Over the years, website builders have bridged the gap between people with little to no technical knowledge and those with the ability to create robust, fully functional websites from scratch.
Website building platforms are a great solution for individuals and businesses alike. Providing all the necessary building blocks and elements to create highly functional websites. That best present both personal and business websites alike.
The importance of having a robust website builder has only grown over the years as more and more commerce flows through the internet.
At least 15.5% of global GDP is being traded using digital e-commerce platforms, with an astounding growth rate of two and a half percent per year.
With so many great website builders out on the market today, how do you determine which one is the best builder to create your own website?
The genuine answer to the question of what is the best website builder for your project will depend on your individual requirements and the tools that you want to have at your disposal.
In this post, we’ll go through the advantages and disadvantages of the most popular website builders to help you select the ideal platform for your needs.
So let’s get down with the Best Website Builder Review.
What to Look for When Choosing the Best Website Builder for eCommerce?
Before diving into our picks for the best website builders and customizers, we should take certain items into consideration.
Since this will directly impact your website building experience, website customizability, SEO performance, and website functionality. We highly recommend that you keep a note of the capabilities you want on your website.
And consider certain criteria before making your final decision on which platform you would like to build your website on.
Criteria for Choosing the Best Website Builder
Ease of Use: The platform you choose to opt-in for must be easy to work with. Offering website building capabilities in an intuitive and easy-to-reach layout.
So, that non-technical people can easily operate the builder.
Builder/Editor Tools: The platform must offer everything that you need to create a modern website for the twenty-first century. This includes modular tools, widgets, modules, customizability, and the ability to integrate functions from third-party sources, etc.
Pricing: Pricing is something that you should take strongly into consideration. Although certain platforms, such as WordPress, can be the cheapest website builder on the net.
But as you add more premium themes, plugins, and functionality, the cost will start to add up. So, we highly recommend that you calculate how much would like to spend in the first place.
Website Design: Another item to take into consideration is website design. The website builder you’re opting for should offer both first-party & third-party preset content. Such as demos, templates, dummy content, etc.
Customer Support: Running into some technical snags is a common thing in the field of web development. So, a builder platform with a great support desk would be nice to have.
Data Ownership & Privacy: Privacy is a commonly neglected topic that should be further discussed. The platform you choose must provide a secure database system and full ownership of your data.
With that being said, let’s start with our list of the best website builder software in 2024:
WordPress CMS
WordPress.org, better known as the best self-hosted CMS platform in the world, is currently powering somewhere between 43% to 45% of websites on the Internet. And it is estimated to grow folds as the years go by.
WordPress is widely known as a highly reliable platform with an unprecedented level of user freedom. From your website’s data to your web hosting service, everything is under your control.
And WordPress.org will not dictate how you operate the CMS software.
Although WordPress has very limited capabilities in terms of its website builder prowess. But its massive community of developers and programmers more than makes up for it by developing amazing plugins such as the Elementor drag and drop page builder.
Another great piece of software that expands the capabilities and functionality of both WordPress and Elementor page builders is – ElementsReady Elementor Addons.
This is an essential addons plugin to have for building a robust and highly responsive website for the twenty-first century. This best DIY website builder provides all the tools necessary to develop a website with specific widgets and modules for ease of use and better navigation.
For example, with a combination of the ElementsReady – Login, and Register widgets you can easily create and customize functional user login and registration pages.
And not only third-party website building and page customizer tools, but you also have the freedom and ability to mix and match any kind of plugins and modules together to get your desired outcome.
For example,
For SEO purposes, you can choose between SEO plugins such as Yoast SEO, Rank Math, etc.
For setting up an online store, you can choose between any of these E-commerce WordPress plugins.
Unlike others in this list, you’ll need to have a hosting service subscription, SSL certificate, and domain name to continue. Some hosting service providers will offer all of them on the same platform.
WordPress Pros:
- The open-source CMS software is absolutely free.
- Thousands of community-made themes & templates.
- Thousands of third-party plugins & modules.
- Your website’s database is under your own ownership.
- It is highly customizable using third-party tools and widgets.
- The ability to create and customize online marketplaces.
- The ability to integrate social media platforms via third-party plugins.
- Impressive SEO performance, but requires some tools and configuration.
- WordPress is very scalable and can handle heavy traffic, depending on your hosting service.
WordPress Cons:
- You will need to install additional programs to get the missing features.
- You have to opt for a third-party hosting solution.
- Some manual assembly is required, including manual security configuration.
- Will take some time to get used to.
- Cheapest website builder, but costs do add up as you add more premium plugins and themes.
- Compatibility issues may come up with the themes, plugins, and the latest versions of WordPress.
