WixBest overall
The most complete builder: the Harmony AI editor, a store and bookings from $29 a month, deep SEO controls and the best mobile Core Web Vitals pass rate of the big builders (81%). You can't export the site.
Website builders
A website builder is a hosted service that lets you design, publish and run a site from templates in your browser, with hosting included and no code required. Our website builder reviews compare seven builders on yearly and monthly prices, SEO controls, real-world speed data and how easily you can leave, with prices checked in October 2026.
WebflowBest for designers and agencies
Full layout control, a 20,000-item CMS on the $25 Premium plan, the deepest SEO controls and static code export. Hard to learn, and seats are billed separately.
WordPress.comBest for blogging and owning your content
The best blogging tools, plugins on every paid plan from $4 a month, and a full-site export to any WordPress host. More setup than Wix or Squarespace.
SquarespaceBest for portfolios and creative businesses
The most polished templates, Blueprint AI and built-in scheduling, memberships and email campaigns. Prices rose by up to 26% in July 2026 and export is partial.
FramerBest for startup marketing sites
A Figma-like canvas with animation, June 2026 AI Agents and the cheapest design-led plan at $10 a month per site. No store and no export.
HostingerBest budget website builder
A builder, hosting and email for $2.99 a month on a 48-month term, with a store from $3.99. Renews at $10.99 and has the weakest mobile Core Web Vitals result we rank.
DurableBest AI builder for local service businesses
A complete site in about 30 seconds plus a CRM, bookings and local SEO tools from $22 a month yearly. Little design control, no store and no export.
Compare side by side
Every score and price in one table. Select a column to sort. Prices are US list prices; hover a price for the full terms.
| Wix | 8.3 | 9.2 | 9.2 | 7.8 | 9.0 | 5.0 | $17/mo | Yes | 14 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Webflow | 8.1 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 7.0 | 7.9 | 8.5 | $15/mo | Yes | – |
| WordPress.com | 8.0 | 7.0 | 9.0 | 7.6 | 7.6 | 9.2 | $4/mo Personal | Yes | 14 days |
| Squarespace | 7.9 | 9.3 | 8.6 | 7.2 | 7.6 | 5.5 | $19/mo | – | 14 days |
| Framer | 7.5 | 8.8 | 7.8 | 7.6 | 8.0 | 4.0 | $10/mo per site | Yes | Refund eligible within 14 days of purchase |
| Hostinger | 7.3 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 8.7 | 6.0 | 6.5 | $2.99/mo | – | 30 days |
| Durable | 6.4 | 7.0 | 6.5 | 7.4 | 6.0 | 4.5 | $22/mo | Yes | – |
Which website builder fits you?
Start with what the site has to do, then find the cheapest plan that does it. The tier that first takes payments, drops the ads or connects your domain sets the real price, not the entry plan on the banner. When you know the job, the list shrinks fast.
- If you need a small-business site with a store or bookings: Wix Core, $29 a month billed yearly. In August 2026, 81% of Wix sites passed Core Web Vitals on mobile. You can’t export the site.
- If you run a portfolio or creative brand: Squarespace, from $19 a month yearly. Want animation for less? Framer costs $10 a month per site, but has no store.
- If you build client sites or an SEO-led content site: Webflow Premium, $25 a month yearly, with 20,000 CMS items and static code export.
- If you want a blog you own for the long term: WordPress.com, from $4 a month yearly, with a full-site export to any WordPress host.
- If the lowest total cost matters most: Hostinger, $2.99 a month on a 48-month term ($143.52 upfront), renewing at $10.99.
- If a local service business must be online today: Durable drafts a site in about 30 seconds, from $22 a month yearly. Expect little design control, no store and no export.
The default is Wix. Switch to Webflow or WordPress.com the moment portability matters, because both let you leave with your work. Squarespace wins when polished templates matter more than a lower bill.
When should you not pay for a website builder?
Skip the paid builder when one page will do. Carrd hosts three one-page sites free and charges $19 a year for a custom domain, enough for a waitlist or a launch page; compare it with our other landing page builders.
Two bigger cases point elsewhere too. Selling hundreds of products? A dedicated platform from our e-commerce platform reviews beats any builder’s store plan. Want WordPress plugins and several sites on one bill? Shared web hosting gives you that. Free builder plans exist for hobby sites, but Wix and WordPress.com show their own ads and use their subdomain.
Which website builder traps catch most buyers?
