Best Website Builder Software 2021

Website builder software is technology that lets individuals and small businesses build websites with little or no manual code. This includes the ability to create pages, insert different types of multimedia into pages, and publishing websites all through one platform. The key benefit of website builder software is having a professional looking website, which translates to increased customer trust, discoverability, and business growth.

These platforms offer key features like drag and drop website builders, WYSIWYG blog editors, ecommerce management, SEO optimization tools, digital marketing tools, and traffic and sales analytics reports. Some website builders are better for those with no coding knowledge, others are best for businesses that are particularly concerned about website design, or the ability to use code to customize a website.

Research Led By:
Analyst Image
Junior Research Analyst

We use a rigorous software review process to create our unbiased, in-depth research.
Learn more about our software review process.

Highest Rated Website Builder Software

Different software vendors build solutions for individuals, small businesses, and larger businesses. All the tools we've reviewed are industry-agnostic, meaning that they're relevant for businesses of all types.

Wix

Wix

Free Trial
Rating: 92
Starting Price: $14 per month

Wix is a website builder with over 200 million users. Its main features include highly customizable website builder, a WYSIWYG blog editor, ecommerce tools, SEO tools, and analytics dashboards. Overall, Wix is design-friendly and can support beginner website builders.

Pros:
  • Wix is user-friendly and accessible for beginner website builders
  • Wix combines ecommerce functionality with an approachable platform for non-technical ecommerce operators
  • Wix lets you customize your blog posts for SEO – including editing a post’s title, description, and URL slug
Cons:
  • Wix’s mobile app does not let you create or edit your website
  • Wix does not offers apps for malware protection, data backup, or UX & UI design
  • Wix’s ecommerce features are not easily scalable for larger online businesses
Squarespace
Rating: 90
Starting Price: $16 per month

Squarespace is a website builder with one million paying customers. Its main features are highly customizable website builder, a WYSIWYG blog editor, ecommerce features, SEO customizations, email marketing, and traffic, sales, and engagement dashboards. Overall, Squarespace is the best solution for design-forward websites and displaying visual work.

Pros:
  • Squarespace is one of the best solutions for building a design-forward website
  • Squarespace’s mobile app lets you edit your website’s pages
  • Squarespace lets you customize your blogs for SEO – including editing a post’s URL slug, description, and title
  • Squarespace includes a visitor engagement dashboard that highlights how a visitor behaves on your website
Cons:
  • Squarespace’s website builder limits your overall design to the template you choose
  • Squarespace’s website builder does not let you edit specifically for desktop or mobile
  • Squarespace does not offer extensions for malware protection, data backup, and UX & UI design
Weebly
Rating: 89
Starting Price: Free

Weebly is a website builder solution that supports over 50 million websites. It offers an easy to use website builder, a WYSIWYG blog editor, ecommerce tools, email marketing tools, and analytics dashboards. Weebly is one of the most user-friendly solutions available in the market and best for beginner website creators and ecommerce store owners.

Pros:
  • Weebly is one of the easiest website builders to use
  • Weebly offers a robust free plan that lets you create an effective website and run a small ecommerce business
  • Weebly offers a mobile app that lets you edit your website’s pages and manage your ecommerce store
  • Weebly offers dashboards that display your traffic and sales information graphically
Cons:
  • Weebly only offers advanced ecommerce features like automatic shipping rates for different carriers if you upgrade to its $72 per month plan
  • Weebly does not offer key SEO tools – including sitemaps and web page indexing
  • Weebly does not let you display your most recent blog posts on your homepage
WordPress
Rating: 85
Starting Price: $7 per month

WordPress is a website builder that supports over 75 million websites. Its main features include a robust website builder, a WYSIWYG blog editor, ecommerce tools, an extensive library of plugins, SEO tools, and several analytics dashboard. Overall, while not the most user-friendly, WordPress gives you more control over your website's design and functionality than other solutions.

