10 Best Free Website Builders in 2021

 


10 Best Free Website Builders in 2021

We tested every website builder on this list, and created demo websites so you can see the results for yourself. Read on to visit these demo sites, see screenshots, and discover our expert insights on the top 10 free builders.

Wix impressed us most in our testing, while Weebly comes a close second as an ideal choice for small businesses. SITE123 places third in our list for its beginner-friendly, design assisted editor. Check out the full list below!

Here are the 10 best free website builders:

  1. Wix – Best All-Around Website Builder. Read review
  2. Weebly – Ideal for Small Businesses. Read review
  3. SITE123 – Great Design Assistance. Read review
  4. WordPress – Perfect for Blogging. Read WordPress.com review
  5. Strikingly – Made for Simple Websites. Read review
  6. Jimdo – Small Online Store Builder. Read review
  7. SimpleSite – Great Mobile Editor. Read review
  8. Webnode – Quick and Easy Setup. Read review
  9. IM Creator – Great for White Label Businesses. Read review
  10. Mozello – Create Simple Multilingual Sites. Read review

We used our own independent research to create this list, to provide you with accurate and reliable recommendations. We always aim to be as honest and transparent as possible – and in this spirit, we won’t gloss over the fact that free builders aren’t the best way to build a website. You deserve all the facts, so you’ll find drawbacks as well as pros for each builder in our list.

Ready to find your perfect match? Let’s jump straight in!

Further Information

Best Free Website Builders Comparison

In a rush? Get all the key information you need at a glance with our helpful comparison table!

StorageOn-site AdvertSell Products For Free?SSL security?
Wix
500MB
Sticky top banner

✔️
Weebly
500MB
Slide-up ad
✔️ (Unlimited products)
✔️
SITE123
500MB
Bottom banner

✔️
WordPress.com
3GB
Top banner and button

✔️
Strikingly
500MB
Slide-up ad
✔️ (1 product)

Jimdo
500MB
Footer disclaimer

✔️
SimpleSite
None: 15 page max instead
Button
✔️ (5 products)

Webnode
100MB
Bottom banner

✔️
IM Creator
Unlimited
No ads


Mozello
500MB
Bottom banner
✔️ (5 products)

Three of the big drawbacks to free website builders are limited storage space, having adverts displayed on your site, and the lack of ecommerce tools. It’s also worth checking if the builder offers SSL security, otherwise your site gets flagged as non-secure.

The standard storage allowance for free plans is 500MB, although some builders like WordPress.com are more generous.

Wix

Best All-Around Website Builder

Wix is by far the best overall free website builder on the market today.

How Wix scored in our research: 4.7/5 stars

Our demo website: Lucy’s Cupcakes

What about ads?

There’s a fairly noticeable banner ad across the top of free Wix sites.

What will my domain name look like?

yourname.wix.com/customname

How much storage will I get?

500MB

Starting price (if you want to upgrade)

$14 per month

Wix ProsWix Cons
Easy to use drag-and-drop functionalityFree plan domain names look like this: yourname.wixsite.com/yoursite – they’re not the catchiest!
Wide range of templatesThe free plan sticky ads are very noticeable
Majority of features available on free planCan’t change your template once your site goes live
Endless scope for customizationCheapest plan costs $14 per month if you want to upgrade to a paid plan

Wix: At A Glance

Wix is extremely easy to use, comes packed with features, and gives you total creative freedom over your site’s design thanks to its drag-and-drop editor.

Although Wix’s free domain isn’t the catchiest, you can customize it to reflect your brand. This gives Wix an advantage over other builders such as SITE123, where you’re given a domain you can’t edit.

wix free demo website lucys cupcakes
We created a free Wix website for an imaginary business called Lucy’s Cupcakes. You can see the Wix banner advert across the top of the page – but it's still pretty attractive!

Expert Insights: What We Thought Of Using Wix

We used Wix to create a free website for an imaginary business called Lucy’s Cupcakes – the whole building process took about half a day. Wix was easy to use, but still gave us all the creative freedom we needed to make our site look exactly how we wanted it to. We especially like the fact that our template came with the Wix Restaurant app already built-in!

