Best Website Builder For Small Business: Squarespace vs Wix vs Weebly vs Jimdo vs StudioPress vs Web.com & More

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1st

Weebly logo

2nd

Squarespace logo small
3rd
Wix Logo

Having a website is a must if you operate a business. It’s a way to showcase your offering and let the world know you exist. Gone are the days of spending tens of thousands on a website. Today, it’s easier and more affordable than ever, thanks to website builders.

They remove the guesswork by offering everything you need under one login – hosting, domain management, design, SEO and even email marketing. But the market is crowded and reliability varies. Our experts dive in to find you the best website builder.

Article Overview

What Should I Look For In A Website Builder?

Before you make your own website, ask yourself:

  • What features do I need? (social media integration, drag & drop editor, etc.)
  • What is the purpose of my site? (information, sell products, etc.)

Once you determine your needs, then you can begin looking for a company that provides the features that best fit your goals and budget.

4 Reasons To Use A Website Builder

Website builders are preferred over traditional Content Management Systems (CMS) in that they are usually:

  1. Easy – little technical expertise needed to use drag and drop & plug and play features
  2. Fast – sign up and start creating your website right away
  3. Digitally-based – services that don’t require downloading software, thus allowing multiple people to access and edit from anywhere, anytime
  4. One-Stop Shop – self-hosted (no third-party hosting provider or external plugins required)

Notepad on desk with computerWeb builders are ideal for small businesses, startups, freelancers and anyone who doesn’t need anything super advanced. You can set up a shop and start promoting your business and selling quickly.

However, if you have more advanced needs, are looking to grow your brand significantly, or wish to differentiate more from the competition, it might be beneficial to invest in a CMS (our experts compare the top CMS’s) that allows more customizations and room to grow.

What Are The Best Website Builders For Your Business?

We’ve taken the most popular website builders on the market and stacked them up to each other in exhaustive tests. Our researchers compare features, price, user feedback, and more.

Winner: Weebly Review

Weebly logo

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Weebly is our 1st choice for website creation software and has the basics to build your website. They don’t overwhelm you with tons of features. This is what makes it so simple and easy to use.

Weebly is an excellent choice for a novice who knows nothing about design or website building. Best of all, there is a free version that you can test out before advancing to a higher package level.

The Weebly platform is updated regularly. Key features include designer templates (including single page layouts), a shopping platform, and a “promote” service that integrates email campaigns and lead generation forms within the Weebly dashboard.

If you have an existing Weebly site, you can take advantage of most features for free.

Pros

Cons

  • Free version
  • Can save changes without publishing
  • Integrates with third party apps
  • Good looking templates with access to HTML/CSS code
  • Intuitive Drag and Drop editor, WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get)
  • Constantly updating and upgrading
  • Perfect for the beginner – basic and easy to use
  • 30-day money back guarantee (on annual plans)
  • Can replicate sites and export contents
  • Limited customization unless you use CSS
  • Can’t export/import contents

Packaging and Pricing

Free Personal Professional Performance
Price Per Month (when paid annually) $0 $6 $12 $26
Drag & Drop Builder Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
SSL Security Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Search Engine Optimization Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Connect Your Domain Weebly.com Subdomain Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Advanced Site Stats Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Support Options Community Forum, Chat & Email Community Forum, Chat & Email Community Forum, Chat, Email & Phone Community Forum, Chat, Email & Phone (Priority)
No Square Ads Checkmark Checkmark
Password Protect Checkmark Checkmark
Weebly Transaction Fee 3% 3% 3% 0%
Number of Products Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
Digital Goods Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Shipping Calculator Checkmark Checkmark
Accepts PayPal Checkmark
Abandoned Cart Emails Checkmark

Video Overview

Here’s an overview of how to use Weebly.

Runner-Up: Squarespace Review

Squarespace logo

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Squarespace is our runner-up and is a designer’s dream come true. This company allows you to personalize your website character by character so that it looks exactly the way that you desire, and you don’t have to know code to take full advantage of Squarespace. All with a fresh, modern look!

They have an easy drag and drop editor so you have a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) type of feel when editing your website. And if you are more experienced in code you can also use your own CSS, markdowns, or code injections to add even more customizations.

They also have the option to sell your products including managing inventory, create discount codes, and edit other product variables.