Pros:
  • WordPress has a robust website builder that lets you add over 50 kinds of site elements to your pages
  • WordPress offers one of the most extensive plugin libraries
  • WordPress includes a dashboard that lets you monitor paid ads performance
Cons:
  • WordPress is one of the least user-friendly website builders for non-technical individuals
  • WordPress does not offer automatic shipping calculations for ecommerce store owners
  • WordPress does not let you manage your ecommerce store through a mobile application
  • WordPress does not come with an in-platform abandoned cart recovery feature
Webflow
Rating: 84
Starting Price: $15 per month

Webflow is a website building platform with over 200,000 users. It offers feature including the most customizable website builder, a blog editor, ecommerce functionality, and SEO tools. It is best for designers and experienced users who want the most creative control over their website's design.

Pros:
  • Webflow offers the most advanced and customizable website builder in terms of website design
  • Websites built with Webflow are well-optimized for SEO – the platform provides SEO tools such as a sitemap, web page indexing, and customizable page titles, URLs and descriptions
  • Webflow offers a wide range of high quality customer support channels including robust help articles and video tutorials
  • Webflow offers a free plan that lets you build a simple website
Cons:
  • Webflow has a steep learning curve – it would be helpful to have familiarity with HTML & CSS concepts before you start designing your website
  • Webflow does not offer a WYSIWYG blog editor
  • Webflow’s traffic dashboard is basic – it only displays the total views and unique visitors that your website has received
  • Most of Webflow’s templates are not free
  • Webflow can get expensive if you have a large team managing your website
GoDaddy
Rating: 83
Starting Price: $9.99 per month

GoDaddy is a website building software with over 20 million users. Its main features include a website builder, a WYSIWYG blog editor, ecommerce functionality, SEO tools, social media tools, email marketing, and analytics reports. Overall, GoDaddy is one of the more user-friendly solutions available and offers better digital marketing tools than those found in other solutions.

Pros:
  • GoDaddy offers high-quality social media and email marketing features
  • GoDaddy offers an in-platform SEO keyword research tool
  • GoDaddy offers analytics reports for your sales and customer data
Cons:
  • GoDaddy’s website builder is not the most intuitive and is not drag & drop
  • GoDaddy does not offer extensions or plugins that expand the functionality of its platform
  • GoDaddy’s blog feature is far more basic than what’s offered by alternatives
  • GoDaddy’s traffic dashboard is incredibly basic – it only displays how many visits your website has received

Website Builder Software Prices

Website builder software can range from free to over $500 per month. Here are some details that will help you compare prices for the most popular website builder platforms.

Software VendorStarting Monthly PriceFree Trial
WordPressFreeNo
WixFreeYes
Squarespace$16Yes
GoDaddy$9.99Yes
Webflow$15No
WeeblyFreeNo

Website Builder Software FAQs

Website builder software is technology that lets users build websites without any manual code. This includes the ability to create pages, insert different types of multimedia into pages, and publishing websites all through one platform.

Long story short, websites are crucial for the growth and profitability of a small business. They help businesses build their brands and credibility, promote and sell products and services, and allow businesses to distinguish themselves from your competitors.

The best website builder software will depend on your budget and the kind of website you want to build. Tools like Wix and Squarespace are best if you want a website builder with high design flexibility. Tools like WordPress are best if you have more technical experience and want more control over your website’s design and functionalities.

The most popular website builder software tools are Wix, WordPress, Squarespace, GoDaddy, Weebly, and Webflow.

