So, you want to build a website. You’re probably searching on YouTube, Search Engines, ChatGPT by stroking various prompts to get the desired information right now for the best website builder for your project. And if that’s the case, this post is going to give you everything you need.
You see, I’ve been building websites for a long time, since 2015, in fact the first website I ever made by using a website builder called Weebly. During that time, I have used pretty much every website builder available out there. I have personally seen many website builder’s rise and fall, scams, new AI website builder wave and everything in between.
So today, I am going to share detailed information on the best website builders currently available in the market. Which ones are actually worth using, which ones are actually a waste of time and which one you may choose based on your suitable requirement.
We will cover WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, Shopify, and many others and then we’ll even jump into the AI website builders like Lovable and Hostinger Horizons. I’m going to break down the website builders by what project you’re doing and what your goal is for the website.
Let’s start by breaking these website builders down into 4 big categories.
Number 1) WordPress plus self-hosting.
Number 2) The all-in-one website builders.
Number 3) e-commerce platforms.
Number 4) The AI website builders.
Number 1) WordPress plus self-hosting.
Best suited for people/businesses who want best and long-term option, especially if you care about getting traffic, having full ownership, and not being locked into some platform forever. Think less banned website, and more small business owner.
Number 2) The all-in-one website builders.
Stuff like Wix and Squarespace they are fast setup, hosting included, pretty hard to mess up, and super basic. It is perfect for someone who wants to build simple website and wish to have it up & running in a day. Like a very basic portfolio or a website for your brand.
Number 3) e-commerce platforms.
These website builders are the best for people who are trying to sell products online like Shopify. If you have a store that you want to sell physical products and envision growing it with online presence, these are the platforms for you.
Number 4) The AI website builders.
The latest and not so greatest of the website builders. AI website builders like Lovable, Base 44, and Hostinger Horizons are best for the person who wishes to build a simple web app or online tool.
So let’s begin with the list.
Number 1) WordPress plus self-hosting. (Image credit WordPress)
WordPress still today powers 43% of the internet. That means almost one out of every two websites you visit on the internet is made on this platform.
However here is another truth, WordPress is still the best website builder for most people long term.
Here are some of the pros for WordPress.
Number 1) You actually own your website, with sites like Wix and Squarespace you are basically renting space on their platform. With WordPress you own the site, files, content and everything in between.
Number 2) You are not trapped with WordPress; you can move your site at any time. The platform is still free and open source.
Number 3) It is still the best for SEO, LLMs and scaling your business. If you care about getting lots of traffic to your website or want something extremely powerful, WordPress is still going to be the king.
Here are some of the cons for WordPress.
Number 1) It has a bigger setup process hence you will need hosting, WordPress installed along with theme. It’s not like Squarespace one-click and done. It’s going to take you a little bit of work to get it right.
Number 2) It is slightly complex as it offers too many options which can be overwhelming for some people with too many themes/ plugins/page builders.
Number 3) You are a little bit more responsible for the maintenance, updates, backups, security, these things are not hard to do, but more ownership over your site means a little bit more responsibility.
Okay, so who is WordPress perfect for?
1) Build Website for Business
Use WordPress if you intent to run a real business website that you can grow, like a portfolio website or small business site.
2) Build long term SEO
You want a website where you can build long-term SEO or get a lot of traffic to.
3) Desire scalability
If you desire the ability to scale your website into something bigger than what it is today.
4) Desire full ownership & control
You desire to have full ownership & control over your website.
So, who should not go with WordPress?
People that need a small, simple site live tonight with not much importance to SEO or blogging, I wouldn’t recommend it. Also, people who just want the easiest thing possible and to have to never think about it again. So, if you stand in this category, then the all-in-one website builder that I’m about to talk about is perfect for you.
Number 2) The all-in-one website builders.
Let’s check about all-in-one website builders, meaning the platforms where everything is included Hosting, templates, editing, publishing, the whole shebang.
Well, there are lots of website builders out there for example Duda, Weebly and even some of these AI platforms.
Wix and Squarespace are still the two biggest and most recognizable all-in-one website builders for a reason; these companies are worth billions on the NASDAQ they’re the safest picks. This companies have been around for a long time approximately 2 decades and they’re here to stay. And if you want something easy to use, polished, supported long-term, and not going to randomly disappear in 2 years, start with the big boys.
