Best Free Website Builders: Are They Worth It?

Creating a website has become somewhat a necessity for businesses – after all, Google is where most customers go to discover new businesses in their area.

Luckily, with the rise of website builder software, it’s cheaper and easier to create a website than it was ten years ago. In fact, you can do it for no money at all, with a free website builder.

Most website builders that let you create and publish a website for free also have a range of paid plans you can upgrade to, which are charged on a monthly basis.

But if you’re a business that doesn’t have a lot of room in your budget for website creation, a free website builder is a good starting point for creating an online platform where your customers can find valuable information about your business.

Of course, free doesn’t always mean good quality. That’s why I’ve created this list of the best free website builders on the market, to help you find the right solution for your business.

1. Wix: Best All-round Free Website Builder

Wix is my pick for the best all-round free website builder. Wix’s free plan offers similar functionality to its premium plans, allowing you to create a multi-page website that’s mobile responsive (the layout automatically adapts to vertical screens), and that you can easily customise thanks to its drag-and-drop editor.

On the Wix free plan, you’ll also get access to basic email marketing and customer management tools, such as contact forms. On the creative side, the free plan also includes a design suite for creating social media posts and brand logos.

The main downsides to Wix’s free website builder are that Wix ads will appear on your website, and your website URL will contain “wixsite.com”, which might seem unprofessional to visitors.

How Does Wix’s Free Plan Compare to the Paid Versions?

Upgrading to a paid version of Wix automatically removes all Wix ads from your website, and allows you to purchase a custom domain, removing “wixsite.com” from your URL.

Paid Wix plans also include more storage space than the free plan – from 2GB to an unlimited amount – advanced marketing functions, such as automated marketing, and website analytics, which can help you track how many customers your site has reached.

On the £16 per month Wix Core plan, you can also start accepting payments, whether that be for services or goods, and allow repeat customers to save their payment information for a faster checkout.

As with most website builders, the more you pay per month, the more features you’ll get access to. You can find out more about Wix’s pricing and what you get for your money in our guide.

How Does Wix Compare to Other Free Website Builders?

Here’s how Wix’s free website builder compares to its competitors:

GoDaddy

Wix and GoDaddy are pretty much on par with each other when it comes to their free website builder. They both have a wide range of modern templates to choose from, although Wix has more (800+ compared to 200+), and come with tools for creating marketing content. GoDaddy is slightly easier to use than Wix, however, and lets you take appointment bookings for free, which Wix doesn’t offer on its free plan.

Square Online

You can sell unlimited products online with a free Square website, which is the main advantage it has over Wix. Even on Wix’s most expensive paid plan, you have a limit of 50,000 products. However, in terms of design, Square is much more limited than Wix. You have to upgrade to a paid Square plan to access pre-built templates, and there aren’t any free stock images to use, unlike on Wix.

Webador

Webador’s free plan has far fewer pre-built templates than Wix (50 compared to 800+), and most of the designs look quite dated. You also have less creative freedom when it comes to changing the layout of your website on Webador compared to Wix, but that makes Webador much easier to use. You can also switch templates on Webador even after you’ve published your website, something not available on Wix, and you get unlimited storage, whereas Wix’s free plan is limited to 500MB.

PageCloud

PageCloud offers fewer templates than Wix (40+ compared to 800+), but the free templates it does offer trump Wix’s in terms of aesthetics – they’re highly modern and stylish. However, you can only create one page on a PageCloud free plan, whereas you can create multiple on Wix, and PageCloud’s editor, while it gives you almost endless creative freedom, isn’t as easy to use as Wix’s.

2. GoDaddy – Best for Accepting Bookings for Free

GoDaddy’s free website builder is the best free website builder for accepting appointment bookings online, and is one of the fastest ways to create a website. This is largely thanks to its ADI tool – all I had to do was answer a few questions, and GoDaddy generated a site template for me in seconds.

A standout feature of GoDaddy’s free plan is that it lets you accept one-time appointments bookings from customers (although they won’t be able to pay via your website), something not offered on the other free website builders featured in this list.

GoDaddy’s free plan also comes with basic marketing and customer engagement tools, such as the GoDaddy Studio, where you can create designs for logos, social media posts and emails, and a contact form.

As with Wix, however, your site will display a GoDaddy ad banner, and your website URL will contain “godaddysites.com”.

How Does GoDaddy’s Free Plan Compare to the Paid Versions?

Like Wix, signing up to a paid GoDaddy plan will remove the GoDaddy ad banner from your website, and allow you to purchase a custom domain.

You’ll also get access to a wider set of marketing tools, such as automated welcome emails and appointment reminders, and access to a wider range of pre-made designs in the GoDaddy Studio to use in your campaigns.

