Best Website Builders For Mac

If you're researching what the best Mac website builder is, the answer is Wix. Thanks to its easy user interface, its massive feature list, and its reasonably priced plans, Wix represents the best value when it comes to website builders.

Rather than paying for Mac software, you pay a monthly fee – as low as $14 per month – to create and publish your website with Wix. There are regular Wix deals and discounts, too.

Our recommendations are based on independent tests and real-world user feedback. While Wix came out top of the pile, it's not the only website builder we've rated.

From ecommerce templates to interactive galleries, there's no limit to what you can achieve with the best website builders for Mac that we've rounded up for you. We also take a look at dedicated website builder apps and let you know if these would suit you too.

In this guide:

• Top Website Builders for Mac
• Website Builders vs Mac Website Software
• Verdict: What is the best website builder for Mac
• Frequently Asked Questions

Top Website Builders for Mac

The website builders we've rounded up don't actually require you to install anything from the Mac App Store, which is always nice to avoid when you can.

You access all of the website builders below through Safari, Chrome or your preferred web browser of choice. This makes it quick and easy to create, edit and update a website – even if you're using a lower-powered MacBook Air, rather than a MacBook Pro.

We have carried out extensive user-based research to rank and rate the most popular website builders out there. We ask the same questions you do: How easy are they to use? What features can they provide? Do they offer good value for money? What sort of customer support is available? Based on the answers to these questions, we then create our scores based on these factors, and others.

Each website builder we rate is based on real life use, with our testers having hands-on time with each service to work out what's great, and what's not so great.

Below are the top Mac Website Builders to come out of our testing:

• Wix – Best overall website builder
• Squarespace – Best for growing businesses
• GoDaddy – Best for quick set up
• Weebly – Best for businesses on a budget
• Zyro – Best for beginners
• Duda – Best for well-rounded, comprehensive websites
• Jimdo Creator – Best for ease of use
• WordPress – Best for blogging and publishing sites

Wix

Wix is one of the best website builders in the business, and with good reason. It offers great value, providing a truly massive feature catalog that includes a logo maker, CRM functionality, and email and social marketing capabilities. It's also refreshingly easy to use, with an intuitive drag and drop system, making it a great choice for new starters, as well as those with some experience.

Among its excellent range of features, Wix offers an extensive app store, allowing you to add functions to your site with just a click, from appointment booking to live chat. It also gives users powerful SEO tools to ensure that their website doesn't languish at the bottom of Google's search engine, meaning an excellent leg up for your website compared to competitors.

Additionally, if you're new to website design and don't really know what you're doing, Wix's powerful ADI, dubbed Wix ADI, will design a website for you based on a few criteria you provide. Just answer a few quick questions and you'll be all set up fast and easy.

Wix offers a free version, but it's fairly basic, and we don't recommend it. The good news is that it has a good range of prices and won't break the bank. You should opt for a paid package and you can have a professional-looking website up and running in minutes, for minimal cost.

While you'll have to pay to get the best from Wix, you can get started for free easily

Squarespace

Squarespace's excellent range of templates enables website novices to whip up a professional-looking website in no time at all, and they are the linchpin of the service. With 113 templates to choose from, there are plenty of options, and with pretty much every facet editable, there really is no limit to how your site can look.

While Squarespace offers a fantastic range of options for those looking to create a website that looks the part, the interface can be a little confusing for first-time users. It's something that you'll get used to quickly, but be aware that there is something of a learning curve initially.

One excellent feature is Squarespace's blogging function. Posts look the same when they're being written as to how they will on the finished page, removing the need to continually go back and forth, previewing the site. Additionally, Squarespace offers a truly impressive set of marketing features that can help you grow your business by attracting and retaining customers.

If you like the sound of Squarespace, you can try it for free for 14 days or find out more about its pricing

GoDaddy

GoDaddy is a huge force in the web building industry, with 20 million users. One of the reasons for its popularity, aside from its extensive marketing budget, is the ease with which it lets users create new sites, thanks to a simple drag and drop system, and 24/7 customer support on hand for any issues that might crop up as you're building your dream page. In fact, according to our research, GoDaddy provides the quickest setup process for a website, so you can get your online presence established in just minutes.

Sounds good, but do we recommend it? We used to insist that GoDaddy wasn't a great option, but the website builder has added some serious functionality in recent years, allowing for more customization and better templates across all its plans. These improvements have brought GoDaddy way up the list, and we can confidently recommend them to anyone looking for a quick website.

Check out our GoDaddy review for more info

Weebly

We don't recommend free plans, but we must admit that Weebly has one of the best. It doesn't put the same restrictions that other platforms do, so you can actually get a functional website live for free with Weebly. Plus, Weebly has a lot of great value plans, providing a lot more functionality than you'd think for the price. And with lots of SEO and knowledge guides, you can optimize your website performance easily.

Unfortunately, Weebly isn't great if you're looking for a shining example of design. Many users have noted that the templates are quite outdated, particularly compared to competitors like Wix and Squarespace. Still, it's a great option for businesses on a strict budget, particularly if you can do without the more design-focused templates.

