The Best Website Builder List for 2017

Last updated on December 13, 2017 @ 5:16 pm

There comes a time in the life of every freelancer, business or organization where the free platform of social media websites aren’t enough for sharing your message and growing a brand. And when that time comes, the best thing to do is create a website. Choosing to create your own website means you will have a representation of your business online that is fully in your control; everything from the color scheme to the content will be in your hands and can be changed whenever you desire.

But many people struggle with how to make a website when they don’t have any experience, leading them to assume that the only way to proceed is to hire a professional developer. However, there are other methods available for creating your ideal website, and they are found in website builders and Content Management Systems.

This list of top #WebsiteBuilders proves you can create a stunning website by yourself Click To Tweet

Website builders are software solutions that all individuals with various skill levels to create a website on their own. They can help you choose a functional layout based on your business type, give you tips about content curation, and even provide step-by-step guides to walk you through the entire process.

However, not every website maker is designed with the same goals in mind. Some focus predominately on those with limited technical experience, creating drag-and-drop options to manage common content needs across multiple page styles. Others include features focused on a specific niche, such as the eCommerce store builders focused on sales-oriented businesses.

Do I Need More than a Website Creator?

When you are first creating a website, it can be easy to assume that the website builder is all you need. But there is actually more to bringing your page online than simply designing the pages.

NOTE: You will need to secure a domain name and a suitable host at a minimum. You may also need various add-on features, such as specific security-oriented offerings, depending on your website’s purpose.

While this can sound like an overwhelming task when you first look into creating your own site, it can actually be a fairly simple process. Many of the top website makers also provide access to some of the best website hosting available. They can also secure your domain name and manage other add-on features. The benefit of this approach is that you only need to pay a single provider to get everything up and running and to keep it operational.

However, you can choose to mix and match your services if that is more suitable for your needs.

How to Choose?

Choosing a website creator is a personal decision. Every person’s needs regarding web services are different, and your skill level may not match that of another business looking to create a website. Luckily, there are numerous reviews available to help make the process simpler, such as those offered on this site.

Ease of Use

One of the most important factors in choosing a website builder is ease of use. The right solution should offer the best features and the most beautiful design templates, but if it is difficult to use it can be worthless to any user regardless of design experience or skill.

The initial process of designing a website should be intuitive and simple. It is also important to remember that you will constantly be changing your website, so if it is not easy to set up it won’t be easy to make edits later.

Technical Support

Sometimes the process of building a website isn’t as straightforward as you might anticipate. Other times, you may run into outages or operation issues once your site is online. It is therefore vital that your choice of builder offers an excellent level of technical support at hours that are convenient to your schedule.

PRO TIP: A great site builder should offer expert-level technical support to its clients. It should be available via direct chat or email with little to no wait time year round and 24/7.

Customer Satisfaction

One of the most important parameters for measuring the quality of anything today is knowing what other people think. Customer reviews are an essential part of assessing how your experience might go.

Customer satisfaction ratings take into account the good and bad of an experience and clients rarely hold back from expressing their views whether they be positive or negative.

Overall Performance

The parameters above are extremely important and work in unison to create an overall experience. It is likely that if all of these factors rank highly, the overall quality of the software will be high as well, but sometimes the overall performance just doesn’t add up. It is necessary, therefore, to assess all of the parts as a whole to determine which builder is right for you.

Some of the best website builder review sites can help you break down exactly what each site building solution can offer and whether it meets your general goals. Additionally, you can find out about certain special offers, such as free trials, money-back guarantees, and other perks.

In fact, one of the major players in the web building arena actually offers a free-for-life program for those who only need a basic site and don’t mind having it hosted through the company’s domain. While this normally isn’t an ideal solution for the long-term, as it can be seen as less professional than securing your own domain, it does give you an easy method for trying it before you buy and can be a great method for a web design beginner to get their feet wet.

What Types of Websites are There?

Websites have various functions that can be used in differing ways. Someone looking to create a personal site meant to be shared with friends and family has very different needs from a business wanting to set up an eCommerce solution for their web clients. It is important to distinguish between the different website types and know what you are hoping to accomplish before setting out on your web building journey.

