Top 10 Best Website Builders for Beginners in 2021

‘Simple,’ ‘Easy-to-use,’ ‘Get started within minutes’…

These words are used for every website builder. No website will ever explicitly state that it isn’t fit for beginners.

But more often than not, the website builder you select is simple and easy for those who have coding and design know-how. Or at least some website building experience. And you end up spending hours trying to figure out where to start.

So, how do you find a builder that is actually great for beginners?

Well, we made complete newcomers take the most popular website builders for a test drive. Based on the feedback gathered and our expert analysis of the website builder’s functionality, we have the top 10 best website builders for beginners.

If you have no website building experience, you can still get online with a stellar website in 2021 with these top website builders:

Wix

You probably know about Wix thanks to their big-budget marketing campaigns starring Gal Gadot, Heidi Klum, and several other big names. And with over 150 million websites built on Wix, their marketing campaigns are working too. But that’s not just because of marketing, but also because the builder is actually one of the best out there. 

Price: Free plan available. The lowest plan ‘Combo’ comes at $13/month (paid annually).

Features that make work easier for beginners –

  • Drag-and-drop builder to help you create a website without having to add even a word of code.
  • Plenty of free templates (over 100) to make sure you can get the design that suits your needs and helps you stand out from the crowd.
  • Hosting and domain name are offered by Wix (both free and paid variants available). This frees you from the stress of handling the backend. Also, you get the safety and backup features.
  • A loaded app market with all the functional attachments you need to take your website from drab to fab.
  • Mobile optimized themes and templates that make it easier for you to reach a wider audience across devices. You don’t have to spend time carrying out mobile optimization on each page.

Weebly

Most people won’t say their website building experience was fun. Easy, yes. But fun isn’t probably the right word. But that isn’t true in the case of Weebly users. Your website building experience with Weebly will be effortless as well as fun. You’ll enjoy moving around the objects and seeing your ideas materialize in front of your eyes.

Price: Free plan available. The lowest plan, “Personal,” comes at $6/month (paid annually).

Features that make work easier for beginners –

  • 60 quality themes that aren’t old and recycled but fresh and new. Arranged in categories to make finding the right option easier, good quality, and uniqueness is their USP.
  • All themes are mobile-optimized, which means your website will load perfectly on smaller screens and mobile devices too.
  • 350 plus apps are available in the App Center and that allows you to add the required functionality to your site with ease.
  • Build-in email marketing tool called Weebly Promote. This is a handy feature for those who would like to reach everyone on their mailing list without using an external service.
  • Robust eCommerce functionalities that aren’t easy to set up. But Weebly makes it easier with a straightforward, intuitive process.

SITE123

The experience that you have working with SITE123 does justice to the name. Creating a website for basic use is as simple as 1, 2, and 3.

Price: Free plan available. The lowest plan, “Premium,” costs $5.80/month (paid annually).

Features that make work easier for beginners –

  • 180 mobile-responsive templates that come with some cool customization options. Making your SITE123 website truly your own is as easy as it gets.
  • Helpful tips, tutorials, and the guided tour make the process of creating your website a breeze. Other than the user-friendly interface, you also have access to 24/7 live chat support, should you need help.
  • All essential eCommerce features like multiple payment forms, email marketing list, wishlist creation, and unlimited orders are available. Also, SITE123 does not charge any sales commission.
  • You can build your website using one of the 21 languages available. Also, your website can be displayed in 5 languages (out of over 100 options available). A truly local experience.
  • Editing options are easy. And SEO functionalities are available either in the form of apps from the App center or third-party integrations.

Squarespace

Squarespace is the website builder for those who have a design focus. If you are looking for a website that has drop-dead beautiful designs, Squarespace is the way to go. While it is beginner-friendly for the most part, you do need a little patience while handling the tech aspect. But it won’t be tough if you take a couple of minutes to understand your way around.

Price: No free plan. The lowest plan, “Personal,” costs $12/month (paid annually).