The most common website builder software features are:

  • Website page builders
  • WYSIWYG blog editors
  • Ecommerce tools
  • Plugins, applications, and extensions
  • Online search & SEO tools
  • Analytics dashboards & reports
  • Social media marketing tools
  • Email marketing tools
  • Contact forms

Website Builder Industry Research & Advice

Weebly vs. Wix

By Amy Yang |

Are you deciding between Weebly and Wix? This in-depth, feature-by-feature breakdown will help you select the best website builder tool to...Read More >

Wix Competitors & Alternatives

By Amy Yang |

Are you considering using Wix to build your website and run your ecommerce business? Before choosing a software, it’s important to learn...Read More >

Weebly vs. WordPress

By Amy Yang |

Are you deciding between Weebly and WordPress? This in-depth, feature-by-feature breakdown will help you select the best website builder...Read More >

Webflow vs. WordPress

By Amy Yang |

Are you deciding between Webflow and WordPress? This in-depth, feature-by-feature breakdown will help you select the best website builder...Read More >

WordPress vs. Wix

By Amy Yang |

Are you deciding between WordPress and Wix? This in-depth, feature-by-feature breakdown will help you select the best website builder tool...Read More >

WordPress vs. Squarespace

By Amy Yang |

Is WordPress or Squarespace the better solution for you? This in-depth, feature-by-feature breakdown will help you select the best website...Read More >

Wix vs. Squarespace

By Amy Yang |

Is Wix or Squarespace the better solution for you? This in-depth, feature-by-feature breakdown will help you select the best website...Read More >

Why You Should Trust Our Recommendations

The team at SoftwarePundit has been testing software since 2017. We’ve hand-tested over 250 software products in that time, including several in the website builder category. We applied the same rigorous process to each piece of website builder software that we analyzed. The specifics of our website builder category research process are outlined below.

Amy led our analysis of website builder software. She has spent more than 400 hours evaluating leading website builder platforms. To test the tools, she set up trials, built website pages, and tested overall usability. She also spoke with several users of each solution to hear their personal experiences and input.

In addition, all research and content was overseen by Bruce Hogan, SoftwarePundit’s Co-founder & CEO. Bruce has more than a decade of experience researching, building, and reviewing the world’s best software products. His technology advice has been featured on a wide range of media sites such as AngelList, CMSWire, Dental Economics, iPhone Life, Reader’s Digest, Thrive Global, U.S. News, and the Zapier Blog.

How We Selected the Best Website Builder Software

We selected the best website builder software tools to review based upon a number of criteria. The most important criteria were each software tool’s features, usability, price, and customer support. The details of our analyses are captured in the in-depth reviews we publish about each software tool.

There are a handful of critical features that you should look for in website builder software. We prioritized the following features in our analysis:

  • Drag & Drop Website Builders
  • WYSIWYG Blog Editors
  • Ecommerce Add-ons
  • Online Search & SEO Optimization
  • Digital Marketing Tools
  • Traffic, Sales, & Visitor Engagement Analytics

How We Evaluated Website Builder Software

We used the same rigorous process to evaluate accounting software as all other software categories. For the website builder category, Amy invested several weeks researching, testing, and writing about the tools.

We prioritized interviewing actual users of the software tools we reviewed above. Our conversations with these customers included questions about the product, features, advantages, disadvantages, customer support, and usability. This provided Amy with the opportunity to ask detailed questions and dig deeper into the functionality of each solution.

Amy also obtained either a free plan or free trial of each software solution listed above. She spent several hours testing nearly every feature in each software product as if she needed a website builder herself. This allowed us to validate the features described by each product, and gain an understanding of the software’s ease of use.

  • Kelly Shoul: Kelly Shoul is the co-CEO of In Love and Adventure - Elopement Photography and uses WordPress for her website needs.
  • Shantay Williams: Shantay Williams is a realtor in Birmingham, Alabama who uses GoDaddy to build her website.
  • Jacob Lehrer: Jacob Lehrer is an architecture student who uses Wix for his personal website.
  • Pablo Thiermann: Pablo Thiermann is the owner CinePablo and uses Webflow for his business’s website.
  • Kendall Horn: Kendall Horn is the Online Marketing Director at Fleet Lending Solutions uses WordPress for the business’s website.
  • Rohan Kadam: Rohan Kadam is the founder of Vital Feedz and uses WordPress for his blog.
  • Nick Moussa: Nick Moussa owns a mobile car detailing company called Hot Ride Auto Detailing and uses Wix for his business’s website.