Websites can be categorized broadly in two ways: static and interactive.

A static site provides fixed content and all users will have the same browsing experience. These sites are generally informational in nature and often exist to provide specific knowledge to a user. They include resume sites and blogs and are generally inexpensive to produce.

An interactive website is dynamic and allows users to customize pages, use a shopping cart, and provide ratings. These sites exist to get users to perform certain actions and create their own input for your page. They include e-commerce stores and forums and are generally more expensive to produce.

NOTE: In determining which is right for you, it is important to know what type of website you will be creating. Below are three of the most common sites that website builders are used to create.

Blog or Personal Websites

Blogs are informational websites meant to provide an informal take on a specific topic or interest. Their subject matter can range from politics to religion to everything in between and they often contain the opinionated view of a writer.
Although blogging began as a way for singular users to update an audience, they are now also commonly used by larger news organizations and often have multiple authors and professional editors.
Similar to a blog, personal websites contain information of interest to the user or even about the user himself/herself. They can be meant for wide public consumption or merely for family and friends. Often times a personal website provides information relevant to potential employers or clients, such as resumes and portfolios. Blogs and personal websites are generally static in nature.

eCommerce Websites and Online Stores

E-commerce websites allow users to purchase goods and services and are complex enough to maintain inventory information and customer data. They can range widely in function and include retail sites, auction sites, digital goods sites, and financial management sites.

Similar to blogs, e-commerce websites can be run by a sole proprietor or huge corporations with thousands of employees. They require constant maintenance, much of which is often done through automated software provided by website builder tools. eCommerce websites are a good example of an interactive website.

Brand Building Websites

Brand building websites exist to enhance a company’s brand equity by providing users with an experience meant to reflect its mission or purpose. These sites do not sell anything, but rather focus on creating a user experience or providing users with relevant information about a company, such as a map of store locations, business hours, or where to find a certain product. It may help to think of a brand building website as an interactive business card. Brand building websites are generally static in nature.

NOTE: We also write some of the best reviews, dedicated to small business owners and individuals who are looking for in-depth information prior to choosing a site builder. You can always use the contact page if you need any further help!

Some interesting website building facts:

Wix is a drag-and-drop website builder, founded in 2006. They started utilizing HTML5 in 2012 and now power more than 70 million websites, with 44,000 new member sign-ups every single day.

Dominant features include free for life plans (hosted on Wix’s servers and domain), a large App market, hundreds of designer templates, mobile-friendly layout and a vibrant community. Wix went public in 2013 and is traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Did you happen to catch their latest Super Bowl ad?

eHost has been providing Internet-related services since the year 1998. As a cPanel based hosting, they power more than a million websites to date and claim to focus on customer satisfaction and simplicity above all else. Rebranded in 2015, eHost offers cost-effective hosting solutions, site creation tools (with a Drag & Drop builder), website templates and marketing solutions.

If you do choose eHost as your next web builder, be sure to claim up to $200 in marketing coupons when advertising with Bing, Yahoo, and Google AdWords.

Based in San Francisco, Weebly is another leading host and website creation service. Catering to freelancers, small businesses, and service providers that are building a website for the first time – Weebly is easy to use and fast to deploy. Some say they have managed to create appealing websites in under 15 minutes.

Being featured in magazines and journals, such as Entrepreneur & WSJ, they are praised for simplicity and versatile features, in addition to their e-commerce abilities. They are reasonably priced, and it is always good when a service includes a free-for-life plan as well. See our extensive Weebly themes and templates collection.

WordPress is a leading open source, PHP based content management system that reportedly powers more than 24% of the internet as of 2017.

With a mission statement to “democratize publishing”, this blog solution is great for intermediate users and enables endless possibilities due to a vibrant community and related marketplaces.

If you are looking for an ecommerce solution, Shopify might fit the bill. Based in Ontario, they were set to disrupt the online store market with a new solution that incorporates social channels, multiple high-end integrated applications, and premium support.

