Website builders are a great addition to the business owners’ arsenal. This is primarily as they help create websites without any special programming or web development skills.
Using website builders, you can create fully-functional and beautiful-looking websites. Whether you want to build a small-business site, a personal online portfolio, a blog, or even an online store, website builders can help you get fast, functional, and visually appealing results.
However, choosing the right builder isn’t half as easy as creating a website with the right builder. There are several website builders in the market. And it is practically impossible to test them all before making a choice.
That is why it is best to start with the most popular website builders. Then, streamline the choice by looking at the specific features that they offer to decide if they suit your needs.
In this compilation, we’ve reviewed the most popular website building solutions. These builders have a proven record of success and are a webmaster’s favorites.
1
Wix
Wix is one of the best website builders. It is suitable for both beginners and experienced users. Beginners can create websites using the Wix automatic mode that uses artificial intelligence. And for experienced users, there is always an option to edit the HTML/CSS code.
Wix also has lots of professionally designed templates that aid in building a beautiful website. And in the Wix App Market, you’ll find 70+ apps to broaden the functionality of your website.
Main Capacities of the Platform
It’s easy to work with the Wix visual editor, and there is no need to have even basic programming know-how.
Moreover, there is the Wix store where you can get useful extensions to broaden site functionality. For example, you can install specific widgets for integration with third-party services.
You get three options when it comes to creating a site with Wix. The first is the standard editor option based on the WYSIWYG principle. The other two solutions are for beginners and professionals, respectively:
- Wix ADI artificial intelligence system – Wix ADI creates a layout automatically after you have answered some necessary questions about your website needs.
- Wix Corvid professional tool – Wix Corvid helps professionals work with databases, create dynamic pages, add JavaScript code to pages, and work with API Wix.
It’s up to you to decide which of the three ways suits you the best. You can also take a brave step and combine all three options. You can start by putting your faith in artificial intelligence. Then edit certain elements using the visual editor. And finally, finish your work with professional touches with the Wix Corvid tool.
Pros and cons
The first and foremost pro to using Wix is that it can please you with a large selection of professional-looking templates. But there are plenty of other advantages too. The main pros are listed right here:
- Good visual editor functionality;
- A built-in store for extensions. Using extensions from the store, you can integrate a lot of third-party services with your website;
- Sales management can be performed using a single interface.
Wix is almost perfect. But it isn’t possible to say that it has no downsides at all. The most substantial con to using Wix is its low page download speed for free websites.
However, you can fix this problem by upgrading to one of the premium tariffs as they come with increased page load speeds.
Tariff plans
While it is not necessary to buy a premium tariff, the free plan does come with certain functional limitations.
For one, free plans come with a third-level domain, which lacks convenience. And two, a Wix ad will be displayed on all the pages on your site.
Premium tariffs are the only solutions to these issues.
The good thing is that you get several pricing options to choose from.
Different Wix tariffs come with different capacities. And you should carefully examine the options before financially committing to any of the plans.
To start with, you should take into account what type of site you need. Do you need an information platform? Or a commercial site for business use, such as online stores or large corporate sites? For the latter, you can check out the tariffs under the “Business & eCommerce Plans” section since they allow accepting online payments.
- “Business Basic” – $23 per month. The plan includes 20GB of disk space and allows downloadable videos that are up to 5 hours long. Some apps for analytics and site promotion are also included.
- “Business Unlimited” – $27 per month. Users get 35GB of free disk space, downloadable videos spanning up to 10 hours, and a logo builder.
- “Business VIP” – 49$ per month. This tariff offers 50GB of disk space and downloadable videos with no size limits. Also, you will get priority support with this plan.
If you are looking forward to building one-page sites, blogs, and portfolios, you can choose from the following tariffs:
- “Combo” – $14 per month. You get up to 3GB of storage space with 2GB bandwidth. You get 30 video minutes. Wix ads are removed. And you can connect the website to your own domain.
