Top 9 best website builders for entrepreneurs [2024]

November 05, 2024 - 9 min read

Top 9 best website builders for entrepreneurs.png

Author: Mary Mattingly

Building a website from scratch can be hella stressful.

You need highly technical skills and time to create a beautiful site worth sharing. Or a huge budget to hire experts who can get the job done. 💰

And if you have none of that?

There’s still a way for you with website builders.

They’re digital tools that allow you to create websites without coding experience and a relatively small budget.

Where do you find them?

Here, of course.

We’ve taken the time to research and curate some of the best free website builders to make your site creation journey a smooth ride.

Go through this comprehensive list to find one that suits your brand’s goals.

Disclaimer: The information below is accurate as of November 05, 2024.

Table of Contents

Best website builders: Comparison table (with features & pricing)

Because there are several of them and we’re committed to making this journey enjoyable, we designed the comparison graph below to give you an overview of the tools we’ve researched and their standout features.

This way, you can identify what specific function each offers.

A comparison graph that shows how different website builder alternatives compare to each other.

While this table highlights the main features of these site builders, you still want to know what exactly you can use them for.

Top website builders by use case

You can use all these tools to build websites with ease. However, the creation process and the kind of sites they help design vary.

Wondering how? Check this list to see what each website builder is best used for.

Ceros — Best for designing interactive web experiences without writing code.
Squarespace — Best for creating visually appealing sites from templates.
WordPress — Best open-source platform for building, managing, and publishing websites.
Wix — Best platform for designing sites with AI.
Shopify — Best eCommerce website builder.
Elementor — Best drag-and-drop builder for creating WordPress sites.
Webflow — Best no-code and low-code platform for creating custom sites.
Hostinger — Best hosting platform with site building add-on.
GoDaddy — Best AI-powered eCommerce platform.

Now, let’s talk about them in detail and highlight what each platform is known for including their pros and cons.

1. Ceros

Ceros is a platform that lets you design interactive digital experiences that capture and sustain people’s attention. With Ceros, you can create content that users engage with through clicks, hovers, quizzes, and other dynamic elements.

Instead of passively consuming information, your audience actively interacts with the content, leading to higher engagement rates and brand loyalty.

Ceros is perfect for crafting interactive landing pages, presentations, infographics, and other digital content that you can easily embed into your website.

It’s not just a traditional website builder; it’s a platform for adding immersive content that enhances your site.

Don’t just take our word for it, people who have used Ceros always come back with great reviews.

One user said, “Ceros has really elevated us to a completely different level when it comes to design, citizen engagement, and viewer engagement. […] It gives us that level of sophistication and innovation and a way to digest information in a clean way.”

Ceros features

Find some of Ceros’ features below:

Customizable toolbar that keeps key tools and AI features within easy reach.
Drag-and-drop editor in an intuitive workspace where you edit design templates or start building from scratch by dragging elements around.
Asset library for storing logos, images, or videos to use in the website design.
Real-time preview to see how the site will look on different devices and browsers before you publish it.

Ceros pricing

You can learn more about Ceros’ pricing by requesting a quote. You can also book a demo to see how it works.

Ceros pros and cons

Pros:

Features an asset library to make designing websites as straightforward as it gets for users.
Supports real-time collaboration, streamlining your review and approval process.
Streamlines the interactive content creation process, allowing you to create experiences using customizable templates.

2. Squarespace

If you want to design a website that’s heavy on visual content, Squarespace is a website builder you can use.

It stands out with sleek, modern web templates that adapt to different devices you can start creating with. This tool has several built-in features for eCommerce and blogging so you don’t need to rely on plug-ins when you begin.

Image source: Squarespace

Squarespace also ensures its templates don’t have any of their brand logos so you can go from editing to publishing with ease.

That’s why Alicia, a product manager at Techpinite Technologies loves it.

She says, “What it does exceptionally is give you an outstanding presence in the digital space. It's simple enough to use and deploy, and brilliant for attracting traffic. ”

Squarespace features

Some of its features include:

Pre-built layouts to help you build web pages using pre-designed elements you can move around.
Commenting system to enable your visitors to drop comments on the page and leave feedback.
Background art for adding engaging designs to section backgrounds to make your web pages more appealing to visitors.
Web analytics overview so you can monitor the site’s performance metrics such as traffic sources or visitors' location.

Squarespace pricing

Squarespace has a 14-day free trial with monthly subscriptions starting at $25 per month.

Squarespace pros and cons

Pros:

It has an intuitive, easy-to-use interface.
It features a mobile app that allows you to edit the website on the go.

Cons:

It doesn’t have an autosave feature when editing a site.
It has limited integrations with third-party apps, so you may not find a tool you’re used to.

3. WordPress

WordPress is considered one of the best content management systems for beginners and professional developers to build and host websites.

Beginners can leverage customizable templates to start building websites and professionals have access to advanced design tools to create custom sites.

