6 Cheapest Website Builders For Small Businesses

In this article, we will explore six of the cheapest website builders that cater to the needs of small businesses, offering cost-effective solutions without compromising on quality.

Key Takeaways

• Shopify: Starting at $39/month, Shopify is best for businesses focused on e-commerce, offering robust features like inventory management and international sales support.
• Wix: Beginning at $16/month, Wix is ideal for creatives, artists, and small businesses seeking visually stunning websites through its user-friendly drag-and-drop interface.
• Squarespace: Plans start at $16/month, making it great for creative professionals who desire elegant and stylish websites with various beautiful templates.
• Square Online: Starting at $0/month, Square Online is a balanced choice offering affordability and scalability, suitable for businesses looking to sync online and offline operations.
• GoDaddy: Charging $2.99/month, GoDaddy is perfect for small business sites on a budget, offering AI tools and improvements, though its commerce options are limited.
• Hostinger: Plans starting at $2.99/month make Hostinger cost-effective, but its commerce options are minimal, making it better suited for simple websites.

Table of Comparisons

Top 6 Cheapest Website Builders in 2023

Shopify

Shopify has grown to become one of the most popular and widely used platforms with its powerful set of features, scaling new entrepreneurs in the fierce e-commerce competition.

Pricing

Shopify offers three monthly subscription plans tailored to suit various business budgets, ranging from $39 to $399. Newbies can pay an annual bill to enjoy a 25% discount on the subscription fees to provide added cost savings. 

New retailers can explore the platform risk-free with a 3-day free trial. Additionally, certain plans come with a special promotion that offers the first 1 month of service at a nominal fee of $1, enabling businesses to get started with minimal upfront costs.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• User-friendly interface
• Great ecommerce features 
• Various customization options 
• Extensive app eco-system
• Scalability
• Dedicated customer support

Cons:

• Transaction fees for non-Shopify Payments transactions

Website features

• Drag and drop interface: With Shopify’s most outstanding features, even if you’re new to e-commerce and have no technical background, creating your online store becomes a breeze. You can easily design and customize your website by dragging and dropping elements wherever you want. This simple and intuitive feature saves you time and effort, allowing you to focus on building your brand and selling your products.
• Easy customization of branding identity: With its user-friendly platform and a wide selection of themes, you can confidently showcase your brand’s essence and create a visually appealing online store. Customizing colors, fonts, and styles is a breeze with just a few clicks. The mobile-responsive design further enhances the user experience.
• Ready-made themes: Shopify offers a range of over 150 free and paid themes that are professionally designed and pre-built to create stunning online stores. You don’t need to start from scratch or have advanced coding skills. Simply browse the theme library and choose the one that best suits your business and brand identity. Whether you’re selling fashion, electronics, beauty products, or any other niche, you’ll find themes tailored to various industries.
• Single dashboard management: Shopify offers a place where users can effortlessly oversee all aspects of their online store from one centralized location, such as handling orders, inventory, sales analytics, and more, assisting new merchants in efficiently navigating and optimizing the store’s performance.
• Unlimited storage: This feature has been supported since the cheapest plan. Newcomers can store an extensive range of product images, videos, and other media files, making it ideal for stores with large inventories or those looking to expand their product offerings without worrying about storage.

Ecommerce features on the cheapest plan

• Two staff accounts:  Merchants can have up to two staff members with access to the store’s admin dashboard, delegating specific tasks and responsibilities to different team members.
• Unlimited products: Shopify offers unlimited product listings, allowing merchants to add as many products as they want to their online store.
• In-house payment gateways: Merchants can process online transactions directly through Shopify’s payment system with no transaction fees, providing a seamless and secure way to make purchases in the store.
• Third-party payment gateways: Over 100 external payment gateways are supported through the platform, offering more flexibility or having specific regional payment preferences.
• Inventory management and customer management: Primary functionalities to manage inventory are supported, such as tracking inventory levels, organizing products, and setting up alerts for low stock. Additionally, customer management tools allow businesses to collect and store customer information, track purchase history, and manage customer profiles effectively. 
• Integrations: The Shopify App Store hosts over 8,000 apps, both free and paid, catering to different business needs and requirements in email marketing, accounting, inventory management, customer support, etc.
• POS system: Shopify POS Lite comes free with the plan, allowing businesses to sell in-person from a retail store or on the go, like managing products/inventory, accepting payments, and building customer relationships.
• Abandoned cart recovery: Shopify helps merchants recover lost sales by sending automatic email reminders to customers who left their carts without completing the checkout process. 
• SEO and mobile-friendly: It optimizes online stores for search engines, improving their visibility and ensuring that all Shopify themes are mobile-responsive.
• Email marketing: Shopify sends up to 10,000+ emails per month for marketing, fostering customer relationships, and promoting the products.
• Multichannel sales: Users can easily connect their online store to various sales channels, such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Amazon, and eBay.
• Dropshipping: It connects with popular dropshipping suppliers through various apps and integrates tools for smooth order and inventory management,  fully supporting dropshipping businesses.
• Shopify shipping:  Merchants can manage their shipping options, access discounted shipping rates, and print shipping labels directly from the Shopify dashboard.
• Currency and language: The plan holds up to 133 currencies and 20 languages, catering to a broad customer base.