What we liked: 

  • The creative freedom – we could drag anything anywhere, making it easy to line things up exactly how we wanted them!
  • The template choices and designs – our chosen template already had a menu section built-in.
  • The undo feature – simply hit CTRL and Z to undo changes you’ve made. This is a small but surprisingly useful feature.
  • How easy it was – changing text, images, and backgrounds only took a few clicks. Wix even has an image library on hand, which made it even faster!
editing text wix free website builder
Wix impressed us with its easy to use drag-and-drop editing tools, and the amount of creative control it gave us over our site’s design.

What could be improved: 

  • Onboarding – although Wix is super easy to use, when the editor first loads, it can look a little confusing because there are so many options. This can make Wix look more tricky than it actually is. A quick tour would make it even more beginner-friendly.
wix free builder editor
When the editor first loads, it might seem a little overwhelming or daunting for beginners, which is a shame because Wix is actually very easy to use!

wix free website builder choose template

wix free builder menu editing

wix best free builder banner advert

logo-wix-100x100

Wix is the builder our users were most impressed by

88% of people in our user testing would recommend Wix. Build your free site to find out what all the fuss is about!
For more information on Wix, read the following:

  • Wix Review – If you’re looking for more information on Wix then this is a great place to start.
  • Wix Pricing Guide – We take a closer look at the costs of each Wix premium plan and what you get for your money.

Weebly

Ideal for Small Businesses

Weebly is one of the easiest to use free website makers around, with a great plan for small businesses.

How Weebly scored in our research: 4.1 / 5 stars

Our demo website: Lucy’s Cupcakes

What about ads?

There’s a small slide up ad in the bottom left hand corner (see screenshots below)

What will my domain name look like?

yoursite.weebly.com

How much storage will I get?

500MB (with a 10MB limit per upload)

Starting price (if you want to upgrade)

$6 per month

Weebly ProsWeebly Cons
A reasonable free plan domain name: yoursite.weebly.comLimited features on free plan
Sell for free (currently US only)Not as much creative freedom as Wix
Good SEO prompts – ideal for businesses that want to be found through GooglePop up ad in the corner is quite distracting

Weebly: At A Glance

Weebly has a similar ‘drag-and-drop’ editor to Wix, which is extremely user-friendly. Combine this ease of use with its great SEO tools, semi-professional free domain, plus lots of room for growth to scale your website, and Weebly stands out as the best free website builder for small businesses. It achieved the best features score of any builder we’ve tested (4.2/5). If you’re in the US, you can even sell from your free Weebly site, although you’ll pay a 3% transaction fee on each sale.

weebly free demo website lucys cupcakes
We created a free demo Weebly website for Lucy’s Cupcakes. It was a quick and easy build, although we missed the creative freedom that came with Wix.

Expert Insights: What We Thought Of Using Weebly

When we created our demo site with Weebly, it felt very beginner friendly – setting up the site was easy. It felt a lot more limited than Wix though, with fewer templates to choose from and more dated looking editing tools.

What we liked about Weebly: 

  • The structured themes – yes, we did find Weebly’s structured themes frustrating at times, but they’re helpful for following design best practices.
  • How easy it was to set up – like Wix, Weebly asks you what sort of website you want to create, and provides you with tailored themes to help you get started.
  • Its beginner-friendly prompts – Weebly makes it difficult to accidentally delete anything; it always double-checks first, which is helpful!
weebly free builder editing helpful prompts
Prompts like these make Weebly a great choice for beginners as well as businesses.

What could be improved: 

  • Lack of creative freedom – the one thing we’d ask Weebly to improve would have to be its level of creative freedom. Having more control over the color and size of your text shouldn’t cause a headache – or require you to code.For Lucy’s Cupcakes, Weebly’s limited editing style proved frustrating when trying to arrange text over an image background, as you can’t simply drag a text box a few millimetres up.
weebly free builder text over image formatting
Weebly’s structured designs are great if you need creative guidance – but it grew frustrating when formatting text over images.

weebly free builder editing buttons

weebly free website builder template selection

weebly free builder theme preview

weebly free website advert example 2

weebly_logotype

Weebly's free plan is one of the most generous

Weebly is the perfect platform for small businesses, and one of he easiest website builders to get to grips with.
For more information on Weebly, read the following:

  • Weebly Review – Our in-depth look at Weebly will tell you everything you need to know about this free website maker!
  • Weebly Pricing Guide – We take a closer look at the costs of each Weebly paid plan.
  • Wix vs Weebly – We compare the differences between Wix and Weebly to help you decide!