So let us start with Squarespace. (Image credit Squarespace)
Squarespace is what I call the safest all-in-one website builder for most people. It’s clean, simple, hard to mess up and the site usually looks good even if you have zero design experience.
Here are the pros of Squarespace.
Number 1) Indeed Squarespace makes your website look attractive which is its biggest advantage. The templates look modern and honestly & they’re really hard to mess up.
Number 2) It’s stupidly beginner friendly. It’s pretty simple wherein you pick a design, swap the text and photos, hit publish and you’re done.
Number 3) It’s great for simple site building. Well again, if your intent is building a basic band website or a really, really basic photography site, Squarespace is a really good fit. You’ll be able to make something solid in a day.
Here are the cons of Squarespace.
Number 1) It’s less flexible than almost any website builder out there, even Wix.
Squarespace doesn’t give you unlimited drag anything anywhere freedom, and honestly, that’s why it’s a lot cleaner and they look very professional. However, if you want total control then it can feel pretty limiting.
Number 2) The extension and app ecosystem is very small in Squarespace as compared to Wix and WordPress as they have way more apps and way more buildouts that you can use.
Who is Squarespace best for?
1) You want a clean, modern fast website.
2) You want something user friendly which won’t overwhelm you
3) You want a site that looks great on mobile without fighting the layout.
This is the builder for people who want, I need to look really good, buy tonight, and I really don’t ever want to see it again. Who should not go for Squarespace?
Skip Squarespace if you want any design control whatsoever, you want tons of apps and integrations or you’re building something unique or you’re running an online store because as soon as you start wanting things to look a certain way, you’ll probably be happier on WordPress.
Okay, let’s talk about the other great all-in-one website builder. If Squarespace is the clean and simple option, Wix is another all-in-one website builder.
So let us explore with Wix. (Image credit WIX)
Wix gives you more freedom, features, and apps, and honestly, it can be a pretty good platform & I’m going to keep it realistic that flexibility is both a strength and a weakness.
Here are the pros of Wix.
Number 1) You can get more design freedom from Wix as it offers a true drag and drop, which means you can move stuff, change your layouts, and customize way more than Squarespace.
Number 2) Massive templates and app ecosystem. Wix has an insane number of templates, plus an app marketplace with basically everything from booking, memberships, pop-up automations, you name it.
Here are the cons of Wix.
Number 1) Wix gives you more freedom so it’s very easier to make a mess. It’s also easier to design something that looks good on your screen but looks insanely bad on mobile.
Number 2) It may feel a little overwhelming for beginners because they offer just too many options and menus.
Number 3) Like most all-in-one website builders, Wix is a closed platform & you may feel locked. If in case you build everything in Wix and later want to shift then it’s going to be a real pain.
Who is Wix best for?
1) More design freedom, a lot more templates and apps, but still want an all-in-one website builder that is ready to build your basic plus websites.
2) Wix is great for people who want to build something more custom, but want more convenience in an all-in-one website builder.
Who should not use Wix, well you should skip Wix If you want a total beginner site who just wants something simple and clean, thus go with Squarespace.
You’re planning on getting lots of traffic to your website and you don’t want to think about the responsiveness of your layout, like your mobile responsiveness.
Quick verdict is that Wix is powerful, but if you’re new and possess technological literacy, just go with Squarespace, however if you want more control and better design, go with WordPress.
Number 3) e-commerce platforms.
Now that we have covered the best all-in-one website builders, let’s talk about e-commerce because if you’re building an online store the answer to what website you need changes completely.
We’re going to talk about the two biggest and most trustworthy players in the space, Shopify and Woo Commerce.
Just a quick note & FYI, there are other options like Big Commerce, which is great for a bigger, more established store, but for people reading this post, you should be deciding between two platforms, Shopify and Woo Commerce.
Indeed, there are other website builders as I mentioned earlier, we don’t want to build on website builders that are here today and vanish tomorrow. If you’re part of the 2% that has a massive catalogue of products and traffic, go with Big Commerce they’re seriously legit.
Well for everyone else, let’s talk a little more in simple words.
So let us start with Shopify. (Image credit Shopify)
First, Shopify, which is the best e-commerce site for simplicity.
If you want the easiest way to build a real online store without dealing with much of technicalities, Shopify is the ultimate choice.