If you’re accepting bookings through your website, GoDaddy’s two most expensive plans allow you to let your customers book recurring appointments (as well as one-time ones), and sign up for group events (webinars, classes etc.).

To start taking payments on GoDaddy, you’ll have to upgrade to at least the £16.99 per month Premium plan, which lets you accept payments from bookings, and to sell products, you need to upgrade to the  £19.99 per month Ecommerce plan.

You can find out more about GoDaddy’s paid plans in our GoDaddy Pricing Guide.

How Does GoDaddy Compare to Other Free Website Builders?

Here’s how GoDaddy’s free website builder compares to its competitors:

Wix

Wix has more pre-made templates than GoDaddy (800+ compared to 200+), but their free plans are quite evenly matched when it comes to design, and marketing features. However, you can’t accept bookings on the Wix free plan, unlike with GoDaddy, so if this is a priority for you, GoDaddy is the better option.

Square Online

GoDaddy might let you accept bookings on its free plan, but customers won’t be able to pay for them via the website. This isn’t the case with a free Square website, where you can take payments with no monthly subscription fee. However, Square’s design choices are much more limited than GoDaddy’s. There aren’t any free stock images or website templates on the free Square plan for example – you’ll have to upload your own images – making it harder to create an attractive website.

Webador

GoDaddy is often touted as being the easiest and fastest to use website builder, but Webador actually has it beat in this department. It’s even more beginner friendly than GoDaddy, although you will be sacrificing ease-of-use for aesthetics, since Webador’s pre-made templates look quite dated compared to GoDaddy’s. There’s also no content creation studio on Webador’s free plan, so GoDaddy is the better option if you’re interested in creating marketing materials along with a website.

PageCloud

GoDaddy’s editor is much easier to use than PageCloud’s, and its free plan lets you build multiple pages, as opposed to PageCloud’s one. PageCloud’s free plan also doesn’t offer much when it comes to marketing – there’s no creative suite for making logos, emails or social media posts. However, PageCloud is more customisable than GoDaddy, so if your goal is creating one stunning page for free, it’s a better option.

3. Square Online – Best for Creating a Free Online Store

Square Online is the best website builder for creating an online store for free – barring transaction fees.

You won’t pay any monthly fees to create and publish your website, however Square does take a 1.4% + 25p transaction fee, applicable to each sale. This is standard across the payment processing industry, so there’s no 100% free way to sell online.

On the upside, you can list an unlimited number of items on Square’s free plan, and accept payments using services such as Apple Pay, and Google Pay.

The downside is that Square’s free website, like Wix and GoDaddy, includes visible Square ads, and your URL will contain “square.site”. Design customisation is also quite limited on the Square free plan: you have to upgrade if you want to use a pre-built template, or access more page layout options.

How Does Square Online’s Free Plan Compare to the Paid Versions?

Upgrading to one of Square’s paid plans will, firstly, remove any ads, and allow you to purchase a custom domain. It’ll also give you access to a lot more sales and marketing features.

For example, you’ll be able to send order status alerts to customers, either via email or SMS, allow item preorders, and send abandoned cart recovery emails.

Square’s paid plans also offer better website customisation options than its free plan, although nothing near what website builders like Wix offer. On the paid plans, you’ll get access to stock images, a suite or ready-made website templates, and a wider range of page layouts.

If you sell in person as well as online, you might be interested in reading our review of Square POS. While Square provides website builder software, it’s first and foremost a payment processing service that sells card readers and POS systems.

How Does Square Online Compare to Other Free Website Builders?

Here’s how Square’s free website builder compares to competitors:

Wix

Wix lets you choose from over 800 free pre-made website templates, while Square blocks its templates behind a paywall, so in terms of design flexibility, Wix is the clear winner. Wix also has a much better email campaign creator tool than Square, giving you more design choices and customization options. That being said, the Wix free plan has zero ecommerce tools and doesn’t let you sell online, unlike Square’s.

GoDaddy

Much the same as Wix, GoDaddy outstrips Square when it comes to design, from its pre-built templates to its marketing campaigns creation studio. It’s also faster to create a website with GoDaddy, since it gives you access to free stock images, whereas on Square’s free plan you have to upload your own. However, GoDaddy’s free plan doesn’t let you accept payments, unlike Square’s, making the free appointments booking feature on GoDaddy fairly limited.

Webador

Webador is easier to use than Square, especially when it comes to its backend, although this is mainly because Webador contains far fewer features than Square. Webador’s main function is to create an informational page, so its backend doesn’t include extra tabs for order tracking or email marketing. Webador does, however, offer free templates and stock images on its free plan, unlike Square, which speeds up the website creation process.

