Launching a website used to require expensive web developers and tons of time. But thankfully, that's no longer the case! Intuitive drag-and-drop website builders now empower anyone to create stunning professional sites in just minutes - without needing to code.
These user-friendly tools are revolutionizing how startups, small businesses, and individuals build their online presence. With pre-designed templates and easy WYSIWYG editors, you simply drag, drop, customize and publish! 😎
The benefits of using a free website builder include:
- Requires zero coding knowledge - just drag and drop
- Beautiful responsive templates for any industry
- Free hosting and custom domains to get started
- Built-in SEO to improve search visibility
- Email marketing, analytics, and other marketing tools
- Ecommerce capabilities to sell online
- CMS features to manage content
- Awesome support communities
In this roundup, we'll explore the top free website builders and tools to create the perfect site fast without coding. Whether you need landing pages for your startup, an online store, portfolio or blog - these websites to make free websites have got you covered.
Most Popular Free Website Builders
Here are the easiest and most fully-featured free website builders used by startups and small businesses:
- Wix - Extremely easy drag and drop editor with 500+ templates. Tons of apps.
- Squarespace - Beautiful templates that look stylish out of the box.
- Weebly - Simple editor that makes building sites intuitive.
- Webflow - Advanced animations and interactions for pro sites.
- WordPress - Open source CMS that's endlessly customizable.
- Unicorn Platform - Made specifically for startups and SaaS sites.
- Strikingly - Great for simple, fast sites with their mobile-first design.
- uKit - Builds SEO-optimized sites with 150+ templates.
Key Features to Look For
When comparing website builders, look for these essential features:
- Drag and drop editors to easily customize and design pages
- Responsive design templates that work on all devices
- Free web hosting and domains to launch your site
- SEO tools and integrations to improve search visibility
- No coding required to build and edit sites
- Built-in ecommerce to sell products and accept payments
- Email marketing, forms, and analytics to capture leads
- CMS for blogging and content management
- Media galleries and portfolios to showcase visuals
- Custom code support for advanced customization
- Solid customer support via email, phone, chat, and forums
Factors to Consider When Choosing
When selecting the ideal website builder for your needs, consider factors like:
- Your intended use case - blog, business site, ecommerce store etc.
- How easy the builder is for your skill level
- Design appeal and customizability of templates
- Specific industry focused templates if relevant
- Marketing tools and analytics you need
- Ability to upgrade and scale the site
- Adding custom code as the site grows
- Ongoing maintenance requirements
Detailed Reviews of the Top Options
Let's explore the most popular free website builders for startups and small businesses.
Wix
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Wix stands out for their incredibly easy drag and drop editor. With over 500 designer-made templates covering every industry niche imaginable, you're guaranteed to find the perfect design.
Customizing template layouts and styles is intuitive even for beginners. Wix offers a stellar combination of usability, extensive features, and flexibility.
They pack everything you need into their platform - detailed analytics, abundant apps, extensive marketing tools, secure hosting and reliable support. Paid upgrades provide customized domains, extra storage, and priority assistance.
The free forever plan includes 500MB storage, 1GB bandwidth per month, and Wix ads. Overall, Wix is ideal for startups, small businesses, agencies, and blogs.
Squarespace
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Squarespace instantly makes any site look sleek and professional right out of the box. Their beautifully designed templates are ideal if you want a stylish site fast without much customization.
Image-heavy sites especially benefit from Squarespace's powerful galleries, slideshows, and visual features. But they offer far more than good looks - built-in ecommerce, email marketing, social sharing, SEO, analytics, and 24/7 support.
Downsides are their steeper learning curve and less flexibility compared to advanced builders. Plan pricing starts at $12/month. Overall, Squarespace strikes the perfect balance between usability, beauty, and functionality.
Weebly
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If you want a super simple drag and drop builder, Weebly is a great choice. Their intuitive editor lets you easily create clean, professional sites without much web experience.
Weebly offers a range of sleek pre-made templates across multiple styles to customize your site design. While not as powerful as Wix or Squarespace, their SEO, blogging, and ecommerce features cover the basics well.