Pros

Cons

  • Reliable 24/7 customer support that includes FAQs, live chat and email
  • User friendly, customizable, responsive templates
  • Easy drag and drop editor
  • Import from WordPress, Blogger, and Tumblr
  • Real time analytics
  • Connect and embed social media accounts and integrates with Mailchimp
  • Lock pages with a password so that only certain users have access
  • Comment moderation
  • No advertisements
  • Can create multiple user accounts
  • 14-day free trial, no credit card required
  • Only accepts payments on your website through Stripe and PayPal
  • No free version
  • Can’t export or transfer contents to another Squarespace site

Packages And Pricing

Personal Business Basic Advanced
Price $12/month billed annually
or $16 month to month
$18/month billed annually
or $26 month to month
$26/month billed annually
or $30 month to month
$40/month billed annually
or $46 month to month
Number of Pages, Galleries and Blogs 20 Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
Unlimited Bandwidth and Storage Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Number of Contributors 2 Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
Mobile-Optimized Website Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Powerful Website Metrics Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Free Custom Domain with Annual Purchase Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
24/7 Customer Support Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Fully Integrated Ecommerce Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Accept Donations Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Number of Products Able to Sell Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
Sales Transaction Fee 3% 2% None None
Professional Email from Google Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
$100 Google AdWords Credit Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Mobile Optimized Checkout Checkmark Checkmark
SSL Security Checkmark Checkmark
Squarespace Website with Integrated Galleries and Blog Checkmark Checkmark
Powerful Commerce Analytics Checkmark Checkmark
Inventory, Orders, Tax, Discounts Checkmark Checkmark
Label Printing via Shipstation Checkmark Checkmark
Integrated Accounting via Xero Checkmark Checkmark
Abandoned Checkout Autorecovery Checkmark
Real Time Carrier Shipping Checkmark

3rd Place: Wix Review

Wix logo

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Wix is our third place winner and has a variety of website building packages for you to choose from so your website looks the way you want it to look and has the features it needs.

They have extensive customer support including email, phone, forums, and a help center. Wix includes an easy to use drag and drop interface like most web design software.

There are many apps you can integrate on your site to personalize it to your needs and Wix recently decreased the prices for the majority of its plans. The downside to Wix is that once you choose a template you cannot change it.

Pros

Cons

  • Unlimited pages
  • HTML code to customize your site
  • Over 200 apps
  • Drag and Drop interface
  • Hundreds of templates
  • ShoutOut feature allows you to send newsletters
  • Email and phone customer service
  • Free version has advertisements all over it
  • Once you choose a template you cannot change it
  • No live chat

Packages And Pricing

Connect Domain Combo Unlimited eCommerce VIP
Price $5/Month $10/Month $14/Month $17/Month $25/Month
Bandwidth 1GB 2GB Unlimited 20GB Unlimited
Storage 500MB 3GB 10GB 20GB 20GB
Connect Your Domain Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Google Analytics Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Free Hosting Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Free Domain (Annual Subscription Only) Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Remove Wix Ads Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
$300 Ad Vouchers (Annual Subscription Only) Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Site Booster App (Annual Subscription Only) Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Form Builder App (Annual Subscription Only) Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Online Store Checkmark Checkmark
VIP Support Checkmark
Instant Response Checkmark
Professional Site Review Checkmark

What About 1&1, Turbify, BoldGrid, Jimdo, SpaceCraft, StudioPress, Web.com, & Yahoo?

The rest of the website builders our experts have reviewed are listed below. Don’t see the one you’re interested in? Ask us in the comments and we’ll be happy to add it to our research queue.

1&1 | Turbify | BoldGrid | Jimdo | SpaceCraft | StudioPress Sites | Web.com | Yahoo

1&1 Review

1&1 logo

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One of the best things about 1&1 is that you can do everything you need for your website. You can host it, design it, build it, promote it, and advertise it all through 1&1 – no need to go anywhere or pay a bill to anyone else.

They also have this really cool and unique feature called GoToAssist, which allows a 1&1 support representative to look at your computer screen so you can work together on any problems or questions you run into.

However, 1&1 has possibly the worst reputation online when it comes to website building software. There are many frustrating things for 1&1 users and by doing a simple Google search you’ll see not many people are a fan of them.

Pros

Cons

  • 30-day free trial
  • 24/7 customer service
  • Integrates video and multimedia
  • Royalty-free stock image archive
  • Language translator tool
  • No setup fee
  • Easy to change your site over to 1&1 from other platforms
  • 30-day money back guarantee
  • Some templates do not allow style changes
  • Cannot edit the website’s footer
  • Cluttered interface
  • Requires a credit card for the free trial
  • Terrible online reputation
  • No live chat
  • Can only sell up to 1,000 products
  • Difficult to cancel your account

