Best website builders in 2024

If you’re a small business owner providing local services, Strikingly is our top pick for promoting your brands and products. With one subscription, you can advertise your dog-walking gig on one site while offering a discount for lawn care services on another. If you want to build VIP customer bases, Strikingly can help you do that, too.

Strikingly specializes in one-page websites, which are great for professionals who want a simple solution without complex navigation. You can showcase your car detailing, mobile car wash solutions or interior and exterior painting services on a single page or opt for a multi-page site. Plus, you’re not tied to one payment processor. Strikingly integrates with Stripe, Square, PayPal and Taiwan Payment.

The simple features work great for solopreneurs who want to maintain an online presence for multiple brands or services. Strikingly costs less for several websites than Wix, WordPress or Squarespace. Its 24/7 customer support, built-in marketing tools and scalable plans help you maintain your site and build multiple income streams on a budget.

Value 

With Strikingly you can build affordable websites for each income stream and save time managing them. When publishing the maximum number of allowed sites, the monthly cost per site is around $6 to $8 for the Limited and Pro plans. That gives you two or three paid websites and unlimited free sites to promote your products and services.

You can save more money with longer terms, from $48 with annual prepayment to $528 if you pay five years upfront. But, the higher transaction fees on lower-priced subscriptions (which WordPress.com also charges on some plans) are hefty for online sales. Strikingly only offers a free trial for its Pro plan, so we recommend testing the free website builder before committing.

That being said, the Pro subscription could be worth the extra money for its marketing features. It adds custom forms, memberships and site pop-ups for even more versatility. Combined with the newsletter tools, we could whip up different promos for each revenue stream from a single dashboard.

Functionality

Strikingly’s website builder is straightforward. It doesn’t offer an endless selection of page elements which is ideal for decision-fatigued business owners. You can create a Simple Store to focus on one product or service or centrally manage multiple sites from the Strikingly dashboard.

The ease of use extends to its basic marketing tools as well. From your dashboard you can add a contact form or remind customers that it’s “that time of year” with a newsletter. With the offline payments option, you can also encourage clients to reserve their spots, which is particularly good for businesses that use couriers to deliver products directly to customers. Strikingly also lets you customize the checkout confirmation page based on your target audience.

The mobile iOS and Android apps are especially helpful for local service professionals. You can view form responses or edit your sites while waiting in line or otherwise multitasking.

Support

Strikingly offers 24/7 support to free and paid users. Limited and Pro subscriptions can chat with a Strikingly agent anytime, whereas VIP users get a dedicated account manager, priority customer service and phone support. With Strikingly’s relatively easy-to-navigate interface, the lack of phone support on paid plans may not be an issue for most business owners.

We liked Strikingly’s knowledge base. It wasn’t the most organized, but it gets the job done and is fairly comprehensive. Unlike WordPress.com, which has a rich community base, Strikingly’s member forum is where users share new ideas for the website builder or hosting tools.

Learn more: Read our full Strikingly review.

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The expert score combines first-person experience, subject matter expertise and extensive research to develop these metrics as another source of truth for readers during their decision-making process.

WordPress.com is arguably one of the most well-known blogging platforms. But we believe it’s also the best website builder for anyone wanting to customize and monetize their site. Community builders, affiliate marketers and content creators can all earn money through WordPress.com. It could also be a great source of passive income for some professionals.

Lower-priced packages allow affiliate links, sponsored posts and display ads. As your following grows, you can add digital products and downloadable files with the Entrepreneur plan. At this level, you can access WooCommerce and Woo Payments capabilities or connect Stripe and PayPal without transaction fees.

Building a WordPress.com site requires more patience than a simpler tool like Web.com or Strikingly. But it primarily appeals to those who aren’t satisfied with ready-made sites. On some plans, you can choose from thousands of WordPress themes and over 50,000 plugins, including ones geared toward specific needs like search engine optimization (SEO).

