Cheapest Website Builders: Get Online for Under $15

Editor's Choice

Hostinger

Best for AI fans

Very Good

4.3

out of 5

• For beginners
• For the budget-conscious
• For simple website needs

Free trial available

Paid Plans: $2.99 - $109.99 / month

Pros

• Easy to use
• Great suite of AI tools
• Ecommerce plan available

Cons

• Limited scalability
• No app market
• Steep renewal fees

Hostinger Review

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Hostinger is the most affordable website builder I’ve tested. Its user-friendly drag-and-drop editor and ever-growing suite of AI tools makes it an ideal option for beginners and small business owners. However, while its AI tools might be advanced, it lacks other basic functionality. For example, there’s no app store or email marketing features – if these are essential for your site, Squarespace and Shopify will give you access to better tools.

That said, I highly recommend Hostinger if you want to build a simple, personal site or a stripped-back storefront because of its time-saving AI tools and intuitive interface.

How Much Does Hostinger Cost?

Hostinger’s pricing is split between two website builder plans:

• Premium Website Builder – $2.99
• Business Website Builder – $3.99

To unlock Hostinger’s full suite of AI tools and ecommerce features, you’ll need the Business plan. However, the majority of core website features, such as a free domain name and access to the AI website builder, come with the cheaper plan. While Hostinger doesn’t offer a free plan, there’s a 30-day free trial, as well as a 30-day money-back guarantee. Plus, you can get up to three months for free if you choose a 48-month subscription.

Hostinger is a fantastic option if you’re looking to build a website on a budget! Its plans are so affordable compared to other builders, but don’t compromise on great features and Hostinger will give you the freedom to create a great-looking website.

Ollie Simpson Research Executive

Is Hostinger Good Value for Money?

Hostinger performed well in our value for money research. Still, it’s not as cost-effective as GoDaddy or Squarespace which offer a better quantity and quality of features for their price points. Hostinger is let down by its tunnel vision on AI tools, introducing new features this year, including the AI Product Information Generator and Kodee, a built-in AI assistant to help you set up and manage your website. These are incredibly useful, especially for beginners, but it means other fundamental features, such as email marketing, have been neglected.

Additionally, Hostinger’s cheap introductory deals don’t last forever. The initial $2.99 per month on the Premium plan jumps up to $9.99 per month when it’s time to renew. Still, that introductory price is worth it, since Hostinger is considerably cheaper than other builders, costing just $2.99 per month (billed annually). GoDaddy’s cheapest plan is more than double the price of Hostinger!

Shopify

Best for online stores

Great

4.4

out of 5

• Ideal for online stores
• For big inventories
• Good scalability

Free trial available

Paid Plans: $29 - $299 / month

Pros

• Best for experienced builders
• Good AI tools
• Huge app store

Cons

• Handful of free templates
• Some additional costs
• Limited customization

Shopify Review

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Shopify is our top-rated ecommerce website builder thanks to its unbeatable sales features and scalability for growing businesses. Shopify’s focus on selling products, a functionality available across all plans, makes it the ideal builder for setting up an online store. Of course, if you aren’t looking to sell online, you won’t need to budget for one of its expensive plans.

However, Shopify also offers an affordable Shopify Starter plan which lets you sell via social media, so you don’t need to set up an entire online business. This includes basic inventory management tools, analytics to monitor selling, a custom Linkpop page to drive customers to products, and the ability to sell on platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp.

How Much Does Shopify Cost?

Shopify’s pricing is more expensive than other builders on this list, particularly Hostinger. Besides the limited $5 per month Shopify Starter plan, there are three core premium plans:

• Basic – $29
• Shopify – $79
• Advanced – $299

You’ll only need to choose one of these fully-fledged commerce plans if you want to build an online store with advanced selling features, such as abandoned cart recovery, discount codes, and greater customization options to showcase your brand. And, all plans come with an unlimited product limit. However, you’ll need the Shopify plan to unlock additional staff accounts and shipping insurance, and the Advanced plan includes enhanced checkout capacity and custom analytics.

Before you decide, Shopify has a three-day free trial and you can get your first three months for just $1.

Is Shopify Good Value for Money?

Shopify doesn’t perform well in our value for money testing – it’s the weakest option out of the five builders mentioned in this list due to its expensive prices and the fact that not everyone needs its suite of ecommerce features. If your business requires ecommerce functionality, Shopify is a top website builder and worth the cost, but there’s no need to splurge on a Shopify plan if you’re not looking to build an online store.

Given the high costs, Shopify does give you access to powerful ecommerce features from its cheapest plan. The same can’t be said for other website builders, like GoDaddy or Squarespace.

Keep reading to see our Q&A with a real Shopify business:

Peter Martinzez

Co-Founder & Fashion Stylist

Leather Skin Shop is a thriving online leather fashion brand with a vast variety of apparel and accessories for men and women made from the highest quality real leather. Besides their ready-to-wear collections, they offer impeccable customization services for leatherwear.

Choosing the right Shopify plan was crucial […] we carefully evaluated features and pricing to find a plan that perfectly fit our needs and growth projections.

Q&A

1. What did you initially think about Shopify's pricing, and how did you decide that it was a good fit for your business?