Customer support

• 24/7 phone support
• Social media support
• 24/7 live chat support
• Community forum
• Email support
• Help Center
• Video tutorials

Should You Choose Shopify’s Cheapest Plan?

Choosing Shopify’s cheapest plan – The Basic plan is a big hit for new businesses or those with a limited budget.

The plan includes important features such as an interactive drag-and-drop customization interface, more than 150 ready-made themes, and other tools that provide a strong base for creating your online store.

For a reasonable price of $39 per month (or even lower at $29/month with annual billing), you gain access to advanced e-commerce features, including valuable options like abandoned cart recovery and POS (Point of Sale). As your business grows, you can upgrade to higher-tier plans offering more comprehensive features to meet your evolving needs.

Wix

Welcome to Wix, the perfect website builder for small businesses and startups looking to be provided with a great combination of creative freedom for branding and effective sales tools.

Pricing

For those looking to create an online personal store, the Light package, an entry-level plan, is available at a starting price of $16 per month, while you must pay $27 per month for the Core plan to begin selling with primary tools.

While Wix does not offer a free trial, it provides a 14-day money-back guarantee without questions asked if customers are unsatisfied.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Ideal price
• Easy to use 
• Overall website builders
• A huge range of quality themes

Cons:

• Limit storage
• Lacks useful features on the cheapest plan

Website features

• Built-in membership area: Wix allows website builders to create exclusive, members-only sections on their sites, offering premium content, subscription services, or special access to loyal customers, providing a personalized experience to their members. It’s a valuable tool for new businesses to engage with customers and foster a sense of community.
• Drag-and-drop interface: The user-friendly drag-and-drop interface of Wix allows users to design and customize their websites without any coding knowledge easily. You can simply drag elements like text boxes, images, videos, and buttons onto your web pages and position them as desired, making them accessible to beginners.
• Easy customization of branding identity: With a wide range of Wix’s design options, users can customize colors, fonts, logos, and other branding elements to match their business’s identity, aligning their desired adjustments.
• Ready-made templates: With a collection of over 900 available website templates, Wix effortlessly creates an e-commerce store with a professional and contemporary look and modern design, ensuring that your online store will make a good impression in its first release.

Ecommerce features on the cheapest plan

• Free domain for 1 year: You can have a custom web address for your online store without any additional cost during the initial year of using their service
• Custom domain: Even after the first year of usage since subscribing to the cheapest plan of Wix, you have the option to connect your custom domain, but there is a cost required.
• Remove Wix branding:  You can customize your online store to have your own branding and logo without any reference to Wix, making it look more professional and polished.
• Storage space: Wix offers 2GB of storage space for the cheapest plan. This amount of storage may suit smaller websites or basic online stores with a limited number of products and media files.
• Video hours: It supports 30 minutes for any video uploaded on the website.
• 24/7 customer care: Even as a newbie, you can get assistance and help with your website anytime, day or night, ensuring you have support whenever needed. 

Customer support

• Phone support
• Social media support
• Community forum
• Email support
• Video tutorials
• 24/7 customer care

Should You Choose Wix’s Cheapest Plan?

Wix is generally a must-try choice for startups or small merchants. Wix’s Light plan may have a slightly higher price tag than other options, but it still provides the primary website-building package for promoting brands and growing sales. You can always explore their free plan with Wix to experience it firsthand.

Squarespace

Squarespace is the perfect platform for new and small businesses looking to create a stunning online presence with its user-friendly interface, best-in-class templates, and powerful features.

Pricing

The most affordable plan is priced at $23 per month and is designed for basic website building for new merchants without e-commerce features. If you’re interested in creating an online store, it would cost $33 to $65 per month and offer a range of e-commerce features.

