7 Easy & Free Website Builders To Launch Your Business At No Cost

In this guide, we delve into the world of the 7 easiest free website builders, simplifying the process of creating your online presence, no matter your level of expertise.

The 7 Easiest Free Website Builders You Should Check Out

In this section, we’ll introduce you to seven of the easiest website builders, each offering a simple and user-friendly way to create your online presence for free. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced user, these platforms have something for everyone.

Square Online

Square Online is a top easy website builder free for various types of businesses, enabling quick setup without requiring design or coding expertise. Its robust eCommerce capabilities and seamless integration with Square POS make it a suitable choice for businesses like restaurants, cafes, and service providers.

Square Online features in the free plan include:

• A website builder with basic layouts and design controls
• Sell on social media ability
• Multiple sites and location management
• Order operations management
• In-store & curbside pickup
• On-demand and in-house delivery
• Shipping rate discounts
• Multiple payment methods
• Unlimited products
• Basic SEO tools
• Standard support

Ease of Use

Square Online is known for its simplicity and ease of use, making it accessible even for those with no web design or coding experience. 

Customization Options

Square Online is known for its user-friendly interface, but it offers limited customization compared to more complex website builders like Shopify, Wix, or Squarespace. In its free plan, you do not have access to the website themes, customization is manual and basic, meaning that you need to adjust layouts, items, and other elements yourself. This could be a drawback for businesses seeking a quick setup and a unique, tailored web presence.

Who it’s best suited for

• Small to Midsize Businesses (SMBs) seeking a simple and efficient online store with a minimalistic design.
• Retail shops, cafes, coffee shops, and service-based businesses like salons and fitness studios.
• Brick-and-mortar stores using Square POS
• Businesses that prioritize ease of use and management over advanced customization.

Canva

Canva, known for its user-friendly graphic design tools, has ventured into website building.

Canva’s free plan is packed with features that cater to various needs:

• Intuitive Drag-and-Drop Interface 
• Over 1 million professionally designed templates
• Over 3 million stock photos and graphics
• AI-generated design
• 5Gb of cloud storage

Ease of Use

Canva is known for its straightforward, user-friendly interface. This simplicity particularly appeals to those without web design experience or those needing to create a website quickly.

Customization Options

While Canva allows for basic customization of elements such as text, images, and colors, it might not be suitable for more complex website designs. The level of customization is limited compared to more specialized website builders.

Who it’s best suited for

• Individuals or small businesses needing a basic online presence without the complexities of a traditional website.
• Individuals or small businesses who want to create basic one-page websites, such as personal portfolios, event pages, or simple brochure websites.

WordPress

WordPress is well-known as one of the easiest free website builders. It is known for its open-source nature, extensive customization options, and a large community of users and developers.

The free plan of WordPress has some notable features, including

• Beautiful themes and patterns
• Transform your site design with themes and drag-and-drop layouts.
• Unlimited pages
• Add as many pages as you like to your site.
• Unlimited users
• Invite others to contribute to your site and assign access permissions.
• Time machine for post-edits
• Roll back your posts to an earlier edit with a built-in revision history.
• Built-in newsletters & RSS
• Let your followers subscribe to your content as a newsletter or via RSS.
• Brute-force protection
• Stay protected from brute-force attacks on your account password.
• Smart redirects
• Count on automatic redirects when you update your post or page’s URL.
• Online forever
• Build and count on a site designed to last forever.
• 10% commission fee (plus standard processing fee) for payments
• 1GB storage

Ease of Use

WordPress has a learning curve, especially for beginners. Customizing themes and using the platform effectively might require technical knowledge or learning time. The platform offers two types of content editors: the Classic editor and the Gutenberg editor. The Gutenberg editor provides a more visual, block-based approach to content creation.

Customization Options

WordPress stands out for its high degree of customization. Users have access to over 50,000 plugins and thousands of themes. The platform allows full control over the website’s backend, allowing it to extensively edit and manage the design and content.

Who it’s best suited for

• Users who require a platform with advanced customization
• Bloggers looking to establish an online presence.
• Students and educators
• Small to medium-sized businesses and anyone looking to create a website with unique functionalities or specific design requirements.
• Users who plan to scale their website over time.

Webflow

Webflow is an easy and free website builder that stands out as a comprehensive tool, catering to beginners and professional designers with many features to suit various needs.

The free plan of Webflow includes several noteworthy features:

• Webflow.io domain
• An entry-level site of 2 pages, 50 CMS items, 50 lifetime form submissions
• 1 GB bandwidth
• 1,000 visitors

Ease of use

Users can design and structure their websites visually without needing to write code. The platform’s Webflow University offers extensive resources like video tutorials and articles, which are very helpful for users to understand and leverage Webflow’s tools.

Customization options

Webflow offers a high degree of customization, allowing users to control various design aspects of their website. The platform provides over 100 free and premium responsive templates, which can be fully customized without coding.

Who it’s best suited for

• Small business owners who need a professional-looking website without a significant investment.
• Freelancers and creatives to showcase portfolios or projects.
• Beginners in website building.
• Students and educators

Jimdo

Jimdo is designed to be an easy website builder. It offers a blend of automated site creation and manual editing, making it accessible for those with little to no web design experience.