Shopify is basically an all-in-one e-commerce machine which is perfect for an online store.
Here are the pros of Shopify.
Number 1) The easiest platform to launch a store which has Hosting included. Check out is done for you. Payments are built in. You really don’t have to duct tape anything together.
Number 2) Shopify is built for selling with functionality for inventory management, shipping, taxes, discounts, abandoned cart emails. Shopify handles all that back-end stuff that can become a nightmare on other platforms, and they do it really, really well.
Number 3) They have apps for everything. Need subscriptions, upsells, bundles.
Shopify’s app store is insane and they have a lot of templates to choose from.
Here are the cons of Shopify.
Number 1) Your Monthly costs may add up.
Well, Shopify is not one of the cheapest options and once you start adding in paid apps then it can get expensive real fast.
Using an AI website builder for a store for plug-in may come with a charge for you on monthly basis so you need to be careful with your budget, especially with Shopify.
Number 2) Design can feel limiting however you can still make a Shopify store look really good, but you definitely don’t get the same design freedom as you will with Woo Commerce.
Number 3) If you build your whole business on Shopify you are living locked in their ecosystem. No real moving, and they like to keep you for themselves.
Who is Shopify best for?
1) The easiest way to sell online, a store that works without any of the technical headaches.
Who should not go for Shopify?Skip Shopify if you’re not selling online products, you want the cheapest possible option, you want full control over your website’s look and feel, or you are more SEO focused and you want that to be a key component of your website.
So let us explore with Woo Commerce (Image credit Stickpng.com)
Woo Commerce is WordPress plus e-commerce where WordPress is your foundation by adding Woo Commerce it turns it into a full online store.
Here are some pros of Woo Commerce.
Number 1) Just like WordPress you are not renting a store on someone else’s platform, you actually own the site, data, products, design, all of it.
Number 2) You can build a Woo Commerce site in almost anything and its way more customizable. If you want custom product pages, SEO heavy content, blogs, landing pages, funnels, Woo Commerce is crazy flexible.
Number 3) It’s a better long-term value, usually. Woo Commerce itself is free however you pay for hosting and maybe a few plugins, but you’re not locked into a monthly store tax forever.
Number 4) Content plus e-commerce together is kind of a cheat code. If you want to rank on Google and sell products at the same time, WordPress plus Woo Commerce is the way to go.
Here are some cons of Woo Commerce.
Number 1) It’s more setup. You have to choose hosting, install WordPress, install Woo Commerce, and it’s not as plug and play as Shopify.
Number 2) You’re managing more things like themes, plugins, updates, payment backups. It’s not difficult, but it’s a little more hands-on.
Number 3) Lots of plugins can mean lots of problems.
People break Woo Commerce sites by installing 37 random plugins and turning their site into a mess hence you got to try to keep it clean.
Who is Woo Commerce best for?
1) You want better control and ownership. You also want a lower long-term cost. You plan on doing SEO content marketing with your e-commerce store and you want maximum flexibility and features.
2) Woo Commerce is best for the person who wants a real store but also wants to build a brand with long-term traffic.
Who should not use Woo Commerce?
Don’t choose Woo Commerce If you want the easiest path with zero setup, if you don’t want to deal with updates and plugins.
Quick verdict, Shopify versus Woo Commerce.
Shopify is going to be a better bet, if you want everything handled for you easily.
So here is a simple way to choose.
If you want the easiest online store and you just want it to work, go with Shopify.
If you want full control, ownership, and long-term SEO traffic, Woo Commerce.
If you have already planned on building on WordPress anyway then Woo Commerce is the obvious choice.
Number 4) The AI website builders.
Well, as we have now covered the WordPress plus self-hosting, the all-in-one website builders normal website builders and e-commerce, let’s get into the new wave which is the AI website builders.
AI website builders like Lovable, Base 44, and Hostinger Horizons are best for the person who wishes to build a simple web app or online tool.
One prompt, one click, and your website is done and to be honest, some of these tools are actually impressive but I also want to set the right expectations.
Most of the AI website builders are still very early though they are getting better and faster. Well most of them still have limitations that if you’re trying to build a real business website from a long-term perspective it’s not going to be right for you.
So, I’m going to share some great information to show you the ones worth paying attention to right now and also where they fall short.
