Best Website Builders of 2025 – Forbes Advisor

Hostinger offers a great website builder that doesn’t get as much attention as it should due to a lack of free trial or free plan options. While most website builders offer some way to try out the product without cost, Hostinger opts for a generous 30-day money-back guarantee instead. While I’ve never had a problem getting a refund under that plan, it is off-putting for many when compared to free test options with no card needed elsewhere.

Hostinger’s AI-powered builder offers plenty of power and is easy to use for any skill level. Plus, e-commerce is available on every plan. Hosting choices are another huge plus for Hostinger. While most website builder hosting plans are severely limited without big price jumps, Hostinger’s affordable plans offer generous resource options plus a dedicated IP, which is important for various compliance regulations in many industries.

Hostinger allows you to use different website platforms on a single hosting account.

Monthly pricing plans are about average in cost, but the real savings are in paying for a year or more up front. For example, the highest-tier plan, the Cloud Startup, is $27.99 monthly but only $19.99 per month if you can pay four years upfront. That’s less than competitors like Wix’s first e-commerce-capable website builder plan.

Learn more: Read our full Hostinger review.

I’m not generally a fan of AI-powered website builders, but the Hostinger builder was surprisingly good. I also loved that you have options beyond the website builder in the hosting plans. You can have up to 100 websites on a single plan, and you can mix and match. So, if you want a WordPress website and a website builder-created website, that’s perfectly fine. It’s a flexibility I’ve never seen handled so well anywhere else.

“Limited” sums up the customization ability of Squarespace’s website builder, but there are still strong reasons to use it, especially if e-commerce or blog monetization is your goal. Most of the design limitations work in the favor of beginners, limiting the risk of being caught in a never-ending loop of small design choices to make and adjust. Professionally created color and font presets, along with AI design, help make quick work of getting your business online.

Squarespace’s biggest flex is its user-friendly online sales setup and blog monetization tools integrated into the website builder. In fact, those tools are strong enough that they topped my best blogging platform list.

It’s a great option for creators looking to take more control over their content instead of hoping the social media platform they use won’t disappear overnight, as TikTok briefly did, or take down an account for unspecified reasons. The easy blog creation features let you set up online courses, subscription boxes and even video tutorials behind a paywall.

Squarespace has one of the easiest blog paywalls and content management systems among popular website builders.

I do recommend spending time going through the templates before choosing. Some are pretty dated, but you can find good choices if you take a little extra time to scroll instead of just grabbing the first thing that looks tolerable.

Learn more: Read our full Squarespace review.

Blogging tools were the highlight of testing for me, and template aesthetics were the low point. I was really impressed with how simple the blog setup and monetization tools were within the website builder.

However, when testing different browsers, it seemed that it works best on Chrome, and using other browsers such as Firefox and Microsoft Edge led to odd glitches, like “exit to content creation” failing when trying to move between design and content.

WordPress.com is a hosting plan partnership with the WordPress.org CMS. It’s designed to make WordPress easier for first-time users and provide a free hosting option. If you’ve never set up a WordPress.org website before, signing up with a hosting provider and suddenly being confronted with cPanel instead of the WordPress dashboard you expected can be daunting. I’ve honestly seen folks break out in tears because they have no idea where to start.

WordPress.com simplifies the process and includes a simple visual builder without the need to install plugins. It’s a great, gentle introduction to working with the WordPress CMS and hosting in general for beginners, and I heartily recommend everyone check out a free account at least once. However, once you get the hang of working with WordPress, you’re probably going to want to migrate to a different WordPress-optimized hosting provider.

WordPress.com locks WordPress.org features depending on your plan. Free plans can’t even adjust colors and fonts freely.

The built-in website builder is very simple and pretty intuitive to use. However, WordPress.com’s hosting plans lock down CMS features at a draconian level while providing no customer support if you pay monthly instead of annually. For example, you can’t even install WordPress plugins (which are a major draw of WordPress) until the $40-per-month Business plan.

