In the Internet-dominated world, the need for a business website that allows users to browse and buy products is non-negotiable. Fortunately, those on a tight budget needn’t despair about paying an expensive web designer to do the job – there are a number of excellent free website builders that allow beginners to put together a professional-looking site within minutes.

If you’re uncertain about which website builder to opt for, we’ve made it easier for you – in this guide, we discuss the pros and cons of the ten top free website builders out there, so that you can pick the one that meets your needs best.

Wix

Wix Website Builder

This easy website creator is the most popular site builder on the Internet, and for good reason. The drag-and-drop interface allows for thousands of attractive site designs, and you can customize for SEO as you wish. With the vast array of free tools and extra features, Wix allows you to set up a top-notch professional website on your own without having to spend a dime.

Pros:

  • Wix provides the most functionality among all the website builder options when it comes to adding features.
  • You can add animated text and images – a rarity among free website builders.
  • The App Store features a wide range of additional applications.
  • An artificial intelligence design assistant can help you quickly set up a website based on your industry and business name.
  • Your site is automatically backed up at intervals so that you never lose any information.
  • The blog is easy to use and permits viewer comments from both Disqus and Facebook. You can also edit your blog on the go with the Wix mobile app.
  • If you want to connect your existing domain name, the Connect Domain plan is fairly cheap at $5/month.

Cons:

  • The Wix ad is highly visible and features even when a user scrolls down.
  • The free domain name is clunky and hard to remember – it appears as accountname.wix.com/customname.
  • Wix only offers 500MB of bandwidth, which is easy to exceed on a daily basis.
  • The site structure is not ideal for complex websites with over 30 pages or with more than one sub-level.

Weebly

Weebly Website Builder

This is undoubtedly one of the best free options on the market. It has an intuitive drag-and-drop interface that makes website building a cinch even for those who can’t write a line of code, and includes free ecommerce options too. With over 40 million websites currently built using Weebly, there’s a clear reason for you to trust this builder when setting up your own site.

Pros:

  • The free option allows you to add multiple products to your store and also connect PayPal.
  • The URL is a solid one – it will appear as customname.weebly.com.
  • It is the only free website builder to offer unlimited bandwidth, so your site won’t crash no matter how many visitors you have.
  • It includes an App Centre that lets you add additional functionalities as you wish.
  • The site editor is designed around a ‘what you see is what you get’ approach – the way you edit your site is exactly what your visitor will get to see.
  • The support centre includes excellent tips on SEO and other aspects of improving your site.
  • Live chat with customer support is available on all seven days of the week.
  • If you’re handy with code, you can further edit your Weebly site using CSS and HTML.

Cons:

  • The footer ad is highly visible even when scrolling.
  • It is difficult to export a Weebly website to any other platform.
  • There is no backup functionality, and you will need to contact Weebly’s support team in case your site crashes.

Ucraft

Ucraft Website Builder

This Armenia-based site builder has only been around since 2016, but its ease of use and excellent mobile-responsiveness have already garnered a loyal fan following across the globe. The unique feature of this easy free website builder is that it lets you connect your existing domain name for free. The customization options are also quite extensive.

Pros:

  • You can connect an existing domain name to a Ucraft website for free – a unique feature among free site builders.
  • SSL support is provided at no extra charge.
  • The free URL is also quite sleek – it appears as customname.ucraft.net.
  • The ad size is relatively small.
  • You get access to the SEO features as well.
  • Customer support is prompt and helpful.

Cons:

  • The website builder, while packed with features, is not as intuitive as the other free options.
  • There is no way to backup your website.
  • The number of templates is fairly limited.
  • E-commerce and social media are not available on the free plan.

Webstarts

Webstarts Website Builder

Among the best website builders for beginners, this option has a relatively small user base of 4 million but is growing fast. It has a drag-and-drop builder interface similar to that of Wix and is packed with features for a seamless experience.

Pros:

  • Webstarts provides a generous storage space of 1GB. (Click here to see how much that is in MBs and KBs!)
  • You can feature 10 products in the online store for free.
  • SEO can be fully edited for all pages.
  • The ad at the footer is not very large and can be closed by site visitors.
  • The free URL is quite compact – it appears as customname.webstarts.com.
  • It supports multiple payment options including PayPal.
  • The Aviary image editing tool allows you to customise your images your way.

Cons:

  • The free website option is not optimized for mobile viewing.
  • SSL encryption is not available.
  • The mobile version lacks some of the elements of the desktop version.

Strikingly

Strikingly Website Builder

This is a free easy website builder that is the best option if you’re looking to build a compact one-page website. It allows for simple drag-and-drop building and also allows free ecommerce.

Pros:

  • The sleek interface lets you easily scroll between sections on the page.
  • It has a good number of pre-built templates to make the job easier for you.
  • The free URL is fairly sleek – it shows up as customname.strikingly.com.
  • It provides an impressive 5GB of bandwidth.
  • Live chat support is provided even in the free plan.
  • All the themes are highly mobile-responsive.
  • Android and iOS apps can be used for website editing, managing your analytics, viewing your ecommerce store and more.