Today, the company reports that more than 200,000 store owners use their online software and has even added offline features, like a point of sale system, which integrates into the online shop. They are a bit pricey but we do think Shopify is a great ecommerce solution, and they have a two-week trial, too.

Bigcommerce, a privately held company, is another one of the big ecommerce solutions out there. They recently reported that more than 5 billion dollars in sales were processed, using their platform. Social and mobile integration applications were professionally executed, and the overall design and feel of the platform is inviting. We thought their pricing was fairly high and recommend using Bigcommerce if you already have some basic experience.
Drupal is known as an advanced CMS suited for advanced designers and developers looking to handle large traffic volumes and pages.

Distributed under the General Public License and great for corporate users, Drupal gained traction and marketplaces for add-ons, designs, and services sprouted over time. Drupal templates and themes are available at relatively low price.

Web.com is a publicly traded company, based in Florida, which offers web and marketing services to small – medium sized businesses. With millions of customers, thousands of templates to choose from, and great support, it’s no surprise they are one of the leading website creation services. That being said, Web only offers a limited free option, and most start with the monthly plan (which includes a .COM domain).

Web has introduced the “Website Coach” system, in which a certified expert guides you as you build your first website, including live help after the launch. Their system fits both first time novices and business.

GoDaddy started as a domain registrar and hosting provider back in 1997. They provide web creation services for personal and enterprise uses as well. Pricing for their various plans is competitive, compared to offered space and bandwidth.

Although the brand is solid and known internationally, the service is not quite up to par with industry standards to our taste. You can definitely try GoDaddy, but there are better solutions in our opinion.

DISCLOSURE: Some links you will find on this webpage are considered advertisement links. This means that if you press on the link and ultimately make a purchase, we might receive a commission from the advertiser. This does not affect you or your purchase price, only gives us the ability to run this information site.

David Brandon

David Brandon

I'm a web developer & blogger enthusiast, helping novice users with the principles of site creation.

Comments

  1. Martin JD

    Can someone recommend a website maker that’s good for creating photography websites? I am creating something like a portfolio and want to be sure that I choose the best builder. Thank you.

    • David Brandon David Brandon

      Hey Matin,

      If you’ll give it a try, any decent web site builder will do the job for you, as most of them are designed in such way that you will have the ability to build many different types of websites, including portfolio type ones. As for being specific, I would choose Weebly to start with, and upgrade if it is for your liking. Not a lot of other website builders use the Drag N’ Drop feature, hope you’ll like it. GL.

    • Mike

      Has anyone used Joomla and how was the experience?

  2. Samuel Rouna

    Which website builder would you guys recommend for creating sites for multiple clients ? Web or Wix?

    • David Brandon David Brandon

      You will usually see eCommerce options as a paid feature in most online website builder providers. I suggest you either build your own website using WordPress, or try out Shopify & BigCommerce trial plans.

      • Ibrahim Farag

        Hi David,

        I want to build a sort of an advanced website. It is interactive with the option of daily alteration. As you mentioned, it is an e-commerce. but I need who can be flexible to understand my needs and do it for myself. It is for a financial brokerage company.

  3. Gaia Oleary

    Any word about which is the best free website builder for the creation of online stores?
    I appreciate the information and help! Gaia.

    • David Brandon David Brandon

      Hello there Gaia, thank you for reaching out!
      To keep it short and to the point, I really think that the number one free website maker of the year is Wix. Be sure to check it out.

    • Sophorn

      Any one of the recommended ones above would work for you. For myself, I like Web eStore’s website builder. It’s very easy and intuitive, yet it’s powerful enough to grow with you. I love their integrated e-commerce platform as well. They have a 10 day free trial available that is fully featured.

      • Really?

        I’m not recommending ALL of the above website tools.

        Godaddy is seriously not a good option at all. I’m not sure how they even ended up on this list, as all the reviews I’ve read on them are pretty bad. Top that with my personal experience.

