17 Best Website Builders: Reviews for Small Business (2021)
Choosing the best website builder can be difficult, as there are 74 popular options to choose from with different feature sets.
Website tools have been around since the early 2000s, and they look a lot different today than they did back then. Features get more advanced, user expectations increase, and building a website isn’t the same as it was 10+ years ago.
When learning how to create your website, I want to make this first decision easier for you. By showcasing the top website builders, I want to help you find the right solution for your business.
These website builder reviews take into account web hosting services, price, reliability, technical support, site speed, SEO, features, learning curve, ease of use, template design, and more.
We’ll also compare:
- The best website builders for small businesses.
- The best free and cheap options.
- The easiest choices if you’re not technically savvy.
- The ones with the best SEO.
- The best platforms with online store capabilities.
- The best builders for agencies.
- And the best options for photographers and artists.
Let’s get started.
Disclaimer: Please note, I may receive affiliate compensation for some of the links below at no cost to you if you decide to purchase a paid plan. However, these are the best tools I have tested for launching and running a website. You can read my affiliate disclosure in my privacy policy.
What is the Best Website Builder?
Using a website builder is a quick and easy way to build a presence for your brand or online business. These tools simplify your site management by combining domain registration, hosting, and site design into one platform.
While you lose some control compared to managing hosting separately, website builders can still be a good option.
For example, your requirements will be different, based on the features you need. If you’re a local business, a simple 5-page website could work. Or if you’re building a personal brand portfolio, web design is most important.
In the end, the choice comes down to ease of use vs. control.
If you’re familiar with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, you can choose a more advanced content management system (CMS) and control the look and feel of your website. If you’re not too savvy with web design and development, you’ll want to go with an easy drag and drop editor.
The choice is up to you.
Here are my top picks for the best website builder to use this year.
1. Wix.
Best Website Builder for Small Business ($13/month)
Wix is the most popular website builder on the market, with over 100 million users. They have 500+ ready-to-use templates to design your website that work for many different categories and industries. These templates are mobile-optimized and have 100 fonts to choose from (or you can upload your own).
Their designs also look beautiful, with scroll effects, and advanced design features like animation and video backgrounds.
If you already have a domain on GoDaddy or want to register one at Wix.com, they make it very easy. Also, if you’d like to add e-commerce to your site so that you can sell online, plans start a $20/month.
If you’re a small business, I recommend Wix as the best online store builder. You don’t necessarily need a platform with more advanced options like BigCommerce and Shopify. Wix website owners that want to add an e-commerce store can get these great new features.
Wix is the most user-friendly website tool on the market. You can almost endlessly customize the look and feel of your site with no coding knowledge.
They also have a tool called Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) – the first artificial intelligence website builder. Wix ADI learns about your site and uses that information to design a site tailored to your specific needs. This tool leverages AI choosing from billions of combinations of images, text, layouts, and contact forms.
Ultimately, if you’re looking for the best software for small businesses, Wix is your best choice.
Read my full Wix review for more in-depth analysis.
Get started with Wix.
2. Zyro.
Best Modern Website Builder with Free Plans (free – $3.49/mo)
Zyro is a website builder with a mission to help local businesses to tell their unique stories online.
Overall, they are best known for simplicity and speed.
With Zyro, you can create a business website quickly and easily with no coding required. Your site also loads fast due to its light framework and looks great on all devices.
With a powerful set of tools, Zyro helps grow your online business with pre-made design templates, AI-driven text, an intuitive drag-and-drop grid tool, mobile-readiness, and over one million stock images to choose from.
One of their standout features is their AI Content Generator, which provides SEO-friendly content ideas based on your industry and specific business type.
To get started with this tool, you choose your type of business, then write 2-3 sentences describing your brand and context. You then adjust your AI settings and customize them based on length, expertise, and creativity level. Lastly, you click the Generate button and see your uniquely created content.
Since content creation is a challenge for many website owners, this tool creates new paragraphs for you that can rank better in search and increase conversion rates.
Some other excellent features include:
- Built-in SEO tools to improve your search rankings.
- A free SSL certificate and custom domains.
- An AI-driven logo and slogan maker.
- 24/7 customer support via email and live chat.
- AI heatmaps to increase website conversions and predict visitor behavior.
- Mobile-optimized, fast-loading website designs.
- Free website design templates for different industries like creative agencies, startups, fashion brands, wellness companies, bakeries, and more.
Zyro offers three main pricing plans – a free plan, a mid-tier “Basic” plan at $1.99/month, and their high-tier “Unleashed” plan at $3.49/month.
Their free plan does not include a custom domain name but does provide 99.9% uptime, an SSL certificate, 500MB of bandwidth and 500MB of storage.
Next, their “Basic” plan allows you to connect your own domain name, increases bandwidth and storage, and includes extra features like ad removal and integrations with tools like Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, and Facebook pixels. This is a very popular plan that is most suitable for small and medium-sized businesses.
Finally, their “Unleashed” plan provides every Zyro feature and provides unlimited bandwidth and storage. At such an affordable price of $3.49/month, it makes sense to go with this plan and enjoy the unlimited features if you plan to have a lot of content on your site.
Overall, Zyro is best for small businesses looking to create and grow a website quickly, save money on writing and logo-making with their AI tools, rank higher on search engines, and increase conversion rates with high-quality, mobile-friendly design templates.
You can get started with Zyro for free to test out their platform, then upgrade to a paid plan when you’re ready to grow your online business.
Get started with Zyro and start building your website today.
3. Squarespace.
Best Website Design for Personal Sites ($12/month)
When I think of Squarespace, my mind goes right to their beautifully designed home page. They truly know how to create beautiful, high-quality sites that look great for both small businesses and personal websites alike.
With over 100 design templates to choose from, they lead the pack when it comes to design. Squarespace templates look excellent down to every detail. The fonts, color schemes, and imagery all mesh perfectly for any website.
Besides design, their platform is great for bloggers. I tested out their WYSIWYG blog editor, and it’s very intuitive.
You drag elements like images, headings, and text onto the page and position it where you would like. They also offer multiple user permissions, Google AMP functionality, and you can schedule your posts:
A few small SEO limitations hold Squarespace back from being #1 on this list. First, my XML sitemap pulled in two versions of every page with and without a trailing slash “/.” This double indexing could potentially lead to SEO and duplicate content issues down the road. They didn’t have an easy fix the last time I checked.
Second, your blog headlines always become your meta titles, so be careful when adding your headlines for SEO. You can read more in my full Wix vs Squarespace review.
Other great features make up for these drawbacks. Their ease of use is top-notch – sites are elementary to build with their editing tools. In-built analytics tools provide steady data on-site visitors if you’re not using Google Analytics. Plus, it’s hard to go wrong with a beautifully-designed website for just $12/month.
Monthly prices range from $12/month for their Personal plan up to $40/month for their Online Store (Advanced) plan. Monthly costs are based on a one-year contract, and Squarespace includes a free domain. The Personal plan provides a free domain name, unlimited bandwidth and storage, free SSL, and 24/7 customer support.
Overall, if you’re a small business that needs first-rate web design or a blogger that wants your content to look great, Squarespace is a reliable choice.
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