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The best cheap website builder is Hostinger ($2.99 per month). The platform has three tiers available at rock-bottom prices, as well as some neat design features, fairly rudimentary website functionality, and a great user experience. Our researchers really enjoyed testing Hostinger, with particular praise reserved for its site navigation, which quickly orientates the user.
However, Hostinger is far from the only option on the market. Also worth looking into is Shopify ($5 per month), which offers a lot more in terms of features, as well as help and support options. In fact, Shopify is unbeaten among the providers that we’ve tested when it comes to help and support, making it a great option for website builder novices.
In 2025, it’s essential that your business has an online presence. However, you might not be willing to shell out for an expensive solution, which is completely understandable. Luckily, with so many cheap options on the market, you don’t have to. Read on for a complete rundown of the best cheap website builders on the market.
Read on to learn about these affordable solutions, or take our 1-minute web builder comparison quiz to receive personalized recommendations based on your needs.
Key Takeaways
- Hostinger is the best overall cheap website builder, with plans starting from just $2.99 per month.
- For businesses focused on selling online, the best option would be Shopify. It has the best ecommerce features on the market, with packages starting at just $5 per month.
- Alternatively, we would recommend builders like IONOS for getting discovered or Pixpa for creative businesses.
- The cheapest website builders generally cost between $2.99 and $6 per month, making it affordable to get a professional site online.
| Price | Free Plan | Best for | Number of templates | Pros | Cons | Try Now | ||
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| Best for uptime reliability | Best for unparalleled ecommerce success | Best for uptime reliability | Best for dedicated enterprise support | Best cheap website builder for creatives | ||||
| Over 150 | 864 | Over 220 | Over 200 | 150+ | ||||
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| See Pricing | See Pricing | Compare Deals | Compare Deals | Compare Deals |
Expert Tip
The lure of a free website builder can be strong, particularly for businesses with little to no budget available for the service. Still, in our research, we found that these free forever plans are a bit too limited to provide the functionality most businesses need from a website builder.
With virtually all website builders, the free plan is going to hamper your ability to perform basic tasks, like attract new visitors via search, sell products online, or even have an ad-free experience. Sure, there are some exceptions, like Square Online allowing users to create an online store at no cost, but the transaction fees are enough to make you wish you were paying a monthly fee.
Our advice? Use the free plan as more of an extended free trial rather than a viable solution to your website-building needs. That way, you can test out the platform in a meaningful way to be sure it’s the right fit for you. Then, when you’re ready, you can get a paid plan to really take your website building seriously. And with prices as low as the ones on this list, hopefully it won’t break the bank.
Who should use Hostinger?
- Busy businesses
- Users with little site-building experience
- Users who want help generating content
Who shouldn’t use Hostinger?
- Larger businesses with advanced site-building needs
- Omnichannel retailers with brick-and-mortar stores
If you’re looking for a no-frills website builder that won’t cost you an arm and a leg, you just found it. During our latest round of research, our team concluded that Hostinger was the best cheap website builder on the market.
Its pricing is very competitive, it offers a few advanced features, including an AI logo maker, and it provides a lot of very easy-to-use templates that make website building simple.
Check out our Hostinger vs Wix comparison guide for more info.
Hostinger offers a wide range of cool additional features that can really help you when it comes to building your site, including an AI blog generator, which provides unique, engaging written content on your site without you having to lift a finger.
Impressively, it can generate up to 2,000 words at a time, which means you can dip your toe into content marketing without having to give it a second thought.
You’ll also be able to utilize the platform’s logo maker to better establish your brand.
Hostinger offers great AI features, but I found its customization features lacking, which makes it less ideal for users who want a super unique website. Source: Tech.co user testing
Hostinger has no app store, meaning that it’s not the best solution for users who might want to bolt on additional services, such as a POS integration for businesses with brick-and-mortar stores. If this is a must for you, we would recommend looking into Square Online.
From an analytics standpoint, Hostinger offers a comprehensive heatmap, which will help you better understand how your users interact with your website. This is super helpful if you want to take an iterative approach to design and copy, as you can put different ideas on trial, see how they fare, and learn and improve.
