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.
I’ll 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
- Customizable site templates
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.
What Are the Pros and Cons of Using a Website Builder?
Website builders are pretty darn awesome. They help beginners compete in the online space without any coding knowledge. However, their simplicity also comes with a few downsides. Let’s discuss.
Pros:
- Site builders are generally very affordable
- You can build a website without any code
- Customizable templates help you create a site with a unique look and feel
- They’re faster than traditional site-building methods
Cons:
- Transferring your site may be a pain since each host and site builder work differently
- You have some limits to what you can customize compared to a site built from scratch
- Site builders are not as scalable in the long run
The point: Website builders are perfect for individuals and small businesses. However, developers and enterprise organizations probably want to take another route.
How Much Does Website Builder Hosting Cost?
You can expect to pay anywhere from $1 to $50 a month for a website builder with 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, and you’ll get 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 you 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 programs.
Best Host for WordPress: Hostinger
Hostinger caters to WordPress users with hosting packages featuring the WordPress software pre-installed. With tons of NVMe 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 Hostinger lets you host up to 300 WP sites on one account.
Best Host for Joomla: Bluehost
Installing and configuring Joomla is easy with Bluehost — 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 Bluehost. Plus, you get fast NVMe storage and helpful AI site creation tools.
Best Host for Drupal: SiteGround
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, I did warn you that Drupal is typically not for first-time site owners. However, these two hosting and website building powerhouses are exceptional — a dynamic duo fit for proficient website owners and developers.
Best Hosted Online Website Builders
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, I’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 providers, as each step forward in functionality risks two steps backward in intuitiveness. Balancing the two perfectly, 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 offers the best free option 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, I 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. Bluehost recently released its AI Site Creation platform, which uses artificial intelligence to help you build a website. All you have to do is give it a prompt, and the site builder will generate three custom site designs that are fully editable.
Best Website Builder for Small Business: Wix
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?
Wix caters its plans to small business website needs, and its professional website builder is no exception.
Wix lets you accept online payments, collaborate with team members, and capture website leads — all on a reliable cloud-hosted platform.
Best Website Builder for DIYers: IONOS
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 IONOS 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 hundreds 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 come up with an online project to take on — if you don’t have one in mind already.