        Do yourself a favor and choose a different website builder

  4. Dan P. Lun

    Hello! I am looking to create a site where I can display real estate listings, the twist is though that I want my clients to be able to pay the fee online and submit their own photos and create their own listings as well. Do any of these sites offer a client editing tool of any kind? Thank You 🙂

    • Sam E.

      In my honest opinion, the best option to have a real estate website with listings, including connection to the IDX system would be to use WordPress CMS, and not the typical website builders you find here.

      if you are only showcasing a project, then go ahead and do choose wix.

  5. Maggy

    Godaddy is not a good option. I had so many problems just trying to register for the service that I can’t even explain it to you. Even after I solved those, I still wasn’t impressed with what the builder software had to offer to me. I switched to Weebly and I’m very satisfied with their online store builder.

    I have yet to try other services, but it seems like the list here is spot on.

  6. Ryan Murray

    I read a few bad reviews about Web and I can’t put my finger on it. There are so many people that have rated the builder highly (at the top 3 or even number one) and there are still people who say so many bad things. I think that there have been some exceptions not mentioned. I mean, people say that they agree to the licenses and stuff, but don’t read them. I’m sure that if you took the time to read them, then you would find out that the problem is with you and not Web.

  7. WordPress integration?

    It seems that Weebly has impressive responsiveness. that’s very nice since a lot of my websites’ visitors are coming from mobile devices. I might give this a chance. WordPress seems predictable to me nowadays. Is there any good integration with tracking tools?

    • David Brandon David Brandon

      There are settings and options which allow you to add custom header and footer code. There, of course, you can paste code snippets for whatever you want – trackers, analytics, webmaster tools, anything. As long as you don’t violate the rules.

  8. web building and commerce platforms

    There aren’t many eCommerce dedicated builders, and the competition isn’t very big. But I like Shopify. It’s an excellent online store builder. But I think that the fact it isn’t multipurpose gives it a low score.

    i’ve used WordPress to create an online store and it wasn’t the same. It’s much better to use a dedicated builder/platform for that. Others aren’t just as good. Wix and Weebly are also a good option, but they lack some of the settings and features that are present to Shopify, so…

  9. Ruth Agamem

    I am contemplating if I should use WP or a dedicated store builder. All of the business WordPress templates look the same. Of course, there is a little twist to them, but they all seem the same! The light colors, the big slider on the homepage, and the “great customizability”. Are the developers stealing the themes from one another? I wouldn’t get a WordPress website if I had a business, the quality of the available themes is very low and I would probably go for a designer!

    What should I do?

  10. Strikingly?

    I have not seen this service on your list, could you elaborate about the service?

    Thank you.

    • David Brandon David Brandon

      As you already know, Strikingly is used to create one page websites. Now we’ll see how easy is to create a website with the platform. Creating the page is based on adding blocks and filling them with content.

      Apart from the apps which the platform has by default, there is also an app page that includes lots of 3rd party apps that you can add to your website. These include HTML coding, MailChimp integration and even Google Maps. You can even filter them by category. This is very useful if you want to find something quick or only search for a plugin in a certain category. There is also an eCommerce category which pretty much means that you will be able to create one page online stores.

      As far as ease of use goes, Strikingly’s builder is very easy and intuitive to use. Even without reading the tutorials and information center’s educational articles you will be able to find your way around pretty quickly.
      However, the depth of the settings for each section isn’t too big. This means that there are some settings for the different sections, but they are not too much, there is more to require from the builder. This is certainly a direction in which the developers will want to improve.

      Overall, I would suggest you use a different online store builder as there are better choices out there. Be sure to see the above list and read our reviews.

      • Melanie :)

        Hey Brandon,

        My experience with Strikingly is so bad, that I would suggest taking the name off of here so that new users will not see the option to use them. The support was bad, poor interface and practically everything just went wrong using them.

        Just my 2 cents.

        Melanie

        • David Brandon David Brandon

          I appreciate the input Melanie. Of course things are subjective, yet any user feedback is important.