SITE123

Great Design Assistance

SITE123 is a simple to use website builder that focuses on helping you get online.

How SITE123 scored in our research: 4 /5 stars

Our demo website: Lucy’s Cupcakes

What about ads?

There’s a very subtle banner along the bottom which appears after the user scrolls a little down the page.

What will my domain name look like?

A random mix of numbers and letters, ending in site123.me. Here’s the free domain for our SITE123 demo website: 5f35237f568e3.site123.me

How much storage will I get?

500MB

Starting price (if you want to upgrade)

$12.80 per month

SITE123 ProsSITE123 Cons
No adverts visible when you first land on the siteFree domain name looks unprofessional, is not customizable, and ends ‘.me’, instead of the stronger ‘.com’
Brilliant 24/7 help and support via live chatLittle creative freedom
Site123 chooses a template for you, making it a good option for non-creativesLimited choice of website templates, which look dated compared to competitors’

SITE123: At A Glance

SITE123 is ideal for beginners who want to create a nice, simple website. It’s super easy to set up, but if you want to get creative and push the boundaries of your site’s design, then SITE123 isn’t for you. It’s very limited, and the free domain you get is a jumble of letters and numbers, which is a huge downside.

free site123 demo website lucys cupcakes
SITE123 makes it easy to create a simple website, but it doesn’t have the sleek designs or wow factor that Wix and Weebly provide.

Expert Insights: What We Thought Of Using SITE123

The main thing we noticed about SITE123 was how much it tries to help you while you build. From creating your basic site for you, to providing font pairings and complimentary color suggestions, it feels like someone holding your hand from start to finish.

What we liked about SITE123: 

  • How friendly it was – if you have zero tech skills and want a fairly hands-off building experience, SITE123 is a perfect choice.
  • Its chat support – SITE123’s live chat is there to help throughout the building process, which is great if you get stuck.
  • All the creative help – simply choose your industry and site name, and SITE123 creates your basic site for you. It has pre-paired fonts and color suggestions to help you too!
site123 free website builder image and color choices
When you choose an image, SITE123 automatically provides complimentary color suggestions, so you don’t need to worry about clashing color schemes!

What could be improved: 

  • The quality of design – it’s no secret that SITE123 provides limited creative freedom. This would be less frustrating if the designs were more modern and attractive. Our Lucy’s Cupcakes site was easy to build, but the result looks a little dated and bland, especially compared to the Wix site we made.
site123 lucys cupcakes bland design
While SITE123 ticks off all the basics and lends a huge helping hand with your design choices, its templates just aren’t as exciting as Wix or Weebly’s.

site123 free website builder adi

site123 free website builder page layouts

site123 logo

SITE123 gives you a helping hand with design

SITE123’s design assistance takes the hassle out of finding the right look for your site.
Read more:

  • Our SITE123 Review tells you all you need to know about this top free website builder

Strikingly

Made for Simple Websites

An easy-to-use free builder which creates simple, stylish, one-page websites.

How Strikingly scored in our research: 4/5 stars

What about ads?

Very small scroll-triggered slide up ad in the bottom left corner.

What will my domain name look like?

yoursite.strikingly.com

How much storage will I get?

500MB

Starting price (if you want to upgrade)

$8 per month, billed annually

Strikingly ProsStrikingly Cons
Subtle advertising on the free planSites built on the free plan don’t include an SSL certificate
24/7 customer support from ‘happiness officers’ via live chatYou can only create one-page sites
Ability to sell one product per free planLimited ability to edit templates, meaning a lack of creative control

Strikingly: At A Glance

Strikingly is a simple, easy to use free website builder that’s best for personal rather than business websites. Strikingly’s core focus is getting you online cheaply, easily, and quickly. Because of this, you don’t have the same level of creative control as some of the more intuitive website builders, like Wix.

strikingly example site lucys cupcakes
Strikingly has some fun, modern templates, and makes it easy to create a basic (but stylish) one-page website.

Expert Insights: What We Thought Of Using Strikingly

One of the first things we noticed about creating a website with Strikingly was how friendly it feels. You get a quick onboarding tour that shows you around, and customizing your template is super easy – as long as you’re happy to stick to the design.

strikingly free website builder editor tour
Strikingly’s free builder is very user-friendly, and caters for beginners with a quick welcome tour to help you get started.

strikingly free website builder pastry corner template

strikingly free website builder easy customization

strikingly free website builder formatting

strikingly logo

Strikingly is a great choice for one-page websites

Easy setup and subtle advertising make Strikingly a winning choice for any simple website.
Find out more:

Read our Strikingly Review for an in-depth look at this top free website maker!

