Comparing Popular Website Builders: Which One is Right for You?
Are you looking to build a website but feeling overwhelmed by the number of website builders available? Don't worry, we've got you covered. In this article, we'll compare six popular website builders and help you decide which one is the best fit for your needs.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. GoDaddy Website Builder
3. Squarespace
4. Wix
5. Webflow
6. Shopify
7. WordPress
8. Which Website Builder is Right for You?
9. Conclusion
10. Resources
GoDaddy Website Builder
The GoDaddy website builder is an all-in-one solution that includes hosting, customizable themes, a visual editor, and additional features like email marketing or e-commerce. Building your website with GoDaddy is simple - just choose the type of website you want to build, choose a name, and voila! You have a pre-made website.
One thing to note is that GoDaddy doesn't have a drag and drop builder, meaning you can't place text or images wherever you want on your page. Instead, you're limited to placing them in predetermined positions based on the structure provided by GoDaddy. This means that building your website will be faster and easier, and you won't have to worry about optimizing your content for mobile devices as everything will automatically look good on smaller screen sizes.
GoDaddy also offers basic features for email marketing, blogging, and e-commerce, but if you're looking for advanced features, it may not be the right option for you. GoDaddy offers a completely free plan, but it comes with a catch - you won't be able to use your own custom domain, and there will be an ad at the top of your website. If you want to use your own custom domain and remove the ad, you'll need to upgrade to a paid plan. The basic plan starts at $10 per month and will be sufficient for most simple websites. If you're looking to sell products on your website, then you'll have to go with the Commerce plan starting at $17 per month.
Squarespace
Compared to GoDaddy, Squarespace offers a lot more flexibility when it comes to customizing your website. With close to 150 website templates in various industries like photography, local businesses, restaurants, and more, you're likely to find one that fits your needs. All of the templates are completely free to use and have a modern and clean design.
Squarespace recently introduced their so-called fluid engine, which allows you to build your website using drag and drop, making it easy to achieve the design you have in mind. Squarespace has a good balance between flexibility and ease of use, offering plenty of customization options without being overly complicated for beginners.
If you're looking to start a blog, then Squarespace is a great alternative to WordPress. It allows you to create and manage your blog content very easily without having to install a lot of plugins like you would have to do on WordPress. Squarespace has all the essential blogging features you need, like being able to optimize for search engines, organizing your content using tags and categories, creating a newsletter, and even being able to create a members-only area for exclusive content. You can even host your podcast on your Squarespace website.
Squarespace currently doesn't offer a completely free plan, but they do have a 14-day free trial you can take advantage of to test out everything before committing to a paid plan. You can choose between four different plans starting with the personal plan at $16 per month if you pay annually or $23 per month if you pay monthly. If you need e-commerce features, then you'll have to go with the business plan starting at $23 per month, allowing you to accept payments on your website with a three percent transaction fee. To reduce that transaction fee to zero percent, you'll have to go with one of the Commerce plans starting at $27 per month.
Wix
Wix comes with over 800 website templates, all of which are completely free to use. So no matter what type of website you want to build, Wix is sure to have the perfect template for you. Wix also has a drag and drop website builder, allowing you to place elements anywhere on the page. Compared to Squarespace, the Wix website builder gives you even more flexibility and customization options when it comes to the design of your website.
However, in our experience, it's a lot easier to make mistakes and misalign elements on Wix just because of how much control they give you. We've also found that on Wix, it usually takes us a bit longer to optimize the content for mobile compared to Squarespace.
One thing that sets Wix apart from its competitors is their open application marketplace. This allows independent developers to create applications that add additional features to a Wix website. Currently, there are over 300 apps to choose from, most of which are free to use.
Just like most other all-in-one website builders, Wix also allows you to create a blog or turn your website into an online store and sell products. When it comes to e-commerce, then Wix is a good option for small online stores or for people who already have a Wix website and want to start selling some products as well.
Wix also offers a completely free plan, which means you'll have to host your website on a Wix domain, and you'll also have Wix ads on your website. The cheapest plan starts at $16 per month and allows you to use your own custom domain and get rid of the Wix ads. Plus, you get a free domain for the first year if you choose to pay annually. If you want to sell products on your website and build an online store, then you're gonna have to go with the business and e-commerce plans starting at $27 per month.
Webflow
Just like Wix and Squarespace, Webflow has a drag and drop website builder, but it gives you even more flexibility and customization options when it comes to the website design. With Webflow, you can really make your website look perfect and optimize the design for any screen size.
This is why Webflow is a great option for designers and developers who are looking to build something very customized and potentially more complex than your average website. However, it's definitely more of an advanced website builder that takes longer to learn, so we wouldn't recommend it to complete beginners.
Webflow also has an open marketplace for apps and website templates. Currently, there are over 1,500 website templates to choose from, some of which are free, and others cost between $50 and $100. If you want to start a blog or create an online store, you can also do that with Webflow.