Using the WordPress.com builder is great for beginners, but if you’ve ever looked at other proprietary builders, even very simple ones like Google Sites, you’ll be struck quickly by how restricted functionality is on most WordPress.com plans.

Themes, e-commerce features, plugin availability and even simple changes like color and fonts are locked down on free and low-cost plans. In testing, that was the biggest frustration; anytime I tested one of the more popular lower-cost plans, I lost so much functionality that it was incredibly difficult to manage even simple tasks at times.

High transaction fees and limited e-commerce tools make Strikingly a poor e-commerce choice, but for other types of websites, such as simple informational sites or personal blogs, this builder brings its “A” game.

With one of the most frequently updated and maintained sets of free templates I’ve seen, combined with strong AI creation tools and easy-to-navigate customization options, Strikingly pulls together a strong set of design features. I’m particularly fond of the mobile action buttons that create quick CTA features on the mobile version of your website to increase engagement.

While features on the free plan are limited, its unlimited number of free websites is a fabulous option for community clubs, one-time events, school projects, small non-profits and practicing building websites.

Strikingly allows e-commerce on all plans and has some nicely arranged tools like single-page sales tax management.

However, there are so many reports of unauthorized billing and cancellation orders that didn’t go through that I urge caution on paid plans, such as using a prepaid card with only what you need for the current subscription loaded on the card.

Learn more: Read our full Strikingly review.

If you aren’t interested in custom coding but want a lot of options on how your website will look, Strikingly is waiting for you. While bigger companies like Wix have larger stables of themes, Strikingly shines in variety and how often themes are updated.

I also loved how few menus were needed to complete most website creation tasks, a great simplification of processes for beginners and those in a time crunch. I wasn’t happy with some of the free plan limits on the number of pages, but the free plan is still a great option for those who don’t have to have a custom domain name.

GoDaddy has put a lot of time and effort into the latest generation of its AI-powered website builder. Targeted at absolute beginners, the goal is for users to let the AI do the design work for them, and for the most part, it succeeds far more than other AI-powered builders.

I also like the included Getty Images limited subscription (on paid plans) and that you can publish your website under a subdomain once your trial runs out (with limited features), even though it isn’t advertised as a free plan. The thorn on the rose is the lackluster underlying hosting and poor customer support.

GoDaddy proves the power of a big advertising budget. Near-viral Super Bowl ads featuring some of the most in-demand Hollywood stars like Walton Goggins help fuel GoDaddy’s name recognition, but not its reputation.

GoDaddy generally prices plans low, but many features require additional costs or are free feature trials with steep renewal fees that can quickly bust your budget.

Possibly because of a shaky reputation, GoDaddy’s website builder usage lags behind that of other builders like Wix. In fact, most of GoDaddy’s market share is as a domain registrar, not a host or website builder, which lends credence to the theory of many initial builder and hosting signups that include domain registration, but customers leave for other hosts soon after.

Learn more: Read our full GoDaddy review.

While it changes the workflow from the old pick a template and adjust style, the builder controls for customization are actually a pleasant surprise and not what I’ve come to expect from GoDaddy over the years. It really is a welcome major change in functionality and creating a website is quick and easy.

Unfortunately, the lack of responsive customer service hasn’t changed, with users reporting many requests going unanswered for weeks or answers not solving concerns. Likewise, pricing is still based on an add-on cost model that drastically increases overall pricing in the long run.

One of the best e-commerce platforms available, Shopify is to e-commerce what Google is to search. While powerful and popular, it isn’t perfect. Shopify’s website builder is relatively simple for basic store setup, with a good AI helpbot guiding you through each step (you can go off-script if you prefer) and a sidebar editing system rather than drag and drop that beginners will likely find less overwhelming. I also like the integrated fee photo library that gets shop owners started with background imagery.

