B

uilding a website is the first step in any online project. Actually, the first step is to come up with an idea for your project, but the website is just as important. It gives you a platform to showcase your products and services, and enables you to convert your visitors into leads. It reflects your brand and gives customers a first impression of your business and the people behind it.

A no-code website builder is a tool that helps you create and design websites without any coding or programming skills. You can either choose from pre-built templates or start from scratch with an empty canvas.

The best website builders are designed to be easy-to-use, so that anyone can build their own website without having to worry about coding skills. Plus, they offer plenty of customization options so that you have complete control over the design of your site.

Why Choose No-Code Website Builders?

Accessibility for everyone

Breaking down the barriers of technical expertise, no-code website builders make website creation effortless for individuals with limited or no coding knowledge. These tools open up opportunities for a diverse range of users, from small businesses to solo entrepreneurs.

Cost-effectiveness

Traditional website development can be a pricey endeavor. No-code solutions provide a budget-friendly alternative, making website development accessible even to those with limited resources. This affordability makes them an ideal choice for small businesses and individuals.

Rapid development and deployment

With intuitive interfaces and pre-built elements, no-code platforms accelerate the development process. Users can swiftly launch their websites, ensuring a quick and efficient deployment of their online presence.

What to Consider When Choosing a Website Builder?

It is a good idea to write down what you want to accomplish with your website before comparing the best website builders. How would you like your website to look and what features would you like to see? Will you use this website to showcase your portfolio or will it be a blog or an eCommerce store?

As an example, if you are planning to build a photography portfolio, you'll need features like a photo gallery, social media features, and perhaps a blog.

Here are some key aspects to consider:

  1. Ease of use:
  • Does the website builder provide a user-friendly experience?
  • Is there a drag-and-drop builder for easy customization?
  1. Flexibility and features:
  • Can you add third-party tools like Google Analytics or CRM?
  • Does the builder offer flexibility in design and feature integration?
  1. Pricing and support:
  • Is the pricing reasonable for your needs?
  • Does the builder offers a reliable 24/7 customer support? Usually website builders are intuitive and user friendly, but you never know what issues you might face while building it.

So having that in mind, let’s have a look at 5 website building solutions that will help you create beautiful website to boost your online presence and profits.

The sequence I've listed these tools does not reflect their quality - they are all excellent no-code website building tools and have different qualities. It's totally up to you which one you'll choose!

1. Webflow

For advanced users and designers seeking complete creative control

Webflow logo

Webflow is a fantastic fully customizable website builder that scales seamlessly as your business grows. It offers a wide range of free pre-built templates as well as many paid templates that are more advanced. Since it's fully customizable, you can also add your own code: HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. A great tool for beginners as well as more advanced users, Webflow allows you to build stunning websites. Webflow is perfect for web designers, developers, or businesses that demand complete creative control over their website. It's not the easiest platform for beginners, but the extensive customization options make it a top choice for those seeking a unique web experience.

Key features:

✦ Powerful web design.
✦ Has amazing content management system.
✦ Full customization of your website.
✦ Integrations with essential tools, e.g. Google Analytics.
✦ Allows buying domains from Google Domains right inside Webflow.
✦ High-quality hosting and responsive support.
✦ Support: Webflow Community Forum, Webflow University, Email.

Pricing

Webflow has 2 different types of plans, and within those plans there are additional plans. At first, their pricing and plans might seem confusing, but once you check what each plan provides, everything makes sense. Site plans are for those who work alone, whereas Workspace plans are for those who collaborate on their projects or are building websites for their clients.

1. Site plans

Lets you design and publish your site. If you work alone - then you should choose one of the below.

General plans - for blogs, portfolios, representative sites:
1. Forever free plan
- best for learning how to use Webflow. It also provides a free webflow.io domain.
2. Basic plan - $14/month, best fro launching a simple site.
3. CMS plan - $23/month, best for blog or other content-driven site.
4. Business plan - $39/month, best for high traffic marketing site.
5. Enterprise plan - customized pricing, provides enterprise-level security, compliance, and scalability to your website

eCommerce plans - for building an online store:
1. Standard plan
- $29/month, perfect for new business getting off the ground.
2. Plus plan - $74/month, best for higher volume business.
3. Advanced plan - $212/month, best for scaling your business to new heights.

2. Workspace plans

Center on collaboration, site permissions and the number of sites you can control at once. If you work with your team or you're a freelancer who is building websites for a client - this is your choice.

For in-house teams who work at the same company:
1. Forever free plan
- for those getting started and learning Webflow.
2. Core plan - $19/month, for small teams and those who want more control over their code.
3. Growth plan - $49/month, for growing teams who want unlimited sites and advanced permissions.
4. Enterprise plan - customized pricing, for organizations that require enterprise-level security and scalability for their websites.

For freelancers & agencies who build sites for their clients:
1. Forever free plan
- for those getting started and learning Webflow.
2. Freelancer plan - $16/month, for solo shops or small teams starting out.
3. Agency plan - $35/month, for scaling businesses managing multiple clients.