- “Unlimited” – $18 per month. The plan includes 10GB of storage space and downloadable videos that are up to 1 hour long. You also get access to premium apps with analytics capabilities;
- “Pro” – $23 per month. Users get a storage space of 20GB and downloadable videos for up to 2 hours. Plus, you get premium access to the logo builder;
- “VIP” – $39 per month. With this plan, the storage space is extended to 35GB, and video duration is up to 5 hours. Another bonus feature for subscribers of the “VIP” tariff is prioritized support.
You can also try out the Wix platform for two weeks with the free trial.
And if you want to save money and get additional perks, you can choose to pay for one or two years at once and get premium apps, a free domain, and ad vouchers.
2
WordPress
WordPress is the most popular CMS that powers one-third of the web. And it’s advantage lies in its ease of use and the functional drag-and-drop editor.
No matter what kind of website you are looking for, you can easily create it with WordPress. That’s one of the reasons why it is so popular, and a large number of websites are built using WordPress
Main Capacities of the Platform
The responsive and universal WordPress website builder allows creating a website for all sorts of needs.
To create a suitable website for your business or any other project, you can also use the 54,000+ free and paid plugins.
Also, WordPress allows using drag and drop editors, which greatly simplifies working with the platform. Moreover, there is a simple media manager. And mastering the functionalities offered by WordPress takes no time.
No other website building platform or tool comes close to WordPress when comparing the ease of use. The platform is configured to maximize ease and deliver outstanding results. And this is complemented by the theme and plugin options that you get.
Pros and cons
The primary and undeniable advantage of using WordPress is that it comes with plenty of plugin options. Every plugin you choose to add can significantly improve site functionality. And offer integration with useful third-party services.
Other advantages of using WordPress include:
- Working on pages and their content using the visual editor is easy;
- An easy-to-master and user-friendly control panel;
- A regularly updated list of extensions;
- Possibility to create any type of website.
Just like the advantages, WordPress’s main disadvantage is also related to its plugins.
When you use multiple plugins, they slow down your website. Furthermore, WordPress and plugin updates also sometimes lead to compatibility issues.
To avoid this, consider installing only developer-supported themes and plugins. Most of these plugins might come at a premium price, though.
Tariff plans
You can successfully create your website with WordPress for free. You can also find free templates and plugins to augment site functionality and form.
The only thing you would have to spend money on would be buying a domain and paying for hosting.
Bluehost offers perfect hosting solutions for WordPress. It lets you choose from one of their dedicated tariffs for WordPress – WordPress Hosting, WP Pro, and eCommerce.
WordPress Hosting:
- Basic – $3.95 per month. The plan covers one site. You get 50GB of disk space. And if you pay for a year straight, you also get a domain and SSL for free;
- Plus – $5.95 per month. This plan covers unlimited websites, and there are no limits on the disk space that you get;
- Choice Plus – $6.95 per month. This tariff includes all the Plus capacities and also creates backups automatically.
WP Pro:
- Build – $19.95 per month. You get a set of advanced analytical tools, a marketing center, over a hundred premium themes, and also everyday backups. You also get domain protection and antivirus with this plan;
- Grow – $29.95 per month. You get additional analytical tools and advanced SEO settings for site promotion. You get video compression of up to 10GB and prioritized support too;
- Scale – $49.95 per month. Backup quantity and the size of downloadable videos are unlimited. You get PayPal integration, an advanced search system, and prioritized chat support.
eCommerce (When you are using WooCommerce):
- Starter – $6.95 per month. It supports one store and has an installed showcase. Free disk space up to 100GB. You get domain protection and a free SSL certificate;
- Plus – $8.95 per month. You get an option to create an unlimited number of stores and unlimited disk space. Backups are also included;
- Pro – $12.95 per month. Comes with Plus capacities and additional access to advanced SEO and store promotion tools.
Instead of WordPress.org and an external hosting, you can also use the WordPress.com platform. It’s not much different from WordPress.org and comes with similar functionality. And the features are packed in different tariffs. Provided that you pay for a year straight, the minimum tariff would cost you 250 rubles per month, and the maximum one is 2698 rubles per month. When compared to installing the CMS on Bluehost, WordPress.com is less profitable and has fewer capacities.
