The Best Website Builder Reviews: Website Building and Hosting Made Cheap 'n Easy
Our web builder reviews represent one of the most fun parts of our jobs. Getting to play around in the backends of so many interfaces, timing how quickly we can get a functional site design up on the web, browsing themes, and envisioning how readers can leverage these platforms into exciting new online ventures is a blast.
Let’s cover some of the highlights of choosing a web host for site building, and then feel free to poke around our reviews to learn about the virtual playground that awaits.
What Is Website Builder Hosting?
A website builder is software that lets you build a website without code. Site builders typically offer ready-made, customizable templates that you can edit with a user-friendly interface. The customization process involves choosing colors, fonts, and images. Site builders are an incredibly simple and effective way to build a website without any prior experience.
Website builder hosting refers to renting server space from a web hosting company that provides you with a free website builder as part of your package. You can find many different types of website hosting with builders, including WordPress website builders and online store builders.
In addition to a free website builder, you may also get a free domain name, email marketing tools, social media tools, and live chat support. With dozens of website design tools and templates at your disposal, you can make a beautiful website in no time.
Now, getting a free website builder with a paid hosting plan shouldn’t be confused with free web hosting. The difference here is that free web hosting doesn’t offer the same security, features, and quality that a paid plan does. So, do yourself a favor and choose an affordable web host instead of a free plan.
How Much Does Website Builder Hosting Cost?
You can expect to pay anywhere from $1 to $50 a month for website builder hosting. However, your cost depends on the type of server, features, and add-ons your host offers.
Shared hosting will offer the cheapest website builder solution, while a VPS or cloud server plan will be more expensive. If you opt for a premium managed plan, you’ll pay extra as well.
You can get a free plan from Wix, but it won’t come with a custom domain name or as many design options. If you’re concerned about staying within a limited budget, consider IONOS, HostGator, Bluehost, or Hostinger. These providers offer plans for less than $5 monthly. These providers offer robust design tools, eCommerce functionality, and a free domain name for your first year.
Choosing the Best Website Builder: Software vs. WYSIWYG Editors
There are two paths one can take to build your website: template-based content management systems, like WordPress or Joomla, or a drag-and-drop website builder provided in a hosting package.
One option involves opening up an app in your hosting control panel and using a point-and-click methodology to customize a site. This is the WYSIWYG website builder route — where what you see is what you get.
The second option involves a one-stop shop for hosting and a WYSIWYG website builder, where what you see is what you get. Both are easy and affordable, so don’t let software installations or funny acronyms scare you away!
Best Website Building Software and Which Host to Use For Each
Using a self-hosted platform, like WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal, is arguably more suited for experienced site owners, but plenty of first-timers have taken on WordPress and fallen in love. We tested the top hosts for WordPress, as well as Drupal and Joomla, so be sure to check out our recommendations for hosting with these popular website building software programs.
Best Host for WordPress: InMotion Hosting
InMotion Hosting caters to WordPress users with hosting packages featuring the content management and blog building software pre-installed. With unlimited disk space at your disposal, you can build custom, responsive websites designed to grow. If you consider yourself somewhat of a WordPress site collector, you’ll appreciate that InMotion Hosting lets you host unlimited WP sites on one account.
Best Host for Joomla: SiteGround
Installing Joomla can be done in one click with SiteGround — just log into your cPanel dashboard and install the CMS software directly. While Joomla is a platform more suited for developers and seasoned site owners looking to build websites and manage content, it’s hard to beat the cost of SiteGround. Plus, you get a boatload of storage and custom domain perks, which extend SiteGround’s value as a host overall.
Best Host for Drupal: SiteGround
Again, Drupal’s out-of-the-box security and SiteGround’s SSD speed are a match made in hosting heaven. The teams behind Drupal and SiteGround are each avidly committed to building robust technologies to benefit their users. Let it be known, we did warn you that Drupal is typically not for first-time site owners, but, frankly, neither is SiteGround. These two hosting and website building powerhouses are exceptional — a dynamic duo fit for proficient website owners and developers.
Best Online Website Creators Provided By Site Builder Hosts
Route B is by way of the hosted site builder. Many platforms provide easy-to-use, drag-and-drop site builder tools to ease customers into the idea of web design. Next, we’ll talk about a few providers who really hit this out of the park.
Best for a Simple Website Builder: Wix
Drag-and-drop builders are strongest when made simple. This is a challenge for hosting service providers, as each step forward in simplicity risks two steps backward in intuitiveness. Balancing ease of use with functionality, the Wix web builder comes with tons of industry-specific templates. You can choose your aesthetic starting point, and point and click to customize to your heart’s desire.
Wix also offers the best free website builder for beginners. You can sign up for a free plan at no cost and upgrade to a paid plan to take advantage of more advanced features. What’s more, Wix recently released its proprietary AI website generator, making the process even more seamless.
Best for a Cheap Website Builder: Bluehost
Who doesn’t love cheap hosting services? As much as everybody wants to go for free or the lowest price possible in any shopping endeavor, we frequently remind hosting shoppers to look at the overall value a hosting or site building package offers. Is a 99-cent website builder really worthwhile if you’re limited to one page, the design options are dull at best, and you barely have control over the color palettes?
Instead, aim for a professional website builder with a trusted reputation in the industry. Weebly is one of the foremost names in the site building arena, and Bluehost web builder plans include Weebly as a standard. As difficult as it is to top Weebly’s site builder prowess, Bluehost’s price is hard to beat, making it stand out as the best and cheapest website builder.
The Top Website Builders For Every Niche
Do you need a website builder for personal or professional use? Is it just you, or you and a team making this site happen? Will you need eCommerce functionality? Let’s discuss.
Best Website Builder for Small Business
Business owners have a lot to think about — there are product roadmaps, staffing decisions, profit and loss projections, and marketing. Who has time to worry about website creation when you’d rather be focused on your trade?
InMotion Hosting caters its plans to small business website needs, and its professional website builder is no exception. BoldGrid works on top of WordPress to turn the site builder software into an intuitive, drag-and-drop interface for impressive custom designs. Easily add shopping carts and payment processors, and you’re ready for sales. Backed by InMotion Hosting customer support, server reliability, and SSD speed, your business’s web design is in the best hands.
Best Website Builder for DIYers
Maybe your upcoming project is for personal use — an online résumé, portfolio, or the like. If that’s the case, surely time is of the essence, and yet you don’t want to sacrifice the look and feel of your personal branding.
A custom site builder comes standard across iPage shared hosting plans, meaning you get one of the web’s most intuitive and versatile builders with the support of one of the most trusted web hosts. You’ll enjoy the thousands of unique themes and templates almost as much as you’ll appreciate the ridiculously reasonable price.
Go From Novice Website Maker to Site Building Master
You don’t have to be a website building professional to get an online presence that looks like it was made by one! Sign up for a plan, play around with themes, and see for yourself. Get your hands on one of the builders above, and you’ll want to come up with an online project to take on — if you don’t have one in mind already. May the site building odds be ever in your favor!
