Best Website Builder for Small Business 2023: Top 15 Platforms

Are you planning on making a website for a small business of yours? If yes, then you need to pick the best website builder for small business websites. Why? Because these days we don’t need to hire expensive web design specialists when there are many amazing platforms that let us design, build, and manage our sites.

Whether it’s an ecommerce online store, a professional portfolio, or a broad company home page, this article will help you navigate the many great options out there for small business website design software.

Best small business website builder comparison chart (top 10 highest rated)

This below table quickly lays out the top 10 web building sites. Here you can get a view of some big names, their specialties and starting prices. Whether or not you want one of these best online website builders, or are still curious to learn more about website design software, you will find what you’re looking for in this table or below in the master list.

What is the best website builder for small business 2023? Here’s our top 15 list:

Now that the top 10 best website builders are out of the way, we can really sink our teeth into the mega list of small business platforms for building and managing websites. What are website builders? And, what is the best website builder for small business 2023? Keep reading and you’ll definitely find out!

1. Squarespace (Best website builder for small business overall)

The number one name on our list for the best website builder overall for small business should be no surprise. It is Squarespace. Users of Squarespace generally have business growth in mind, focusing on things like managing online stores, email marketing and search results optimization.

Pros:

Whether you need web hosting for an online store, a portfolio, or a professional company website, Squarespace has the tools and functionality to make it happen with ease of use.

Squarespace has many amazing templates for beginners to use in web design, and these templates are easily customizable. There are templates for professional CVs, magazines, marketing and ecommerce stores.

You also get a solid slew of email marketing tools, search engine optimization features and other creator tools like a logo designer or a video maker.

Finally, if you need a domain name, Squarespace can help you find a domain name or transfer one.

Cons:

As our number one small business website builder, Squarespace is impervious to many criticisms. The platform is generally intuitive. However, some users at the lower end have complained they’d like better customer support.

Pricing:

• Personal plan is $16 per month billed annually 

• Basic plan is $23 per month billed annually 

• Commerce Basic plan is $27 per month billed annually 

• Commerce Advanced plan is $49 per month billed annually

Squarespace review

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2. WordPress (Best free website builder for small business)

Wordpress is one of the original names when it comes to simple websites for hosting and running personal blogs. Since then, it has expanded to offer much more.

WordPress.com is where you can learn about the main platform and where you can use a web builder and take advantage of their hosting services, but it is not open source. WordPress.org, on the other hand, is where you can download the software to manage your own website design on-premise, and is open source.

Pros:

The first benefit to WordPress is that it offers a free plan, and for this reason, is a real winner when it comes to free small business website builders for our list. 

There is thorough WordPress hosting that also offers domain name services so everyone from bloggers to ecommerce sites can own their branding.

WordPress has many available themes which are like supercharged templates. There are also a bunch of plugins to boost your site’s functionality, like for SEO tools, handling transaction fees with accounting plugins and social media add-ons.

WordPress also scores points for being very user-friendly. There is not much of a learning curve to get going withWordPress. Thus it is truly one of the best free small business website apps.   

Cons:

As is often the issue with tiered pricing plans, many great website-building features are only available if you are ready to pay more money, for example, with things like advanced SEO tools, SFTP, SSH, WP-CLI, and Database access, and the ability to earn ad revenue. Still, it remains among the best free websites for small business.

Pricing:

Which WordPress plan is best? Here’s an overview of all plans so you can choose the one that suits your needs:

• Wordpress has a free plan

• Personal plan is $4 per month billed annually 

• Premium plan is $8 per month billed annually 

• Business plan is $25 per month billed annually 

• Ecommerce plan is $45 per month billed annually 

WordPress review

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3. Shopify (Best small business ecommerce website builder)

A lot of people out there would quickly agree that Shopify is probably the best ecommerce website builder that is a good mix of being very beginner-friendly as well as offering a lot of advanced features which are referred to as components.

Pros:

If you need to build an online presence for your ecommerce business, Shopify is a great place to start. You can design an online store with little to zero coding, simply with a drag and drop editor, meaning no knowledge of computer languages like CSS or HTML is necessary.

Shopify has many useful ecommerce features, like a POS system, or point-of-sale, as well as inventory tracking, staff management, and unlimited product descriptions.

Shopify offers free SSL certificates for better encryptions and online security of your store’s sensitive data like customer information.

To streamline the checkout process, you can use Shopify to accept credit card purchases and these are charged based on a percentage rate per transaction.