WordPress.com’s subscription and site personalization options allow professionals to monetize sites at their own pace. The investment feels trustworthy, with built-in security tools and WordPress backing its service with a full refund at any time. Some plans also offer live chat support, and the WordPress community is active and ready to help.

Value 

WordPress.com allows unlimited pages even on the free version. All plans include protection against spam, malware and DDoS (distributed denial of service) attacks. The paid subscriptions range from $9 to $65 monthly, and WordPress.com offers annual billing discounts of up to 55%. We appreciate that you can cancel your package anytime and get a full refund, which isn’t typical with website builders.

Still, the transaction fees on the Free, Starter and Explorer plans are too high for us to recommend selling digital or physical goods. Between payment processing and WordPress.com fees, you’d pay about 6.9% to 12.9% plus $0.30 per transaction – more than double the total costs from Wix. The Creator and Entrepreneur subscriptions are a better deal in that regard.

An added benefit is that any WordPress.com account can discover or follow your site from the WordPress.com blog community. We also appreciate the WooCommerce integration on the Creator and above plans, enabling small businesses to easily expand into physical or digital sales.

Functionality 

WordPress.com is typically considered more customizable than some of its competitors. For example, many website builders offer pre-built page templates. With WordPress.com, you use widgets to create a custom page by adding sections (blocks) for lists or social icons. Higher tiers provide developer tools, including a staging site that’s especially useful for business owners who like to tweak things.

The SEO tool options also stand out from competitors. While rivals support search optimization, WordPress.com might offer more plugins and technical SEO opportunities. For more advanced content marketers, these aspects can help sites capture more visitors (and clicks).

We also appreciate the built-in PayPal, tip jar and paid subscribers features. Not all website builders offer these capabilities.

Support

What sets WordPress.com apart from other website builders is its rich community forums. Members actively answer questions and you can search for posts or create a new one. While the free WordPress.com plan only includes community forum support, customers with an annual paid subscription can access live chat 24/7 from Monday to Friday or email WordPress.com directly.

Since the support team references web links or provides code to resolve issues, the vendor only assists customers through chat or email. It notably doesn’t offer phone support. Less technical-savvy individuals may prefer Web.com or Wix for that reason. Fortunately, you can find most of the information you need from WordPress.com’s in-depth knowledge base.

Learn more: Read our full WordPress.com review.

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The expert score combines first-person experience, subject matter expertise and extensive research to develop these metrics as another source of truth for readers during their decision-making process.

ClickFunnels is designed to build high-converting funnels, making it the best website builder for digital marketers on a growth trajectory. You can use ClickFunnels to generate leads and turn them into sales for almost any online product or service. It doesn’t charge a fee on payment transactions and offers flexible payment processing options.

Online entrepreneurs can also use ClickFunnels to sell online courses to consumers and professionals. Your customers might be realtors looking to increase sales or college students wanting investment tips. Consultants, coaches and even speakers or authors could use ClickFunnels to develop contact lists and run marketing campaigns.

As a customer acquisition tool, ClickFunnels functions differently than other website builders. As such, we believe it’s better for people who understand how to build sales funnels or are willing to spend time learning.

No other site designer lets you personalize the buyer’s journey from start to finish. ClickFunnels simplifies a complex task with its drag-and-drop editor and tons of tools designed to capture leads and increase sales. Live chat assists with product questions, whereas the Facebook group connects you to like-minded sales professionals.

Value 

ClickFunnels is the most expensive website builder we reviewed, with monthly plans ranging from $147 to $497. Choosing annual billing reduces your costs by $240 to $3,468, but even then it’s an expensive platform. Unlike some WordPress.com and Strikingly subscriptions, ClickFunnels doesn’t charge a transaction fee for your sales. We also appreciate the 14-day free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee.

While pricey, you get a few software programs built into one platform. ClickFunnels provides a website builder, email marketing tool, CRM and sales funnel software. Instead of fussing with integrations or switching apps, ClickFunnels’ analytics cover everything for you in one spot.