You can save up to 30% if you choose the annual billing option. Additionally, Squarespace provides a 14-day free trial, allowing you to explore all the features before making a subscription commitment.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Impressive templates 
• Free domain name
• Excellent marketing features 
• Multiple selling online features
• Full help and support

Cons:

• No e-commerce on the cheapest plan
• Page speed

Website features

• User-Friendly Interface: With its intuitive drag-and-drop editor and pre-designed templates, users can easily customize their websites without coding skills. The platform’s clean and organized design allows for smooth navigation, making it simple to add and arrange elements like text, images, and videos with just a few clicks.
• Templates: Squarespace offers over 110 beautifully designed templates to cater to various industries and purposes. These templates are professionally crafted with modern aesthetics and responsiveness, ensuring your website looks stunning and functions seamlessly on any device. 
• Memberships and subscription solutions: Businesses can offer exclusive access to premium content and set up recurring billing for subscription-based products or services, effortlessly creating and managing recurring revenue models, making it a suitable choice for those looking to monetize content or provide subscription-based offerings.

Ecommerce features on the cheapest plan

• Unlimited Bandwidth and Storage: With no restrictions on bandwidth and storage, users can confidently showcase their content without worrying about data limitations.
• SEO features: Optimize your site’s metadata, including page titles, descriptions, and URLs, making it easier for search engines to understand and index your content.
• Video storage: 30 minutes 
• SSL Security: Ensuring data transmitted between the site and visitors are encrypted and protected, boosting user trust and confidence.
• Custom Merch: Easily design and sell custom products without worrying about production, fulfillment, or shipping.
• Spacesquare AI: You can get a full range of third-party tools to manage and optimize the business.
• Spacesquare Extensions: A personal creative agency is built to assist your online stores.
• 24/7 Customer Support: Squarespace offers around-the-clock customer support to assist users with any technical issues or questions.
• Basic website metrics: Users can access basic website metrics to track their site’s performance and gain insights into visitor behavior, helping them make informed decisions to improve their online presence.
• Audience management: Gather important data about your audience by collecting unlimited email subscribers and segmenting the customer base to improve the website’s promotion. 

Customer support

• 24/7 support via email, Facebook, and Twitter
• Live chat 
• Forum
• Guides and videos
• Webinar

Should You Choose Squarespace’s Cheapest Plan?

We recommend Squarespace’s cheapest plan, the Personal plan, for individuals and small businesses who are looking to build a professional and visually appealing website. While it may not include e-commerce functionality, the Personal plan offers a user-friendly interface, access to beautiful templates, basic audience management features, and essential SEO tools to help you establish a strong online presence.

GoDaddy

GoDaddy is a well-known artificial intelligence web hosting and domain registration service that offers a range of website-related solutions for individuals and businesses.

Pricing

It comes with a free plan to get to know all its bits and bobs. The cheapest plan starts at around $9.99 per month with an annual subscription. It includes essential features like a custom domain connection, website hosting, access to the website builder, etc., establishing a simple online presence.

Users are allowed to use a 30-day free trial on every plan.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• User-friendly site builder tool
• Free domain registration for the first term
• 30-day money-back guarantee
• 24/7 support

Cons:

• Limit primary functions on the cheapest plan

Website features

• Website Builder: With 175 pre-made templates available, you can quickly design a site tailored to your specific business needs. The intuitive interface with point-and-click navigation from the right-side menu enables seamless editing and updates, making it accessible even for those without technical expertise. 
• Custom domain connection: Unlike the free option, where your web address includes GoDaddy branding, using a custom domain allows you to create a more professional and branded web presence. This means your website URL will reflect your business name or address, enhancing your online identity and credibility.

Ecommerce features

• Website Builder: The GoDaddy website builder is so easy to use, you can even use it on your phone with its hundreds of premade templates
• Custom Domain Connection: This allows you to use a custom domain name for your web address.
• SSL Certificate: Industry-standard security lets you and your customers know your website is safe.
• Website Analytics: The analytics dashboard provides a quick overview of essential engagement statistics, such as page views and social media connections.
• Chat Bots: A chat window on your website is supported to answer common questions your customers might ask automatically.
• Professional Email Account: You can have an email address ending with your business name or website address for one year of using the Microsoft 365 email service.
• 24/7 Support: GoDaddy’s support staff is always available via chat or phone.
• Online Pay Links: Send custom invoicing links to your customers so they can pay you via your site.
• Virtual Terminal: Using GoDaddy to securely accept payments through your phone or computer by manually entering your customers’ payment information. 
• One-time Appointment Setting: Customers can book appointments directly from your website, automatically updating your calendar. 
• GoDaddy Studio: Leverage GoDaddy’s social media tools to effortlessly craft custom-branded images or videos for your social media presence
• Social Marketing Tools: Third-party databases like Yelp and Google Business Profile, SEO optimization tools, social media posts, etc.
• Email Marketing: Build an email sign-up into your website and send up to 100 emails per month. 

Customer support

• 24/7 chat support
• Phone contact
• Community
• Help Center
• How-to-videos

Should You Choose GoDaddy’s Cheapest Plan?