  11. Sandra Merzela

    I did not found many tutorials on Web.com as you might find on some of its competitors, which is quite frustrating. Yet there are enough resources for you to get started and create your website all by yourself. Even if you have a problem with creating your website, you can always use the “have it created for you” service. Instead of you having to create it by yourself, which is nice. As a novice in website building, I found the process easy and even quite enjoyable.

    • Hey Sandra

      Rocco here,

      The builder does have a good deal of templates and most of them are on the same level of design. But thanks to the freedom of design options you are getting, you can practically create your own personalised site on top of the already existing templates, which is nice.

      However, I am not familiar with other web builder softwares, so I am not sure if this is unique or not.

    • David Brandon David Brandon

      I tend to agree with you about the tutorial part, but I do think it is related to the fact that the company’s name is so generic, that it is getting “lost in translation”. I mean, try and search Web Tutorial..

      The fact is, you could find ample videos on youtube and other results on a simple google search including words like, build a website with web.com and so on. Still, the competitors are easier to find due to their unique names.

      All the best and good luck!

    • Ryan J.

      Do notice that Web.com is no longer in the list above 🙂

  12. Matt

    Why haven’t you included Squarespace on your list? They provide only high quality templates that are comparable to those of professional designers’ work. In fact, the platform offers some the best templates in the website creation industry. They are cleanly designed and fully responsive.

    At the moment they offer just above 34 templates, but none of them could be categorized as mediocre. This is a platform that aims at providing quality and not quantity. A lot of people seem to think that a low number of templates means that they will have a hard time finding the perfect template. But with the quality provided by them, this thought won’t arise. They are clearly one of the top website builders available today, just try and find a credible squarespace review on Google.

    For those who want to even further customize the templates, Squarespace allows the editing of HTML and CSS. If you choose to do so, it will be useful to know that you can always revert back to the default code, without losing your content and progress.

    • David Brandon David Brandon

      Hi Matt,

      Squarespace is surely a leading website builder with strong presence, especially in the photography related scene. Sure, their websites turn out pretty well for portfolio and gallery uses, but not a complete solution for small business owner and the like.

      From recent reviews, it is clear that the latest update they had was not the best move they did, as users did not like it as much as the previous versions (6 for example). If you want to design your own website with a web page builder that is strictly aimed for beauty and compelling pictures, that Squarespace is a good choice.

      GL.

    • Gareth H.

      As a small business owner, I completed agree with David. Squarespace is great if you’re already established and have an audience willing to come to you, but it’s fairly limited compared to other platforms. I’ve been in business for a few years now and still wouldn’t turn to Squarespace as there are so many better (and more affordable) options out there. I use Shopify for my sales site, and Weebly for my informational version. I did want to merge the pair, but both have their own followings and audiences so there’s really no point.

  13. Using WordPress / WooCommerce

    WordPress themes are great, especially because of WooCommerce. This is perhaps the best plugin for any platform in a long time. Allowing you to create an online e-commerce store for free is great. What’s even greater is that you can use extensions for the WooCommerce plugin.

    This allows you to buy or even create one by yourself. Regardless to WooCommerce, using the OpenSource WP platform, you can design and build numerous websites, blogs, galleries and much more.

    • Patricia Diaz

      WooCommerce extensions are bloody expensive. Over $100 for an extension? And what happens when you need 5-6 of them? I think that it’s over priced. Nonetheless, I do agree that wordpress might be a great option for anyone trying to create his own website, though using a service from the ones suggested above will be easier.

      I would suggest for a novice user to read some web site builder reviews and how to’s regarding WP to make a conscious decision about what’s best for him / her.

      • Lillian

        It might be expensive but you are only paying it once. Also consider the fact that they do bring a lot of functionality to your website. You would otherwise have to pay thousands of dollars for that same thing…

  14. Cher

    Whoa, Web actually has an almost 10/10! I can’t believe this. I thought that people didn’t like the builder at all. I mean, the builder is only for residents of North America. How has that earned them such a big rating? Weebly and Wix have servers all over the world. btw, I prefer weebly over web.

    • Hey Cher

      Maybe Web.com is one of the top website builders, but it’s nowhere near the eCommerce market. I mean that the builder does not have the quality nor the security to help you create a full-scale online store, which is why most people create websites nowadays no?