Of course, at this price point, you should be prepared to go all-in with marketing your product or service. We felt ClickFunnels required more initial configuration and time investment than other website builders.

Functionality 

Unlimited email sequences and the ability to build multiple sales funnels distinguish ClickFunnels from other website builders. The funnels use a drag-and-drop editor like the site builder. You can even entice buyers with countdown timers and one-time checkout offers.

ClickFunnels’ A/B testing tools work with web pages, offers and emails — an option that not many website builders offer. Testing your content and using the software’s historical and real-time analytics helps you optimize each touch point for maximum impact.

Moreover, you can engage customers through blog posts and community areas. We also liked the opportunity to create courses and membership sites, as not all website builder plans support these functionalities.

Support 

ClickFunnels’ customer service hours are quite limited compared to what we’d expect at this price point. All customers can contact live chat between 3 a.m. and 8 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday. Although you can email them anytime, they only reply during business hours. Alternatives like Strikingly have 24/7 live chat, whereas Web.com also offers 24/7 phone support.

However, support is easy to access in your account via a Help button or Support widgets at the bottom of the knowledge base pages. Although you can’t receive dedicated product support in the Facebook group, it’s an active space to learn about the product and sales from like-minded ClickFunnels customers.

Learn more: Read our full ClickFunnels review.

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The expert score combines first-person experience, subject matter expertise and extensive research to develop these metrics as another source of truth for readers during their decision-making process.

Wix is our preferred website builder for service professionals needing a booking platform. Instead of managing several applications for scheduling, staffing, customer communication and so forth, you can handle everything from Wix. It’s ideal for nearly any small service industry business, from pet groomers and dog trainers to massage therapists and nail technicians.

Wix has additional features for fitness-oriented services, which could make it popular with personal trainers and yoga instructors. The standard plans work best for solopreneurs or business owners with less than 15 staff members. Wix works with third-party payment providers and offers Wix Payments to users in certain regions.

Wix stands out for its straightforward site builder tools and comprehensive booking capabilities. From the Wix platform, you can chat with potential clients, automate marketing tasks and manage staffing. The step-by-step tutorials walk you through nearly every function, and — if you have a question — you can request a callback any time of day.

Value 

Wix helps you build a site quickly and see a return on your investment. The pricing for a plan with appointment and payment features starts at $36 monthly, which is comparable to similar packages from Square and WordPress.com. However, neither has a built-in booking platform like Wix does. We also appreciate that Wix offers a 14-day free trial, which is about standard for site builders.

Many users said building a site was relatively easy, whether using artificial intelligence (AI) site generation tools or the Wix Editor. We loved that teams could sync their calendars and establish working hours. That’s one less matter a business owner has to deal with. The mobile bookings app also shows analytics activity and availability, allowing you to run your company from anywhere.

Functionality 

Wix is full of unique features that most website builders overlook. For instance, several site builders have e-commerce, subscription or membership features (as does Wix). However, we didn’t come across others with dedicated analytics reports to understand booking trends or review staff activity. Wix is also more flexible in element placement, whereas Web.com and Squarespace use a snap-to-grid designer.

We loved the live chat feature. Even if you’re unavailable, Wix Chat can answer up to five new FAQs or questions from your Wix FAQ page. Wix also stands out for its video storage and live-streaming capabilities. Paid plans include 30 minutes to unlimited video hours on top of regular site storage plus three hours per live stream.

Support 

Wix is one of the few providers that offers 24/7 phone callback services. Options vary based on your preferred language, but you can request or schedule a callback for English speakers around the clock. For context, neither ClickFunnels nor WordPress.com provides phone support.

Likewise, live chat support is available in some areas and certain languages. For instance, English speakers can chat with a live agent from Monday to Friday from 2 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST. Wix also has standard email support for less time-sensitive issues.

We do wish Wix offered live chat 24/7 like Web.com, but we were otherwise happy with its support availability. It also has an extensive and user-friendly knowledge base for business owners who don’t mind searching for answers on their own time.

Learn more: Read our full Wix review.