Pros

✔︎ Fully customizable, provides creative freedom no other platform offers.
✔︎ Access to the full HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for advanced users.
✔︎ Powerful content management system.
✔︎ Reliable service, automatic backups.
✔︎ Scales well as business grows.
✔︎ Easy integration with third-party tools.
✔︎ Free and paid templates to choose from.
✔︎ Built in SEO tools.

Cons

✘ Might get pricey if you choose more advanced plans.
✘ Steeper learning curve compared to other builders.
✘ Not the best option for beginners.

2. Squarespace

Ideal for artists, bloggers, and small businesses prioritizing aesthetics.

Squarespace logo

Squarespace is one of the most popular no-code website builders for businesses. It’s a fully managed service that includes all the tools you need to create and manage a website, including domain name registration, security, and a content management system (CMS) for easy updates. It concentrates on quality over quantity, and you can feel it from their intuitive interface and template designs. Squarespace is an excellent choice for individuals, artists, bloggers, and small businesses looking for a visually appealing and easy-to-use platform. It's especially well-suited for those who prioritize design aesthetics and blogging.

Key features:

✦ Award winning customizable templates.
✦ Great eCommerce features.
✦ Seamless Domain Registration inside platform.
✦ Decent marketing tools.
✦ Analytics.
✦ Integrations with many eCommerce and booking tools.
✦ Scheduling feature (calendars, automatic email reminders, etc.)
✦ Logo generator.

Pricing

Squarespace has a more straightforward pricing than Webflow. It offers 4 plans that you can change or cancel at any time without any effort. All plans include 14-day free trial.

1. Personal plan - $16/month, for annual plans they also include a free custom domain. Best for simple portfolios or blogs. This plan is not suitable for business that sells online.
2. Business plan
- $23/month, cheapest plan that lets you sell online. On this plan, Squarespace charges you 3% on each purchase from your site. Have all the essential features.
3. Commerce Basic plan - $27/month, feature rich plan, great option for users who are in the early stages of starting a business, no transaction fees.
4. Commerce Advanced plan - $49/month, all advanced features, e.g. abandoned cart recovery, advanced discounts, sell subscriptions, etc. Also no transaction fees.

Pros

✔︎ Stunning, professionally designed templates.
✔︎ Option to purchase domain within platform.
✔︎ One of the most user-friendly interfaces.
✔︎ Many Integrations, you can connect most of third-party tools via Zapier.
✔︎ 24/7 support.
✔︎ Decent multilingual features.

Cons

✘ Limited customization options.
✘ No multi-currency selling functionality if you want to sell globally, tax calculations only available in the US.
✘ Doesn't scale with larger business well.
✘ Slightly more expensive for e-commerce-focused plans.

3. Wix

A versatile choice suitable for beginners and small businesses.

Wix logo

Wix is another well-known website builder for individuals and businesses without any coding experience. With its ease of use and powerful features, you can easily build a beautiful website. Wix website creator is a fully hosted platform, so you will not have to pay extra for hosting. You also get access to hundreds of templates to choose from for your website’s design. It is a great option for small businesses, restaurants, online stores and artists such as musicians, photographers. Wix is an excellent all-around option for beginners, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. Its user-friendly interface and extensive app library make it versatile and suitable for various website needs.

Key features:

✦ Website design: massive template gallery, Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) smart assistant.
✦ Free web hosting.
✦ Built-in analytics.
✦ Contact management (subscriptions).
✦ Multiple payment methods.
✦ Supports worldwide shipping & tax.
✦ Online bookings feature (for restaurants, events).
✦ Impressive features for different business types: music, photography, video, events, restaurants, eCommerce, blog.

Pricing

Website has 2 types of plans. Wix is also available for free for as long as you want but if you need features like your own domain name, your own logo, eCommerce, you will have to choose from one of their paid plans. They do not advertise their free plan on their website's pricing page.

1. Website plans

Great for showcasing a professional site.

1. Connect Domain plan - $5.50/month. It's the most basic plan and displays Wix ads. You can connect your custom domain.
2. Combo plan - $10/month, for personal use. Free domain for 1 year.
3. Unlimited plan - $17/month, for entrepreneurs and freelancers. Includes visitor analytics app for 1 year.
4. VIP plan - $29/month, for personal use. You get priority customer care in addition to other functionalities.

2. Business & eCommerce plans

Essential for accepting online payments.

1. Business Basic plan - $24/month, accepts online payments, basic essential functionalities.
2. Business Unlimited plan - $36/month, for growing business.
3. Business VIP plan - $52.80/month, full advanced functionality to scale your business.

Pros

✔︎ Tons of features, on top of that you can extend site features with Wix App Market.
✔︎ Over 800 free customizable templates available.
✔︎ Integrated payments.
✔︎ Free web hosting included in all plans.
✔︎ Robust e-commerce features.
✔︎ All-in-one solution.
✔︎ Amazing support team.

Cons

✘ Starter plan has Wix branding.
✘ Once you choose a template, you can't change it.
✘ Limited scalability for larger businesses.