2
Ucraft
Ucraft is a website builder specializing in creating business sites. It has a complete set of necessary tools for building online stores, business sites, portfolios, and blogs. If you want to get additional functionalities, you can install various extra services.
Main Capacities of the Platform:
What functions and capabilities you get with Ucraft depends mostly on the tariff that you choose.
And you should finalize a tariff based on the type of site you wish to build with the platform. If you need a portfolio or a one-page site, you can do without a premium tariff and comfortably create a website in the free mode.
However, if you are creating online stores, it is reasonable to switch to a paid plan.
Premium plans will allow creating a catalog, come with a shopping cart, and allow you to accept online payments. Moreover, you don’t have to limit yourselves to selling goods through your online store. You can even sell them on other marketplaces or through your social networks. All the orders that you receive are “collected” at a single interface.
Advantages and disadvantages
Ucraft has a user-friendly workspace. The workspace has a control panel and a visual editor.
Ucraft is an easy-to-master platform with an intuitive interface and a satisfactory set of functions for site creation. The other pros of using Ucraft are listed below:
- You can create multilingual sites in just a few clicks;
- Scope for a lot of valuable integrations. You can quickly connect your site with analytics or an online advisor without having to edit the code.
- A set of advanced design tools that help change your site’s appearance to the core.
The primary Ucraft disadvantage is its expensive premium tariffs.
Creating one-page sites or portfolios with the premium Ucraft plans seems financially unreasonable.
The cost seems relatively reasonable when you are creating online stores. However, other platforms still offer better terms.
Another con is the notable slow speed. It also stands true for the dashboard response of the control panel and the visual editor.
Tariff plans
Ucraft offers a “Free Website” tariff for creating websites at no cost. You can create one site on a second-level domain with unlimited pages. You also get an SSL certificate, basic interface elements, and a set of SEO optimization tools. Support is available round the clock.
Also, there are three premium tariffs:
- “Pro Website” – $10 per month (when paid annually). Allows adding up to 15 goods, a filter system, online payments, and different ways of delivery. You also get a blog section with unlimited pages, multi-language function, and interface elements. You can integrate it with HTML/CSS/JS code and install over twenty third-party services. The builder doesn’t charge a commission when you are on this tariff.
- “Pro Shop” – $21 per month (when paid annually). Allows adding up to 1000 goods and different assortment configurations, including digital goods. You also get useful online store tools, such as discount coupons. Sales management is possible through several channels. It includes social networks and foreign Amazon/eBay websites as well. And you get shopping cart recovery and tax management functionalities too. You can install a mobile app on Android and iOS for store management.
- “Unlimited” – $69 per month (when paid annually). It includes all the Pro Shop capacities plus lets you add unlimited goods.
You can get a two week free trial for all premium tariffs. This helps understand whether a certain plan meets your requirements, or you need a different set of functionalities.
Which is the best website builder?
WordPress, the unquestioned leader, can be placed at the top of the list of the best solutions for creating your website.
It meets the requirements of professional webmasters and is also useful and convenient for beginners. You can contact specialized website developers for custom WordPress website development services too.
WordPress cannot be technically called a builder since it is a content management system with a full-fledged set of functions.
But thanks to its simplicity of use and powerful visual editor, it can be evaluated on an equal basis with other website creating platforms.
As for functionality, WP can easily beat any builder in the market.
Wix comes in second place since it is a bit more complicated to master. But to offset that, it offers a broad range of capacities. A significant advantage of the Wix builder is the set of beautiful templates. You can additionally install several apps from the Wix Store as well.
Ucraft lands on the third position. It will be a perfect solution for creating decent enough online stores. With its functional capabilities, Ucraft is competitive enough. Mainly because of the multiple tariff options that it offers. However, it can’t beat the two competitors in the first two places, since it lacks user-friendliness.
If you want to choose an appropriate builder for creating your website, base your choice on the exact challenge that you need to overcome. One builder might be right for one particular use case. And another might be better for a different practical application. Once you have identified your needs, you can look for the best solution in your specific niche.