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The expert score combines first-person experience, subject matter expertise and extensive research to develop these metrics as another source of truth for readers during their decision-making process.

Shopify is an excellent website builder for online sellers who want to reach a global market. You can create a site quickly, even if it’s your first time building one. Shopify handles the currency conversion and language translation for you. Since Shopify charges a fee on third-party payment processors, it’s a better solution for companies wanting to use Shopify Payments.

Small business owners with multiple inventory locations can fulfill orders for electronics, fashion items or home goods. For dropshippers, Shopify integrates with various third-party services, including AliExpress.

We appreciate that brick-and-mortar businesses can build an online presence to enter the international market. With unlimited contacts, you can track every customer, whether they shop in person or visit your site from many countries away.

Shopify’s customizable, no-code website builder helps you sell products worldwide quickly. Its fraud prevention tools safeguard your business, while international features cater to foreign clients by offering local payment methods.

Since Shopify only costs $1 for the first month, you can check it out before making a significant investment. During your trial and after, Shopify support is available 24/7.

Value 

Shopify is the go-to option for e-commerce brands because of its scalability. Higher-priced packages include staff accounts, additional shipping discounts and reduced payment processing rates. We also love that as your sales volume increases, you can decrease the costs associated with the transactions. Still, the seamless global selling capabilities come at a price — Shopify plans cost more than competitors like Squarespace or Wix.

The monthly subscriptions jump from $39 to $105 to $399. At the top end, it starts at $2,300 monthly with a three-year contract. The three-day free trial is a drawback as well. But for only $1, you can use the service for another 30 days.

Functionality 

In addition to a full-featured online store, Shopify offers a wide range of tools in its website builder and e-commerce plans. It provides fraud prevention, online sales, marketing and point of sale (POS) solutions. However, Shopify’s global capabilities differentiate the platform from competitors.

You can use the cross-border management tool to target specific international markets. Shopify lets you go deeper by controlling product and variant pricing, optimizing web addresses for each market and enabling multiple languages. When you combine these options with Shopify’s POS system and analytics, you can see how your strategies impact sales and adjust them to meet your goals.

Support 

Most Shopify plans offer 24/7 live chat. Unlike Wix and Web.com, Shopify doesn’t have phone support unless you have the pricey Plus plan. Still, we found the live chat option to be relatively standard for website builders, and Shopify’s ease of use and robust knowledge center means you can handle most things independently.

We love the well-appointed help center with an AI chat assistant. You can log into your account and ask the chatbot questions. It finds answers and provides resources. Shopify also has fairly active community forums, including a group for international commerce.

Learn more: Read our full Shopify review.

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The expert score combines first-person experience, subject matter expertise and extensive research to develop these metrics as another source of truth for readers during their decision-making process.

If you have a great business idea but aren’t ready to fully commit, Weebly could suit you well. It’s the perfect testing ground for designing your first website or opening an online shop without spending a dime. You can run a side gig, launch an innovative product line or use Weebly to build your contact list.

Since acquiring Weebly in 2018, Square has continued to support the platform and incorporate Square features like gift cards. Although it doesn’t plan to discontinue Weebly, Square hasn’t confirmed that it will provide support after July 2025. With this in mind, we think Weebly is best for professionals wanting a temporary solution.

Weebly has the best free website builder with e-commerce features. Some free site plans charge high transaction fees on top of payment processor rates. With Weebly, you can add PayPal and Square without paying extra charges. Lead capture forms help new entrepreneurs build their audience, while coupon and gift card features keep loyal clients returning. In addition, all accounts can access live customer support.

Value

Weebly packs a ton of features into its free website builder. Unlike Strikingly, you can sell unlimited products, and Weebly doesn’t tack on transaction fees. Paid plans range from $13 to $29 monthly, with additional discounts for annual billing. Some competitors’ e-commerce plans start at $29 or more monthly. It also provides a 30-day money-back guarantee, which is always a welcome addition.