Webflow also has a free plan, allowing you to publish your website on a Webflow domain. If you want to use your own custom domain, then you're going to have to choose a paid plan starting at $14 per month if you pay annually. For online stores, the plans start at $29 per month.
In our experience, building websites on Webflow can be a lot of fun, and you can get really creative. But it definitely takes more time compared to the other website builders we've mentioned previously in this video. So if you're looking for a ready-to-go website as quickly as possible, then Webflow is probably not the right choice for you. But if you want maximum design freedom and you want to build something completely custom, then we can definitely recommend it.
Shopify
Shopify is designed specifically for building online stores and e-commerce businesses. So if the main goal of your website is not to sell products and take payments, then you don't need to look into Shopify. However, if you plan to create an online store, then Shopify is definitely one of the best options.
Their website builder is similar to the one of GoDaddy, so it's not a drag and drop website builder. You can simply add elements and then customize them through the site menu, which limits your design freedom but makes building your store very easy and quick. Additionally, everything is fully responsive, so your store will look great on mobile devices as well.
If you want to use Shopify but you need more design freedom, then you can install a third-party application such as Jam Pages, allowing you to build your website using a drag and drop builder. The Shopify app store currently has over 8,000 apps, giving you endless options to add new features to your store.
Shopify comes with a bit over 100 online store templates to choose from, with only 11 of them being free to use. The paid ones cost between $200 and $350. Shopify is definitely not the cheapest option, but currently, they do have a three-day free trial to test out all the features. After the trial, you can choose one of their paid plans starting at $29 per month if you pay annually or $39 per month if you pay monthly.
WordPress
WordPress is still the most popular platform to create websites. In fact, over 43% of all existing websites are running on WordPress. Compared to the other website builders we've mentioned before, this is not an all-in-one solution. WordPress is a content management system that requires you to handle certain aspects of website management yourself, such as hosting or security.
Running your website on WordPress definitely demands you to have a certain level of technical understanding compared to all-in-one solutions like Wix or Squarespace. Learning how to use WordPress can be a bit overwhelming, especially if you don't have any prior experience. So you need to be willing to spend some time watching tutorials until you get the hang of it.
Luckily, because WordPress is such a popular platform, there are tons of resources out there. WordPress gives you complete control over every aspect of your website, leaving you with no limits of what you can do with your website in the future. You have access to over 55,000 plugins that are essentially small pieces of software that add additional functionality to your website.
When it comes to the design, WordPress has thousands of free and paid templates to choose from, so you can make a website look exactly how you want it to. There's also a drag and drop page builder called Elementor that allows you to build your website without any coding.
WordPress is completely free to use, so for simple websites that don't require a lot of additional features through paid plugins, the only thing you need to pay for really is hosting. The hosting provider that we recommend is called Hostinger. It's fast, reliable, easy to use, and their plans start at only $2 per month. Plus, if you get hosting through our referral link and use code Medics Media, you'll get an additional 10% off.
Which Website Builder is Right for You?
Each of these six options has its unique benefits, so you need to consider your needs before making your final decision. If you're looking for an all-in-one solution to build simpler websites with affordable pricing, then the GoDaddy website builder is probably the right choice for you. Squarespace is a great option if you're looking for a flexible website builder that is still easy to use with a bit more customization options.
Wix is a good option if you're looking for an all-in-one solution with a wide variety of templates and a good amount of flexibility in designing your website. Webflow is the best option for designers and developers who want to build something very customized, but it's not really recommended for complete beginners.
Shopify is our top recommendation for those who want to build an e-commerce website very easily and quickly and don't mind spending a bit more money to get a very powerful all-in-one e-commerce solution. And finally, if you don't want to put any limits on what you can do with your website and you're willing to spend a bit more time learning the platform, then WordPress is the best option for you.
Conclusion
In conclusion, building a website has never been easier with the number of website builders available today. Each of the six website builders we've covered in this article has its unique benefits, so it's important to consider your needs before making your final decision.
Remember, the most important thing is to get started and build the website you always wanted. Check out the links in the resources section below to sign up for a free trial and use our tutorials to walk you through everything you need to know step by step.
Resources
- GoDaddy Website Builder: https://www.godaddy.com/websites/website-builder
- Squarespace: https://www.squarespace.com/
- Wix: https://www.wix.com/
- Webflow: https://webflow.com/
- Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/
- WordPress: https://wordpress.org/
- Hostinger: https://www.hostinger.com/
- Medics Media referral link: https://www.hostinger.com/medics-media
- Squarespace 14-day free trial: https://www.squarespace.com/free-trial
- Shopify three-day free trial: https://www.shopify.com/free-trial
- Webflow free plan: https://webflow.com/pricing
- WordPress plugins: https://wordpress.org/plugins/