There are free hosting services, even with Shopify’s most affordable plans. This gets you unlimited storage of your ecommerce data. Ultimately, few argue that this is up there as being one of the best ecommerce website builders for small business.

Cons:

There is little doubt Shopify helps anyone create professional websites with their ecommerce platform. However, not all small business owners with their sights on scalable operations will find Shopify ideal once they grow into larger companies. 

Pricing:

• Basic plan costs $29 per month billed annually 

• Shopify plan costs $79 per month billed annually

• Advanced plan costs $299 per month billed annually

Shopify review

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4. Wix (Best easy website builder for small business)

If you are looking for a website builder that scores high points for ease of use, then check out Wix. A Wix website can be designed and built very quickly using a drag and drop interface, making it the easiest website builder for small business.

Pros:

First off, as a simple website for small business, Wix offers secure SSL payments as well as a money-back guarantee, and you can sign up with Wix with your credit card.

Wix has something called ADI, or Artificial Design Intelligence. Wix’s ADI generates designs for you automatically instead of you picking a template to customize.

You can use Wix as a portfolio website design platform, for ecommerce, for marketing landing pages and more, all with decent customization options. Wix offers lovely color schemes and fonts which you can mix up with their website templates.

With some Wix paid plans there are options to get a custom free domain name for the first year, with an extension like .COM, .NET, or .ORG, among others. Then you’ll have to pay to keep that custom domain name.

Other ecommerce tools include a sales tax calculator, abandoned cart recovery, shipping optimization and social media selling.

Finally, on all Wix business pro plans, there is unlimited bandwidth for you to use up, but not on the cheapest basic website plans.

Cons:

Sadly, Wix does not offer a free version, What’s more, navigating their many pricing plans can be a bit complicated, and for that purpose, we refrain from posting prices here but suggest you visit Wix.com to see for yourself. Finally, even though it is one of the most user friendly website builders, Wix does not support Paypal.

Pricing:

• Wix has a range of basic website plans, professional business plans and enterprise plans

• Visit Wix’s website for exact current pricing information as prices often change

Wix review

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5. GoDaddy Website Builder (Best website host and builder)

A lot of us remember GoDaddy as the original website to shop and buy domain names. Ever since then, GoDaddy has increased its services to offer a fully-stacked website builder, along with web hosting services and some ecommerce functionality. This makes GoDaddy the top 5 website builder in our list.

Pros:

The standard website builder from GoDaddy gets you custom domain name connections, website security with SSL, and a swell marketing analytics dashboard.

With a GoDaddy website, you can embed a website chat and a unified inbox into your site for better customer interactions.

For more ecommerce purposes, there are GoDaddy payment options including debit card, credit card, online pay links, and virtual terminals. There are also a bunch of appointment scheduling tools, as well as an abandoned shopping cart recovery tool.

GoDaddy has a nice set of design options whether you are using their templates or working with GoDaddy studio for better logo creation, ad design, and social media stories. GoDaddy studio also serves as a good content management system.

In the end, GoDaddy gets to claim that it is one of the best website builders and hosting for small business.

Cons:

There has always been a bit of a resistance against using GoDaddy by some entrepreneurs because of its earlier narrow focus on domain names. However, today, those concerns are unfounded, though it is hard to get some people to see the new light.

Pricing:

• Basic plan is $9.99 per month billed annually 

• Premium plan is $14.99 per month billed annually

• Commerce plan is $16.99 per month billed annually

• Commerce Plus plan is $29.99 per month billed annually

GoDaddy Website Builder review

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6. Weebly (Top websites for local business)

Weebly is a good competitor for many of the above-mentioned platforms for building websites, as this is a great website builder for local businesses, especially those that want a free website designer for things like online stores.

Pros:

Basic Weebly website features include 3rd-party embed codes and SSL security. More advanced features get you unlimited data storage, custom domain names, site statistics and analytics, and password protection.

Ecommerce tools include shopping cart management, item badges and item options, inventory management, in-store pickup tools, tax calculators and gift card options from Square.

There is a Weebly app store where you can browse for added plugins and components like for social media functionality, form building, and better marketing.

You can also use Weebly for marketing purposes. It offers SEO tools, lead capture, an Instagram feed feature, pop-up notifications and advanced ecommerce reporting.

Among other things, Weebly is known to give great customer support, including chat, email forums, FAQs, and phone support with the pro plans.