Yet, the uncertainty about Weebly’s future undermines its potential long-term value. We wouldn’t recommend investing too heavily in your Weebly site. Instead, see it as an opportunity to leverage free tools to test an idea or market.

Functionality 

Weebly’s drag-and-drop capabilities extend to nearly every site element. You can place maps, photos and videos on your site. It provides native pop-ups and forms to engage site visitors and generate leads. We also like that Weebly offers simple solutions for adding tables and price charts to pages and content. These features are typically found on paid website builders but are less common on free plans.

The pricing wizard is a unique tool for determining your pricing. It can be used when entering a new product or editing a current one. It shows your estimated gross profit, operating profit and markup percentage.

Support 

Weebly provides live chat support during standard business hours for all accounts, including the free plan. You can email them 24/7 or upgrade to the Professional or Performance subscription to access phone support.

The help center is full of useful articles for nearly every Weebly tool, and the tutorials have screenshots which make them easy to read and understand. However, Square’s purchase of Weebly does mean that Weebly customers are directed to Square’s global and U.S. seller communities. The topics here could be less focused on Weebly products and services.

Learn more: Read our full Weebly review.

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The expert score combines first-person experience, subject matter expertise and extensive research to develop these metrics as another source of truth for readers during their decision-making process.

Squarespace is our top pick for creative professionals focused on visual storytelling. Artists and photographers with little technical expertise can easily create immersive website experiences. Regardless of your medium, whether abstract art or fashion, Squarespace’s gorgeous templates and multimedia integrations (slideshows, image galleries and audio files) will guide visitors through your site and story.

We found Squarespace works especially well for Instagrammers. You can incorporate your Instagram feed into your website and establish a cohesive feel across both platforms. With audience management tools included in all plans, Squarespace is a great option for building your client base and exploring monetization options.

Squarespace has some of the best-looking layouts and Instagram tools. Even though most website builders offer online store functionality, we love Squarespace’s no-cost invoicing and custom merchandising options. The self-help guides explain and demonstrate most features, but live support is (almost) always available 24/7.

Value 

Squarespace is pricier than other website builders for personal plans, but we appreciate the sleek templates and mobile management app. A solo content creator can coordinate Instagram and website content for a cohesive visual experience and do it all from their smartphone.

The 14-day free trial is comparable to other providers. However, Squarespace’s video offering falls behind the dedicated storage options a competitor like Wix provides. In some cases, adding a digital products license is more beneficial than upgrading to a more expensive plan, as it’ll increase video storage and reduce transaction fees.

Still, with Squarespace, you can foster relationships with the built-in contact profile tools and, when you’re ready, take advantage of fee-free invoicing. You only pay payment processing fees if clients pay electronically.

Functionality 

Squarespace provides beautiful templates and customizable galleries with built-in blogging. The Instagram tools, contact management options and mobile apps set this website builder apart from rivals. Using the Unfold app, you can plan your Instagram grid and insert Instagram blocks in pages or posts.

Unlike WordPress.com, which requires a plugin to achieve contact database functionality, Squarespace allows you to store lead and customer information in segmented lists. We also liked the native invoicing tools, which handle project milestones and deposits too.

You can even take your story to print with Squarespace’s Printful integration. You design and sell the products, and Printful manages the shipping and fulfillment.

Support 

Like Strikingly, Squarespace provides 24/7 customer service through live chat and email. It has an online automated support assistant that will try to answer your questions or connect you to an agent. However, it doesn’t have callback assistance like Wix or 24/7 phone service like Web.com.

Squarespace offers tons of free webinars covering site building, selling and audience management. Many help articles also have videos, and it’s really easy to follow along to figure out how to format your images or build a mailing list. We like the community forums for monthly updates and basic product support, but they’re less active than WordPress.com’s forum or ClickFunnels’ Facebook group.

Learn more: Read our full Squarespace review.

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The expert score combines first-person experience, subject matter expertise and extensive research to develop these metrics as another source of truth for readers during their decision-making process.