Four traps account for most regret. Each is printed in the plan table.
- Payments a tier up. Wix Light ($17) and Webflow Basic can’t sell; Squarespace Basic sells but charges 2% on products.
- Lock-in. Wix and Framer offer no site export, and Squarespace’s export leaves products and store pages behind.
- Recent price rises. Squarespace raised yearly prices by up to 26% in July 2026, and Webflow restructured its plans in May 2026. Existing customers move at renewal.
- Monthly billing. Squarespace Core costs $39 on monthly billing against $29 yearly; Webflow Premium $39 against $25.
Most people miss the lock-in until they try to leave. In practice, decide on day one whether you might ever move platforms. If you’ve built a large Wix site, leaving means rebuilding it page by page. When you pay monthly to stay flexible, budget a third to a half more.
How do we build our website builder reviews?
Every score is a research score. We apply one published rubric to evidence you can check, and we don’t build test sites or run speed tests of our own. Don’t trust a builder’s own speed claims either.
Speed comes from field data instead. The HTTP Archive Core Web Vitals Technology Report counts how many sites on each platform pass loading, responsiveness and visual-stability checks for real Chrome users. On mobile in August 2026: Wix 81%, Squarespace and WordPress.com 72%, Framer and Webflow 71%, Hostinger 55%. Self-hosted WordPress as a whole managed 49%. A high pass rate doesn’t guarantee your site passes, since heavy photos or third-party apps slow any platform.
Prices are US list prices. Wix and Squarespace show regional prices by location, so their US figures come from Style Factory’s dated checks; Webflow’s come from BRIX Templates because webflow.com blocked our requests. Framer and WordPress.com were read on their own pricing pages. Design and ease of use carry 25% of each score, as do SEO, blogging and selling; speed counts for 15%. Jimdo’s sites posted the best mobile pass rate in the report, 95%, but we couldn’t verify what you would pay, so it isn’t ranked. Commissions never move a score.
How we score website builders
Every product here is scored 0 to 10 on the same criteria, using published evidence. The overall score is the weighted average.
Design & ease of useTemplate range and quality, how much layout freedom the editor gives, how quickly a non-designer can publish, and AI site generation that produces an editable draft rather than a locked result.weight25%
SEO, blogging & sellingControl over titles, meta tags, robots.txt, redirects and structured data; blog and CMS depth; whether you can sell products, services or memberships, and the transaction fees on each plan.weight25%
Price & valueYearly and monthly prices, intro versus renewal price, which tier first unlocks a custom domain, ad removal and payments, free plans and trials, refund window.weight20%
Site performanceShare of each builder's live sites that pass Core Web Vitals on mobile and desktop in the HTTP Archive Core Web Vitals Technology Report (Chrome UX Report field data), the trend over 12 months, and documented outages.weight15%
Ownership & portabilityWhether you can export pages, posts, products and code, what stays behind, domain transfer terms, and how hard it is to move to another platform.weight15%
Questions people ask
Which website builder is best for SEO?
Webflow gives the deepest SEO controls of the builders we rank, with a 20,000-item CMS on its $25 Premium plan. Wix is close behind, with editable robots.txt and bulk redirects, and its sites had the best mobile Core Web Vitals pass rate of the big builders, 81% in August 2026.
Can I move my site off a website builder later?
It depends on the builder. When you pick one, check export first. WordPress.com exports the whole site to any WordPress host. Webflow exports static code and CMS content as CSV. Squarespace exports part of a site as WordPress XML. Wix, Framer and Durable don't let you export the site, so leaving means rebuilding it.
How much does a website builder cost per month?
With your own domain, from $4 a month at WordPress.com to $29 at Wix Core, billed yearly. Framer costs $10 per site, Webflow Basic $15, Wix Light $17 and Squarespace Basic $19. Hostinger starts at $2.99 but needs a 48-month term. Skip the monthly plan if you're staying a year: Webflow Premium costs $39 a month that way, against $25.
Are free website builder plans worth using?
Only for a hobby or test site. Wix and WordPress.com free plans show the platform's ads and put your site on their subdomain, which looks out of place for a business. Carrd's free plan covers three one-page sites, and $19 a year adds your own domain.
Do website builders include hosting and a domain?
Hosting is always included: the builder runs the servers. A domain usually isn't free for long. Wix's free domain voucher covers the first year only; after that you pay to renew it. Registering it separately, for example at Porkbun for $11.08 a year, keeps the name yours if you switch builders.