A quick note, there are an infinite number of AI website builders like Framer AI, Base 44, Replet, using ChatGPT for your own code it is an endless series of website builders. These are fine, but there are just better options for building sites.
Now, the two AI website builders I keep seeing the most and the ones that are actually worth talking about are Lovable and Hostinger Horizons.
So let us start with Lovable (Image credit Stickpng.com)
Lovable is one of the most impressive AI website builders out right now in terms of speed, they just got valued at $6.6 billion which is pretty crazy. You just start with it by giving it a prompt and it begins to generate a site super-fast and right out of the gate. It surely looks pretty clean, modern, and high quality.
Here are the pros of Lovable.
Number 1) Lovable is crazy fast with regards to building a website, it’s one of the quickest way to transform an idea into something real.
Number 2). A lot of AI website builders create layouts that can feel very generic or stock templates. Loveable tends to actually create sites that feel current with pretty good designs.
Number 3) Lovable is great for MVPs or for quick projects. If you are testing an offer, plan to launch something fast or building a simple landing page then it’s a good option.
Here are the cons of Lovable.
Number 1) Most AI website builders have limitation and same goes with Lovable. Though it’s awesome at generating the first draft, however it starts getting frustrating as soon as you want actual control.
Number 2) If you are building a serious business site with lots of pages, SEO, custom features, e-commerce, or making long-term content, you will outgrow this incredibly fast. But if you want to make something like a simple single one-page tool website, it’s incredibly easy and robust.
So let us explore with Hostinger Horizons (Image credit ChatGPT)
Okay, here’s another great option right now which is Hosting Horizons.
Now, Hostinger Horizons is interesting because it’s not just AI slapped onto a website builder it is backed by a full platform that already has all relevant features like hosting, a website builder, and some great real features built in.
Hostinger is actually one of the best all-around website hosts and the one we recommend on this channel. So, it tends to feel more like AI plus a legitimate website builder ecosystem.
Here are the pros of Hosting Horizons.
Number 1) It’s very beginner friendly, built for people who want simple and fast websites.
Number 2) You can actually edit and build beyond the AI. Well, this is a big deal because a lot of AI website builders generate something nice and then in the editing it gets kind of awkward however Hostinger gives you more of a traditional editor to work with.
Number 3) It’s a really good all-in-one value. Hostinger AI templates published together, it’s a nice package. Hostinger is one of the better options if you want AI help but also want a real website build underneath it.
Here are the cons of Hosting Horizons.
Number 1) If you want good custom designs with advanced functionality or you are trying to build a bigger, a long-term brand, you will still end up in WordPress or a more mature platform. Most AI website builders have limitation and same goes with Hosting Horizons.
Number 2) Also, it’s got limitations on the websites you can reproduce. In most instances you may want to mimic a site but Hostinger will not allow it due to copyright reasons.
Lovable is a little more loosey goosey on the rules. So, if you want to copy something exactly the same Lovalble will allow that but just so you know, here’s my honest take on AI website builders right now.
AI website builders are amazing for speed.
A final recap.
So which website builder shall you choose? Let’s wrap this up in the simplest possible breakdown because at this point you don’t need any more information you just need to get started with the right website builder.
If you want the best long-term website builder overall then go with WordPress. If you care about owning your website with long-term SEO and traffic along with full flexibility and not being locked into a platform forever then WordPress is still the number one option where you can build almost any site you want with the right tutorial.
If you want the easiest all-in-one builder that looks great fast, go with Squarespace. This is the best option for basic websites and creators who just want something clean and professional and anyone who wants something on easy mode without sacrificing any quality.
If you are seeking for more flexibility in your basic all-in-one website builder then go with Wix. Indeed, Wix is best for people who want customization, apps and features, things like booking and memberships, but still want it to be very basic.
If you are building your very first online store then you may go with Shopify. No doubt, Shopify is the best choice for those who want the easiest, smoothest e-commerce setup and if you want everything handled for you.
If you’re building a serious online store that you want more control of, Woo Commerce. Surely, Woo Commerce is the best choice for those of you that want full control over your e-commerce website with full ownership to move it whenever where ever they want.
If you want to try an AI website builder, Lovable is amazing for quickly generating your first clean draft. Hosting Horizons is also one of the better options if you want AI plus a real website builder underneath.