Cons:

Some years back, the Weebly platform was bought out by Square, meaning there will be Square ads in the free version which can be annoying or distracting. Now, this should not register as too much of a disadvantage overall.

Pricing:

• Weebly offers a free plan

• Personal plan is $7 per month billed annually 

• Professional plan is $15 per month billed annually

• Performance plan is $30 per month billed annually

Weebly review

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7. Square Online (One of the top website builder companies for online stores)

Square is actually so much more than just a website builder. It started out as the second project from Jack Forsey after he made Twitter into a massive social news platform. Square has since bought out many other companies with related website design, ecommerce and marketing platforms, like Weebly and CashApp.

Pros:

There are many advantages to picking Square ONline to build a website and run an online store. The list of tools and features is huge, with components for every aspect of ecommerce and for delivering top-grade customer experiences.

Square is not only great for standard online stores, but you can also use this to design a website for restaurants, bars, cafes and similar businesses.

Use Square Online to run your online business using the web browser version, a mobile app, or even social media. Customers using their mobile devices will hardly know the difference between a responsive website and a true mobile app.

Other tools include shipping modules, free in-store pickup protocols, and local delivery systems. You can also get fraud detection, encrypted payments, and a free POS app.

This top website building platform gives you payment method options like Square Pay, Apple Pay, Cash App Pay, and Google Pay, but no Paypal.

Cons:

Square Online has 3 basic payment plans, but one has to wonder if the best tools are only reserved for the premium custom plan, for which there are no clear prices listed. What’s more, it might not be so easy to get the exact customer support you need when you want it, although there are useful FAQs and video tutorials available.

Pricing:

• Square Online has a free plan

• Plus plan is $29 per month billed annually 

• For premium custom plans, contact Square

Visit Square Online
 

8. BigCommerce (Great small business website creator for increasing sales)

When it comes to small business website creation, BigCommerce is not a name that should be overlooked. BigCommnerce is another one of our rated website platforms for ecommerce and online stores that especially aim to boost sales revenue.

Pros:

The first pro to BigCommerce is that they offer a great trial which lets you go quite far in designing and running a website. This way you get to try before you buy. If you love the customized store you built, launching it is a snap.

To drive more traffic to your site, BigCommece does search engine optimization, customizable URLs, plugin POS integration, as well as more advanced integrations with Amazon, Google, Ebay and Facebook.

For increased sales, you get a landing page builder, checkout and shopping cart recovery tools, and you can select between many payment and shipping provider options.

What’s more, BigCommerce offers expert advice from industry leaders, as well as community forums and tutorials to teach you how to maximize exposure and win more deals.

BigCommerce also provides excellent customer support, including 24/7 tech support on all pricing plans.

Cons:

The obvious drawback to BigCommerce is, not only do they not offer a free version of their platform, but even the most affordable options are still way more expensive than many competitors on this list.

Pricing:

• Standard plan costs $29.95 per month 

• Plus plan costs $71.95 per month billed annually

• Pro plan costs $269 per month billed annually

• For Enterprise prices, contact BigCommerce

BigCommerce review

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9. HubSpot CMS Hub (Good website maker for small business for content management)

If you want to have great control over your content, you need a small business website maker like HubSpot CMS Hub. Most people know HubSpot for its sales, marketing and CRM modules, but there are also content management system tools, which can be used to create websites with HubSpot.

Pros:

You can get started for free with HubSpot CMS Hub to create a website in seconds using drag-and-drop tools which are very user-friendly. There are also great website themes. Even the free version gets you 25 website pages.

You got good security with two-factor authentication and SSL certificates, keeping your data and your customer data safe.

Using the content management system, or CMS, along with HubSpot’s CRM is an ideal way to grow your network as well as keep close relationships with your existing contact database.

There are great website analytics and reporting with HubSpot, with even deeper insights available if you choose to subscribe to the more premium options.

With the most expensive plan, you can incorporate a product library that can hold up to 1 million products. To help market those products, there is A/B testing, content strategies, and Salesforce integrations.

Cons:

Although HubSpot offers a variety of pricing tiers, it can be a bit overwhelming deciding which one is right for you with all the add-ons and custom pricing settings. This is less so the case if you elect for one of HubSpot’s bundles that include some CMS and CRM, however.