Packages And Pricing

Basic Plus Premium
Price $1.99/Month for 12 Months then $9.99/Month $4.99/Month for 12 Months then $19.99/Month $9.99/Month for 12 Months then $29.99/Month
SSL Certificate Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Website Editor Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Optimized for Mobile Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Domain and Mail Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Access to 20 Million Images Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Over 10,000 Templates Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Online Marketing Checkmark Checkmark
Sell Up To 1,000 Products Checkmark
Lite Basic Professional Premier
Price Per Month Billed Annually $14 $29 $79 $299
Number of Products 10 Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
Storage Space 1GB Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
Bandwidth 10GB Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
Free Domain 1 Year Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Transaction Fee 1.5% 1.5% 1% .75%
Mobile Storefront Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
30+ Marketing, Sales, Backoffice Apps Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
SEO Tools Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Social Media Support Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Live Insights Activity Monitoring Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
PayPal Support Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Chat Live w/ Customers on Your Store (Web & Mobile) Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Live Store Badge Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
$100 Bing Search Ads Credit Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Business Email Accounts Included 10 30 1,000
24/7 Customer Support Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Bulk Product Import/Export Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
API Access for 3rd Party Solutions Checkmark Checkmark
Priority Phone Support Checkmark
Designated Account Manager Checkmark

Turbify Review

Turbify Logo

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Turbify (formerly Aabaco and before that Yahoos Website Hosting) does everything the other website makers do at a reasonable price.

Nothing really stands out for Turbify though, which is a bit of a disappointment since they came from such a big name company. Their 30-day satisfaction guarantee is nice and their 24-hour phone support is a good feature as well.

Pros

Cons

  • 24/7 phone and email support
  • $100 credit for search marketing
  • No setup fee
  • 30-day satisfaction guarantee
  • Minimal social share buttons
  • No live chat

Packages And Pricing

Lite Basic Professional Premier
Price Per Month Billed Annually $14 $29 $79 $299
Number of Products 10 Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
Storage Space 1GB Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
Bandwidth 10GB Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
Free Domain 1 Year Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Transaction Fee 1.5% 1.5% 1% .75%
Mobile Storefront Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
30+ Marketing, Sales, Backoffice Apps Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
SEO Tools Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Social Media Support Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Live Insights Activity Monitoring Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
PayPal Support Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Chat Live w/ Customers on Your Store (Web & Mobile) Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Live Store Badge Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
$100 Bing Search Ads Credit Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Business Email Accounts Included 10 30 1,000
24/7 Customer Support Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Bulk Product Import/Export Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
API Access for 3rd Party Solutions Checkmark Checkmark
Priority Phone Support Checkmark
Designated Account Manager Checkmark

BoldGrid Review

BoldGrid logo

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BoldGrid works on top of WordPress and has two main phases: inspiration and customization. Unlike competitors, BoldGrid designs that are live on your site are completely filled out.

There are no blank spaces, which can be confusing to find where exactly you can customize them. Once the design you have chosen is live, you can then customize the titles, fonts, styling, and more to fit your specifications.

All BoldGrid designs are responsive and you can use drag and drop or CSS/HTML for the editor. It also has hundreds of thousands of free photos for you to use.

Pros

Cons

  • Free
  • Access to CSS/HTML code
  • Drag and Drop editor, WYSIWYG
  • Good SEO optimization
  • Few support options: online community and knowledge base
  • Harder to use than other site builders
  • Cannot purchase BoldGrid as a stand-alone product

Packages And Pricing

BoldGrid is free if you have a hosting account. If you don’t have a hosting account, BoldGrid offers two supported providers: inMotion Hosting or Web Hosting Hub.

Jimdo Review

Jimdo logo

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Jimdo is a fairly inexpensive website design software and even offers a free version so you can test it out before you pay any money.

What really stands out for this company is its multiple forms of customer support. Although their live chat isn’t 24/7, the fact that they offer live chat is something we like about them. They have many tutorials and FAQs to help you get your website built.

If you want to use video on your site, you’ll want to know that you cannot upload video directly to Jimdo. You have to use a third-party like YouTube or Vimeo.

Pros

Cons

  • Will help you connect your domain or transfer it completely to Jimdo
  • Many forms of customer help including live chat, FAQs, tutorials and email
  • No setup fee
  • 30-day free trial
  • Account renews automatically, so if you want to cancel you need to keep an eye on your subscription
  • No meta tags for Free or Pro packages
  • Lacking web page design software due to an incomplete Drag and Drop editor
  • Free version includes advertisements

Packages And Pricing

Free Pro Business
Price Per Month Billed Annually $0 $7.50 $20
Storage 500MB 5GB Unlimited
Bandwidth 2GB 10GB Unlimited
Domain www.yourname.jimdo.com Free Free
Email Accounts 0 1 20
Forwarding Aliases 0 3 Unlimited
Password Protected Areas 1 5 Unlimited
Number of Products for Sale 5 15 Unlimited
No Transaction Fees Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Payment Methods PayPal PayPal PayPal, Stripe
Statistics Checkmark Checkmark
Custom Footer Checkmark Checkmark
Ad-Free Checkmark Checkmark
Discount Codes Checkmark
Weight-Based Shipping Checkmark

SpaceCraft Review

SpaceCraft logo

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SpaceCraft is fairly easy to use, making it a great option for beginners. It claims to have a Drag and Drop editor, but it’s not a true drag and drop experience.

