Top Website Builder Platform [Updated 2023]

Creating a website is now possible without the rigors of coding. After all, not everyone can code. With website builder platforms, not everyone needs to. Website builders take away the bulk work of website building – the need to code – and let you create full-featured websites. There are a number of defining features that a good website builder should have. These include ease of use, quality and customizable web design templates, blogging tools, and eCommerce solutions, to mention some. Having an SEO tool in the platform and a strong customer support team is also important. This article looks at top website builder platforms in 2023 with these features.

10 Top Website Builder Platforms in 2023

1. WIX – overall best website builder

2. Weebly – easiest website builder

3. GoDaddy – top website builder for basic sites

4. Squarespace – best website builder with prepackaged design

5. Site123 – website builder with the best support

6. Duda – best website builder for a customized experience

7. BigCommerce – best website builder for large stores

8. Shopify – best website builder for basic eCommerce stores

9. WordPress – best builder for blogging and writers' websites

10. Gator – best website builder with intuitive commerce tools

Now, let’s dive into the mix.

1.) WIX

With its robust features, Wix is one of the most powerful website builder platforms that there are. Over 100 million websites originate from this platform and it is an obvious favorite of many. This is not surprising as Wix lets you put in the least effort and the most creativity to produce your website.

Features

• Free account option

• Online site assets storage

• Third-party site widget gallery

• Powerful commerce and blogging features

Pricing

Wix has a free basic site-builder plan with ads. For an ad-free premium experience, however, these two plans are available:

• Combo – $13/month

• Business VIP – $49/month

Pros

• Wix comes with a lot of site gadgets.

• This website builder has efficient tools for mobile site-building.

• It has an extremely intuitive interface.

• Also, there is a free site option.

• There are great web-store functions available.

• With Wix, you get hundreds of template options, including those for specific businesses.

• They offer amazing customer support.

Cons

• You cannot switch templates after publishing your site.

• Each plan tier has its data limitations.

• Wix does not come with an analytics and statistics feature.

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2.) Weebly

With over 50 million users, this app offers some excellent options to meet a wide variety of user needs. If you want a simple and easy-to-use website editor, then Weebly is it. Although its ease of use translates to limited design flexibility and fewer add-ons, you can still create great sites within those constraints.

Features

• Responsive design themes

• Downloadable site code in HTML/CSS format.

Pricing

In addition to its free basic plan, Weebly has the following pricing options, when paid annually:

For Websites:

• Connect – $5/mo

• Pro – $12/mo

• Business – $25/mo

For Online Stores:

• Pro – $12/mo

• Business – $25/mo

• Business Plus – $38/mo

Pros

• Weebly It can create relatively large sites (25 - 30 pages).

• It comes with full commerce options.

• There is an app for iPad site editing.

Cons

• The mobile sites are not customizable.

• It lacks reusable storage for photos.

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3.) GoDaddy

Although better known for offering domain and web hosting services, GoDaddy is a website creator that is perfect for designing basic sites.

Features

• 30-day free trial

• Social media and email marketing

• PayPal payments

• An SEO tool, except on the Basic plan

• Online store features such as shipping options and product listings

Pricing

• Basic – £6.99/mo

• Standard – £9.99/mo

• Premium – £14.99/mo

• eCommerce – £19.99/mo

Pros

• GoDaddy has a clean easy-to-use interface.

• Sites have a great outlook on both mobile and desktop.

• It has useful SEO and marketing tools.

• The storage and bandwidth are fairly generous.

Cons

• There is a limit to what you can do with page design, photo-editing, and layout customization.

• Not all tiers have the online store feature.

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4.) Squarespace

With a perfect blend of cool, impeccable, and fresh, Squarespace is definitely worth a shot at website building. It allows your website to stand out with its award-winning prepackaged web designs.

Features

• Over 100 adjustable templates

• Flexible portfolios

• Blog tools

• In-built SEO tools

• Analytics

Pricing

• Personal – $12

• Business – $18

• Basic Online store – $26

• Advanced online store – $40

Pros

• Squarespace allows your website to effectively use blogging as its main element. It also allows you to host a podcast to this end.

• Due to the live chat feature, immediate responses and support are given. Sometimes screencasts are used.

• Squarespace works effectively on both IOS and Android.

Cons

• Changes made to your website are not automatically saved, rather, a save-as-you-go method is adopted.

• Squarespace's templates are rated as slow by the Google Page Speed Tool. This could cause a reduction in your search engine rankings.

• It is quite difficult and nearly impossible to create multilingual websites using Squarespace.

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5.) Site123

Here is another useful website building platform with several features. Site123 makes building a website like a walk in the park. Its design is categorized and later divided into niches.