Features that make work easier for beginners –

  • 60 stunning mobile-optimized templates. These templates are perfect both from the perspective of beauty and features.
  • Beginners don’t need to worry about accidentally deleting a post or the pages as Squarespace lets you restore deleted posts and pages for up to 30 days.
  • If you know the basics of coding, you can make use of it. If not, you can still use the editor to create an equally stellar website. Also, you can use the Squarespace app and edit your site from your mobile phone.
  • Tons of built-in blogging features that make setting up and running a blog very easy. Also, a lot of images are available, and social media integration is possible. You can also add contributors to your blog.
  • Wide range of eCommerce functionalities that make it effortless to set up a designer storefront and manage inventory.

WordPress

WordPress powers more than a third of the web. And that is proof enough of how easy to use and feature-loaded it is. WordPress.org is a self-hosted platform. This gives you the liberty to choose your hosting. But it also gives you unprecedented ease of use.

Price: Completely free, forever.

Features that make work easier for beginners –

  • Multiple editor options to choose from. Whether you are looking for a drag and drop visual editor or a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) editor, WordPress has the right option for you. You can use the editor that you feel the most comfortable with.
  • 53,000+ WordPress templates are available in the WordPress directory itself. You can also find more themes on Themeforest, Themify, and more. These options are both free and paid. And you are really spoilt for choices.
  • The WordPress plugin directory has a plugin for any and every feature, form, and functionality addition that you can think of. There is nothing that you need to do yourself. You can find a (free or paid) plugin to do that.
  • WordPress is SEO-friendly out-of-the-box. You can do nothing and still rank. But for competitive niches, you can also use plenty of optimized themes and SEO plugins.
  • Managing WordPress is a breeze. Mostly because the one unified dashboard has everything that you need. And even for your security concerns, you can use one of the multiple plugins available.

WebNode

WebNode is among the fastest-growing free website builders in the market. With over 22 million active users, it is a great point-and-click website builder that is great for beginners.

Price: Free plan available. The lowest plan, “Limited,” comes at $3.95/month.

Features that make work easier for beginners –

  • An easy-to-use drag-and-drop online editor that makes building a website as easy as possible. You just have to pick up the elements, drag them where you want to see them, and drop them right there.
  • No ads ever. Even if you are on the free plan, you don’t have to deal with WebNode ads on your site. This lets users select plans without pressure. You don’t need to jump to the higher plans right away to get rid of ads. Also, it lets you use custom domains as well.
  • Hundreds of pre-designed, beautiful, and responsive templates are available. Also, when you select a theme, you can select the pages that you want on your site. Home, About, Contact, News, Products, FAQs, and Our Team are some of the pages that are created automatically. You can edit these pages with the drag-and-drop editor and get your pages ready in minutes.
  • You get a lot of in-built SEO features. You can edit the page title, URL, and metadata. There is an option to edit the Alt tags for images as well. Those who aren’t experts at SEO can use these in-built features to get a higher search engine ranking. Plus, you can create up to 20 versions of your website in different languages.
  • WebNode comes with email support. But if you are just starting and want to learn things from the basics, you can check out their community forum. There is also an FAQs page on the website that will solve all the doubts that beginners are likely to have.

Strikingly

If you want to create a single-page website where your visitors just scroll through different sections, Strikingly is the best option. It is a quick and easy-to-use website builder that lets you create simple to use websites.

Price: Free plan available. The lowest plan costs $8/month (paid annually)

Features that make work easier for beginners –

  • Strikingly offers dozens of templates to build your website. Also, these templates are customizable, and so you can make sure your website looks unique. With the paid plans, you can also edit the header and footer as per your need.
  • A simple drag-and-drop editor makes customizations easy and quick. You can also get an SEO checklist to make sure you don’t miss anything. Plus, there is an option to add animations and scroll effects.
  • Strikingly can suggest color themes based on your logo. This is especially helpful for the users who aren’t very good at the design aspects. You can take the suggestions and create a website that looks in sync with your brand logo.
  • Mobile optimized themes are available. You can also make adjustments for a mobile display to make sure there are no discrepancies. iOS and iPad apps are also available. You can use this app for order management, replying to customer responses on the contact form, and to edit the website.
  • The Integration section has a lot of options to add more functionality. From email marketing to social media and payment partners, you can add a wide range of features. Without having to add codes or do complex settings.