It has an editor, but you can’t customize your website through the frontend. One nice feature is that it has an autosave, so you’ll never lose your work. All designs are responsive, so they’ll look good on all online platforms.

Pros

Cons

  • Easy to use
  • Many support options: email, phone, knowledge base
  • Not WYSIWYG
  • More expensive than others
  • No access to code

Packages and Pricing

SpaceCraft has a 14-day free trial.

Basic Premium Concierge
Price Per Month $8 billed annually or $10 month-to-month $16 billed annually or $20 month-to-month $49 billed annually or monthly with a one-year contract
Unlimited Pages Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Unlimited Bandwidth Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Unlimited Storage Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Custom Domains Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Online Support Tools Checkmark Checkmark Checkmark
Free Domain (with annual purchase) Checkmark Checkmark
Unlimited Contributors Checkmark Checkmark
Pre-configured Templates Checkmark Checkmark
Social & Form Integration Checkmark Checkmark
Advanced Design Controls Checkmark Checkmark
Developer Tools Checkmark Checkmark
Advanced SEO Tools Checkmark
DNS Management Checkmark
Location Finders & More Checkmark
Website Performance Tools Checkmark
Live Customer Support Checkmark

StudioPress Sites Review

StudioPress logo

Visit Website

You’ve probably heard of StudioPress if you have a WordPress site because StudioPress is the company behind a large majority of WordPress themes.

StudioPress Sites is geared toward entrepreneurs who don’t have large budgets or internal tech support. On the other hand, StudioPress Sites is not aimed at larger companies.

Pros

Cons

  • 30-day money back guarantee
  • Easy to use
  • More expensive than others
  • Some themes look similar to each other

Packages And Pricing

Content Commerce
Price Per Month $24 billed annually or $27 billed quarterly $33 billed annually or $37 billed quarterly
Ideal For Bloggers, Podcasters and Affiliate Marketers Selling Physical Products, Digital Downloads, Membership Programs and Courses

Web.com Review

Web.com logo

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Web.com does everything for you. They’ll set up your website for you and all you have to do is pay for it, although pricing is much higher than other companies we’ve reviewed.

They also aren’t very clear about their packages and pricing, which is frustrating. I have called Web.com in the past and every time I have the same experience. When I contacted them about a website, they had me give a brief description then they told me what I needed. As we all know, salespersons are always trying to upgrade you to the next level, and unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a clear idea of what my options were because everything I needed to learn had to be told to me by them.

Unlike other competitors, I couldn’t confirm or check any information or even have them send me an email of my options to see what the best and most affordable option was for me. As a consumer, this would be frustrating because you don’t really know what your options are and you could be upgrading unnecessarily.

Pros

Cons

  • Includes emails and a 1-800 number
  • Markets your website to search engines
  • Sell products and take all major credit cards and PayPal as forms of payment
  • Your website will have an SSL Certificate
  • 30-day money back guarantee
  • While on hold you can press # to have Web.com call you back so you don’t waste time
  • Very minimal information on Web.com’s website
  • Expensive
  • No pricing or packaging information online

Packages And Pricing

For pricing information, you must call Web.com directly. Each package is customized to fit your website’s needs. In a time where users want information and numbers at their fingertips this can be frustrating since other online website builder competitors list this information on their sites.

We believe it may be more helpful to have a survey type questionnaire on Web.com to fill out so you don’t have to spend time on the phone getting transferred and being on hold.

In the past, this is what Web.com has told us.

  • Pay $124.95/month for 12 months then $99.95/month
  • Mobile-friendly site
  • Get an 800 phone number
  • Site goes live in seven days
  • They do hosting, marketing and maintenance for you
  • They do SEO including meta, tags, etc.

How To Build A Website From Scratch

Want more fine-grained control over your website, its design, and functionality, your domain name, hosting provider, etc.? Building a website from scratch is not as difficult as you might think (although the website builder companies want you to believe it is!).

Our experts have put together a step-by-step guide on building your own website. They cover everything from naming and branding your website; hosting, platform, and design; security, backup, marketing, SEO, and monetization. And of course, if you need help in any respective area, we’re available 24/7 – just comment on the article you’re experiencing difficulties with.

Leaning towards a do-it-all website builder or going at it yourself? Let us know in the comments!

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The information provided through this website should not be used to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease; it is not intended to offer any legal opinion or advice or a substitute for professional safety advice or professional care. Please consult your health care provider, attorney, or product manual for professional advice. Products and services reviewed are provided by third parties; we are not responsible in any way for them, nor do we guarantee their functionality, utility, safety, or reliability. Our content is for educational purposes only.

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