If you want to add features to your site, Weebly has an extensive app store, offering over 300 to choose from. One nice touch is the app review system, where users can leave ratings for the apps they have used, giving you guidance on which ones would work best for your site.

Like the sound of Weebly? Take a closer look at how it compares to Wix

Zyro

Outside of a free plan, you won't find many website builders more affordable than Zyro. With this special deal from Tech.co, you can get started with Zyro for only $2.61 per month, a staggeringly low price for any website builder.

It's worth noting that this low price does come at a cost. Zyro is definitely a more stripped-down version of a website builder, not providing most of the advanced features found on your average platform. This is a bit of a double-edged sword, as it does provide some serious ease of use, particularly for beginners who have never built a website before. Simply put, if you're looking for a cheap option that won't intimidate you with a lot of features, Zyro could be your best option.

Check out our Wix vs Zyro guide to see how these two options compare

Duda

If you're new to website builders, these last few options are going to be a great option for you, and Duda is one of them. With a notably easy to use interface that provides plenty of guidance for newbies, Duda walks you through the process to really make ease of use a priority. Plus, with plenty of templates aimed at all kinds of businesses, you won't be burden by the paradox of choice too much.

Unfortunately, Duda has a few downsides. For one, it's definitely too expensive for the limited features it provides. It's particularly lacking internal marketing feature, which can help you reach out to new users. On top of that, its support options are limited to its more expensive plans, but that might not be a problem given how easy it is to use the platform.

Jimdo

Jimdo is another website builder that makes actually getting your website live incredibly easy. Thanks to the ADI, you can input a few simple criteria, and the platform will build the website for you, getting you live in just matter of minutes with professional caliber web design. You don't even have to be an expert!

Again though, these low tier website builders have some pitfalls and Jimdo is no different. With no blog functionality, limited SEO features, no internal marketing features, Jimdo is not aimed at the larger companies that need a wide range of functionality. Still, if you need a website live fast, Jimdo could provide you with the platform you need.

WordPress

WordPress powers over 500 million websites, so it must be doing something right. It's an ideal platform for running a blog, thanks to excellent tools and templates that will help you craft the best-looking blog out there. As a website builder for creating professional looking business focused sites, it doesn't quite compete with our favorites, Wix and Squarespace, if only because it cannot offer the same ease of adding extra features that those platforms can.

In fact, we really wouldn't recommend WordPress for anyone that isn't starting a blog. It has almost no scalability for growing businesses, or any kind of marketing features to improve your audience.

The editor itself, however, is fairly intuitive, and has a great “what you see is what you get” approach, so that as you're writing your page, you can see how it will look to your readers. Also, thanks to the huge, active user base, any issues you might come across are usually just a Google away, so if you do come unstuck, it likely won't be for long.

If you're more of an expert when it comes to website building and you still want to stick with WordPress, WordPress.org provides users with open-source access for free. However, it's worth noting that you're going to need a pretty serious knowledge base to design a website with WordPress.org, as the process can be quite complicated, particularly without any prior experience.

Website Builder vs Mac Website Software

While a web-based website builder is the most popular option, there is also dedicated software available that can do the same job. Software has fewer benefits compared to online services like Wix and Weebly – quite often you'll have to pay more upfront, with potentially expensive licenses, you can only use them on the machine they are installed on, and some may have high requirements that won't pose a problem to newer Macs, but which older models might struggle with. On the other hand, a website service is accessible from any machine, costs a few bucks a month, and guaranteed to run on your device.

The one appeal of dedicated software, is that you are fully in control – as they are not online, you are not relying on another person's service, and you can also use them offline, so they don't require an internet connection. If you're the sort of person who likes total control, then dedicated site building software may appeal.

We take a brief look at some of the most popular options.

Sandvox

Sandbox makes big claims about its accessibility, stating that users will be able to create a website in under an hour. With a drag and drop interface that's not too hard to believe, and those with coding experience can inject their own CSS or HTML to really make their website their own. It also offers in depth guides and on hand customer support should you need it.

RapidWeaver

RapidWeaver doesn't require any prior experience, and it's a decent starting point for newcomers who simply want to create a functioning website. Integrated SEO tools make sure that your site will be spotted by Google and rank well, and there are dozens of themes to choose from. The automatic navigation system means that your site won't suffer broken links.

Verdict: What is the best website builder for Mac?

If you're looking for the best of the best, you cannot go wrong with Wix. Across all operating systems and devices, this easy-to-use, feature-rich website builder is designed for professionals and newbies alike, so you can get a good-looking website launched without a whole lot of hassle. Plus, with these prices, you can't beat the value Wix provides for its users.

Website builders come in all shapes and sizes, particularly when you're an avid Mac user. While all these options can initially sound daunting, hopefully, you now understand that finding the right website builder for you is simply about knowing what you need before making the decision.

Frequently Asked Questions