The Cheapest Website Builders for 2023

Find the best and cheapest website builders with info on Wix, Weebly and others. Includes ranked table, pricing, helpful tips, and FAQs.

Updated on January 27th, 2023

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A website builder is an all-in-one online design tool that allows people with little to no coding knowledge to create their own websites. They typically include drag-and-drop editors, customizable templates, and domain hosting.

There are a lot of options for website builders and all of them have different pricing options. So, if you are working on a budget, have a look at our list of the top cheapest website builders.

Why We Chose Wix, Weebly, and IM Creator:

Wix is a cloud-based development platform that helps users to design and build their own high-quality websites. Wix offers a wide variety of templates, product galleries, and shipping and tax management.

Wix is easy to use with a simple dashboard. Users can customize the templates to suit their business needs, add advanced features such as online stores and bookings, optimize their site for mobile use, and get a personalized SEO plan for greater online visibility.

Wix offers a wide variety of affordable plans, ranging from a free plan to the Business VIP plan at $24.50 a month. Wix's free plan offers great access to Wix's features but includes branded ads while the unlimited plan offers users access to all Wix's features and will remove all branded ads for only $12.50 per month.

Weebly is our second option because it is a very similar builder to Wix. Weebly also offers a simple drag-and-drop editor, customizable templates, mobile optimization, and built-in tools and apps. However, Weebly's customization options are a bit more limited than Wix's and it also does not offer as many templates. That being said, Weebly does have a larger app store than Wix.

IM Creator is our third choice for its beautiful template designs that are great for showcasing artwork and pictures. IM Creator does not, however, match Wix and Weebly for simplicity and features but rather requires some technical design skills to operate.

Things to Consider When Evaluating Cheap Website Builders:

  1. The website builder you choose will need to support the type of website you want to build, so check the builder's niche specifications to make sure you can build the site you want.
  2. Some website builders offer free domain names as part of their monthly pricing, even in their cheapest plans. See if the builder you chose offers a free domain name, or you will need to pay extra to buy one.
  3. Compare feature sets of the various builders to ensure that you can create a fully-featured website at the best price.

Cheapest Website Builders:

Rank

Name

Offer

Review

Learn More

1.

Wix

$12.50 /mo.

Features a drag-and-drop website builder with free templates, web hosting, and domain names. Pricing for paid plans ranges from $4.50 to $24.50 /mo.

Learn More

2.

Weebly

Free.

A drag-and-drop website builder with good templates, mobile-friendly themes, a blog, image gallery, and online store. Paid plans range from $5.00 to $25.00 /mo.

Learn More

3.

IM Creator

Free.

Offers great templates, e-commerce functionality, and mobile compatibility. IM Creator offers a free plan and a premium plan at $7.95 /mo. (billed annually).

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4.

Wordpress

Free.

Can be used to create different types of websites, from blogs to online stores, and is highly customizable in terms of content, design, and add-ons. Wordpress is 100% free but does offer some paid plans, ranging from $4.00 to $45.00 /mo. (billed annually), for more customization and flexibility.

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5.

Gator by HostGator

$3.84 /mo.

A very user-friendly drag-and-drop builder with templates, great features, and social media integrations. While there is no free plan, Gator's starter plan offers full access to all its features, except for the e-commerce tool.

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Wix vs. Weebly vs. IM Creator:

Wix, Weebly, and IM Creator all offer free plans, although IM Creator's free plan is only available to students, artists, and nonprofit organizations, with formal proof required. They are all strong website builders with the necessary key features needed to design a great site that is mobile compatible.

Wix and Weebly both offer easy to use drag-and-drop editors but Wix also offers Wix ADI for users who don't quite know where to start designing their site. Wix Artificial Design Intelligence provides users with a base design that can then be customized. Wix also offers a much larger range of templates than Weebly but both platforms offer built-in features, such as marketing, e-commerce, and blogging.

