Website Builder Comparison Chart 2024: A Side-by-Side Review

For the best website builder, Wix is our top choice overall, catering to both beginners and tech-savvy veterans with its creative freedom and comprehensive features.

But, if you’re not sure which builder is right for you, our comparison chart allows you to compare the key features that matter and find the best solution for creating your website:

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Wix

Squarespace

Shopify

Hostinger

GoDaddy

Overall Rating
4.8
Overall Rating
4.6
Overall Rating
4.4
Overall Rating
4.3
Overall Rating
4.3
Best For

Best overall website builder

Best For

Easiest website builder

Best For

Best ecommerce website builder

Best For

For time-saving AI tools

Best For

Best value for money

Starting from
Starting from
Starting from
Starting from

$11.99

85% off for Black Friday: $1.95 + 3 months free (48-month term)

Starting from

$9.99

Free plan or free trial

Free plan

Free plan or free trial

14-day free trial

Free plan or free trial

3-day free trial

Free plan or free trial

30-day free trial

Free plan or free trial

Free plan

What We Like
  • Drag-and-drop editor for total creative control
  • Personalized SEO checklist
  • User-friendly and caters to all skill levels
What We Like
  • Intuitive and easy-to-use editor
  • Great booking tools to offer services online
  • Ideal for creatives with its stunning templates & designs
What We Like
  • Impressive sales features, including unlimited products & 100+ payment options
  • 8,000+ app market
  • Mobile-responsive online store
What We Like
  • Drag-and-drop editor with smart grid is beginner-friendly
  • Incredibly affordable plans, especially for selling
  • Impressive suite of AI tools
What We Like
  • Build a website in less than a minute
  • Great option for beginners with editing support
  • Affordable plans for websites and online stores
What We Dislike
  • Can’t switch your template after publishing your site
  • Huge library of features which can be overwhelming
  • Plans aren’t the most affordable
What We Dislike
  • Smart grid in editor can limit you creatively
  • No autosave feature when designing
  • Limited scalability for larger businesses
What We Dislike
  • Limited customization options with section-based editor
  • Additional costs to consider, such as apps
  • Only a handful of free templates
What We Dislike
  • Limited scalability and customization options
  • No app market and lack of built-in features
  • Renewal prices are steep after introductory deal
What We Dislike
  • Limited and uninspiring design options
  • Features are too simple for complex businesses
  • There’s no app market so you can’t add extra functionality
Number of templates

900+

Number of templates

150+

Number of templates

150+

Number of templates

150+

Number of templates

200+

Free custom domain
Free custom domain
Free custom domain
Free custom domain
Free custom domain
SEO

Excellent

SEO

Very good

SEO

Excellent

SEO

Good

SEO

Good

Social media integration
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • X/Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • TikTok
  • Pinterest
Social media integration
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • X/Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • TikTok
  • Pinterest

 

Social media integration
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • X/Twitter
  • TikTok
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
Social media integration
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • X/Twitter
  • LinkedIn
Social media integration
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • X/Twitter
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
  • TikTok
  • Pinterest
Marketing Capabilities

Weekly newsletters, email shout-outs, social post creator, abandoned cart recovery

Marketing Capabilities

Email shout-outs, weekly newsletters, social post creator, abandoned cart recovery

Marketing Capabilities

Weekly newsletters, email shout-outs, full social media integrations, email campaigns through third-party apps

Marketing Capabilities

Automatic email shout-outs, weekly newsletters

Marketing Capabilities

Email shout-outs, weekly newsletters, social post creator

Analytics
Analytics
Analytics
Analytics
Analytics
Email marketing

$10/month (+ free plan)

Email marketing

$5/month

Email marketing

$1/per month (+ free plan)

Email marketing

No built-in email markeitng

Email marketing

$1.99/month

AI Features
  • AI website builder
  • AI portfolio creator
  • AI text creator
  • AI email generator
  • AI image creator & editor
  • AI theme assistant
  • AI product descriptions
AI Features
  • AI website builder (Blueprint AI)
  • AI text generator
  • AI product descriptions
  • AI site descriptions
  • AI business name generator
  • AI client documents
AI Features
  • Shopify Magic
  • Shopify Sidekick (coming soon)
AI Features
  • AI website builder
  • AI image generator
  • AI product information generator
  • AI writer
  • AI heatmaps
  • AI assistant
  • AI logo maker
  • AI SEO tools
AI Features
  • AI website builder
  • GoDaddy Airo
  • GoDaddy Studio
  • AI domain name support
  • AI product descriptions
  • AI prompt library
View Wix View Squarespace View Shopify View Hostinger View GoDaddy

How We Test Website Builders

The chart above compares the top website builders on the market. But how did we choose the best platforms and rank them?

We aim to provide you with the most accurate and honest information possible, which is why we regularly review and test website builders to bring you up-to-date recommendations.

This involves hundreds of hours of analysis, hands-on testing, and data collection. Our research process covers six core categories, with each area given a unique weighting:

  • Website Features: 30%
  • Design Functionality: 25%
  • User Experience: 17%
  • Help & Support: 10%
  • Value for Money: 10%
  • Customer Score: 8%

We give each website builder we test a score in each category to contribute to the overall rankings you see above.

We also have individual industry rankings, with everything from blogging, small business, resumes, wedding, and photography websites.

Comparing Website Builders: Our Top Choices

In 2024, we reviewed 16 of the best website builders on the market to determine the top contenders. To summarize the table above, these are our top five builders:

Wix is the best website builder overall, offering powerful features, a drag-and-drop editor, and dependable support options. Of course, it won’t be the right fit for everyone, which is why we’re sharing a side-by-side look with other top contenders.

Squarespace sits close behind Wix in our research. It’s a great option for creatives with its stunning designs and intuitive editor. And, rounding out our top three is Shopify – unmatched when it comes to selling online.

For affordability, Hostinger and GoDaddy offer incredibly cheap plans to get started, but the two platforms are more simple in nature than our top three.

If you’re still unsure which builder is right for you, get a personalized website builder recommendation from our 1-minute quiz:

What type of website do you want to create?

Find Your Builder
Written by:
Headshot of Emma Ryan
Emma is Lead Writer at Website Builder Expert, having first joined the team in 2022. She manages the website's topical content strategy to help website owners navigate the highs and lows of being online. Emma also specializes in following the development of leading website builders Wix, Squarespace, and Shopify, through hands-on testing and research. Her work and expertise have been featured in Startups.co.uk, Digiday, TechRound, Industry Today, and Digital Information World.
Researched by:
natasha_willett
I love to understand human behavior and the cognitive biases that drive us to do what we do. For over nine years I have worked as a mixed method researcher – research using a mix of numerical data and personal experiences – across a range of sectors, from insurance and policy development to finally arriving at Website Builder Expert five years ago. Fascinated by consumer decision-making, I meticulously built our leading ranking methodology to explore where providers like Wix sit within a competitive industry and what value they truly bring to our audience.
As a member of the Market Research Society, I’m an advocate for high ethical, commercial, and methodological best practices. All of this combines to give you the most ethical recommendations based on real data.

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