Pricing:

• CMS Hub has a free plan though it does not have the website builder

• CMS Hub Starter is $22.50 per user per month billed annually 

• CMS Hub Professional is $360 per user per month billed annually 

• CMS Hub Enterprise is $1,200 per user per month billed annually 

Visit HubSpot CMS Hub
 

10. Duda (Best website builder platform if you like templates)

Duda is a very popular website building platform particularly among the creative classes, like for agencies, boutiques, and trendy magazines. Among its many pros are the incredible Duda templates you can choose from to make the website building process faster.

Pros:

Duda’s template library makes this a top website platform for small businesses. For example, online store templates are categorized by business type, including everything from pet stores, bakeries, hobby stores, digital shops, fashion businesses and more. 

More professional business templates are also on offer here, with templates for real estate companies, SEO consultants, online education, professional CVs, legal firms, and lead-generation landing pages.

As a website-building tool, Duda is great for team collaboration as well. There are admin roles, blog writing and editing tools, sales team management features, and you can also create customizable permissions. There is also a team content asset system.

While Duda lets you build websites with templates, sections and useful widgets, the advanced paid plans also offer a widget builder, which is great.

Cons:

Perhaps the biggest disadvantage to Duda is that the basic plan, and even the team plan, do not have nearly as many tools as the more expensive premium packages. This includes the widget builder, dynamic pages, custom domains and branded client communication modules.

Pricing:

• Basic plan is $14 per user per month billed annually 

• Team plan is $22 per user per month billed annually 

• Agency plan is $44 per user per month billed annually 

• While Label is $44 per user per month billed annually for now, but prices may vary

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11. Google Sites (Best DIY website builder for small business)

Few people know that Google has a website builder and it is called Google Sites. Google Sites is available with the Google Workspace premium plans, but not with your typical free Google account.

Pros:

Like many of the greatest simple website builders, Google Sites is ideal if you are the do-it-yourself type of person, or a DIY guy or gal.

Google Sites makes sure that your designs are always screen-responsive meaning they will adjust their size depending on the device, from iPhone to iPad or other mobile phones or tablets.

There are loads of pre-made Google website themes to choose from and obviously they are customizable as well. You can easily edit or move around elements like images, fonts, buttons, menu layouts, and text blocks.

If you are already deeply ensconced in the Google app ecosystem, using everything from Gmail to Google Calendar to Google Analytics which is part of Google’s marketing platform, then it might seem like a swell idea to build and design your website with Google Sites.

Cons:

Ultimately, some people do not consider Google to be as professional a software as some of the other competitors on this list, and for this reason, we will find Google Sites lightweight. But for small businesses who like a little DIY on top of a lot of simplicity and convenience, Sites are still fine.

Pricing:

• Workspace Business Starter plan is $6 per user per month 

• Workspace Business Standard plan is $12 per user per month 

• Workspace Business Plus plan is $18 per user per month 

• Contact Google for Workspace Enterprise pricing

Google Sites review

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12. SiteBuilder aka Web.com (Top site for building a website if you like analytics)

For those of you in the market for something like the best sites for website creation when business insights and analytics are key features, then SiteBuilder is a platform that you might consider. Nowadays, SiteBuilder is partnered with Web.com for most web design and marketing needs.

Pros:

SiteBuilder, along with their partner Web.com, combines the ability to get a brand new website up and running within minutes with their basic drag and drop functionality, which is great for beginners because it is so intuitive, with the option to have incredibly professional-looking web design.

Through a partnership with Unsplash, you can access a library of over 1 million free images and pictures for your site.

You get free domain registration which will stay free for the first year you are using it. You can also hire a website building expert through SiteBuilder for added pro tips on making an amazing website.

All Web.com or SiteBuilder websites can come with unlimited bandwidth as well as no limits on data storage.

Finally, you can get real-time data on things like visits, engagement statistics and how visitors interact with your site.

Cons:

Back in the day, many people were pleased enough with SiteBuilder’s platform, and since the merger with Web.com, it puts some people off. But, we are here to say that this need not be the case, as switching from one platform to the other is no big deal.

Pricing:

• Website Essentials costs $4.95 per user per month billed annually 

• Business Essentials costs $7.95 per user per month billed annually 

• Ecommerce Essentials costs $13.95 per user per month billed annually 

• Ecommerce Premium costs $19.95 per user per month billed annually 

SiteBuilder review

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13. HostGator (Good affordable website for small business for hosting)

HostGator may not be the cheapest website builder for small business, but when it comes to very affordable small business website hosting, HostGator proves to be a very worthy alternative to some other more well-known names.

