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WordPress is a great way to build a website. In fact, some 30% of all the websites on the internet use WordPress to manage their content. However, despite its ubiquity, WordPress isn’t perfect – nor is it suited to every kind of website.
Some people find WordPress slightly finicky, as it often requires at least a little bit of coding. It also has limited design flexibility, instead relying on thousands of user-created templates – which often cost extra to install.
Our advice? Using a website builder, such as Wix, might be a better alternative for most people. Below, we explain the merits of WordPress, and how it compares to various website builders for creating different types of website.
WordPress.org vs WordPress.com
Even setting up a WordPress site can be more involved than with most of its competitors. For instance, you’ll need to decide whether you want a WordPress.com or WordPress.org site.
WordPress.org is the self-hosted version of WordPress, meaning that you’ll need to do some extra leg-work and organize site hosting with a third-party company, such as BlueHost. You get hosting thrown in with a WordPress.com site, but the monthly cost is typically higher, and you get slightly less control over your site.
Find out more in our full WordPress review
If you’re looking to create a site, and aren’t sold on WordPress, we’ve got a round-up of the best WordPress alternatives based on our rigorous user testing.
Best WordPress Alternatives Compared
We put every website builder through a tough evaluation – including user testing from both novices and experts – to find out which one is the best.
Based on our extensive, independent testing, these are the best WordPress alternatives on the market:
Scroll horizontally to view the full table on mobile
Wix | Weebly | Squarespace | Shopify | 1&1 IONOS | Site123 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Test score | ||||||
| Verdict | Comfortably the best website builder we've tested, and brilliantly simple, even for beginners | A super easy to use website builder with tonnes of features built in | Stands out with its attractive templates, and strong ecommerce offering | Hands down the best for ecommerce websites | A decent website builder with great multilingual functions | A simple, but speedy, website builder |
| Blogging | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Portfolio sites | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✗ | ✗ | ✔ |
| Business sites | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✗ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Ecommerce sites | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Free plan | ✔ | ✔ | 14-day free trial | 14-day free trial | ✗ | ✔ |
| Paid plan (monthly) | Starts from $8.50 | Starts from $8 | Starts from $12 | Starts from $29 | Starts from $5 | Starts from $10.80 |
| Try it Today | Visit Wix | Visit Weebly | Visit Squarespace* | Visit Shopify | Visit 1&1 Ionos | Visit Site123 |
*Take 10% off your order with code ‘TECH10'
Wix – Easier to use than WordPress
Wix – Easier to use than WordPress
Wix is one of the easiest website builders to use, and it has a raft of features perfect for any type of website you might want to build — whether that’s an ecommerce store or a blog.
To get you started, Wix has over 200 fantastic website templates, which can all be heavily customized using its intuitive drag-and-drop editor.
What’s more, Wix’s menu system is delightfully simple to navigate, making every aspect of website creation and management super easy.
Pros
- Get 50% off Wix Premium plans until 2nd July
- 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
Wix is our favorite WordPress alternative — start building your site today
Weebly – More features than WordPress
Weebly – More features than WordPress
Weebly has WordPress licked when it comes to the quantity and quality of features it offers – including an excellent blogging platform.
Despite being designed as a website builder first and foremost, we found Weebly’s blogging system to be just as fully-formed as WordPress’.
Weebly also offers plenty of extras, including SEO tools, ecommerce features, and email marketing. All these tools can help you turn blogging into a career, rather than just a hobby.
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
Want a website with loads of features? Try Weebly today
Squarespace – Better looking than WordPress
Squarespace – Better looking than WordPress
Squarespace has the best looking website templates on the market. This means that if you’re looking to start a blog, ecommerce store, or a site for your business, and want it to look spectacular, Squarespace is the website builder for you.
It might only have 91 templates available to choose from, but they are all beautifully designed and completely customizable.
Squarespace also has loads of features baked-in, meaning that you can easily create any kind of website you might want to.
Find out more about Squarespace's excellent designs in our review
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
Try Squarespace today and take 10% off your order with code 'TECH10'
Shopify – Best for selling online
Shopify – Best for selling online
Just because WordPress is primarily known as a blogging platform, that doesn’t mean it only does blogging – 30% of the internet can’t all be bloggers.
So, if you’re considering using WordPress as the basis for an ecommerce site, we’d recommend you take a look at Shopify instead. Now, it is a lot more expensive than WordPress, but you’ll get loads more specialist ecommerce features
For example, you’ll be able to properly track inventory, manage sales, and do your accounting with its built-in tools. What’s more, you can also run a blog on Shopify – perfect for keeping in touch with your customers.
Pros
- Unmatched sales and reporting features
- Simple to set up, use and edit your store
- Excellent and varied support options
- Fantastic design options
Cons
- Can become more expensive than rivals
- Charges transaction fees unless you use Shopify Payments
Start your dream online store with Shopify now
1&1 IONOS – Best for multilingual sites
1&1 IONOS – Best for multilingual sites
If you’re looking to create a site that can serve audiences across two countries, or in countries with more than one main language, 1&1 IONOS is the website builder for you.
When you’re creating a site with 1&1 IONOS, you can choose from the outset which languages you’d like to present your site in – no plugins, custom code, or apps required. In fact, 1&1 IONOS will even let you translate your site automatically through Google Translate.
Not all website builders offer this level of support for multilingual sites, and many of them require far more legwork at your end. So, if you need to create a site for users in different languages, we’d choose 1&1 IONOS.
Pros
- Has an in-depth editor with lots of customization options
- Offers multilingual functions
- Easy-to-access HTML and CSS code
Cons
- No free package
- No ecommerce functions
- Outdated templates
Start building your site with 1&1 IONOS today
Site123 – Best for getting started in a hurry
Site123 – Best for getting started in a hurry
Site123’s biggest selling point is just how quickly it can build you a site. While many website builders promise that you’ll be able to get online in a matter of minutes, we believe that with Site123, you actually can do so.
Site123 doesn’t have the extensive feature set of Weebly, nor does it offer the same level of customization as Wix or Squarespace. But its slick Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) software will help you create a functioning website, pre-loaded with content, in a matter of minutes.
Pros
- Incredibly quick setup and ADI features
- Good ecommerce features
Cons
- Slightly dull templates
- Confusing navigation options
Build your website in a matter of minutes with Site123
Should You Use WordPress or a Website Builder?
If you’re choosing between WordPress and a website builder, it’s worth stopping for a moment to consider what type of website you want to make. If you want a blog, nothing more and nothing less, we’d recommend WordPress. You can get plugins and apps for WordPress which can help add extra features, but we think you’re better off choosing a site with these built-in.
As such, if you want to create a blog with the potential to grow into a larger, more fully-featured site, we’d recommend Wix or Squarespace. Both of these website builders have the capabilities to create great blogs, but also viable ecommerce or business sites.
If you’re looking to sell stuff, and wouldn’t mind a blogging feature, we’d choose Shopify. It’s simply unmatched when it comes to quality and quantity of ecommerce features. It is expensive, but in this instance, you definitely get what you pay for.
Still not sure? See our expert ratings of the Best Website Builders to use
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