WordPress.com

Perfect for Blogging

Made for blogging, this free platform has all the features you need for your blog, combining powerful tools with a simplified website builder design.

How WordPress.com scored in our research: 3.7/5 stars

What about ads?

Small white banner across the top of the site, with a WordPress button in the top right corner.

What will my domain name look like?

yoursite.wordpress.com

How much storage will I get?

3GB

Starting price (if you want to upgrade)

$4 per month, billed yearly

WordPress.com ProsWordPress.com Cons
Perfect for bloggingSome coding may be required – not very beginner-friendly
Best domain name format of any free planTemplates and designs are focused on blogging
Wide range of free templatesYou don’t get to choose your industry or template during the setup process

WordPress.com: At A Glance

WordPress.com is built for blogging, and it shows. Extensive blogging features are automatically built-in, such as analytics, a search feature, comments, display categories, archiving, and more. There’s also 3GB of storage on offer, which is six times that of every platform on this list. If you want to build anything other than a blog, though, you might struggle. It’s also not the easiest builder to use, so we don’t recommend it for beginners.

wordpress.com free website builder example site lucys cupcakes
WordPress.com is perfect for blogging, and lets you create a stylish website – especially if you have some technical confidence.

Expert Insights: What We Thought Of Using WordPress.com

WordPress.com has a much steeper learning curve than the top three builders – in fact, WordPress.com only scored 3.2 stars out of 5 in our ease of use testing. It’s great for blogging, but trying to create a cupcake website was slow going and often frustrating.

Heads up: WordPress.com vs WordPress.org

This review covers WordPress.com, which is a simplified version of WordPress that functions like a website builder. WordPress.org, on the other hand, is a content management system (CMS) that can organize and store a lot more content, but demands a bit more technical know-how. We’ve written a full comparison of these two WordPress platforms if you’d like to learn more! If not, then read on for our review of WordPress.com.

free website builder wordpress.com domain name

wordpress logo

Do you want to build a blog?

WordPress.com is the best free builder for blogging, and is especially good if you can code a little bit.
For more information:

Jimdo

A Good ‘Pre-store’ Option

Jimdo is a good choice of free website builder if you want to set up an online store and sell through your site at a later date.

How Jimdo scored in our research: 3.6/ 5 stars

What about ads?

Tiny note in the footer of your website to say it was built using Jimdo.

What will my domain name look like?

your-site.jimdosite.com

How much storage will I get?

500MB

Starting price (if you want to upgrade)

$9 per month, billed annually

Jimdo ProsJimdo Cons
Nice aestheticsDifficult to use drag-and-drop functionality
Charges the least to remove adverts from your siteLacks design and creative control
No Jimdo banner or pop-ups ads, just a note in the footerCould do with some more tailored templates

The team behind Jimdo are very passionate about helping you build a free website, and things are kept simple so you can jump right in.

All in all, we’d recommend Jimdo if you need a quick and easy website to provide a backdrop for an online Facebook store or similar. You can sell up to five products for free with Jimdo, and it’s really easy (and fairly cheap) to upgrade your plan to scale up your store later down the line.

jimdo free example website lucys cupcakes
Jimdo’s designs are visually pleasing, but hardly breathtaking. Simplicity is at the heart of this builder – it’s easy, but not super scalable.

Expert Insights: What We Thought Of Using Jimdo

Jimdo values simplicity, and this is obvious as you build. There are question mark tool-tips scattered throughout the editor to help you along, and uploading images, changing text, and replacing backgrounds is all effortless.

Good to Know…

During setup, Jimdo asks how you want to create your site, and gives you two options:

  1. Create a beautiful site, no coding required
  2. Use the editor for coding experts

We used Jimdo’s “coding” editor, and let us assure you that you do not need to know any code to create a good-looking site using this method! The first option uses ADI, which is easier, but gives you less control over your site’s design.

The second option “for coding experts” is just the same as using any of the builders on this list – no coding needed.

jimdo free website builder subtle advert

Looking for a simple storefront?