I was impressed with Hostinger’s AI heatmapping feature because it lets you gain valuable insights into user engagement on your website. Source: Tech.co user testing
Ultimately, Hostinger is a great solution for individuals who are keen to get their business online quickly, don’t require much in the way of advanced capabilities, and are keeping an eye on costs.
Pros
- AI generated site in 60 seconds with only three steps
- Built-in heatmap for advanced site analytics for helpful data
- Language translations capabilities
Cons
- No app market for third party integrations
- No email marketing to reach new customers
- No free trial or free plan for new users
- 30-Day Money Back Guarantee
- Starts at: $11.99/mo ($2.99/mo with deal)
- Up to 75% off
Hostinger pricing
The best thing about Hostinger is the price. It’s significantly cheaper than your average website builder, so if you’re looking to save some money, Hostinger is a great place to start.
Premium plan
The first Hostinger plan costs $11.99 per month for one month. However, this drops right down as soon as you opt for anything longer term. You’ll find a full breakdown below:
- 12 months – $3.99 per month
- 24 months – $3.49 per month
- 48 months – $2.99 per month
The package includes a free domain name, a 100-website limit, and access to Hostinger’s builder. However, it lacks advanced artificial intelligence features like AI writing and heatmaps.
Business plan
The Business plan will set you back $13.99 per month for one month. Again, its pricing varies depending on how long your contract is, as you can see below:
- 12 months – $3.99 per month
- 24 months – $4.49 per month
- 48 months – $2.99 per month
The plan includes hosting capacity for up to 100,000 monthly visits, WordPress AI tools, and Hostinger’s full suite of in-house AI features.
Cloud Startup plan
This costs $27.99 per month for one month. Opt for a longer contract, and you’ll get the following prices:
- 12 months – $9.99 per month
- 24 months – $8.99 per month
- 48 months – $7.99 per month
This plan includes everything in Business with an additional dedicated IP address, priority support, and the hosting capacity for 200,000 monthly visits.
You can also currently get a discount on both the Premium and Business plans through Tech.co. We can get you a 48-month term for $2.69 per month and $3.59 per month, respectively, with an additional 3 months for free.
Check out our Hostinger review for more information.
Who should use Shopify?
- Individuals who want to create a robust online store
- Users looking for third-party integrations
- Users who are likely to require support
Who shouldn’t use Shopify?
- Design-conscious users
- Users who want an intuitive user experience
- Users looking for good value for money
In terms of reputation, Shopify is one of the biggest names on this list, and for good reason. It’s an excellent all-in-one ecommerce tool used by more than 2 million merchants around the world.
And with a starting price of just $5 per month for its Starter plan, it makes its way onto this list. However, prospective customers should bear in mind that after the first plan, Shopify’s pricing jumps right up to $29 per month for the Basic plan.
After that, it’s $79 per month. So if you’re looking for advanced functionality at a reasonable fee, you will not find it with Shopify.
The first thing to say about Shopify is that its ecommerce features are second to none. During our latest round of testing, the platform came out on top in terms of sales performance. Our researchers were particularly impressed with how easy it was to upload products and generate product copy from AI.
At the same time, its analytics features make it easy to monitor sales performance, with comprehensive reports and live tracking.
We were able to add products to the Shopify POS with this simple field. Source: Tech.co testing
There’s a but coming, and here it is: most advanced ecommerce functionality is reserved for the pricier Shopify tiers. The Starter plan is mostly geared towards social media sellers who want to leverage Shopify’s payment system without the bells and whistles of a full-fledged store.
In other words, it won’t be suitable for businesses that sell a lot of products, require advanced customization, or want to get discovered in search.
However, if you’re just looking to get your boutique store off the ground, you could do a lot worse than Shopify’s first plan. For a modest outlay, you’ll get a handy dashboard with basic sales tracking, the ability to process payments and Shopify’s renowned checkout process.
You’ll also get seamless integration with different social media platforms and social selling links, so you can convert your viewers into customers from right within your channels.