Features

• Responsive web design

• Online sales function

• Free website domain

• Manage a mailbox under your domain name

• Customer form builder

Pricing

Site123 has the following pricing plans –

• Free

• Basic – 10,01€

• Advanced – 15,58€

• Professional – 21,14€

• Gold – 26,70€

Pros

• With Site123, you have the opportunity to translate your website.

• You can test the services of Site123 using the free version for as long as you would like.

• Its predefined layout makes it easy to fill in the information correctly.

Cons

• Site123 has no email newsletter integration.

• There are no third-party widget stores.

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6.) Duda

Duda is a well-featured, mobile-friendly website builder. It creates sites suitable for services ranging from small mobile phones to large desktop monitors.

Features

• Keyboard shortcuts for completing various functions

• "Duplicate page" feature

• "Import page" for incorporating an existing site on the net with yours

• Backup and restoration of saved site data.

Pricing

Here are the available pricing plans on Duda:

• Basic – $14.25 per month

• Pro – $9.75 per site per month and a $249 yearly platform fee.

• The conversion of an existing site costs $7.20 per month. This service comes with a 10-product store.

Pros

• There is social media integration available.

• Duda comes with site-traffic analysis.

• Free accounts can carry out online sales.

• It has a clear interface.

Cons

• There is no email newsletter integration.

• There are no third-party widget stores.

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7.) BigCommerce

This Australian company has now become quite popular. BigCommerce strives to provide all your website needs to become successful. They make building and running a sizable commerce website easier.

Features

• Customization of themes

• Mobile optimization

• Pre-Publish Review

• Storefront conversion

• WordPress integration

Pricing

• Standard – $29.95 per month

• Plus – $79.95 per month

• Pro – $299.95 per month

• Enterprise, which depends on the customer's online sales.

Pros

• The addition of variant products is limitless, flexible, and easy.

• None of the plans offered by BigCommerce come with transaction fees.

• BigCommerce is highly capable in terms of SEO.

Cons

• BigCommerce has no inbuilt multilingual functions. This can only be achieved using a code.

• Creating regular content like "about us" and blogs is challenging.

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8.) Shopify

If you want a basic eCommerce site, then Shopify will give you what you need to create one. Even if you do not have commerce experience, your site will have all the necessary features. This user-friendly and easy-to-use eCommerce site builder is an obvious favorite for online retailers because of its efficient sales features.

Features

• Templates that are compatible across devices

• Picture gallery, zoom function, and video

• Shipping and dropshipping

Pricing

• Basic Shopify – $26

• Shopify – $71

• Advanced Shopify – $266

Pros

• Shopify is easy to use.

• It has a mobile-friendly design with several themes.

• There is a large community of experts to provide you with the help you need.

Cons

• It is fairly expensive as prices are above the market average.

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9.) WordPress

Everything that you need for blogging, you can find on the WordPress site builder. Unlike Wix and Weebly, however, it does not have the intuitive drag and drop feature. Yet, overall, WordPress is great for bloggers and writers who need a website to share their voice without having the need to code.

Features

• SEO features

• Several widgets

• Retina-display enabled

• Multiple page styles

Pricing

The WordPress software is open-source and completely free. However, to build your website, you will need to pay for the following:

• Web hosting

• Domain name

• Design

• Extensions and plugins

A low-budget site could cost anything between $46 to $100 but a site with more features could cost as much as $500 to $3000. And if you want a custom WordPress site, you could spend as much as $15000 or more.

Pros

• Its Content Management System is user friendly.

• You can preview site themes without activating them.

• Upgrades are automatic and come with amazing support.

Cons

• Getting additional features is dependent on plugins.

• Themes and plugins need frequent updates.

• Custom sites require coding by a web developer and could be expensive.

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10.) Gator

Gator by Hostgator is relatively new in the website-building scene. Although its catalog can be confusing, HostGator offers almost every hosting feature. Its shared hosting is suitable for those seeking website-building providers that do not measure bandwidth and offer large storage.

Features

• WordPress hosting

• Email features

• Domain names

• Virtual private services

• Intuitive commerce tools

Pricing

HostGator's first-term pricing plan includes:

• Hatchling – $5.95

• Baby – $8.95

• Business – $8.95

And the following are the renewal plans:

• Hatchling – $8.95

• Baby – $11.95

• Business – $16.95

Pros

• Every plan has unlimited storage space.

• Hosting plans can be purchased on flexible terms.

• Amazing UX

• HostGator provides various programming languages.

• There is no limit to the traffic your site can receive.

Cons

• Their back-end has unnecessary upsell options.

• There is room for improvement in their uptime.

• Support response time is often slow.

What qualifies as the top website builder platform is relative. It depends on your individual or business' needs. With more website builders joining the industry, you get to choose one that is most suitable for the intended result. Bear in mind the purpose and size of your site, how much control you want over designing, and other important considerations. Then, you can choose from the top website builder platforms in 2023 for your desired website.