The free plan from Jimdo is packed with essential features, offering a solid foundation for anyone starting their online journey. Key features include

• .jimdosite.com subdomain
• 500 MB storage
• 2 GB bandwidth
• Mobile responsiveness
• Maximum 5 pages
• Contact form
• Access to image library

Ease of use

Jimdo is very user-friendly and ideal for beginners or those who want to get a site up quickly without much fuss. It uses an Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) system named Jimdo Dolphin, which helps create websites based on user responses to a series of questions. This system simplifies the design process, making it more streamlined and specific to the user’s needs.

Customization Options

While Jimdo allows basic customization, like changing color schemes, it’s not particularly flexible in terms of layout or deeper customization. This may limit users looking for highly personalized or unique design features.

Who it’s best suited for

• Small businesses needing a professional-looking site without the complexity of more advanced website builders.
• Freelancers in various fields like writing, graphic design, or programming.
• Personal brands and bloggers, or individuals looking to build a personal brand.

Google Sites

Google Sites is one of the easiest free website builders available for everyone who has a Google account. Its ease of use can help you create a simple website in under 10 minutes.

Google Sites features include:

• Drag-and-drop interface
• Ready-made templates
• Responsive design
• Integration with Google Services.
• Embedding content from other websites, such as YouTube videos, Google Maps, or Google Forms
• 100MB storage

Ease of use

The platform is straightforward, with a clean and simple interface. Users can create a website without any knowledge of HTML or CSS.

Customization options

While Google Sites allows for some basic customization, like changing colors and fonts, it offers limited design flexibility compared to more advanced website builders. The templates are relatively basic and not highly customizable.

Who it’s best suited for

• Non-profit organizations or community groups that need a simple online presence.
• Teams needing a central online space for sharing information and resources.
• Internal company websites for information sharing among employees.
• Freelancers who want to build an online portfolio and list services.

Site123.com

Site123.com is a web-based platform that offers a straightforward and user-friendly solution for website building. It’s designed for simplicity and ease of use, catering primarily to beginners and those who prefer a hassle-free approach to creating a website.

Site123.com free plan features include

• Basic website functionality
• 250 MB storage
• 250 MB bandwidth
• Subdomain
• Basic SEO tools 
• Responsive design templates

Ease of use

Site123 offers an intuitive and straightforward interface. It’s designed for users with little to no web development expertise. The platform provides guided instructions, making building a website less daunting for beginners. While not as flexible as other website builders, it provides a basic drag-and-drop editor that simplifies the design process.

Customization options

Site123 offers a variety of templates, but they tend to have a more standardized look. The customization options are somewhat limited compared to more advanced builders. Users can change basic elements like colors, fonts, and layouts.

Who it’s best suited for

• Small business owners, freelancers, or individuals who need a basic web presence without the complexity of building a custom website.
• Local businesses needing an online platform to display products, menus, and services.
• Startups and new businesses testing the online waters before scaling up.
• Personal projects, blogs, or portfolios

Limitations of Free Plans and Considerations for Upgrading

The most common constraint is the presence of the builder’s branding on your site, which can detract from a professional appearance. Additionally, free plans typically offer limited bandwidth and storage, which can restrict your site’s growth and performance. Another limitation is the lack of a custom domain name, which is crucial for establishing a credible online identity.

Upgrading can be a strategic investment for businesses poised for growth, as it allows for a more robust and scalable online presence, catering to a wider audience and potentially driving more traffic and engagement. 

Upgraded plans usually provide a custom domain name, increased bandwidth and storage, and removal of builder branding, which significantly enhances your website’s professionalism and credibility. They also offer advanced features like e-commerce capabilities, access to premium templates, and better SEO tools. 

Two Recommended Subscription Website Builders

For those considering a subscription plan, we’ll present two highly recommended website builders: Shopify and Wix. 

Shopify

Shopify is the easiest way to start your online business. It’s an e-commerce platform known for affordability, attractive designs, and useful marketing tools to start and grow your business.

Shopify most standout features include:

• Over 150 professionally ready-made themes.
• Built-in SEO and marketing tools
• Inventory Management
• Unlimited Products
• Unlimited Bandwidth
• POS Integration
• An extensive app store with over 8,000 apps.
• 24/7 customer support
• Abandoned cart recovery
• Shipping discounts
• Support for multiple payment methods
• A built-in payment gateway

Pricing: Shopify subscription plans start at $39 per month with a standard 3-day free trial.

Wix

Wix is perfect for small businesses, whether you’re starting or growing. Wix provides tools to sell products, accept bookings, and explore additional revenue options. You also get analytics, inventory tracking, email marketing, and more.

Key features of Wix:

• Drag-and-Drop Website Creation 
• AI Editor for Quick Site Building
• 900+ Customizable Design
• Mobile responsiveness
• Marketing Tools and Integrations
• SEO Features:
• eCommerce Capabilities

Pricing

Wix provides 5 subscription plans tailored to your specific business requirements, with pricing starting from $16/month.

Final Thought

To sum it up, these 7 easy and free website builders make online presence creation a breeze, suiting various requirements. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pro, you’ll find the perfect platform to build your website with ease.

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