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You don’t need to rely on huge corporate platforms like Facebook and Twitter to have an online presence, you can create a website instead. And while businesses spend good money on top web developers to create online destinations that their customers can’t resist, you don’t have to follow in their footsteps. There are many website builders that allow you to build a site without spending a dime.
We’ve tested several website builders, a number of which offer a free rating. Read on for our picks on what to look for when choosing a free website builder.
Deep dive: our top tested picks
Wix website builder
Best for building free sites
Why we chose
Wix has everything you need from a website builder. An intuitive interface lets you create beautiful pages from hundreds of templates. Gadgets and mobile-based tools add flexibility and functionality. Robust e-commerce tools allow businesses to sell memberships and digital downloads. And it ensures that your site is online at its best uptime.
Who is it for?
Everyone. Beyond all its powerful, business-friendly paid features, Wix’s free tier is our Editors’ Choice in the category. You’ll give up some premium features and have to put up with site ads, but Wix is far and away the best choice for anyone looking to build great sites without paying a monthly fee.
Benefits
- Incredibly intuitive Editor X interface
- Lots of gadgets
- Hundreds of templates for specific businesses and other uses
- Good mobile site-building tools
- Rich web storage features
- Excellent uptime and customer service support
- Many business options including the ability to sell digital downloads
- Cool, AI-powered site design tools
- Free option
CONS
- Third-party apps provide better analytics
- It does not allow you to change templates
Dorik website builder
Best for personal websites
Why we chose
Doric’s excellent free tier lets you create an attractive, SEO-friendly website in minutes – no coding required. Simply choose a template, customize interactive UI elements, and add your images, text, or video. If you want great features and benefits like custom domains and membership bonuses, check out Doric’s premium subscription (starting at $48 per year).
Who is it for?
People looking to build personal or hobby sites without much effort should check out Doric. businesses? Not so much Doric’s e-commerce tools make it a poor service for companies selling online.
Benefits
- Powerful free version
- No coding required, intuitive interface
- Suitable for individuals and organizations
- Easy to import and export codes
- Very good working hours
CONS
- A few features of e-commerce
- Limited initial components
- Basic image editing
Weebly website builder
Best for simple page editing
Why we chose
Some users are more than happy to give up some advanced features if it means getting a simpler overall experience. Weebly doesn’t have the most customization options, but you can still make quality sites with lots of attractive themes. The website builder lets you track statistics to see how your site is performing and sell physical and digital goods. With a free Weebly hosting account, you get a generous unlimited monthly data plan and the ability to change themes without rebuilding your website.
Who is it for?
Weebly appeals to people who care about convenience. You don’t need to mess around with themes to create a good-looking website. It’s one of the few builders that allows you to change themes without rebuilding the site, which is a huge plus. And it offers unlimited monthly data transfers across the board. The free tier has highs and lows. Without paying, your site will have ads, a Weebly domain, a maximum file size of 10MB, and 500MB of storage. For more, including the ability to sell digital goods, you must upgrade to one of Weebly’s paid tiers.
Benefits
- Attractive, responsive-design themes
- Full business options including the ability to sell digital goods
- Site statistics included.
- It allows you to change themes without rebuilding your site
- Unlimited data transfers with all plans
- Very good working hours
- Free level
CONS
- Customize a specific theme.
- Lack of reusable photo storage
- There is no interface-wide undo feature.
- Slow response customer services in testing
Amazing website builder
Best to preview sample sites
Why we chose
It’s surprisingly a little limited, even among the free tiers. It doesn’t offer many templates, and it lacks strong site customization, but what it does have is responsive and attractive. You’ll get an awesome-branded site with 5GB of data per month, but you’ll need to shell out the plastic to create multi-page sites, sell products, or integrate third-party widgets. If you choose awesome, at least you can rest easy knowing your site is online thanks to the service’s excellent uptime.
Who is it for?
Despite its limitations, Strikingly has a surprising amount of flexibility. With its easy-to-use tools and the ability to change templates as you design, you can preview your site and make changes quickly without doing a lot of extra work. With its free tier, you don’t need to commit to paying before you see if the website builder is right for you. Think amazingly like a paid website builder with a robust free trial, which alone makes it more valuable than the free tiers of some competing services.
Benefits
- Easy to use site building tools
- Attractive themes, with responsive designs
- It allows you to change templates without rebuilding your site
- Very good working hours
- Free level
CONS
- Less customization than competing website builders
- Many standard features require a premium account
- Free and cheap levels are limited to five pages per site
Buying Guide: The Best Free Website Builders for 2023
Which Free Website Builder Is Best?
A free website builder is, often, a no-cost step up from a larger paid website builder. Not all website builders offer free tiers; Some opt instead for affordable base plans that cost a few dollars a month. Other services let you access some features for free, and lock more powerful functionality behind premium paywalls. If you don’t need those extra perks, however, the free tier may be more than enough.
What can you expect from a free website builder? Some common restrictions include allowing a website to run on fewer pages, limiting storage options, and forcing you to use the developer’s domain instead of a custom one. Some free tiers are actually more like free trials, allowing you to test the tools as much as you want, but you have to spend money to actually print them. Other free services are respectable hosting offerings, even if the paid tiers are “better.”
Which free website builder is best for ecommerce?
Having a website is a must for small businesses. The internet is a huge marketplace that you should easily tap into. A free website builder is the easiest way to start establishing your web presence. That said, truly professional users should opt for a paid plan sooner rather than later. Customers trust a business that has its own domain, that looks legitimate. After all, free website builders lock their ecommerce features, the ability to sell products on an online store, behind paywalls. Spend money to earn money.
Which free website builder is best for photographers?
Image editing is done by website developers, even paid ones. Some offer robust ways to edit photos on your site, while others allow you to crop them and that’s it. When it comes to free site builders, Wix has a full range of photo editing options and GoDaddy has improved its offerings as well. Weebly’s editor is nice, but Strikingly’s is very basic, which is consistent with its generally limited customization features.
Recommended by our editors
For a more robust experience when creating an online presence, you need a traditional web hosting service. Check out the best cheap web hosting services if you’re on a budget.
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