop page builder tool.
• Comes with 100+ website templates.
• 24/7 expert support.
• Comes with an AI module that helps you optimize your site.
• Offers SSL encryption.
• Integration with social and email marketing features and google analytics.

Cons:

• Not everything is editable.
• Different upsells.
• Lacks good Search engine optimization.

Pricing:

It comes with 3 paid plans: Personal for $5.99/month, Business for $9.99/month, and Business plus for $14.99/month which is all billed annually.

10. Webnode

With more than 40 million users, Webnode is one of the best website builder platforms. It uses a drag and drop tool to design your site which allows you to easily add sections and content elements to your site.

Webnode is available in more than 20 languages which allows your site to support multilingual features. It’s a fully hosted platform that takes care of domain name and hosting for your site.

Pros:

• Best for multilingual sites.
• Great SEO.
• Great backup and SEO feature.
• Extendible tools and widgets using HTML codes.
• Can integrate with AdSense.

Cons:

• Limited eCommerce features.
• Lacks some features.
• Doesn’t offer live chat for support.
• Storage is limited to 100MB for free.

Pricing:

Webnode has both a free trial and some paid options. The paid options start at around $3.95/month.

11. Site123

Especially for beginners, Site123 has been one of the best website builder platforms on the web. It’s a very beginner-friendly website builder and claims to be the simplest and easiest to use. It’s very affordable and comes with important features to help beginners.

Site123 comes with 100+ templates to choose from for every type of website you want to create. It also has both free and paid plans to choose from. It’s a fully hosted platform providing free hosting and subdomain for your site.

Pros:

• Very simple and easiest to use.
• Comes with more than 100+ templates.
• Has a responsive and mobile-friendly design.
• Can create websites in more than 20 languages.
• Great live chat support.

Cons:

• The free plan is very limited.
• Customization is limited.
• Shows ads in free versions that can’t be controlled.
• Expensive.
• Lacks advanced features.

Pricing:

It offers both free and paid plans. The paid plan costs around $5.8/month which provides you with a free domain for a year or the ability to add your domain which the free plan lacks. 

12. Gator Website Builder

Provided by HostGator, Gator is one of the best website builder platforms that is fully hosted and takes care of domain name. It overlooks website backups and security. It comes with a simple and easy drag and drops tool for editing your site as you want.

Gator comes with more than 200 website designs that are fully responsive and customizable according to your choice. It also provides you with an analytics tool to check your site’s growth.

Pros:

• Easy and powerful drag and drop design tool.
• Fully hosted platform and takes care of domain names.
• Takes care of site security, backup, and management.
• Comes with an SSL encryption certificate.
• Built-in stock photo gallery.
• Doesn’t show any ads on your site.

Cons:

• Doesn’t include a free plan.
• Only a limited number of add-ons and can’t extend using codes.
• Lacks some major features.

Pricing:

Gator has 3 premium plans which are at $3.84/month, $5.99/month, and $9.22/month.

13. Jimdo

With more than 20 million websites, Jimdo is one of the best website builder platforms out there. Although it also comes with a premium option, its free option is not lacking. Anyone can start building websites with Jimdo using it’s a fast and easy-to-use website builder. It has 2 website builders; Jimdo Dolphin and Jimdo Creator.

Jimdo Dolphin’s website builder targets beginners and uses Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) to help them build a website with ease. On the other hand, Jimdo Creator allows users to use its easy drag and drop tool to create a website of their choice. It’s a fully hosted platform.

Pros:

• Shows small ads on a free plan.
• Easy to use with different builders for different expertise.
• Mobile-friendly templates.
• Comes with SSL encryption.
• Provides good support.
• No page limit in the free plan.

Cons:

• Lacks in the number of templates.
• Lacks in features.
• Templates are not fully customizable.

Pricing:

Free and paid options.

14. Carrd

Minimalist and clean, Carrd is one of the best website builder platforms on the web. It provides a clean, single-page website design that you can use to easily promote your business and products. It’s very affordable and comes with an elegant design for your site.

Carrd comes with attractive landing page templates to choose from and it doesn’t require significant time to set up. It works best as a landing page to redirect your viewers to your social media or other pages. It’s a web-hosted platform that requires no download or installation.

Pros:

• It’s very fast and reliable.
• No need to download and install.
• Simple yet elegant single page designs.
• Clean UI.
• Inexpensive.

Cons:

• Lacks eCommerce features.
• Provides single page designs only.
• Lacks good support.

Pricing:

Carrd is free to use with the limitation of 3 sites, standard images and videos, and a subdomain. However, you can get the premium plan which starts at around $19/year. This extends your limitation to 10 sites and you can add your custom domain.

15. Webflow

Although new, Webflow has been able to keep its name as one of the best website builder platforms on the web. Specific for developers and designers, Webflow can be complex for beginners to start with. You can create elegant sites using the website builder tool.

It comes with both a free and paid plan. A free plan is quite featureful and lets you easily create a fully functioning website but lacks the advanced features that the paid option provides. The free plan is also limited to 500 views a month. It’s a fully hosted platform, however, you can host it to your hosting of choice for paid plans.

Pros:

• Very powerful customization tool.
• Designers can fully control and customize the design according to their needs.
• Comes with 100+ templates to choose from.
• Integrates easily with google analytics, MailChimp, etc.
• Shows small and barely noticeable ads on free options.

Cons:

• Specific for developers and designers.
• Support is available through email only.
• Finalize the template at the start.

Pricing:

You can use Webflow to build a website for free but the basic plan to publish it starts at around $12/month. 

Conclusion

We hope this article helped you to know about different website builder platforms, what they offer, and what is best for you. You can use this article as a guide to help you choose the best website builder platform for your site.

From the above list, we would like to recommend WordPress. Because WordPress is the most popular platform to make a website. It is free, easy to use, and trusted by more than 40% of websites.

If you have any queries regarding which platform to choose for your website, comment us below. We will recommend you the best one.

You might want to check out articles on different types of websites you can create and the best eCommerce platforms.

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