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Wix is the best cheap website builder on the market. Our recommendation is based on expert testing and user feedback, including those from complete novices at creating websites. Not only is Wix incredibly easy to use, but it has a range of professional quality templates and regular deals and discounts to make it even more compelling.
| Test Score | Free plan | Paid plan (monthly) | Try it Today | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BEST ON TEST  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
4.5/5 | 4.2/5 | 4.0/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.4/5 | 3.4/5 | 3.6/5 |
Yes (data and URL limitations) | 14-day free trial | Yes (data and URL limitations) | No | Yes | 30-day free trial | Yes |
Starts from $5 | Starts from $12 | Starts from $8 | Starts from $5 | Starts from $4 | Starts from $5.99 | Starts from $10.80 |
However, there are other excellent and inexpensive website builders on the market. Weebly is a fantastic alternative and slightly undercuts Wix. Squarespace, on the other hand, is more expensive but offers some class-leading features and design templates.
In this guide, we’ll round up the best cheap website builders, offer some guidance about how much different types of websites will cost, and explain why you should avoid a free website.
In this guide
- Best Cheap Website Builders – We round up the best affordable website builders
- Wix – The best for, well, everyone
- Weebly – An excellent but more affordable alternative to Wix
- Squarespace – A brilliant choice for a cheap online store
- How Much Should a Website Builder Cost? – We look at how much a typical website builder costs
- Why You Should Avoid Free Website Builder Plans – Free sounds good but in practice it won't give you the website you want
Best Cheap Website Builders Compared
The table below features the scores from our independent testing and research into website builders, and shows what features you’ll get with each website builder’s pricing tiers. We think that your best options will be Wix, Weebly, or Squarespace so we'll go into more depth on these after the table.
| Test Score | Pros | Cons | Free plan | Paid plan (monthly) | Try it Today | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BEST ON TEST | | | | | | | |
4.5/5 | 4.2/5 | 4.0/5 | 3.6/5 | 3.4/5 | 3.5/5 | 3.4/5 | |
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| Slightly expensive compared to rivals |
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Yes (data and URL limitations) | 14-day free trial | Yes (data and URL limitations) | Yes | Yes | No | 30-day free trial | |
Starts from $5 | Starts from $12 | Starts from $8 | Starts from $10.80 | Starts from $4 | Starts from $5 | Starts from $5.99 | |
Wix
The best all-round site builder and offers excellent features at (almost) unbeatable prices
Wix offers four pricing plans, including a free option. We wouldn’t recommend the free plan, though – while it will allow you to construct a website, you won’t be able to publish it.
Instead, the Combo plan – which starts at $8.50 per month if you're happy to pay for 3 years – allows you to connect a domain name to your Wix site, remove the Wix adverts that blight the free version, plus enjoy plenty of bandwidth and storage. If you only pay for 12 months, the price increases to $11 per month, so we'd recommend saving and going for the 3-year deal.
Wix costs for small businesses
The Unlimited plan, which costs $14 per month when billed annually, gives you a free domain as well as 10GB of storage and bandwidth. It also removes adverts from your site. It’s a great option, and if you’re looking to grow a small business, it’s ideal.
Pros
- Get 50% off Wix Premium Plans until 1st October
- Incredibly simple to use
- Great value plans
- Easy to preview as you go
- No expertise needed
- Great range of templates
Cons
- Free plan leaves you with a poor URL and Wix adverts
- After publishing with a template, you can't change to another one
Weebly
Weebly is cheaper but lacks some of Wix’s refinement
Weebly cheapest pricing tier, called Starter, costs $5 per month. It removes adverts, gives you unlimited storage plus site analytics, and even lets you sell a small selection of products. The Pro tier costs $12 per month and gives you even more features than the Starter tier, including site search, password protected areas, and HD video and audio uploads. You’ll also get over-the-phone support.
Weebly Business and Performance costs
Weebly also has the Business and Performance tier, which cost $25 and $38 respectively. These are designed for ecommerce businesses and give you loads of ecommerce specific features, including inventory management, tax calculators, and the ability for customers to checkout on your own website.