WordPress Pricing:
Both WordPress.org & WordPress.com offers are free. WordPress.org is a fully free barebones CMS, but you’ll have opt-in for a hosting service. Whereas WordPress.com’s free website creation comes with very limited features.
And the premium version starts at $4 per year for a single site & can go up to the eCommerce plan at $45 per year.
WIX
WIX is another strong contender for the best website builder software and has been going strong since 2006. With catering to over 200 million users worldwide, WIX has certainly proven its worth and reputation.
Not as much as WordPress.org, but still WIX is still a very versatile platform with a decent selection of responsive themes that can greatly benefit small businesses to appeal to their customers.
The best part of WIX is its AI-powered website builder, which is a great addition for novice and advanced users alike. Providing them with exceptional functionality and customization options.
The platform also includes over 800+ layouts to pick and choose from. Which is an astonishing quantity, especially since they are all professionally made. WIX’s templates are divided into several categories of templates from different genres.
WIX Pros:
- 800+ pre-design templates.
- The ability to create a blog website from scratch using CSS & HTML.
- AI-powered website builder by filling out a quick WIX questionnaire.
- Third-party templates are supported.
- Flexible customizer screen.
- In-built App Market.
WIX Cons:
- Lack of customization options and CMS tools.
- Cannot switch templates.
- Limited free plan with Wix branding & ads.
- Limited third-party apps.
WIX Pricing:
WIX basic plan starts at $4.50 per month with limited features & 1GB bandwidth; can go all the way up to the Business VIP plan at $35 per month with unlimited bandwidth.
HubSpot Website Builder
HubSpot can be the best website builder for SEO, with its lightweight website building structure and simplistic modular capabilities.
The HubSpot website builder comes with its own CMS platform for ease of use and first-party building elements for a quick website building solution.
HubSpot Website Builder Pros:
- Easy-to-use platform with an intuitive, user-friendly website builder.
- Pre-designed themes.
- Hosted by HubSpot.
- Optimized for SEO & provides built-in SEO tools.
- Free SSL certification.
- Provides conversion-optimized website templates.
HubSpot Website Builder Cons:
- HubSpot is better suited for business landing pages. If you want an e-commerce website, WordPress is a better option.
- Steep earning curve.
- The builder offers database export capabilities but fails when it comes to restoring it.
- Only saves snapshots of the data.
HubSpot Website Builder Pricing:
HubSpot CMS Start plan starts at $270 per year with all the essential website builder features; can go all the way to up Enterprise Business plan at $14,400 per year.
Web.com
Web.com is a simple method of creating professional-looking blogs that are tailored to your audience. It allows you to integrate blogs into your enterprise platform or e-commerce site. It has a simple, drag-and-drop website-building platform.
Web.com allows users to modify the appearance and feel of their websites without requiring any code, which is a must-have because all of the other platforms on our list do.
Furthermore, it features smart SEO, security, and autosave functions.
Web.com Pros:
- Beginner-friendly website builder screen.
- Fully customizable responsive website templates.
- Autosave function on the content editing screen.
- Fairly priced.
- Free domain is included with the paid plans.
- In-built eCommerce tools allow up to 50 products.
- most SEO friendly website builder with well-rounded SEO and analytical tools.
Web.com Cons:
- Questionable expandability with a very small app library.
- Lacks scalability compared to other CMS platforms.
- One of the best website builders for small businesses but not well suited for large businesses.
Web.com Pricing:
Web.com’s Website Essentials plan starts at 4.95 per month; can go up to the eCommerce Premium plan at $19.95 per month.
Squarespace
The Squarespace builder is by far the best website builder for eCommerce sites in terms of convenience and reliability. The platform was designed from the ground up to best accommodate e-commerce platforms and businesses with minimum effort.
The builder delivers hundreds of preset designs with impressive customization tools and a great website building experience.
Furthermore, the builder provides an excellent SEO solution with a mobile responsive layout.
Squarespace Pros:
- Easy to configure with a user-friendly website builder.
- Stunning professionally crafted templates.
- The templates are very adaptable and suitable for mobile devices.
- The website provides domain names with SSL and HTTPS.
- This best website builder for eCommerce provides exceptional solutions for businesses.
Squarespace Cons:
- Limited app library and extensions.
- Lacks scalability.
- Squarespace isn’t able to accommodate large corporations and businesses reliably.
Squarespace Pricing:
Squarespace Personal plan starts at $16 per month; can go up to the Commerce plan at $49 per month.
Conclusion
So there you have it, our list of the best website builders for 2024. We hope this article was helpful and that it gave you a good starting point for your business’ online presence.
Keep in mind that these are just some of the many options available to you, so do your research and find the builder that fits your needs best.
Thanks for reading!