Shopify POS lets you track your performance by total sales, sales by channel, online store sessions, and more. Source: Tech.co testing
Pros
- Vast selection of third-party integrations and apps
- Robust customer support including 24/7 options
- Excellent generative AI features to craft content
Cons
- Messy interface between back and front end
- No free domain, must pay extra
- Short 3-day free trial to try platform before you buy
- Starter Plan: $5/month
- Basic Plan: $29/month
- Retail Plan: $79/month
- Shopify Plan: $79/month
- Advanced Plan: $299/month
- Transaction fees from 2.9% + 30¢
Shopify pricing
As mentioned above, Shopify earns its place on this list thanks to its Starter plan, which is very reasonably priced at $5 per month. After that, however, Shopify’s affordability goes out the window, with a series of expensive plans that put this provider right at the top end of the pricing scale. You’ll find a full breakdown of plans below.
Basic plan
After Starter, the next Shopify plan is the Basic plan ($29 per month). At this tier, you’ll unlock a fully customizable store with several different available themes, up to 10 inventory locations, the ability to create gift cards, 24/7 live chat support, and more.
We found that generating a gift card was easy with Shopify. Source: Tech.co testing
Retail plan
The Retail plan starts at $79 per month. This plan is geared towards brick-and-mortar retail stores that are looking to build their online presence. For that price, you’ll get your hands on unlimited staff accounts and products, as well as some customer management tools.
Shopify plan
Starting at $79 per month, the titular Shopify plan is perfect for small and medium-sized businesses with several employees. In addition to everything on the Basic plan, subscribers will also unlock five staff accounts, a shipping discount and shipping insurance, and USPS Priority Mail Cubic pricing.
Advanced plan
The next Shopify plan starts at $299 per month. Features at this level include 15 staff accounts, custom sales and performance reports, and real-time shipping calculations so your customers always know what they’re paying.
Plus plan
This is geared towards large businesses with complex business needs. Starting at $2,300 a month for a three-year term, it’s a hugely expensive option that will not be suitable for smaller businesses. Standout features include 200 inventory locations, localized global selling in 50 markets, unlimited staff accounts, and more.
Who should use Web.com?
- Users with simple website requirements
- Web building novices
Who shouldn’t use Web.com?
- Businesses that want to get discovered through search
- Individuals who will want to regularly update their website
Web.com is a functional website builder with cheap plans and neat AI capabilities. For the low price of $4.99 per month (for the first year – it then jumps up to $15.99 per month after that), you’ll get a free domain and secure sockets layer (SSL) certificate, access to the LogoBuilder and Design Studio, as well as use of its simple AI website builder.
I tested out the Web.com AI builder myself, and I had a mixed experience. Right off the bat, you’re given two choices – generate a website through AI or use a preexisting template. From there, you’re asked a few basic questions – what’s your website called? What makes it unique? And so on.
Like a lot of its contemporaries, Web.com asks you some pretty basic questions to guide the generation process. Source: Tech.co testing
Then, you’re taken to a page titled “Style it up,” at which point you can choose between five different templates – “playful,” “modern,” “professional,” “bold,” and “classic” – to give your page a certain visual mood.
Handily, you’ll be able to see what each template looks like in situ thanks to a small preview window. Then, it’s time to choose your color scheme and typeface.
This level of detail is refreshing, with some AI website builders prescribing a typeface based on other criteria, rather than allowing you to choose your own.
I was impressed with the array of available color schemes in the Web.com AI builder. Source: Tech.co testing
The problems started when I tried to actually generate my site. I was hugely frustrated to witness the site builder time out not once, not twice, but three times before my page was finally generated. It was a maddening experience that definitely left a sour taste.
All told, I was impressed with the final outcome – Web.com created a page that stacked up to my prompts, looked professional, and reflected my brand.