Pros:

HostGator is mainly a web hosting service. However, this brand also offers website building, sometimes called Gator Builder. You got your free SSL certificate and a free domain name.

Unlike other web design platforms, HostGator eschews typical templates and drag and drop tools, instead giving you an intelligent website builder. It optimizes the layout automatically and suggests content.

There is also a great logo maker tool with HostGator, along with an image library and unmetered bandwidth.

HostGator offers simple website analytics that are not too cluttered by having too many metrics. 

If you want better SEO for your website, HostGator has tools to help optimize your ranking on various search engine result pages.

As for web hosting, there are options for shared hosting,WordPress hosting, VPS hosting as well as dedicated hosting options.

Finally, there is a wide range of marketing features, including email marketing tools and an integrated CRM. 

Overall, this may not be the absolute cheapest website builder for small business, but it is close.

Cons:

As a software solution that is first and foremost about hosting and not web design, some small business owners may feel that the web design module is not as good as other apps that are more dedicated to website building. Yet, we claim Gator Builder, their name for this module, is pretty effective.

Pricing:

• Start plan is $3.84 per month

• Site plan is $5.99 per month

• Store plan is $9.22 per month

HostGator review

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14. Webflow (Great website builder software for team collaboration)

Webflow is another name on our list that users believe should have a spot up there with the best website software for small business. It is a very good web design platform for team collaboration and shared workspaces.

Pros:

As an up and comer for the title of best website creation tool, Webflow has a lot of great things going for it. The interface is user friendly and intuitive, and the design options are very aesthetically pleasing.

You have a range of useful CMS tools to make your website pop with the best content and always keep things fresh looking for new visitors.

As for team communication and collaboration around your website, Webflow makes it easy to set permissions, bring in custom code, as well as work with agencies or outside freelancers.

Webflow also offers many SEO features, like sitemap controls, open graph meta tags, and structured search support.

Finally, there are good engagement and workflow options, including pre-built interactions, trigger-based actions and more.

Cons:

It seems the biggest con when it comes to Webflow has to do with how people react to their customer support. While there are onboarding options, it is mainly email support, which is not great.

Pricing:

• There is a free plan for Webflow

• Basic plan is $14 per user per month billed annually

• CMS plan is $23 per user per month billed annually

• Business plan is $39 per user per month billed annually

• Contact Webflow Enterprise pricing billed annually

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15. Zyro (One of the top website builder companies if you want AI)

As we near the bottom of the list, we do not want you to think these are lesser website builders for small businesses. Zyro is still one of the top website building sites. One thing Zyro has going for it is the huge amount of artificial intelligence employed to make your website better.

Pros:

Let us begin with Zyro’s AI tools. There is an AI writer, which can auto-generate texts based on simple prompts and categories. You can use an AI slogan generator, which is super cool. Other text-based AI features include a business name generator and a blog title pitch machine.

There is an AI background remover for faster photo editing. What’s more, Zyro leverages AI as an image upscaling tool.

The website builder gets you a free domain for the first year, 24/7 customer support, and a full 30-day money-back guarantee.

There is also Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, Messenger and WhatsApp live chat, and even more blogging tools.

Cons:

While we must admit Zyro is very cool, and well priced, the fact that it has only two pricing options might mean that it lacks the variety of tools and features some might demand for their small business website building platform.

Pricing:

• Zyro Website costs $3.90 per month

• Zyro Business costs $5.90 per month

Zyro review

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Which of the best website builders for small business is right for me? Our conclusion

Time for our key takeaways regarding which website builder is best. As many other articles concur, Squarespace is high up on that list, but close on its heels isWordPress, Shopify and Wix. Meanwhile, lesser-known names are ready to burst onto the scene, like Zyro, Webflow, and Duda. Of course, we see CRM and marketing giant HubSpot getting in there, as well as good old Google.

In the end, you know that your small business must have a website that can display information, engage visitors, and rank high on search result pages. And, if you are running an online store or another kind of ecommerce business, you’ll also want things like product descriptions, inventory management, checkout and point of sale tools, and other shopping website components.

Additionally, if you want to use a user-friendly app for creating web pages and mobile UIs, consider Sketch, with extended functionality thanks to the Paint extension. It didn’t make our top-rated list but is definitely worth a look.

That wraps it up. By now, you really should have a better plan when it comes to building a website for your small business with the help of one of the great web design and website builder solutions.