      Shopify and Bigcommerce are the two big names when it comes to online stores. Wix and Weebly are general-purpose website builders, but they have great eCommerce solutions. If Web.com is that good, I think that they would offer a selling platform as well.

      Frankly speaking, I have used Web.com in the past and I do find it exceptionally good, but to a certain degree. It’s nothing special and I could have gotten that service from other builders as well.

  15. Dala Hermanoff

    I really like the fact that Weebly is very easy to use. Even if you want to create an store, you won’t have a problem even if you are a total beginner. You just need to follow a few instructions and you are in the clear.

    Since this is a free website builder, it’s concentrating on helping people with no knowledge or skill create their website. Also, I know that the platform now allows you to create blog pages. People used to complain about the fact that blogs aren’t as powerful as WordPress. With this new introduction I think that this has changed. It made a difference for me, at least.

    From my experience, Wix is a total disaster, beware!

  16. Davis Brown

    Thanks for the list, but I missed Jimdo, templatetoaster and Squarespace. Website builder always helps, especially for beginners who like to try new technology for building good web design stuffs in a very short time. Nowadays there are many website builders available to us some time it felt difficult to choose which one is better than the other. So all the articles like these can surely help you to choose the best website builder to build websites /themes/templates like professionals .

  17. Sonam Chamaria

    Hi,

    What payment gateways are best for India?
    Wix offers WebMoney, Authorize.Net, PayU Latam or the Offline Payment option with an Online Store shopping cart.
    I am starting a small business and am building a website on Wix but I don’t know if I should go ahead and invest in their premium plan if they don’t great offer payment options for India..
    Also, where can I get domain names at reasonable prices? Is is better to buy from Wix itself?
    I’m ready to move from Wix to another website builder, so feel free to suggest if you know of a better one.
    Thanks!

    Sonam.

    • David Brandon David Brandon

      Sonam, I actually think that the Wix premium plan could be the best for choice for you. It is the best website builder for small business outside of the U.S and Canada by all means.

      It is a pity that Web.com offer services only to north american users.. Your second best choice is Wix by all means.

      Let me know if you need further help.

  18. Max Thomson

    I was looking for builder that doesn’t include advertisements when you actually finish creating it. I know weebly does, and I have seen many times the ad at the bottom of many websites saying, “this website has been created with Weebly, come and visit us now”, or something like that. So, can you guys tell me about a service that doesn’t do this?

    Thanks

  19. Holly

    Hi! I am looking to build a website that is purely informational for a small non-profit group. I need to be able to showcase pictures professionally, have a few tabs that can hold informational content as well as links to other websites. We have all the content we need and have permission to use trademark graphics. We don’t need much- no membership, no shopping option, no one will need to pay for anything. We just need to keep it clean and professional. Weebly looks good? Any suggestions?
    Key points:

    – Professional (not link wordpress or tumblr)
    – own domain name (already checked and its available)
    – update pictures
    – use graphics
    – Update content easily and quickly
    – 3 or 4 tabs
    – ability to use links
    – a few people have the ability to sign in and update content

  20. Mark A Lynde

    Despite layout and ease of platform, I used “sitebuilder”… ( Im a sign designer,.and use illustrator and photoshop regularly and a friend had asked me to build him a site..which I did and it went well in the beginning,.but.. ) I found some glitches, for instance in google chrome…you cannot return to the site after 2 or three views.

    Well after about 4 days of back and forth “customer tech support” hit and run quick superficial “brushoffs” yes it was a permanent problem that they of course blame on google.. ( too bad half of the free world uses it.. so much for the two or three hours I lost learning this.. ( and they always leave you with “kind regards”..which after awhile just makes you want to rip your hair out of your head..sheeeesh! ) Living with this I went to set up their “free mailbox” which absolutely didn’t work either! again, after an hour of chat on a weekend..