Image source: WordPress

Users are describing it as a beginner-friendly web page builder. Alpana Chand, a search engine optimization specialist at sustainability firm Sustridge says,

“It's easy-to-understand and interactive interface allows me to create and manage content without extensive technical knowledge. […] I have ownership and control over my content. With WordPress, I own my website and its data. There are no third-party restrictions, ensuring that my work remains mine.”

WordPress features

Here are some of WordPress's features:

Block editor to help organize your web content and media by dragging and dropping elements where you want.
Advanced design tools like color schemes, borders, and typography to help modify your site’s design.
Auto-generated sitemaps to help search engine crawlers read and categorize your site so it can send relevant traffic.
WordAds for connecting your site with ad publishers like Google Adsense to earn revenue.

WordPress pricing

WordPress is available for free with paid plans starting from $9 per month.

WordPress pros and cons

Pros:

It has a huge plugin repository to improve your site’s functionality.
It allows you to build any kind of site from a blog to an online store, or a full-fledged website with multiple pages.

Cons:

It has a learning curve.
It has a lot of plugins and templates which can be overwhelming for beginners.

4. Wix

Wix is a suitable web builder for individuals or businesses who want to create a simple website with limited navigation pages.

You can build websites with its generative AI by answering a few questions about the site or picking and customizing a theme from Wix’s 800+ templates.

Image source: Wix

See what a small business owner, William H. had to say about Wix:

“I recently switched over to building websites on Wix. It is incredibly easy to use and get the hang of. The implementation is easy and the customer support is very helpful. The features and templates they give are what I was looking for in a non-custom product but my results are custom.”

Wix features

Wix offers different features, including:

AI website builder to create a simple custom site by chatting with Wix’s artificial intelligence.
Custom interactions to make your site interactive by adding animations and background scroll effects.
Page duplication so you can duplicate web pages or copy and paste pages into different sites.
AI SEO meta tags to generate optimized meta titles and descriptions for each web page.

Wix pricing

You can use Wix for free but with limited functions. Its paid version starts at $17 per month.

Wix pros and cons

Pros:

It autosaves changes when you’re editing.
It allows you to create websites in multiple languages.

Cons:

Its page load time is quite slow.
Its free version only lets you publish with an advertising banner on display.

5. Shopify

Building full-fledged online stores and eCommerce businesses is what Shopify is used for.

Shopify describes itself as a tool for creating a home for every business of all sizes.

Image source: Shopify

It provides everything you need to start selling online, from sourcing products online to selling on different platforms (social media, email marketing, etc.), receiving payments, shipping out products, and tracking which products are out of stock.

Small business owner, Angelo, calls Shopify an enterprise-level eCommerce store accessible by small merchants.

“It has everything you need in one package yet is incremental in its usage and relatively easy to understand. Customer support is good (especially for their size)[...]

Overall, it’s used for getting an e-commerce store up and running quickly. [It] can compete with top tier corporate merchants for look, feel, speed, and uptime.”

Shopify features

Look at a few of Shopify’s features below:

Customizable themes with built-in animations and dynamic scrolling you can edit to create a business website without a hitch.
Shopify AI magic helps you write product descriptions, give personalized responses to customers, and change product image backgrounds.
Stock inventory to manage orders, ship out products, and give customers a smooth product return experience.
Analytics and reporting to get insights into your store’s performance, track sales, and collect important data metrics.

Shopify pricing

Shopify is free for 30 days for new users. Its paid versions start at $32 per month.

Shopify pros and cons

Pros:

Supports different kinds of eCommerce business: digital products, wholesale, retail, or dropshipping.
It allows small businesses to scale and grow.

Cons:

It slows down as you add more features.
It collects a transaction fee on each sale payment processed via third-party payment apps.

6. Elementor

Elementor is a web creation platform that allows you to build websites you can host on WordPress.

It was created to help people build sites from scratch without coding knowledge or experience using the WordPress platform. It doubles as both a standalone web builder and a plugin you can use with WordPress.

Image source: Elementor

Fred Moritz, a small business owner says, “Elementor is my go-to tool when creating websites for clients who need it fast. It allows me to change and insert anything visually.

Installation takes just a few minutes with no prior knowledge. It's easy to implement as most themes already come with Elementor. I also love that it's easy to design responsive sites for different devices.”

Elementor features

Here are some of its features:

Drag-and-drop editor that allows you to see the site as you build it, dragging and placing assets where you want.
Customizable templates you can edit to speed up the site creation process.
AI copilot helps you generate custom images, code for developers, and create web copy.
Popup and form builder to build eye-catching forms for collecting customer data.

Elementor pricing

Elementor offers a free version and paid plans starting at $11.99 per month, billed annually.

Elementor pros and cons

Pros:

It’s integrated with WooCommerce for people who want to build an online store on Elementor.
It allows you to add some interactive features like parallax scrolling and animations to make the web design more appealing.