PageCloud

PageCloud’s editor is a little more tricky to use than Square’s, but it’s much more customisable, and there are some truly beautiful pre-made designs to choose from. There isn’t the option to sell online with a free PageCloud website, however, and in fact, you have to purchase an add-on, on top of a monthly subscription, to access any ecommerce features on PageCloud. Square, on the other hand, gives you these for free.

4. Webador – Best Free Website Builder for Total Beginners

Webador’s free website builder is a good option for total beginners who’ve never created a website before. It’s extremely easy to use, even easier than GoDaddy, thanks to its menu bar that lets you flip between the main editor, specific page editors, and the dashboard.

You can add page elements such as text blocks and buttons by dragging them from the sidebar onto the page as you’re editing, and everything is clearly laid out and labelled.

However, most of Webador’s pre-made templates look a little dated, and there aren’t any fancy design features like logo or social media post creators that you’d find on free website builders such as Wix or GoDaddy. Other popular features such as email templates are also absent from Webador.

But if you’re a newbie to website creation, and just want a simple informational website, Webador’s a solid choice.

How Does Webador’s Free Plan Compare to the Paid Versions?

Webador’s cheapest paid plan, the £4.50 per month, won’t actually get rid of ads, but what you’ll get for it is a custom domain, so “webadorsite.com” won’t appear in your URL.

To get rid of ads, and benefit from premium features, you’ll have to upgrade to Webador’s Pro or Business plans. These give you access to site analytics via Google Analytics and Google Search Console, and allow for slightly better website design options, such as the ability to create custom forms, and include a website search bar.

The Pro and Business plan also allow you to start taking payments through your website, with the Business plan offering unlimited products. Webador’s sale functions are quite limited, however, so if selling online is your priority, we’d recommend you look at our list of the best free ecommerce website builders.

How Does Webador Compare to Other Free Website Builders?

Here’s how Webador compares to other free website builders:

Wix

Wix has a wider selection of much more modern looking templates than Webador (800+ compared to 50), and it gives you more creative freedom when it comes to adjusting a page’s layout. The Wix free plan also has a creative studio for designing marketing content, which is noticeably absent from Webador. That being said, with Webador you get unlimited storage, whereas with Wix it’s limited to 500MB, and you can change your website template after you’ve published, which you can’t do on Wix.

GoDaddy

Similar to Wix, GoDaddy has better design and customisation than Webador, with a bonus being that you can accept appointment bookings on the GoDaddy free plan. However, Webador has managed to dethrone GoDaddy from its spot as the easiest to use website builder, thanks to its highly intuitive editor and dashboard layout. Both are good options for beginners, but Webador is slightly better, especially if you just want a simple, informational website.

Square Online

Square lets you sell online for free, whilst on Webador, you have to upgrade to a paid plan to do this. Square also has tools for creating email campaigns, which are absent from Webador’s offering. On the other hand, Webador is easier to use than Square, and it has free templates and stock images, which are hidden behind a paywall on Square.

PageCloud

PageCloud and Webador are two sides of the same coin – they don’t include extra features like ecommerce tools or marketing suites, and are best for informational pages. However, they’re opposites when it comes to design and ease-of-use. PageCloud’s templates are much more stylish than Webador’s, and can be customised almost endlessly, but ease-of-use gets sacrificed in the process. It’s the other way around on Webador.

5. PageCloud – Best for creating an informational page

PageCloud’s free plan allows you to create a one page website, making it a useful option for making informational pages with your key business details.

You can essentially add as many sections as you like, so the one-page nature of the site isn’t technically limiting the amount of content you can fit on it. However the more sections you have, the more your visitors will have to scroll, so I’d recommend you avoid overfilling it.

Despite only having one page to work with, you can do quite a bit with it. PageCloud has a drag-and-drop editor, which means you can move and add elements anywhere you want on the page. PageCloud also has some very attractive premade templates, which have a very modern feel to them.

However, it’s not the easiest editor to navigate. Functions aren’t clearly labelled or displayed, so I was never too sure what I was clicking on when I first started out. It’s definitely not a good choice for beginners or people who want to create a website quickly.

How Does PageCloud’s Free Plan Compare to the Paid Versions?

A paid PageCloud plan will remove PageCloud ads from your website, and you’ll be able to purchase a domain, so that “mypagecloud.com” no longer appears in your URL.

Most importantly, you’ll be able to create a website with more than one page, between 100 and 300 pages depending on the plan, and you’ll be able to add features such as pop-ups and banners.