Henry’s Hats in all its splendor. Source: Tech.co testing
Pros
- Intuitive interface
- Comprehensive free plan
- Mobile and tablet optimization is impressive
Cons
- Image editing capabilities are pretty basic
- Unable to switch templates
- Slow loading time
- Website: $4.99/month
- Website + marketing: $7.99/month
- eCommerce: $9.99/month
Web.com pricing
Like its predecessors, Web.com has a very accessible entry point, with its first plan, the Website plan, costing just $4.99 per month for a one-year contract. After this, however, it reverts to its standard pricing, which puts it at $15.99 per month. For more details, read the breakdown below.
Website + Marketing plan
As per the current promotional offer, this starts at $7.99 per month for a one-year contract. In addition to the features you’d get on the previous plan, this tier also unlocks the ability to process online appointment booking and comes with a Google My Business listing.
eCommerce plan
This currently starts at $9.99 per month for a one-year contract. Like the name suggests, it’s geared towards selling, with a secure checkout hosted right on your domain, and the ability to sell on Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, eBay, and more.
Who should use IONOS?
- Users with security concerns
- Users who want a choice of hosting options
Who shouldn’t use IONOS?
- Businesses that will attract a high volume of traffic
- Businesses looking for robust website functionality
Coming in at fourth on our list of the cheapest website builders is IONOS. While IONOS is a renowned website hosting provider, its website-building arm doesn’t attract the same level of acclaim. And it’s not hard to see why.
While it’s reasonably priced, the platform has more than a few shortcomings in terms of functionality, design options, help and support, and the general user experience, which I’ll go into in this section.
IONOS has some decent AI enhancements. For a start, users can get up and running quickly with a number of AI-generated website templates, as well as quickly spinning up images and SEO text. Not many introductory website builder plans include SEO optimization, so it’s to IONOS’s credit that you’ll be able to get discovered in search on each of its plans.
Onto the website builder itself. IONOS doesn’t boast the most extensive library of available templates, meaning that it can’t compete with Shopify on that front. However, the templates in question all look uniformly good and professional. What’s more, they’re well-optimized for mobile, so IONOS sidesteps that particular pitfall.
A zoomed-out view of the IONOS website builder. Source: Tech.co testing
In terms of customizability, the website builder adopts a point-and-click-style editor, which is good for making adjustments to specific areas, but less optimal for making wholesale changes. To make matters worse, you’ll lose any content that you’ve added to the site if you change templates after initial setup.
This can be frustrating, as it means that you’re locked into your page look and feel from the off. It’s a similar story with Web.com, which outright prohibits you from deviating from your chosen template.
Pros
- International growth features built-in like multilingual support
- Quickest server response team for fast support
- Best mobile site speed performance across our research
Cons
- No free plan or free trial available
- Limited customization
- Few advanced marketing features
- Starter plan: $6/month (first 12 months)
- Plus plan: $1/month (first 12 months)
- Pro plan: $17/month (first 12 months)
- Deal: One year of Plus for $1/month
- All plans: Free domain for a year
- 30-day refund guarantee
IONOS pricing
IONOS is pretty well-priced, with three website builder plans, starting at $6 per month for a one-year term for the Starter plan. Find out more about the remaining plans below.
Plus plan
Interestingly, while this is ostensibly the mid-tier plan, IONOS’s current promotional offer actually puts Plus as the cheapest – and by some margin. At the moment, first-time customers can pick up this plan for one year at just $1 per month. It’s a stunning deal that includes a free domain for one year, an integrated online booking tool, and more.
Pro plan
The price jumps right up at this tier, with the current promotional offer putting it at $17 per month for a one-year contract. Like its predecessors, it reverts to its regular price after that term ($30 per month). At this level, you’ll unlock powerful SEO tools, including rankingCoach Standard.
This is all well and good for getting a basic site off the ground and getting discovered, but if you’re looking to set up an online business, it’s a different story. In this case, you’ll have to go for one of IONOS’s dedicated ecommerce plans, which are significantly more expensive.
If you’re looking to get your online store off the ground, our recommendation would be Wix, which offers unbeatable functionality, a generous selection of integrations, and 24/7 support. Make sure you check out our list of the best ecommerce website builders for a full breakdown, as well as our other recommendations.
Who should use Pixpa?