Duda suits freelancers and agencies that design sites for clients. If you currently handle branding or marketing campaigns but want to expand your product portfolio, Duda can help. You don’t have to be an expert developer or technical SEO master to use its web-building tools either. But, if you are, consider giving Duda’s developer mode a try.

Alternatively, you can improve workflows by migrating current sites to Duda. When offering e-commerce solutions, Duda is best for clients who want to choose their own payment processor instead of using a solution like Shopify Payments or Square.

Lastly, Duda offers solutions for software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies. While this is a custom offering, you can grow your business quickly with developer-friendly documentation, dedicated dev support and full application programming interface (API) access.

Duda’s client management and collaboration tools make this site building platform stand out. You can add unlimited websites to your account, onboard new clients and turn their vision into reality. AI tools and templates speed up processes, whereas flexible design features let you personalize each site fully.

Value 

Central control over your client sites is Duda’s core benefit over other website builders. If you pay annually or upgrade to a higher tier, your hosting costs may decrease for additional sites. Yet, e-commerce functionality does cost extra.

While the overall price for an online store is comparable to Wix or Squarespace, Duda does have more product and variant limitations. Still, you have a 14-day free trial then 30 days to test before the refund window closes.

Your team can create and share site or section templates and use Duda to automatically configure domain name system (DNS) records. These collaboration and automation features save time and help your agency maintain consistent quality across client sites.

Functionality 

Duda surpasses competitors with its design power, content management features and advanced tools for white label management and website architecture. We love how the software automatically optimizes your images to improve page speed based on the device and the photo’s location on the page. However, if your team relies heavily on AI to generate alt text for images and page meta tags, you could hit the limit as your business grows.

Time-saving features like informational forms get details from clients, whereas import tools pull content from their Facebook page or current website. You can use content management functions to organize the library’s client images and business files. It’s also simple to handle multiple sites and customers from a single Duda account by sorting items into folders.

Support 

Duda only offers web form or email support for Basic and Team subscriptions. In comparison, Web.com provides round-the-clock phone and live chat services for all accounts. Since these two packages lack several client management tools, you may prefer the Agency plan which includes priority phone and chat support.

Still, even at this level and on the White Label subscription, Duda agents aren’t available 24/7. You can reach them Monday through Friday from 12 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST unless you’re on the Custom plan. Even without 24/7 support for most plans, Duda can be speedy — it aims to help customers over chat and answer callback requests within 15 minutes.

Only the custom tier offers around-the-clock assistance. Beyond that, the vendor has a comprehensive support portal, on-demand webinars, moderately active community forums and a university with self-paced courses.

Learn more: Read our full Duda review.

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The expert score combines first-person experience, subject matter expertise and extensive research to develop these metrics as another source of truth for readers during their decision-making process.

Square Online is our top pick for food, beverage and retail startups. The vendor’s free site design tools and POS software can power your new business, even if you’re on a shoestring budget. It isn’t as customizable as WordPress.com or Duda, so more-experienced users may prefer these alternatives.

Many of Square’s in-person features are geared toward food trucks, cafes and full-service restaurants. Retailers will find additional value by expanding to online sales and shipping. Square is also a great choice for companies that want built-in payment processing and access to integrated free and paid business tools, like gift cards, text message marketing and customer directories.

Square’s free and paid online site builders are straightforward and full of tools that support your physical storefront. Its built-in promotions and ordering features sync with other Square products and keep customers engaged after they leave your location. Although lower-priced plans don’t include 24/7 support, we found the self-help options comprehensive enough to figure out most tasks.

Value 

Annual software fees add up quickly when starting a new business, but Square eases this burden with its free online website builder and integrated payments. Not having to integrate third-party payment processing, POS systems or CRMs is a considerable benefit. For instance, when restaurant guests order online, the information syncs instantly with your POS app.

However, we recommend going for the paid Plus plan if possible. At this billing cadence, you can connect a custom domain and it’s free for the first year. The customizable website themes and design tools help you get online quickly and, in our opinion, make your site look more professional.

