Gone are the days we code websites from zero. Be it for a business, photography or blogging, there is a wide range of website builders in the market, making it easier for us out here.
I have tested a few and I have found each one to be uniquely useful for a specific niche or need. Wix was my overall best, Squarespace has the best package design and you can use Shopify for easy e-commerce tools.
All the above, and more, provide drag and drop tools with templates, hosting and domains, all these in one package.
What your needs end up determining the type of website builder you are going to choose. Selecting the best is bound to increase your online presence leading to success.
These are my top picks for the day. I will tell you more about why I chose them and why I would recommend them to you. I have chosen a few website builders and reviewed them for you. You might just get what you are looking for before the end of the article.
Best Site Builders For 2021
1. Wix - a state of the art site builder
Wix is the uncontested leader for free website builders. It also has some future rich paid plans which will make building your website a breeze. Prices start at $8.50 with 3GB of storage plus a free SSL certificate.
2. Squarespace - Best known website builder
Squarespace caters for bloggers and writers alike with a fantastic suite of features such as AMP and posts scheduling. Pricing start at $12 per month. You can't go wrong with squarespace.
3. Gator Builder - The best value added service
HostGator's site builder is cheap and comes with free hosting and domain. Not to mention free SSL certificate. Price start around $3.46 per month.
1. Wix - Best Website Builder Overall
This is the best for those with creative personalities. It comes with a blank canvas and gives you the freedom of unstructured editing. Its inbuilt e-commerce features make it easy for you when you need to market your site and manage transactions.
Features
With the special e-commerce features, you can grow your business at a fast rate by making your customized logo, domain name and building a personal online brand freely.
Online scheduling software that acts just like your personal secretary. Clients get the chance to book appointments online and pay online as well.
If you are a professional blogger, Wix is the best choice for you as it has features to help you expand your reach.
Pros
The freedom to build your web page. You can drag and drop elements anywhere you want without any restrictions giving you the advantage of uniqueness.
You can also choose from the over 500 themes offered by Wix and customize them. It is good for those looking for options.
It has a wide range of features that support business growth. Some include restaurant orders, appointment scheduling and music distribution.
Cons
Its different plans come with data limitations. Make sure to evaluate the type of traffic your website might attract or even the number of photos you may want to upload before choosing a plan.
The black canvas feature is overwhelming to people who are not flexible. It needs one to make a lot of small decisions here and there and for some, it might end up being a disaster.
It offers the best platform for an online store. It comes with tons of sales tools that make it easy for you to sell online.
2. Squarespace - Top prepackaged Choice
Highly recommended for those with some technical skills and a love for design. It offers a professional presence and most professionals choose it.
Features
No matter the template you are using, you can always add a blog on any of its sites. It also doesn't matter how old the template might be, you can always add on to it even later.
You can include an Instagram feed and social media buttons anywhere on your template. This is a unique feature as other website builders have a specific place to add them.
Provides an e-commerce store that you can add to your template. This requires a business plan or an online store plan.
It doesn't matter what email marketing platform you use, you can connect it to your Squarespace website.
Pros
Has some of the best features compared to its competitors. It includes some unique features like podcast hosting.
Contains some good templates and its design is efficient and thoughtful. It can be compared to the Apple of web builders.
Cons
Squarespace requires some amount of work for you to get the hang of it. It comes with a learning curve.
Only advisable for small and medium-sized businesses. It lacks a lot of substance underneath its easy-to-use templates and can be complicated with too much data.
Squarespace is the best when it comes to professional websites. Its designs are quality, and it has some of the best features.
3. Gator Builder - Excellent for easy designs
Comes with free hosting and a domain name included on its very affordable starter package. Caters for six types of hosting including shared, word press, cloud, VPS, reseller and dedicated server.
Features
You can find some of the most basic types of hosting plans at Gator. Three are made available for you and they all have most features looking alike.
The WordPress hosting plan. This comes with numerous features including high security, simplicity and the website loads fast.
Pros
Fair pricing. Though it has no free option, its overall prices are competitive as compared to most website builders.
Onboarding with gators is fast and easy. You will have selected your plan, domain name and theme all in a few straightforward steps.
Cons
Support for Gator is very low and it is highly disadvantaged when it comes to adding 3rd party apps, extensions and advanced marketing tools.
It is the best place for hosting logs, applications, e-commerce sites, business websites and others.
4. Shopify - Best for Online Store
Unlike any other website builders, this is specific to creating e-commerce websites. You can create an online store, sell and receive payments online.
Features
An incredible loading speed. When the site loads fast, it means that it will encourage more traffic leading to sales on your online store.
High-quality visuals and graphics make your website attractive to customers which eventually leads to more sales.
Pros
The interface is clear and quite natural. It is hardly overwhelming as its tools are limited and not all over the place.
It has space for innovation and introduces new features now and then to keep up with the competition.
Cons
It takes some time to understand it. Just like most web builders, it comes with a learning curve.
If you want to set up and fully control your online store, Shopify is your best option to support your business.
5. Elementor website builder for wordpress
This is a web builder for word press and comes in the form of plugins. Its interface is simple and you can drag and drop elements as you see how it will look when done.
Features
It has over 300 designer-made templates that are made to fit every type of company and needs.
You can edit it from both your laptop and phone. It comes with a mobile view and they ensure the website looks good on every device.
Pros
They provide high-quality tech support and are even available for a live chat with top-end subscribers.
The free option has a lot of functionality and it is advisable to check it out first for it may be enough other than paying for a subscription.
Cons
When running many websites, their pricing is not as competitive. It's only fair when you are running one to three websites.
Elementor is the world's leading WordPress web builder and should be your go-to when you need to create one.
A few examples of websites created using the above web builders
Mambane African Design is a professional e-commerce WordPress website that is a product of the Elementor page builder.
Blu Kicks is one the most successful web stores dealing in shoes, which was created through Shopify.
Singer-Songwriter Steve Benjamins, based in Toronto has grown his career by running a Squarespace website where he posts his content.
Cuts and Bruises is a barbershop with a successful online presence that they created through Wix.
My overall best
Though every website builder comes with its advantages and uniqueness, I would say that Wix is the best. Its reputation goes far and beyond with over 110 websites built from it.
Today's Round up Deals
Wix Free Plan + Paid starting at $8.50/month
Squarespace starting at $12/month
Gator Builder starting at $3.46/month
Shopify starting at $29/month
Elementor Free Builder and Paid starting at $49/year