A paid PageCloud website also comes with advanced analytics, so you can monitor your website’s performance, and you’ll get access to SEO tools such as Semrush (a keyword research tool).

On the creative side, paid PageCloud plans have an AI assistant that can help you write engaging copy.

However, none of PageCloud’s paid plans come with an ecommerce function. To sell online, you have to purchase an ecommerce add-on, which start at $9 per month (roughly £7), added on top of your website monthly website subscription.

How Does PageCloud Compare to Other Free Website Builders?

Here’s how PageCloud compares to other free website builders:

Wix

Wix offers more templates than PageCloud (800+ compared to 40+), and its editor is easier to use. You can also create a multi-page website on Wix, whereas on PageCloud’s free plan you’re limited to one. PageCloud’s designs however, are slightly more stylish than Wix’s, and it affords users who are tech-savvy more creative freedom.

GoDaddy

Because GoDaddy and Wix’s free plans are so similar, the comparison is much the same here. GoDaddy has more templates than PageCloud, and allows you to create a multipage website, although PageCloud has more aesthetically pleasing designs. GoDaddy is also much more beginner friendly than PageCloud, allowing you to create a website at a much faster pace.

Square Online

Again, PageCloud wins out against Square in terms of the aesthetics of its templates, which Square doesn’t even offer on its free plan. However, if you want to sell online, Square is the way to go, since PageCloud doesn’t offer this on its free plan, and ecommerce functions aren’t even included in its paid plans – they come as paid add-ons.

Webador

PageCloud is much more customisable than Webador, and its pre-made templates are modern-looking, while Webador’s look slightly dated. Webador, however, is much easier to use than PageCloud, and allows you to create more than just a one page website on its free plan.

Is a Free Website Builder Worth It?

In general, free website builders aren’t worth using long term, but they can be an affordable first option for businesses that are just starting out.

They’re most worth it for businesses simply seeking to create an informational website, with details of their services or menus, location, opening times, and contact information. Free ecommerce website builders such as Square can also be worthwhile for budding online sellers.

However, because most free website builders come with ads and the website builder’s name in your site URL, your free website will lose a bit of professionality, which could put off some customers.

That’s why, if you do choose to go with a free website builder, it’s best to pick one based off of what’s offered on the paid plan you intend to upgrade to. It’s much easier to upgrade to a higher paid plan on the website builder you’re already using than to transfer your entire website’s content to a different website builder.

Some website builders also have free trials that last up to 14 days, giving you plenty of time to test them out and decide whether they’re right for your business before you commit to a subscription.

What to Look for in a Free Website Builder

Here’s what you should consider when choosing a free website builder:

• Ease-of-use: If you’re looking for a free website builder, chances are you want something that’s quick and easy to use. This doesn’t mean you need to go with the absolute easiest to use website builder out there, just make sure it fits your technical abilities.
• Design and customisation: Free website builders should give you a variety of website design options, and some degree of flexibility when it comes to customisation. A beautifully made website that’s unique will help your business stand out from the crowd, and increase customer confidence.
• Added features: Think about what features you want your free website builder to have, since what’s offered for free varies by website builders. Free website builders should, at the bare minimum, include a contact form, pre-made templates, and free stock images. If they don’t, there should be other features that interest you, such tools to sell online, or a marketing suite.
• Mobile responsiveness: The best website builders (free or not), should automatically reformat your page layout to fit a vertical screen, and if they don’t, they should give you the option to do this yourself in the editor. Over 60% of website traffic comes from mobile devices, so this isn’t a category to be overlooked.
• Potential costs: Make sure the website builder is actually free, and that there aren’t any hidden costs you’ll have to pay along the way, such as hosting to keep your website live. It’s also a good idea to look at how much the paid plans cost, and assess whether you’re willing to pay that amount should you decide to upgrade.

How Did We Compare the Best Free Providers?

To give you a fair comparison, the research team at Expert Market designed a framework for assessing each website builder. Bearing in mind the priorities of a small business leader, the team evaluated free website builders based on:

• Features: what breadth of features do they offer for free, and how well do they perform
• Design and functionality: how aesthetically pleasing are the websites you can create with it, and what level of customisation do they offer
• Ease-of-use: is the website builder easy to use and navigate, and could a relative beginner create a website with it
• Help and support: is the support team readily available, can they be contacted easily, and do it include customer guides and support forums
• Cost: how much do the paid plans costs (should you choose to upgrade), and do they offer good value for money
• Customers experience: what is the experience of everyday users with this website builder (do they enjoy it, find it easy, would they recommend it)

Each website builder was allocated a score based on its performance against the same objective criteria. Scores were converted into a five-star rating system to produce the final results.