Functionality 

Although Shopify and Wix do offer minimal support for physical stores, their options are more suited for e-commerce merchants. With Square Online, new restaurants can launch a food ordering page for free, and — as sales increase — you can add kitchen hardware to send online orders directly to the back of the house. Your customers don’t need to download apps. Instead, they can click on an icon for full functionality without slowing their devices down.

Even though you’re sending site visitors to your brick-and-mortar store, we appreciate that Square Online helps keep customers engaged. It offers fun scrolling marquees and different-sized banners to personalize the look of your site. You can even customize the buttons and icons for food or retail aesthetics.

Support 

Not all free website builders offer complimentary live chat and phone support, which makes Square Online stand out. The free version and Plus plan include standard customer service. It’s available Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. via phone and live chat. Priority 24/7 customer service comes on the Premium package, which costs $79 monthly with annual billing.

Square’s seller community is pretty active across a range of topics, but it does lack the organization of WordPress.com. However, it has industry-specific groups for restaurants and retail businesses, which is a nice touch. You can also figure out most site features by browsing the help center. Many articles have videos, all of which link to other useful topics.

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The expert score combines first-person experience, subject matter expertise and extensive research to develop these metrics as another source of truth for readers during their decision-making process.

Web.com is our first choice for small businesses focusing on building an online presence but not selling online. It can help you promote your plumbing or accounting services but selling products? Not so much. The intuitive design tools are made for beginners, so you don’t need any type of previous experience to create a site.

Every plan includes an hour of expert design support, which we felt was especially helpful for those less familiar with using a website builder or site promotion tools. You can scale to accept payments online, and if you decide to do so, Web.com is preferred by those who want to choose their payment processor.

Web.com’s AI-powered website designer and writing tools get your site online fast while streamlining future updates. You can keep it simple by using your website to track customer information or run a social media or email marketing campaign. With a free hour of setup assistance and 24/7 phone and chat support, Web.com helps local businesses showcase their services online.

Value 

Web.com’s huge first-year discounts increase to fairly standard rates upon renewal, ranging from $19.99 to $24.99 monthly. Like competitors, Web.com provides lower pricing for annual prepayment, at up to 70% off; it’s the highest annual discounts we saw, with only WordPress.com coming close at a 55% discount. We think the Website + Marketing package offers the most value, as it comes with nearly every tool a small local company needs to run its brick-and-mortar store.

With native marketing calendars and social scheduling tools, you can complete most tasks from the Web.com platform. The appointment-setting tools and CRM let you track customer inquiries and bookings without relying on another program or spreadsheet.

Functionality 

The editing tools offer flexibility within a grid framework similar to Squarespace. You can drag and drop buttons or embed a YouTube video, but they snap into place, and you can’t place elements anywhere you want. For tech beginners, this basic functionality can eliminate some potential design errors. Web.com even offers generative AI text tools on all plans except the base level.

We also liked the basic CRM and marketing tools. You can import or add contacts to your customer dashboard, collect feedback via customer surveys and oversee your marketing calendar.

Support 

Web.com offers more support options than other website builders we reviewed. All subscriptions include 24/7 phone and live chat support. In contrast, Square doesn’t have customer service options on the weekend for its lower-priced plan, and ClickFunnels and WordPress don’t provide any phone support.

It’s also unusual to see site builders give away a free hour of consultation services. This option is a great way to learn about the product’s features and is ideal for those who don’t know what to look for in the knowledge base.

The help center contains information for most topics related to site building. However, it lacks the videos and on-demand webinars that make other solutions stand out. We also found some of the guides more difficult to understand than guides from Wix or Squarespace.

Learn more: Read our full Web.com review.

Our editorial team created our expert opinion scores. The expert score contributes to 10% of the data-focused methodology, which underpins our Blueprint rating for each company. The expert score combines first-person experience, subject matter expertise and extensive research to develop these metrics as another source of truth for readers during their decision-making process.