Jimdo is ideal for building a simple storefront for your ecommerce business, whether you’re already selling on social media or just starting out.
To get the lowdown on Jimdo, check out the following:

  • Jimdo Review – For more information about Jimdo, you can’t go wrong with our in-depth review.

SimpleSite

Great Mobile Editor

SimpleSite lets you easily edit your site from your mobile.

What about ads?

Small white button to the left which says ‘Get Your Own FREE Website. Click here!’

What will my domain name look like?

yoursite.simplesite.com

How much storage will I get?

No storage cap, but limited to 15 pages

Starting price (if you want to upgrade)

$11.25 per month, billed annually

SimpleSite ProsSimpleSite Cons
Very easy to useNo SSL certificate included
Generous free planNo access to third party integrations
Supports mobile friendly editing within mobile browserLimited customer support
Thorough onboarding processDesigns feel outdated

SimpleSite: At A Glance

SimpleSite is – you guessed it – a very simple website builder, which nevertheless has some surprising perks built into its platform. Its mobile editor in particular is a great feature for those on the go. Other than that, we’d go so far as to say this free builder is a little too simple. It’s only suitable for hobby websites rather than anything serious.

simplesite free example site lucys cupcakes
SimpleSite is designed primarily for someone looking to promote a self service, so you can see how the flexibility provided by its mobile editor can help

Expert Insights: What We Thought Of Using SimpleSite

If you want a builder that walks you through setting up the different parts of your website step by step, then you might enjoy using SimpleSite.

Its onboarding process uses an animated beaver character to guide you through setting up each page, before you get to enter the main editor. While this is helpful for ensuring you don’t miss out anything important, it can become tedious if you’re after any amount of creative freedom.

simplesite free website builder onboarding

free website builder simplesite layout editor

Do You Like to Keep Things Simple?

SimpleSite is a good option if you need on-the-go editing, or if you want your hand held while you build.
Want to find out more?

Webnode

Great for Events Websites 

Webnode is a popular choice of free website maker with more than 30 million users around the world.

What about ads?

Gray banner in the footer section that says ‘Make a free website’ and ‘Webnode’

What will my domain name look like?

your-site.webnode.com

How much storage will I get?

100MB

Starting price (if you want to upgrade)

$3.90 per month

Webnode ProsWebnode Cons
Get online quickly, with almost no learning curveInflexible template designs
No Webnode banner or pop-ups ads, just a note in the footerSmall amount of storage space
Great designs for eventsSlightly awkward registration process

Webnode: At A Glance

Webnode is a decent choice of free website builder if you can’t commit much time to working on a template design, or want a builder with virtually zero learning curve – but it does limit your creative potential compared to other builders on our list.

webnode lucys cupcakes home
Webnode’s modern and minimalist templates make it ideal for events sites, and for making the most of bright and fun design choices.

Expert Insights: What We Thought Of Using Webnode

Despite the slightly clunky sign-up process – Webnode publishes your template straightaway, and you need to go to your email to access the editor so you can start customizing – once you’re in, it’s a smooth and simple builder to use.

webnode free builder easy editor

webnode free builder templates

webnode free builder template edit or preview

webnode free builder free settings

webnode small advert

Do You Need a Basic Events Website?

Webnode isn’t powerful, but it is quick and easy to use – and perfect for events websites!

IM Creator

Great for White Label Businesses

If you’re looking to create an eye-catching free website with lots of images then IM Creator could be for you.

What about ads?

No ads displayed

What will my domain name look like?

im-creator.com/free/yourname/yoursite

How much storage will I get?

Unlimited

Starting price (if you want to upgrade) 

$7.95 per month

IM Creator ProsIM Creator Cons
Eye-catching templatesVery clunky domain name
Students, Artists and NGOs can apply to use a premium, ad-free theme free of chargeNo ecommerce feature
A good range of basic featuresMinimalistic editor can be hard to navigate

IM Creator: At A Glance

IM Creator is a sleek free website builder – sometimes a little too sleek, as it can be hard to navigate at times. It has attractive templates, catering to plenty of industries, and its modern editor stands out from the crowd against more dated platforms.

im creator free builder customized site
IM Creator is a very aesthetic builder, with visually pleasing templates and a sleek editor.