SimpleSite

SimpleSite’s name says all that it has to offer. Simple sites. If you haven’t built a website before and have never taken a look at a website builder’s backend, this one is perfect for you.

Price: Free plan is available. The lowest plan, “Pro,” costs $15.49.

Features that make work easier for beginners –

  • Starting with SimpleSite is, well, too simple. You just have to choose a color theme. Then add images and titles. Go on to add a domain name and create a login setup. With that, your website will be ready to go live. You can then return to the fine-tune editing later. Plus, you also get five professional email ids with the SimpleSite account.
  • A quick editor. With SimpleSite, you don’t have to pull your hair trying to edit an element. The no-fuss editor is a quick way to make your site look like you want it to.
  • For those who are baffled by choices, SimpleSite selects the templates for you. Based on the type of website you want to create, you get a suitable template. But that doesn’t mean you have no choice. You can choose the Business option while selecting templates and browse through the available options.
  • The free plan that lets you see up to 5 products. If you just want to sell a few products without opening a full-blown eCommerce store, you can do with the SimpleSite free plan. A great way for beginners to test waters before taking the plunge.
  • Mobile optimized themes are given. Plus, you can also edit your website from your mobile’s browser. No need to download yet another app.

Jimdo

More than 20 million websites have been created with Jimdo. And that number is set to rise with the introduction of Jimdo’s AI-based editor. The AI-powered Dolphin editor takes the driver’s seat and makes website building a cakewalk for beginners.

Price: Free plan available. The lowest plan costs $10/month (paid annually).

Features that make work easier for beginners –

  • Jimdo Creator, the basic website builder, has a drag-and-drop editor that can be used to add style, sophistication, and uniqueness to your website with ease. The Dolphin editor goes a step forward by creating the website for you. You just have to answer a few questions and then sit back and relax. Once the website is built, you can fine-tune the site to make it fit your needs.
  • Jimdo has a modern arsenal of templates and themes. You can edit the style and text and add images. All the templates are mobile-optimized by default. You can also see the mobile preview during site-building.
  • Jimdo’s interface can be accessed in one of the eight available languages. The editor lets you add text in any language of your choice. And there is an option to create multilingual websites without much hassle or coding.
  • Widgets can be added to make sure your site looks fine and has the required functionality. The Gallery widget and social media widgets are especially useful for adding advanced features with ease.
  • Jimdo also comes with a form builder that lets you create effective contact forms right then and there. Also, you get all the SEO and eCommerce functionalities that you’d need for a beginner-level website.

IM Creator

IM Creator’s website builder IM XPRS is a decent website builder for personal and business use. You get eCommerce functionality with all the plans, and it is designed with ease of use in mind.

Price: Free plan available. The lowest plan, “Premium,” costs $9.95/month.

Features that make work easier for beginners –

  • Plenty of responsive and customizable templates arranged in 14 categories. Also, IM Creator doesn’t stop at its promise of simplicity for beginners. When you choose a template, you get the option to watch a YouTube video. The video details how to edit the template. If you are confident, you can skip the video and start editing right away.
  • The eCommerce functionality and storage upgrade options are available without having to pay too much. You also get an array of feature enhancement additions. These include checkout management, management console, and analytics.
  • If you want a multilingual website but aren’t adept at using plugins and adding code, IM Creator feels Godsent. You can create multiple versions of your website in different languages. Available at no additional cost.
  • IM XPRS mobile app lets you stay in control of your website even when on the go. You can edit all aspects of your site from the app itself.
  • The IM Creator website has two self-help sections for beginners. You can check out the FAQs and How-To section to get details about how things work. If you still have doubts, you can use the online ticketing system to contact support.

Now that you know what are the best website builders, it is time to select the most suitable option from the list and get started.

From this list of website builders for small business, you can choose the one that you feel the most comfortable with and create your online presence with ease.