- Creative businesses like photographers and designers
- Bespoke online sellers
- Businesses with a content strategy
Who shouldn’t use Pixpa?
- Traditional businesses with info-heavy websites
- Large and enterprise online retailers
- Experienced web developers
Pixpa is an affordable website builder designed specifically for creative users like photographers and artists. However, while Pixpa is primarily marketed as a website builder for portfolios, it also offers advanced blogging features and a seamless ecommerce platform for businesses to sell online, extending its use to a wider demographic of users.
If you run a creative business and don’t want to splurge on slightly more premium design-friendly builders like Squarespace, Pixpa should definitely be on your radar.
The website builder offers a selection of visually engaging, responsive templates that are perfect for showing off creative projects or products. When we used the builder ourselves, I was particularly impressed with how simplistic and clean these themes looked, especially compared to alternatives like Webador.
Check our guide to making money with a website to learn more
Pixpa has over 150+ themes catered to creative businesses. I was impressed by how clean they looked and how well they showed up on mobile. Source: Tech.co user testing
However, while Pixpa’s design tools will be strong enough for most average users, if you’re an experienced web developer who wants to have a granular level of control over the site design, you may find the builder restrictive. This is because the platform doesn’t let you carry out advanced customization tasks like importing your own font or building a site from scratch.
Pixpa will be a great option for growing businesses that are serious about widening their reach. The builder offers a range of marketing features in-house, such as on-site and email pop-ups, and an Announcement Bar, which lets you highlight a message on your website to make it stand out to viewers.
You’re also able to schedule announcements and add a clickthrough URL to the panel, which is a great perk for businesses with regular promotions.
Pixpa let me add a Mobile Action Bar to my site to increase engagement from visitors. Source: Tech.co user testing
Pixpa’s integrated ecommerce features, available to users on all paid plans, make it a good fit for smaller boutique-style retailers building an online presence too. However, if you already manage an established online store and are looking to sell through multiple channels like social media, we’d recommend using e-commerce-focused builders like Shopify instead.
Since Pixpa is portfolio-based and created with the needs of creative businesses in mind, the website builder won’t be a natural fit for traditional or technical businesses in manufacturing, law, and logistics, for example.
For these types of businesses, we’d advise checking out Wix, as the popular builder offers templates for a broader range of industries.
Learn more about the website builder for online stores in our Shopify review.
Pros:
- Lets you sell online for only $8 per month (currently $3.60 for 2 years)
- Beautifully designed templates
- Advanced blogging and SEO tools available for users
Cons:
- No free plan available
- Limited customization options
- Artist-focused, not ideal for non-creative businesses
- Basic Plan: $3.60/month for 2 years
- Creator Plan: $6.75/month for 2 years
- Professional Plan: $9/month for 2 years
- Advanced Plan: $11.25/month for 2 years
- Ecommerce features with all paid plans
- Yearly and biannual plans currently available with promotional discounts
Pixpa pricing
Pixpa offers four different pricing plans: Basic, Creator, Professional, and Advanced. The provider is currently running a deal that knocks 55% off all plans, making the builder even more affordable than usual. However, you’ll need to commit to a two-year contract to unlock this deal. Alternatively, you can commit to a one-year contract and get 40% off all plans.
- Pixpa’s entry-level Basic plan costs
$8 per month$3.60 per month, and offers an assortment of features including mobile-optimized templates, 200 website gallery images, domain connection options, password protection, custom CCS, and 24/7 customer support. The tier also has integrated ecommerce features and lets you sell up to three products. - Pixpa’s Creator plan costs
$15 per month$6.75 per month, and includes everything in the Basic tier with unlimited pages or galleries, blogging features, access for two contributors, marketing capabilities, and ecommerce support for up to 10 products. - Pixpa’s Professional plan will cost you
$20 per month$9 per month, and includes everything in the Creator package with additional free domain registration options for a year, Announcement Bar and Mobile Information Bar tools, email lists, and more. You’re also able to sell up to 100 products with this plan. - Finally, Pixpa’s Advanced plan costs
$25 per month$11.25 or month, and offers everything in Creator with additional marketing and growth capabilities, inventory management, and abandoned checkout features for your online store, and no cap on the number of products you want to sell.