Expert Insights: What We Thought Of Using IM Creator

IM Creator can take a little getting used to compared to some of the easier builders on our list. Its editor feels very modern and minimalistic, which can be tricky to navigate at first – for us, it involved a lot of clicking to try and get the right menu to appear. Once you’ve got used to it though, IM Creator is a pretty cool builder with some nice touches.

im creator free builder minimal editor

im creator free builder templates

im creator free website builder add new section

Are You a Student, Artist, or NGO?

If so, IM Creator has some generous perks just for you…
For more info on IM Creator, read:

IM Creator Review – We explore IM creator in more depth so you don’t have to.

Mozello

Create Simple Multilingual Sites

Mozello is a basic, easy to use website builder which allows you to create multilingual sites totally free.

What about ads?

Gray banner in the footer section that says ‘Make a free website’ and ‘Webnode’

What will my domain name look like?

your-site.mozello.com

How much storage will I get?

500MB

Starting price (if you want upgrade)

$7 per month, paid annually

Mozello ProsMozello Cons
Create multilingual sites for freeVery limited editor
Ecommerce is enabled on the free planNo SSL Security
Helpful hints when buildingLack of flexibility and customization

Mozello: At A Glance

Mozello is an easy to use but basic website builder. It has simple features such as blogging tools and even ecommerce functions. Its standout feature is its multi language functionality. You can also set up an online store on the free plan and sell up to 10 products.

lucys cupcakes mozello free website builder
Mozello is a good, but basic builder that’s let down slightly by its limited editor, but shines when it comes to multilingual functionality.

Expert Insights: What We Thought Of Using Mozello

Mozello is a good builder – it made our best list, after all – but it’s nowhere near as impressive as the top five builders we’ve looked at. It’s a very limited builder that takes some time to get used to, and its designs struggle to really impress. Trying to customize and format the template to get it exactly how you want it quickly began to feel like a struggle.

mozello free website builder template selection

lucys cupcakes mozello free website builder

mozello free website formatting

free website builder mozello french editor

Last - But Not Least?

Mozello could be your perfect builder if you want something basic, with solid multi language features.

What’s Important in a Free Website Builder?

Free website builders may have once seemed too good to be true, but we set out to demonstrate that this is not always the case.

A question we often get asked is just how do these free website builders make their money? Is there something sketchy going on? Luckily, it’s all super safe and above board. These website builders operate on what’s known as a ‘freemium’ business model, whereby the customers who want to pay for extra features effectively fund those who are happy with a limited plan – no strings attached.

That said, there are some elements that you should pay close attention to when deciding on which free website builder you choose.

To create this ranking of the best free website builders, we drew upon our extensive research and user testing for each website builder as a whole, and combined this with a specific focus on their free plans, paying close attention to whether or not the builder ticked these boxes:

Clear domain name

Free website builders won’t let you link up a custom domain name – but what does the auto-generated one look like? For example, a format like IM Creator’s (im-creator.com/free/yourname/yoursite) could make your site look quite unprofessional.

Low upgrade cost

Upgrading to a paid plan comes with clear benefits, so it’s good to know how much this would cost.

Minimal advertising

You don’t need us to tell you that a website plastered in ads won’t look as good as one without! Our screenshots should help you evaluate the ads of each website builder, and decide on the least intrusive option for you.

Free SSL certificate

Most website builders include a free SSL certificate as standard, but a couple don’t (we’ve flagged when this is the case). Without an SSL certificate, your website will display as ‘Not secure’ to visitors. You can buy an SSL certificate separately for around $10/year.

Sufficient storage

Most free website builders have a cap on the amount of content you can upload to your site. If you know you want to include lots of images or videos, be mindful of how quickly you’d hit this cap.

Easy to use

There’s no point in finding a website builder that ticks the boxes above, only to discover it’s clunky and frustrating to use. We’ve given an indication of how easy each website builder is to use, based on our research and user testing.

Ecommerce functionality (optional)

If you need to sell through your free website builder, this limits your options a little. Keep an eye out for website builders we’ve flagged as allowing you to sell on a free plan, like Weebly.

By going through the process of creating a free website with each builder for this article, we’ve been able to give a really accurate first-hand account of the process.