However, it’s the sheer number of e-commerce tools and options that make Shopify powerful. Thousands of third-party integrations, advanced features on some plans, industry-specific plan options and the option of a $5 simple shop introductory plan without the full website builder for social media selling gives businesses of all sizes and types the functionality they need.

Shopify’s AI helpbot guides you through the website creation process, but you can skip steps as well.

Pricing and difficulties with DIY setup of advanced functions are the biggest downsides for Shopify’s website builder. Every shop owner I personally know using Shopify is constantly running into additional costs on top of already pricey monthly subscription fees. The ability to scale to enterprise-level is there, but you’ll pay enterprise prices for it.

Learn more: Read our full Shopify review.

Core functions of Shopify websites operate effectively, and the setup process runs smoothly. Absolute beginners can create an online store fairly quickly without needing to consult help files regularly. Third-party integrations install well for the most part, and basic website customization works well with just a few annoying issues.

For example, if you get the orange “enable cookies to design” warning box, it kicks you out of editing to a bland “coming soon” webpage placeholder to resolve the cookie issue with no direct link back to the design page. Shopify is also fond of add-on costs, and sometimes working in the builder feels more like a sales funnel to another plan than building an e-commerce website.

WordPress isn’t for everyone and Duda offers a great alternative to website developers to provide white-label hosting services with a powerful WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get), custom-code-enabled builder. For custom plans, a REST-based API with JSON responses is also available. It’s a bit like Wix on steroids and a Red Bull.

Even if you aren’t an agency, the extremely flexible WYSIWYG visual editor takes the preset shackles off and lets you express your creativity. While it can easily overwhelm a beginner, if you are tired of the constraints from other builders, Duda is a great place to stretch your wings. Just be aware that the initial learning curve can be a bit steep, and it is easy to get lost in the design without any fencing to keep you from playing with some of the behind-the-scenes controls.

Duda keeps agencies in mind from the start of website creation.

If you need added functions, an app store is available, although not as robust as some other builders. I also like that Duda’s website builder is backed by Amazon AWS cloud hosting, so reliability and uptime generally aren’t a worry, especially with a promised 99.999% uptime.

Learn more: Read our full Duda review.

My first thought with Duda was, “Ohh, there’s no training wheels here. Cool! What can I break?” I love trying to break things in testing because that’s what happens in the real world: You try something new and the digital gremlins find you.

While there are plenty of ways to get yourself in trouble (placeholders will probably be the first thing to trip you up initially), and the platform doesn’t hold your hand, it was surprisingly hard to actually break anything. The possibilities are phenomenal if you put in the time and work. It truly can support agency needs when you are trying to avoid WordPress.

Square’s website builder, Square Online, is limited, but it is designed to get you online quickly without a lot of fiddling with settings. If you want deep customization, it isn’t the builder for you. It is undoubtedly one of the easiest ways to launch an e-commerce store without any upfront investment, seamlessly integrating online and in-person sales.

Most of the builder process is straightforward, although the free plan is very limited in template options. Beyond the free plan, design options are more robust, and beginners will find the preset color and font options (customizable if needed) helpful timesavers. Plus, AI tools help fill in content fairly quickly. SEO tools are about average, but don’t include deep controls like some other website builders.

Square Online’s preset color and font sets give a quick, professionally designed starting point for your website.

Payment processing is limited with Square Online. While you can accept Apply Pay, Google Pay, Cash App Pay, Afterpay and other specialty payment types, you must use Square’s payment processing service. You can’t connect a third-party processor like Stripe.

Learn more: Read our full Square Online review.

I don’t think I’ll ever get over Square effectively dismantling Weebly, as they served very different use cases, but if you accept Square Online for what it is, and not a Weebly alternative, it gets the job done.

Controls are straightforward and intuitive until you hit one of the seemingly random missing features. That is, simple common features like moving a design block on the page or adjusting form fields are missing without any seeming rhyme or reason to what is included and what isn’t. Similarly, while you can design in mobile view (and I recommend that), you can’t make manual adjustments between mobile and desktop versions for custom optimization.