    They told me to email tech support..and again… I get a quick email that comes in ( usually about 4 in the morning ) you reply back only to describe the situation.( this is ongoing now… since I built this site for a friend I cant just “jump ship” he loves the way it looks..and hopefully in a month his email will work..for the time being I put the ” email under construction” please just email at..etc..etc. )

    POINT BEING ..finding out the hard way that Buyer be wear…Im seeing if there is someone to communicate with, they aren’t afraid to stand behind their product.. ( I am being schooled in 3rd world business ethics I guess )

    • Bill J.

      I know this message is quite old, but I think it is still worth the comment..

      ‘sitebuilder’ and ‘websitebuilder’ look like they are the same company, alongside many other products that look exactly the same as these sites.

      Although they offer free site building solution, all seem to be reviewed as companies with bad billing practices (google them up).

      It’s a bummer to hear such stories about bad practices and support, but it’s the world we live in.
      This is one of the reasons why you should check reviews before opting for any online service.

      I hope you since found the right builder for you.

  21. Jess

    Hi do you know which would be a good website software for selling wedding invitations?
    I need a drop down menu for the quantity. The price depends on how many invitations they need.
    ex.
    10 + $1.00 each
    50 $1.99 (starting price)
    100 -$0.50 each
    etc..

    I have tried using Godaddy & WebSiteBuilder, neither of these offered that kind of drop down menu for pricing that i need.
    Just wondering if anyone knows one that does 🙂

    Thanks

  22. Burlac Serghei

    Hi David
    I need to build online store for T-shirts Business . What would you recommend it to me? . I think to use for that WordPress or Wix.
    Thank you

  23. kirsty

    hi – i’m trying to launch a news website – i like the drag and drop ease of builders like wix but need features like subscription forms for data collection (to build a readership for email newsletters etc) and potentially password protected articles. am i best with something like wordpress, or would wix or squarespace be ok for an online news portal?

    • Jacob L.

      Why don’t you choose any website software suggested above and see how it goes?
      Remember, free options are available as well. For creating email list, I suggest you use MailChimp, and rather go with WordPress for protecting these articles!

  24. Matt

    Hi, thanks for the list and advises. I’m looking to build a website with a store section offering the possibility to look into a database, based on filters (e.g price range, color…).
    Most of the site builder templates are great, but I can’t see if they offer these options. Could you please advise which one would be best?

    • David Brandon David Brandon

      Hey Matt, did you try Wix for such e-commerce purposes?
      I would advise you to check our ecommerce website builder list which includes the main online-store solutions.
      Also, you could always use Woo-Commerce for WordPress to include a store section.

  25. Corrine

    Hi David,

    Great list and thank you for taking your time to put it up.
    I’m actually using another website tool named iGloo App and wanted to compare it with another web builder. I love using iGloo as it have everything I need.
    Wondering why it is not on the list? Have you ever came across it?

    • Marky!

      This actually sounds like a promotion, comparing any of these services against the competitors above, which includes companies traded in the stock market sounds quite odd.

  26. Antwnice McCain

    I’m looking to build a website for my online shoe store. What would you recommend ?

    • David Brandon David Brandon

      Hi Antwnice,

      it is pretty hard to answer this broad question without knowing your specific needs.
      What type of eCommerce website are you looking to create? Are you looking to build it yourself, or looking for a full service to hep you out?

      Without too much information, for general stores I would suggest to start out with Shopify.

      Best of luck!

  27. Arvind

    Is website building getting easier each year, or actually harder, due to the influx of services popping up?
    Really now, what’s wrong using wordpress or any other CMS that get’s the job done?

    • David Brandon David Brandon

      Hi Arvind,

      It’s my opinion that with technology improvements, anything gets easier with time.
      You can’t deny that the sheer amount of service might cause confusion for the average user, and trigger what’s called the “progress paradox” in a sense.

      Still, this type of competition enables the consumer to enjoy the best technology & the best pricing.

  28. Marky!

    No doubt that Wix is the best choice for 2017!
    What other companies invest so much in quality technology, advertisement (Superbowl) and employees?
    Anywhere I read about such sites, mentioning bad practices is common, well not with Wix!

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