How Do I Create A Free Website? (Step-by-Step)

One thing all the website builders in our ranking have in common, aside from being free, is that they are easy to set up – they wouldn’t have made the cut otherwise! The process and learning curve differ slightly from builder to builder, but here are the steps you can expect:

  1. Sign up with the website builder. This will require an email address, password, and possibly a username.
  2. Choose a template, or answer questions for the design assistant. This is the first fork in the road – most builders will let you select a template to work off at this stage, but some will use design assistance to mock up a website for you based on your answers to a few questions. We’ve specified when this is the case.
  3. Add in your own content. Get rid of placeholder text and images, and replace these with your own.
  4. Tweak and customize your design. If you want to, you can customize your design further by testing out new layouts and colors, or even switching to a new template. Most builders let you switch templates after publishing, but keep in mind that Wix doesn’t.
  5. Press publish! At this point, your domain name will be generated, and your site will be live for the world to see.

This process could take anything from 15 minutes to a few hours, depending on how much you switch up in steps three and four.

Is It Worth Upgrading to a Paid Plan?

As we’ve seen, free website builders can do a lot – but paid plans allow for a lot more. And paid doesn’t have to mean expensive; you can take advantage of premium features from as little as $6/month.

The most common advantages of paid plans include:

Removing ads

When you’re trying to give a professional image, no ads is a whole lot better than subtle ads – and upgrading your plan will leave your site ad-free.

Connecting a custom domain name

Again, yoursite.com is a whole lot better than yoursite.yourwebsitebuilder.com, and a whole lot more memorable, too.

Access to more storage and bandwidth

As your site grows and your traffic increases, you may find you simply outgrow your free plan. You may need to upgrade to have enough storage, and so that enough people can access your site at once. Many paid plans offer unlimited storage and bandwidth, so you can have total peace of mind.

Advanced marketing and sales tools

The features and tools needed to take your business or hobby to the next level will often be waiting for you in that premium plan, so make sure you at least take a look!

While there’s no pressure to upgrade to a paid plan at any stage, we think it’s always worth checking out or trialling at some point. It can be nerve-wracking to invest money in a new business, project or hobby, but there’s an element of ‘fake it till you make it’ here; with the added professionalism of a paid site, nobody needs to know that you’re not far more established.

Read more:

If you’re interested in upgrading or just want to find out more, read our reviews and pricing guides for a full look at what these top free website builders’ have to offer in value for money, price plans, and more:

Best Free Website Builders: Conclusion

We’ve guided you through the pros and cons of 10 free website builders, as well as the advantages of upgrading to a paid plan when possible. You’re now equipped with everything you need to pick a website builder, and to put your digital pen to digital paper. 

Let’s have a quick recap…

The 10 Best Free Website Builders Are:

  1. Wix – Best All-Around Website Builder.
  2. Weebly – Ideal for Small Businesses.
  3. SITE123 – Great Design Assistance.
  4. WordPress.com – Perfect for Blogging.
  5. Strikingly – Made for Simple Websites.
  6. Jimdo – Small Online Store Builder.
  7. SimpleSite – Great Mobile Editor.
  8. Webnode – Quick and Easy Setup.
  9. IM Creator – Great for White Label Businesses.
  10. Mozello – Create Simple Multilingual Sites.

Our list of the top 10 free website builders ranks Wix as the best all-around builder, with tons of free features. Weebly is ideal for small businesses, while WordPress.com is perfect for blogging.

Just remember that free website builders nearly always limit the features and functions that are available to you – you may be ok with this now, but it could prove extremely frustrating further down the line.

While we always recommend making the most of free plans to build, play, and experiment with different builders, we never recommend staying on a free plan forever. 

If you’re serious about your website, and want other people to take it seriously too, then at some point you will need to upgrade to a premium plan.

There’s no rush, though – none of the builders on this list have a time limit on their free plan, so you can stay on them as long as you like, until you’re ready to take your site to the next level.

In the meantime, enjoy trying out your favorite free builders – come back and let us know which one you liked the most!

Senuth Deelana Rajapakshe

Hello There. I am Senuth Deelana, Sri Lankan professional Web Developer, Google Developer, Digital Marketer, And Am A Passionate about Blogging. I am the Acting CEO Executive Officer of SL Art Cafe and Download Soft, InstaPro Mart, the technologically advanced digital education company known as 'SL Art Cafe', which enables and expands the education of hundreds of people. Senuth Deelana was in Colombo, Sri Lanka.I Know a about HTML, CSS, JS, JAVA ,CC+.Contact Us today to build your website, app Development, and Brand facebook twitter youtube whatsapp instagram pinterest email

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