IM Creator, on the other hand, is much more limited in their design options than Wix, offering just over 30 templates that lack the more robust features offered by Wix. However, while IM Creator's template options may be limited, they are good templates for showing pictures. IM Creator is less customizable than Wix as they have no apps or third-party integrations unless the user manually codes them in. So, IM Creator requires some technical design and coding skills whereas Wix requires no prior experience.

Wix supports different kinds of websites, such as business, health and wellness, events, video, and portfolio sites. These site templates are fully customizable and are fully mobile-optimized, but once you have chosen a template you cannot change your mind without having to start from scratch. While Weebly has a smaller range of customization options than Wix, their templates are also fully mobile-optimized and users can change templates half-way through without losing their work to date.

While Wix and Weebly's drag-and-drop editors make designing your website simple, IM Creator offers a complicated design experience. They are not really suitable for beginners and they even have a White Label product that is geared towards web designers. On the other hand, those with design experience will find IM Creators' platform to be fully customizable.

Wix vs. Weebly vs. IM Creator Comparison:

Offer

Wix

Weebly

IM Creator

Starting Price

Free.

Free.

Free.

Drag-and-Drop Functionality

Yes and Wix ADI designs tailor-made sites.

Yes.

No.

Templates

Over 500.

Over 50.

Over 30.

Customization Options

Yes, Corvid by Wix allows total design freedom.

Yes, custom HTML/CSS and Javascript.

Yes, fully customizable option with IM White Label.

SEO Features

Yes, with personalized SEO plans.

Yes.

Yes.

Custom Domain Name and Domain Email Hosting

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Educational Resources and Support

Yes, Help Center with articles divided by category.

Yes, Support Center and Community space with articles.

Yes, Support Center, Manuals, How-to Guides, and White Label Support.

Customer Support

Yes, email and phone support.

Yes, email support.

Yes, email support.

Website Analytics and Reports

Yes.

Yes.

Limited and only through Google Analytics.

Wix Connect Domain vs. Weebly Connect vs Wix Combo:

Wix Connect Domain is their most basic plan that allows users to connect the site to their domain. It offers 1GB bandwidth and 500MB of storage. Weebly Connect also allows users to connect the site to a custom domain and offers 500MB of storage. Both plans display branded ads on the sites created.

IM Creator does not offer a comparable plan.

Wix Connect Domain vs. Weebly Connect Comparison:

Offer

Wix Connect Domain

Weebly Connect

Monthly Pricing

$4.50

$5.00 (paid annually).

Best For

Connecting a domain.

Connecting a domain.

Storage Space

500MB.

500MB.

Bandwidth

1GB.

Not provided.

Branded Ads

Yes.

Yes.

Wix Unlimited vs. Weebly Pro vs. IM Creator Premium:

Wix Unlimited is designed for freelancers and entrepreneurs and offers unlimited bandwidth with 10GB of storage. Weebly Pro, on the other hand, is designed for groups and organizations and offers unlimited storage. However, both plans allow users can connect the site to their own domain, remove Wix or Weebly ads, and get access to a free domain for a year.

Weebly Pro has an advantage above Wix Unlimited in that it offers some e-commerce tools in the form of a shopping cart and payment acceptance. Wix users will need to upgrade at least the Basic Business plan (at $17.00 a month) for these functions.

Similar to Wix Unlimited, IM Creator Premium allows users access to unlimited bandwidth and allows users to connect to any domain. However, IM Creator Premium offers unlimited hosting, which neither Wix Unlimited or Weebly Pro do. It also offers up to 10 customizable email addresses.

Wix Unlimited vs. Weebly Pro vs. IM Creator Premium Comparison:

Offer

Wix Unlimited

Weebly Pro

IM Creator Premium

Pricing

$12.50 /mo.

$12.00 /mo. (billed annually).

$5.95 - $9.95 /mo. (depending on contract length)

Best For

Entrepreneurs and freelancers.

Groups and organizations.

Small businesses.