What to Look for In a Cheap Website Builder
Website builders have the power to make or break your business. If you’re committed to building a high-performing site without splurging on pricey packages, here are some factors you prioritize.
- Scalable packages – Your budget might be tight at the moment, but a cheap package may restrict you in the future. Therefore, to save the hassle of switching down the line when your needs evolve, we recommend choosing a platform with scalable pricing tiers.
- AI features – Artificial intelligence features provide businesses with excellent value by saving businesses time and effort. Some top AI features to look out for include AI site generators, AI text generators, and AI image creators.
- Growth features – If you’re looking for a budget solution, chances are your business is in its early stages. This makes the presence of growth features like email marketing and SEO toolkits all the more important.
- Reliable help & support – Some website builders have premium reserved support for the pricier tiers. To avoid getting caught out, it’s always worth researching a solution’s help and support options before investing. This includes when support is offered, as well as through what channels.
- Customizable templates – A builder’s level of customization is a great indication of its overall value. If you want your site to stand out from its competition, we recommend choosing a builder with flexible templates and granular drag-and-drop editing options.
How Much Should a Website Cost?
The cost of building a website will vary from user to user. Users on a tight budget will be able to keep costs low by using a no-frills package with hosting included. However, if you’re chosen builder doesn’t offer hosting in-house, you’ll have to pay for this service through a third-party provider, while additional plugins and third-party apps can also bump up the price of a package.
For greater insight into how much a website may cost you, check out our pricing table below:
| Starting price | Top considerations | Recommended website builder | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portfolio Sites | Online Blogs | Small Business Sites | Larger Business Sites | Ecommerce Sites |
| $12/month | $6/month | $12/month | $20/month | $20/month |
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We take our impartial research and analysis seriously, so you can have complete confidence that we're giving you the clearest, most useful product recommendations.
After conducting an initial exploration to identify the most relevant, popular, and established tools in the market, we put them through their paces with hands-on testing to see their real strengths and weaknesses. In this case, we put 16 website builder products to the test across 398 areas of investigation.
Based on years of market and user needs research, we've established a website builder testing methodology that scores each product in six core categories of investigation and 33 subcategories; this covers everything from customer feedback to design, ease of use, and more.
Our main testing categories for website builders are:
- Website Features: the capabilities and functionalities offered by a website builder, e.g. blog functionality, SEO capability, and marketing capacity.
- Design Functionality: the aesthetic appeal and visual layout of a website created using a website builder. It encompasses aspects such as page templates and customizable themes.
- Customer Satisfaction: external customer opinion. This is the feedback and ratings given by customers who have used a particular website builder – the market position and reputation a website builder holds.
- User Experience: how user-friendly and intuitive a website builder is for people with varying levels of technical expertise.
- Value for Money: the balance between the cost of a website builder and the benefits it provides. It considers factors such as pricing plans, subscription models, and available features.
- Help and Support: the assistance and resources available to users when they encounter issues or need guidance while using a website builder.
When it comes to calculating a product's final score, not all testing areas are weighted evenly, as we know some aspects matter more to our readers than others, which are simply "nice to have." After hundreds of hours, our process is complete, and the results should ensure you can find the best solution for your needs.
At Tech.co, we have a number of full-time in-house researchers, who re-run this testing process regularly, to ensure our results remain reflective of the present day.
Verdict: What Is the Best Cheap Website Builder?
Based on our user testing, research, and analysis, the best cheap website builder is Hostinger. Not only does the website builder offer capable paid plans for as little as $2.99 per month, but it has some great features, including a neat AI website builder, AI blog generator, and all-round great user experience.
Next up was Shopify. The ecommerce stalwart has an intro plan that starts at just $5 per month, and while it’s certainly limited when compared to the provider’s other plans, it has some excellent sales features for the price point.
If you’re having trouble deciding which one is best for you, we can help! Our research-backed website builder quiz will only take a minute to fill out and will provide you with three options that meet your specific criteria for your business.