Certainly, GoDaddy’s cheapest plan is a temporary choice for quickly setting up a simple website, especially with the helpful insight tool. However, as your business expands, you may want to consider upgrading to their higher-tier plans. These offer more advanced SEO tools to improve your site’s performance and visibility on Google, providing better value for your growing needs.

Square Online

Square Online, with its user-friendly features and affordable prices, stands out as a great choice for those starting their e-commerce journey.

Pricing

With Square Online, you’ll find a perfect budget-friendly entry plan for $0, including basic functionalities and customization.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• User-friendly site builder tool
• Free domain registration for the first term
• 30-day money-back guarantee
• 24/7 support

Cons:

• Limit primary functions on the cheapest plan

Website features

• Custom domain: With Square Online, you have the option to connect your custom domain to your online store. This gives you a professional web address that reflects your brand and helps you build a strong online presence.
• Basic design and layout: The platform offers pre-designed layouts for various website sections, including the home page, item pages, header, and footer. Users can easily customize these sections by adjusting the alignment, sizing, and spacing according to their preferences.

Ecommerce features

• Integration with Social Media: Square lets you connect your online store to Facebook and Instagram so that you can sell through your feed of choice. 
• A SSL Certificate for Website Security: It encrypts your website data, allowing Square to handle your online transactions safely.
• Blog Features: Interacting with customers through individually categorized and shareable blog posts that can support reader comments.
• Facebook and Google Ads: This plan enables you to create and manage Facebook and Google ads for your website.
• Integration With POS: You can sync with POS to manage both your in-person and online orders in one place with the Square plan.
• Acceptance of Multiple Payment Methods: Square allows you to accept payments via major credit cards, Google Pay, Paypal, Apple Pay, the Cash App, and, of course, Square Pay.
• Order Management Tools: Set prep or delivery times, require minimum and maximum purchase amounts, and offer custom coupon codes to your customers.
• A Custom Domain Name: This plan enables you to use a custom domain name without “square.com” in the URL. You get a free year of domain registration with all Square paid plans.
• Product Reviews: A built-in system will automatically request customer product reviews and post them on your website.
• Advanced Ecommerce Analytics: Square’s ecommerce statistics allow you to monitor overall sales trends, product performance, and even voucher usage.
• Abandoned Cart Recovery:  The ability to email a visitor if they don’t complete a purchase after adding items to their cart.
• Gifting Options: Customers can add a gift message and receipt to their order or even pay extra for gift wrapping.

Customer support

• Support Center
• Seller community
• Phone contact
• In-app support
• Chatbots

Should You Choose Square Online’s Cheapest Plan?

Square Online’s cheapest plan is a great option for small businesses and startups looking to establish an online presence without breaking the bank. It’s a perfect starting point for syncing an offline business with an online store and offers scalability for future growth.

Hostinger

Hostinger is a leading web hosting provider offering affordable and reliable hosting solutions for individuals and businesses.

Pricing

The cheapest plan of Hostinger costs $2.99 for website builder and website hosting with 3 free months of use. It compromises everything needed to create a website. It would cost $6.99 per month when you renew.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Easy-to-use site dashboard
• Great built-in features
• Plenty of themes
• Convenient marketing tools
• Free to use

Cons:

• Transaction fee on every plan
• Basic customization options

Website features

• Free Website Builder: The website builder is user-friendly and allows you to create and customize your website without any coding knowledge. It comes with over 100 templates and drag-and-drop functionality, making it easy to design your site to your liking. 

Ecommerce features

• Unlimited bandwidth and storage
• Free domain: You can get both hosting and domain from the same provider without incurring any extra costs for the domain.
• Built-in AI tools: Hostinger’s AI tools empower users to create, customize, and optimize their websites more efficiently, including  aspects of logos, copywriters, customer engagement, etc.
• Management tools: selling up to 500 products, over 20 payment options, automatic order tools, inventory management, consultants, and more
• Free email: It enables to create up to 100 email addresses at no extra cost with 1 GB of mailbox storage.
• Marketing integrations: Integrating insights from Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Facebook Pixel, and visitor marketing can grow up your website

Customer support

• 24/7 customer support (Live chat, Email/Ticket system)
• Help Center
• Blogs, tutorials

Should You Choose Hostinger’s Cheapest Plan?

While Hostinger’s Website plan offers excellent affordability at only $2.99 per month, it may not be the ideal choice for selling products. It’s perfect for budget-conscious small business websites due to its AI tools and ease of use. However, its e-commerce capabilities are quite limited. If you require a dedicated online store, it’s recommended to consider other providers like Shopify for a more comprehensive solution.

Bottom Line

Affordable options, rich features, and user-friendly interfaces make these top 6 cheapest website builders perfect choices for budget-conscious individuals and small businesses looking to create a strong online presence.

FAQs