The free plan includes 500MB storage and a Weebly subdomain. Downsides are limited design options and less extensive features compared to paid plans. But it's a solid free option for simple sites.
Webflow
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Webflow enables you to build complex, interactive sites and web apps visually without coding. Animations, transitions, interactions, and dynamic content come to life with their robust tools.
While Webflow has a steeper learning curve, their tutorials, guides, and community support help you master their powerful editor. The end result - slick animated sites that feel ultra-modern.
Pricing starts at $12/month for basic sites. But the capabilities are unmatched for creating advanced high-traffic sites without engineering resources. The Webflow CMS is ideal for startups and agencies.
WordPress
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As the world's most popular CMS, WordPress is used by over 60 million sites. The plugin ecosystem offers endless customization to build any kind of website you can imagine.
With WordPress, you get complete flexibility and control to construct your site exactly how you want. The tradeoff is that it requires more technical skill vs point-and-click builders.
We recommend the open-source self-hosted WordPress.org for ultimate control. The hosted WordPress.com option is more limited. Overall, WordPress is ideal for established sites looking for expansive customization.
Unicorn Platform
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Unicorn Platform simplifies website building for startups and SaaS companies specifically. They provide tailored templates and components for landing pages and MVP sites to convert visitors into leads and customers.
The easy drag and drop editor lets you quickly customize designs, add your branding, integrate forms/analytics, and publish responsive landing pages that convert. Other key features include blog integration, payments, APIs, domains, and single site navigation.
Unicorn Platform focuses on what startups need to get traction and rapidly grow their web presence. The streamlined approach accelerates launching and iterating sites.
Strikingly
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Strikingly makes it incredibly fast and simple to build basic but beautiful sites, especially if you value speed and mobility. Their mobile-first single page templates can launch a site in minutes.
While less powerful than other builders, Strikingly sites look sleek right away. SEO and marketing capabilities are limited but integration with MailChimp, Google Analytics, and payments help.
The free plan permits a single site with Strikingly branding. Downsides are the lack of multimedia features. But for simple sites, Strikingly provides an option worth considering.
uKit
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uKit is an AI-powered website builder focused on creating SEO-optimized sites quickly. With over 150 template options covering different niches, you can launch visually appealing sites tailored to your industry.
Despite the large template selection, customization capabilities are limited. But uKit sites are designed to boost organic search rankings with built-in SEO tools and optimized content.
The free plan permits 3 pages, 500 MB storage, and basic analytics. For lean sites needing SEO visibility, uKit is a decent option worth considering.
Comparing the Top 8 Free Website Builders
Builder
Ease of Use
Templates
Features
Scalability
Support
Wix
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Squarespace
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Weebly
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Webflow
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WordPress
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Unicorn Platform
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Strikingly
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uKit
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Key Takeaways
- Drag and drop website builders like Wix, Squarespace, Webflow and Unicorn Platform make launching sites incredibly easy and fast for startups.
- Focus on choosing the builder that best fits your skill level, design needs, feature requirements, and budget.
- Leverage intuitive website builders to create stunning sites in minutes without coding.
- For startups specifically, purpose-built solutions like Unicorn Platform optimize converting visitors into customers.
- With the right website builder, anyone can now build professional sites faster than ever before.
The bottom line is that thanks to user-friendly website builders, creating your online presence is now possible in record time even if you're not technical. Evaluate your options and find the best free website builder for your specific startup needs. Ready to join the site-building revolution?
Key Takeaways
- Drag and drop website builders like Wix, Squarespace, Webflow and Unicorn Platform make launching sites incredibly easy and fast for startups.
- Focus on choosing the builder that best fits your skill level, design needs, feature requirements, and budget.
- Leverage intuitive website builders to create stunning sites in minutes without coding.
- For startups specifically, purpose-built solutions like Unicorn Platform optimize converting visitors into customers.
- With the right website builder, anyone can now build professional sites faster than ever before.
The bottom line is that thanks to user-friendly website builders, creating your online presence is now possible in record time even if you're not technical. Evaluate your options and find the best free website builder for your specific startup needs.
If you're a startup looking to create landing pages fast, try out Unicorn Platform's easy drag and drop builder designed just for SaaS sites. Ready to join the site-building revolution?
