How do you choose the best website builder for your company, with so many new ones entering the market every few months? We'll compare the best companies and important features to consider, helping you find the right web-building service for your needs and budget. We'll also compare WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Weebly, and Shopify.

In today's digital age, having a well-crafted website is essential for businesses, bloggers, and creative professionals.

For those who want to DIY their site—or have a professionally designed site that is easy to maintain, website builders offer a user-friendly solution. With numerous options available, it can be challenging to decide which website builder is the best. Here, we compare some of the leading website builders: Wix, Squarespace, WordPress.com, Weebly, and Shopify.

In today's digital age, having a well-crafted website is essential for businesses, bloggers, and creative professionals. Website builders offer a user-friendly solution for those who want to DIY their site or have a professionally designed site that is easy to maintain. With tons of options available, deciding which website builder is the best can be challenging. Here, we compare some leading website builders: Wix, Squarespace, WordPress.com, Weebly, and Shopify.

First, What is a Website Builder?

A website builder is a website hosting platform (changes code into easy-to-view/read/edit websites) with an all-in-one mentality: you can build a website without one line of code. They offer many prebuilt templates, fonts, colors, intuitive page layouts, and design options. Website builders can offer e-commerce, built-in shipping, simple text editing, online payment, scheduling, integration with social media, internet security (SSL), domain purchases, and more using simple drag-and-drop features.

Next, WHY do you want a website?

Before we go any further, as a tech geek with a marketing background, please take a minute to decide WHAT you want your website to do for your company. If you skip this step, no matter what platform you use or how much you spend, your website will be a confusing, ineffective mess.

💡When someone visits your website, what behavior do you want them to do?

Create brand awareness? Build trust? Sign up for an email list or newsletter? Book appointments? Place an order? Book a reservation? Submit a contact form? Call you?

Now that you know the purpose of your website, let’s look at your website-building options.

Weebly: Simplicity and Affordability

Pros:

User-Friendly: Weebly’s drag-and-drop editor is one of the easiest to use, making it a great choice for beginners.
Integrated E-commerce: Even Weebly’s free plan includes basic e-commerce features, making it a cost-effective option for small online stores.

Cons:

Limited Design Options: While easy to use, Weebly's design options are not as versatile as Squarespace's.
Fewer App Integrations: Compared to Wix and Squarespace, Weebly has fewer third-party integrations, which might limit functionality.

Wix: DIY Starter Site and Ease of Use

Pros:

Drag-and-Drop Interface: Wix’s intuitive drag-and-drop editor makes it easy for users to design their websites without needing any coding skills.
Extensive App Market: With hundreds of external apps available, Wix users can add functionalities like e-commerce, booking systems, and more with just a few clicks.
Templates: Wix offers over 800 templates covering various industries and styles.

Cons:

Limited Template Switching: Once you choose a template, switching to a different one can be cumbersome and difficult to customize.
Limited Features: most apps and integrations are with third parties, which can make troubleshooting tricky and time-consuming.
Cost: While Wix offers a free plan, it comes with ads. Premium plans, which remove ads and add features, can be relatively expensive compared to other builders.

Squarespace: Design Elegance and Functionality

Pros:

Beautiful Templates: Squarespace is renowned for its stunning, mobile-responsive templates, particularly popular among creatives such as photographers, designers, restaurants, and artists. Plus, tweaking templates and saving sections makes it easier than ever to edit them.
All-in-One Platform: Squarespace includes hosting, domains, online scheduling with advanced features, and E-commerce. It also includes SSL (security) certificates and reCaptcha as a standard, providing a seamless experience.
Flexibility: You can make your site as simple as drag-and-drop or create as much coding and customization as desired, with unlimited possibilities.
Strong Blogging and E-commerce Features: It offers robust tools for blogging and small to medium-sized online stores for excellent SEO

Cons:

Learning Curve: Squarespace's design-centric interface can be less intuitive for beginners than Wix. While Squarespace offers a simple drag-and-drop platform, it also allows for unlimited flexibility and coding, which can be overwhelming for DIYers.
Price: Squarespace's pricing is comparable but, at times, slightly higher, although the quality and flexibility of its design and features may justify the cost for some users.

WordPress.com: Power and Flexibility

Pros:

Extensive Customization: WordPress.com offers one of the highest levels of customization, with thousands of themes and plugins available.
Scalability: Ideal for users who plan to scale large, in-depth websites, WordPress.com can handle everything from small blogs and extensive archives to large business websites.
Strong Blogging Platform: Originally a blogging platform, WordPress.com provides excellent tools for content management and SEO.

Cons:

Complexity: The customization options have a steeper, more complex learning curve, and users need to invest time in learning how to use the platform effectively.
Costs & Fees: While the basic plan is affordable, advanced features require higher-tier plans, which have several add-on costs (security, plugins, hosting fees, etc.) that you must be aware of when comparing costs.
Updates: Similar to apps on your phone, every plugin will need to update whenever you want to make updates to your site, which can be time-consuming and tedious

Shopify: E-commerce Excellence

Pros:

E-commerce Focused: Shopify is designed specifically for online stores and offers a wide array of e-commerce features, including payment processing, inventory management, and sales analytics.
App Store: Shopify’s extensive app store allows users to add almost any feature imaginable to their online store.
Scalability: Shopify grows with your business and is suitable for both small and large enterprises.

Cons:

Cost: Shopify’s pricing is expensive, especially when adding apps and processing fees.
Complexity: With its wide range of features, Shopify may be overkill for users needing a simple website or blog.

In conclusion, choosing the best website builder depends on your specific needs and priorities. Wix or Weebly could be a great fit for a simple DIY starter site. For ultimate flexibility AND ease of use, Squarespace stands out. Squarespace is perfect for those who value design and customization, plus easy drag-and-drop editing for future maintenance. WordPress.com is unmatched in power and scalability but requires a steep learning curve and complicated future website maintenance. For dedicated e-commerce, Shopify or Squarespace are the clear winners. When choosing a company, consider what is most important to you: ease of use, design, customization, and e-commerce capabilities of each platform.

If you are not sure where to start, or you are ready to update your DIY site, contact Propel today!

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