Pros
- Great selection of templates
- Lots of tools you can add to your site
- Good customization options
Cons
- No editor for mobile version of your site
- Expensive for creating an ecommerce site
Squarespace
Straightforward pricing structure and you won’t find cheaper ecommerce
Squarespace prides itself on the quality of its website builder templates, but this level of quality comes surprisingly cheap.
There’s no free version, but there is a 14-day free trial. Squarespace’s cheapest tier is the $12 per month Personal plan which offers a host of features normally reserved for pricier tiers on other website builders. You get unlimited storage and bandwidth, free custom domains, and 24/7 customer support.
Great value for online stores
You could run a fully-functional, high quality website on Squarespace’s Personal plan, but if you want to sell stuff on your website, it’s worth opting for the Basic Online Store plan, which costs $26 per month. You’ll have access to all the key ecommerce features but without any transaction fees.
Pros
- The best-looking templates around
- Great ecommerce functions
- Simple to customize
Cons
- Not quite as easy as Wix for first-timers
- Small range of apps
- No free version
How Much Should a Website Cost?
The top website builder companies such as Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace, charge different amounts. Some offer free trials, while others will give you a free website indefinitely. However, you’ll need to be realistic about the level of features that you’ll need and you’ll need to be prepared to pay for them.
After all, the needs of a student looking to create an online portfolio are pretty different to the needs of a sole trader looking to attract customers, and are different again to someone looking to sell their wares online.
You’ll also need to factor in the costs of domains, hosting, plugins and third-party apps, which can all add up.
- For a portfolio site – Expect to pay around $10 per month. You’ll need a website builder that offers a lot of storage so you can upload images of your work – Squarespace could be a good choice.
- For a blog – Expect to pay $4-10 per month. We’d recommend WordPress here, and you can easily build a blog with the Personal plan, which costs $4 a month. If you’re looking for more customization, you can move up to the Premium plan, which costs $8 per month.
- For a small business site – Expect to pay around $10-20 per month. If you’re happy to have a pretty basic website, you could definitely get by spending only $10 per month. However, if you’re looking for more advanced features such as appointment booking or contact forms, you’ll be looking at closer to $20 per month – although the extra outlay will be worth it.
- For a larger business site – Expect to pay $20-40 per month. If you’re running a larger business, your customers will be expecting more from your site, making site uptime and bandwidth essential. Make sure you find a good website hosting service to increase uptime, and look for a website builder with generous bandwidth to make sure customers can get to your site. You’ll also need advanced features such as contact forms, appointment booking and SEO tools to compete in competitive markets.
- For an ecommerce site – Expect to pay $30+. Ecommerce websites are expensive and complicated to run. So much so, in fact, that there are dedicated platforms for running these kind of sites. You’ll need to make sure that the platform you choose doesn’t have transaction fees, supports multiple payment options, and doesn’t limit the amount of sales you can make in a month.
Find out more: How much does a website cost?
Why You Should Avoid Free Website Builder Plans
While lots of the website builders above offer free plans, they’re often very limited in terms of features. And, when you can build a good website from as little as $4 per month, there’s no real reason to compromise.
With a paid-for site, even one that’s only a few dollars a month, you won't have to live with:
- Adverts
- Website builder branding
- A fixed domain name (e.g. username.wixsite.com/website)
- Limited functionality
You'll also get better support and analytics, which free users won't have access to. Better security is another benefit, and one that's particularly important for modern ecommerce websites.
If you bump the price up a little bit more (to the value of two or three fancy coffees a month, rather than one) you'll get:
- A professional-looking site
- Improved features, such as social media integration and contact forms
- The possibility to monetize your site
A website like this will help you land that dream job, sell your wares, or grow your business.
Verdict: Cheap Website Builders
With paid plans available so cheaply, you don't need to cut corners and settle for a free website. A free website may cost you in unprofessionalism, and cause users to be lost to the competitors, while just a couple dollars a month of investment will pay off.
With a paid-for Wix plan, you'll be able to get a professional-looking website for just $8.50 a month. With prices that low and the features so enticing, it doesn't make much sense to try and build a site for free.
Get Started With Wix from Just $5 per Month
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