4. Shopify -

The e-commerce powerhouse for online retail businesses.

Shopify logo

Most people have heard of Shopify - a multichannel commerce platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. Over 3,8 million websites are built on Shopify, making it one of the most popular website builders out there. It's super user-friendly yet it has numerous powerful features. If you have an eCommerce business, especially a dropshipping business - this is the builder to use. They have invested a lot in dropshipping: several years ago, they even bought a company named Oberlo dedicated to dropshipping only. They have lots of videos, podcasts, ebooks, and dropshipping tools to help you build your online empire.

Key features:

✦ Unlimited products.
✦ Customer segmentation.
✦ Built-in analytics.
✦ Business name generator.
✦ Multiple payment methods.
✦ Marketing automation.
✦ Supports worldwide shipping and tax.
✦ Shopify dropshipping.

Pricing

Shopify has 6 available plans designed for smaller stores and for enterprise level stores. They also offer a 3-day free trial, no credit card required.

1. Basic plan: $24/month. Everything you need to create your store, ship products, and process payments. Access to features such as abandoned cart recovery and gift cards.
2. Shopify plan: $69/month. Level up your business with professional reporting and more staff accounts. eCommerce features like international pricing.
3. Advanced plan: $289/month. Get advanced reporting and automatically calculated shipping rates. Transaction fees are lower.

Alternative plans:

4. Starter plan: $5/month. You don't get an online store with this plan - just a buy button and the option to sell on social media. People who want to sell online without managing a full online store will find it useful.
5. Shopify Plus plan:
starts at $2,000 USD/month, all-in-one solution for high-volume businesses.
6. Commerce Components - this plan allows you to build your custom site with custom features, modular pricing based on component usage. You need to contact their sale team for this plan's pricing details.

Pros

✔︎ Simple and intuitive dashboard, easy to use.
✔︎ Fully hosted.
✔︎ Variety of handy features: great SEO, cart abandonments, etc.
✔︎ 24/7 customer support.
✔︎ No transaction fees if you use Shopify Payments.
✔︎ Over 2000 plugins available with third-party tools.
✔︎ Scales well as you business grows.
✔︎ Great if you do dropshipping.

Cons

✘ Most of the plugins with third party tools are paid, it can get pricey. Also, you will have to keep apps updated, potentially renew subscription. If too many apps used, they will slow down your site.
✘ Shopify charges a transaction fee unless you use Shopify Payments (not available everywhere).
✘ No free plan and trial is only 3 days.

5. Zyro



Zyro logo

Zyro makes it simple to launch an affordable online store. This platform isn't as advanced as our other recommendations, so we wouldn't recommend it for large stores, but if you're looking for an easy, low-cost way to sell online, Zyro is a perfect fit. It is extremely easy to use and has many modern templates to choose from. With this website builder, you can literally launch a website in minutes. Zyro is an excellent choice for small businesses, startups, and individuals seeking an affordable yet feature-rich website builder. Its AI-driven design tools make it accessible for those with minimal design experience.

Key features:

✦ Free web hosting and SSL in all plans.
✦ AI business tools (AI writer, AI business name generator, logo maker, etc.)
✦ Integrates with many third-party tools.
✦ Multiple payment processing options.
✦ Simple CRM.
✦ Great eCommerce features (catalog, inventory management, etc.)
✦ Automated tax calculations.

Pricing

Zyro offers 2 straightforward affordable plans. Their plans are extremely cheap, they don't offer a free trial but they offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.

1. Website plan: $2.59/month. This plan is for blogs, portfolios, you cannot sell products with this plan. It covers many different things: free domain for 1 year, free email for 3 months, 24/7 support, marketing integrations, unlimited bandwidth, storage and more.
2. Business plan:
$3.59/month. This plan allows you sell up to 500 products, 1% transaction fee, 20+ payment options.

Pros

✔︎ Extremely easy to use.
✔︎Affordable pricing, including e-commerce plans.
✔︎ AI-driven tools for quick website creation.
✔︎ SEO ready.
✔︎ High quality website templates.
✔︎ 24/7 support.

Cons

✘ Limited customization options.
✘ Limited scalability for large enterprises.
✘ Smaller template library compared to some competitors.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, all of these tools make excellent website builders. Based on your needs, you need to decide which one is best for you. Zyro is an excellent and very affordable option for beginners who do not require much customization. Overall, it's the easiest-to-use tool on the list.

Webflow and Squarespace are similar. Webflow is a bit more difficult to use than Squarespace but offers way more flexibility, while Squarespace offers ease of use, quality features, and stunning templates – at the cost of total design freedom. Web design professionals looking to create stunning websites will benefit from Webflow. And creatives and small business owners will find Squarespace as a great storefront option.

Wix and Shopify are both great for eCommerce and simple sites. In terms of pricing, Wix offers better value for money. On the other hand, Shopify's focus has always been 100% eCommerce, while Wix is a great website builder that also offers decent eCommerce tools. If you're looking to scale your eCommerce business, then Shopify is your option.

Posted 
Mar 10, 2023
 in 
Business
 category

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