Cons:

Its site has slow loading times.
It only supports annual billing.

7. Webflow

Let’s say you have some technical experience or know how to code a bit but don’t have deep web development experience.

You’re between a beginner and an experienced website builder, wondering which tool can help you get started.

Webflow is a software solution for people like you. It lets you design custom sites with automation, interactions, and animations and generates the code for the site.

Image source: Webflow

Webflow helps design sites that look like they were hand-coded, without writing a single line of code. It gives you the best of both design and development worlds.

Darshan, a UI/UX designer at UXteam says, “Webflow streamlined the whole process from design to prototyping to development for us. It's no code/low code visual interfaces that help to build unique designs.

And when managing content for the website becomes cumbersome, Webflow solves that by allowing us to manage and structure dynamic content.”

Webflow features

Find some of its features below:

Webflow designer, where you can visually modify your site by adding content, interactions, and arranging the site’s structure.
Real-time collaboration allows teammates to perform different activities simultaneously on the site.
Preview feature to view how your site would look after it’s published.
Content management system to streamline how you create, organize, and publish content to your website.

Webflow pricing

Webflow has a free plan and premium versions starting at $18 per month.

Webflow pros and cons

Pros:

It has built-in SEO tools such as sitemap generation and meta and title specification to improve the site’s ranking on the SERPs.
It’s got a huge tutorial library to show you how to start using Webflow.

Cons:

It has only a handful of free website templates.
It has a steep learning curve.

8. Hostinger

Hostinger is a web hosting platform that lets you build basic websites that can improve your business's online presence.

It has about 150 customizable templates with eCommerce features you can edit to create your website. Hostinger also has AI tools for generating sites with SEO-optimized web content.

Image source: Hostinger

Anisa, a small business owner who wanted to sell digital courses, says Hostinger had everything she needed to build an online presence.

Hostinger features

Here are some of its standout features as it relates to web design:

AI website builder to help launch a small business website in minutes with ready-to-use copy and images.
AI image generator to create stock visuals for your site.
eCommerce features such as inventory management, email marketing tools, and appointment scheduling to improve your online store.
Media library where you can organize and store digital files to use in site building.

Hostinger pricing

Hostinger costs $11.99 per month. They occasionally run promotions so you might find their subscription starting at $2.99/mo.

Hostinger pros and cons

Pros:

It gives you a free domain name when you purchase an annual plan.
It’s easy to use.

Cons:

Limited advanced customization options such as custom code editing.
Its AI site builder isn’t optimized for mobile devices.

9. GoDaddy

A popular custom domain registry and hosting platform, GoDaddy doubles as a website builder.

The GoDaddy website builder lets you create an online store using artificial intelligence and templates. You answer a few questions the AI asks and it generates a site where you add products and other business info.

Image source: GoDaddy

It allows you to accept all kinds of payment from debit cards to credit cards, PayPal, Google Pay, and Apple Pay, among others. And because it’s a hosting company, it offers different SSL certificates to make your website more trustworthy and secure your customer’s data.

GoDaddy features

Look at some of its features:

Mobile design and editing, allows you to modify websites from mobile devices.
Contact forms you can add to the site to collect visitor’s information and stay in touch with them.
Review widgets so you can add business reviews from Facebook or Google to your site.
Insight score to see how your sites or online store stacks up against your competitors.

GoDaddy pricing

You can build simple, professional websites for free with GoDaddy website builder but with limited features.

For premium features such as content and design tools or built-in SEO, opt for their premium plans starting at $12.99 per month.

GoDaddy pros and cons

Pros:

It offers a free basic SSL certificate on certain packages.
Its sites are mobile-optimized and can be edited on mobile too.

Cons:

Its AI-generated sites can look generic.
No plugins are available to add extra functionality to your site.

***

Now, we know they all have similar duties and you’re probably having a hard time deciding which one to choose.

To help you resolve that, we’ve put together some pointers to help you make the right choice.

What factors to consider when choosing a website creator

Here are some criteria to watch for in a website builder:

Ease of use: How easy is it to use the software? Do you need to be tech-savvy to build a pop-up form?
Customization: Simply put, check how easy it is to customize sites on the web builder based on your needs or branding guidelines. Does it have a drag-and-drop interface or a simple editor where you can seamlessly change font, style, or assets?
SEO capabilities: Look for tools with built-in SEO functionality like generating meta titles or sitemaps to help you rank on search engines.
Third-party integrations: The website builder needs to be integrated with tools you use for a streamlined workflow.
Affordability: Visit their pricing page and confirm their monthly subscription is within your budget.
Customer support: Even if it’s suuuuper easy to use, the tool’s customer support needs to be active and available in case you need assistance.

Use these factors as a checklist and you’ll find a website builder that meets your needs in no time. 🤓

Alright, folks, that brings us to the end of this guide.

It’s time to say our goodbyes.