Storage Space

10GB.

Unlimited.

Not provided.

Bandwidth

Unlimited.

Not provided.

Unlimited.

Branded Ads

No.

No.

No.

Wix Business Unlimited vs. Weebly Business:

Wix Business Unlimited and Weebly Business both offer e-commerce functions. Wix Business Unlimited offers unlimited bandwidth and 35GB of storage. In addition to the features available with their lower pricing tiers, Wix Business Unlimited also features Google Analytics, a visitor analytics app, a professional logo, and social media logo files.

Weebly Business also offers unlimited storage as well as advanced site and e-commerce statistics on top of the features offered in their lower pricing tiers.

Wix Business Unlimited vs. Weebly Business Comparison:

Offer

Wix Business Unlimited

Weebly Business Comparison

Monthly Pricing

$25.00

$25.00

Best For

Growing businesses.

Small businesses and stores.

Storage Space

35GB.

Unlimited.

Bandwidth

Unlimited.

Not provided.

eCommerce Platform

Yes.

Yes.

Online Payments

Yes.

Yes.

Site Analytics

Yes, Google Analytics.

Yes, site and e-commerce analytics.

Wix Business VIP vs. Weebly Business Plus vs. IM Creator Pro & Whitelabel:

Wix Business VIP offers users access to priority response and VIP customer support. In comparison, Weebly Business Plus offers the same support features on all their plans. Their Business Plus plan differs from their other plans by offering more features, as with Wix Business VIP.

In contrast, IM Creator Pro & Whitelabel is a plan designed solely for web designers, giving them complete creative freedom to design and code their own websites. This plan removes XPRS branding and also offers a reseller control panel and tracking. Similar to Wix Business VIP, IM Creator Pro & Whitelabel gives users access to pro support.

Wix Business VIP vs. Weebly Business Plus vs. IM Creator Pro & Whitelabel Comparison:

Offer

Wix Business VIP

Weebly Business Plus

IM Creator Pro & Whitelabel

Pricing

$35.00 /mo.

$38.00 /mo. (billed annually)

$350.00 /yr.

Best For

The full suite.

Power sellers.

Web designers.

Storage Space

50GB.

Unlimited.

Not provided.

Bandwidth

Unlimited.

Not provided.

Unlimited.

Support

VIP customer support.

Forums, email and chat support, and phone support.

Pro support.

Pros and Cons:

Pros

  • Website builders are more cost effective than hiring professional website designers.
  • You do not need to know anything about coding to use a website builder.
  • The website builder will handle maintenance and security.
  • You have control of the content, design, and SEO of your website.
  • Most website builders offer personalized support as part of their packages.
  • Many website builders can easily export sites to other platforms so that you do not have to start from scratch.

Cons

  • Website builders are not always suitable for business use as they can lack SEO coding and professional web page features.
  • You cannot always use your own domain name with a free or cheap plan and will usually have the website builder's URL at the end of your personalized domain name.
  • You will need to invest some time into creating your website.
  • Website builders are not capable of building very complicated web designs.
  • Website builders cannot handle very big projects and can become difficult to manage.
  • Free website builders will have a lot of branding and ads.
  • Sites built with free website builders tend to be slow to load.

FAQs:

What are the best free website builders?

How much do website builders cost?

There are some website builders, such as Wix and Weebly, that offer free plans. Paid plans for the cheaper website builders usually range from $3.84 to about $45.00 a month.

Which website builder is easiest to use?

Most of the website builders in the table above are easy to use and don't require any coding knowledge.

How can I get a free domain?

Some website builders include domain names in their paid plans and there are other sites, such as Bluehost, where you can register a domain name for free.

How can I create a cheap website?

  1. Choose a cheap website builder.
  2. Choose your domain name and hosting.
  3. Choose a design template.
  4. Customize your theme.
  5. Insert widgets and plugins.
  6. Adjust the SEO parameters.
  7. Publish your website.