Cons:

  • The ad is highly visible and can be an annoyance while scrolling.
  • The free e-commerce option allows you to sell only one product.
  • Multiple pages are only possible on paid plans.
  • There are only 25 themes to choose from.
  • Theme customisation is somewhat limited with no option to edit font colours or sizes.

XPRS

XPRS Website Builder

The reason this is one of the best website builders for free is that it does not place ads on its free sites. It offers some excellent template options to create a sleek, mobile-friendly website.

Pros:

  • There are no advertisements even on its free sites, which is a major plus point.
  • There are a wide variety of sleek and contemporary themes.

Cons:

  • The free URL is extremely clunky – it appears as im-creator.com/free/accountname/customname.
  • The website builder can be somewhat difficult to use for a beginner.
  • There is no blog functionality.

Jimdo

Jimdo Website Builder

This free website builder offers easy functionality along with a small, non-intrusive ad that makes it a great option for building mobile-friendly websites. It also lets you build a full online store for free. It has a growing base of 20 million users and counting.

Pros:

  • The ad is small and non-intrusive and appears discreetly in the footer.
  • The free URL is fairly compact, reading as customname.jimdofree.com.
  • You can set up a complete online store for free.
  • You can connect with PayPal for free.
  • SSL encryption is included.
  • The Android and iOS apps allow for easy site editing on the go.
  • If you can code, you can make use of HTML and CSS to further customise your site.

Cons:

  • You can only sell up to five products for free on the store.
  • The website builder is somewhat out-of-date in terms of template designs and ease of building.
  • The presence of ‘free’ in the URL reduces its professional quality.

Site123

Site123 Website Builder

This website builder claims to be ‘by far’ the easiest site builder available, and it is certainly easy to navigate for a beginner. It also features a non-intrusive ad in the footer.

Pros:

  • The site ad is small and appears discreetly in the footer of the pages.
  • The site is SSL encrypted.
  • You have full access to the SEO settings even on the free plan.
  • The templates are sleek and highly responsive.
  • Helpful SEO tools are included.
  • It features a commendable 1GB of bandwidth.

Cons:

  • Adding and editing content can be somewhat difficult.
  • Ecommerce is only available on the paid plans.
  • Importing themes from previous websites is not possible.

Bookmark

Bookmark Webste Builder

The key feature that sets Bookmark aside from the competition is AiDA, it’s artificial intelligence design assistant that creates a website for you based on your industry and the name of your business. It allows you to get a site up and running within minutes, thus making this cloud-based site builder your go-to option if you’re looking for something quick and easy.

Pros:

  • The design assistant AIDA creates an attractive website automatically thus reducing the effort needed from your end.
  • The website can be easily modified with the intuitive builder.
  • The free URL is quite professional-looking – it appears as https://yourname.bookmark.com.
  • The FAQ section has plenty of resources to help you improve your site.

Cons:

  • The website created by AiDA is heavy in stock images, which downgrades the overall visual impact.
  • Ecommerce is only available in the paid option.
  • The cheapest paid plan starts at $11.99/month, which is quite expensive compared to the paid plans of other website builders like Weebly or Wix.

Mozello

Mozello Website Builder

This Latvian website builder has been around since 2015 and is already one of the more prominent players on the market. The chief feature that sets it apart from the competition is the ability to set up multilingual websites for free. You can also set up a complete online store on the free plan.

Pros:

  • You can create multilingual websites for free, making it easy to connect with a global audience.
  • It provides you with 500MB of storage space.
  • SEO functionality is included in the free plan.
  • You can sell up to 10 products per day in the online store for free.
  • Transactions are secured by HTTPS.
  • The free URL is fairly compact and sleek – it shows up as customname.mozello.com.
  • The ad is a small, non-intrusive ad in the footer.
  • A blog is also included in the free plan where you can create and schedule posts on the go.
  • You can easily track your website’s performance with Google Analytics.

Cons:

  • The website editor offers limited functionality with no drag-and-drop functionality.
  • SSL encryption is not included.

Which Website Builder to choose?

In order to choose the most appropriate website builder you have to firstly determine the functionality of your website. In simple terms – you must clearly understand what you want from your website. After that, check the pros and cons of the website builders in this list or here: http://www.beautifullife.info/web-design/15-best-free-website-builders/ if you need more free website builders. And compare with the requirements that you put forward to your future website. So you can immediately delete less successful variants for you.

If this is your first website building experience, go for Wix or SITE123. They are the easiest to handle. And, if that doesn’t impress you, try either Weebly or Jimdo. I also recommend you to pay attention to the cost, despite the fact that you choose a free website builder. It is possible that in the future you may want to extend the functionality of your website by switching to a premium plan. It is worth considering in advance.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: What is a Website Builder?

Ans: A Website builder is a software or tool which helps you build a website without the knowledge of the code needed. A website builder provides an easy to use drag and drop interface where you can build pages for your website quickly and easily.

Q: Is WordPress a Website Builder?

Ans: No, WordPress is a content management system and cannot be classified as a website builder. There are website builder plugins available for WordPress but it is still a CMS which is quite flexible and can be used for a host of other complex features and website management. Website Builders are typically less flexible and generally used only to create beautiful website layouts and pages.

Q: Is Wix Really Free?

Ans: Yes, Wix is free as long as you do not require more advanced features such as eCommerce capability or your own domain name.