Initially, Shopify’s pricing structure felt very reasonable, especially considering the features offered. We started with the Basic Shopify plan, which was perfect for launching our online leatherwear store. We could showcase as many products as we wanted, track our inventory across multiple locations, and still have good checkout capacity on big sales events. 

As our sales grew, upgrading to the Advanced plan provided the additional features we needed to manage inventory and discounts more effectively. The feature of localized selling with custom markets with the advanced plan was a huge plus, allowing us to scale our business growth.

2. Which Shopify features do you think are great value for money?

Several Shopify features have been immensely helpful for us. The built-in abandoned cart recovery has been fantastic for capturing missed sales, and the discount code functionality allows us to run targeted promotions that resonate with our customer base. We also find the ease of adding high-quality product photos and descriptions to be invaluable. It allows us to showcase the rich textures and craftsmanship of our leather goods beautifully.

Customizing our selected Shopify theme, Turbo!, to align with our store’s unique style and objectives proved to be an invaluable investment. The ability to tailor every aspect to our brand’s vision not only justified the cost but also enhanced the overall shopping journey for our customers, ensuring a seamless and delightful experience from start to finish.

3. Do you have any budgeting tips when using Shopify?

Here are a couple of budgeting tips we’ve learned along the way:

We embraced a “start small, grow big” mentality. We began with a modest budget, focusing on core functionalities rather than fancy extras. This allowed us to test the waters and refine our approach before scaling up our spending alongside our business growth.

Choosing the right Shopify plan was crucial. We didn’t get swept up in the most expensive option.  Instead, we carefully evaluated features and pricing to find a plan that perfectly fit our needs and growth projections. This ensured we maximized the value we received from Shopify’s platform.

Shopify offers a treasure trove of free apps and tools. We took full advantage of them to enhance our store’s functionality without breaking the bank. We only invested in premium apps when they addressed a specific need that couldn’t be met with a free alternative.

Keeping a watchful eye on inventory costs has been essential. We’ve implemented strategies to avoid both overstocking and understocking. This helps us minimize carrying costs and ensure we always have the right products in stock to meet customer demand.

Visit Leather Skin Shop here

Pixpa

Best for portfolios

Good

0

out of 5

• Very affordable plans
• Connect with socials
• Great for photographers

Free trial available

Paid Plans: $8 - $25 / month

Pros

• Mobile-friendly templates
• Specialist website builder
• Galleries for sharing and proofing

Cons

• No free plan
• Limited photos on cheapest plan
• Basic features and customization

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Pixpa is an ideal website builder for visual and creative businesses, particularly if you’re looking to build a portfolio or artist website. Its cheapest plan gives you access to basic features, including SEO and social media integration, but the real wow factor is that you can sell online with this plan as well. It costs less than $10! With GoDaddy, for example, ecommerce tools will set you back $20.99 per month.

That said, Pixpa’s sales features pale in comparison to other platforms, such as Shopify. Its analytics and accounting tools are limited, so you’ll struggle to scale your online store as successfully as you would with another option. For that reason, that’s why I recommend Pixpa for portfolios and simple sites.

How Much Does Pixpa Cost?

Pixpa offers four premium plans to choose between:

• Basic – $8 per month
• Creator – $15 per month
• Professional – $20 per month
• Advanced – $25 per month

These are fairly similar in price to GoDaddy, but Pixpa’s plans focus on creatives and portfolio sites especially. The cheapest Basic plan is pretty limited (it only allows up to 10 pages and 200 gallery images), so I recommend starting with at least the Creator plan to unlock extra features, including unlimited pages/images and blogging functionality. Before you decide what plan to pick, you can test out Pixpa’s editor and tools with its 15-day free trial.

Is Pixpa Good Value for Money?

Pixpa’s Basic plan does offer a lot of the standard features you’d expect from a website builder, such as SEO, which is good considering the low price point. But you’ll need to upgrade to at least the Creator plan ($15/mo) for unlimited website pages and images, blogging functionality, a free domain name, advanced SEO like 301 redirects, and additional selling tools, such as coupons. For advanced features like abandoned cart recovery, you’ll have to sign up for the Advanced plan, which costs $25 per month (billed annually).

To get the most out of your money, I recommend choosing the Professional plan since this unlocks almost every feature.

Best Value For Money

GoDaddy

Best for beginners

Very Good

4.3

out of 5

• For the budget-conscious
• Good for beginners
• Speedy setup

Free plan available

Paid Plans: $9.99 - $20.99 / month

Pros

• Get online in seconds
• Excellent 24/7 support
• Editor tutorial available

Cons

• Limited editor
• Lacks quality templates
• Not for advanced designers

GoDaddy Review

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Not only is GoDaddy incredibly cheap for a website builder, but it’s also one of the best options if you’re looking to get online quickly. I got my test website up and running in less than 30 seconds.

Because of this, I recommend GoDaddy for a fast onboarding process and beginner-friendly experience. Its editor is super straightforward to understand, and while GoDaddy lacks many stylish designs or creative capabilities, the simple elements make GoDaddy a good option for content-heavy sites.

How Much Does GoDaddy Cost?

You can get started with GoDaddy’s free-forever plan, but it comes with ads and limited storage. I recommend opting for one of GoDaddy’s premium plans instead:

• Basic – $9.99 per month
• Premium – $14.99 per month
• Commerce – $20.99 per month

GoDaddy’s pricing is very affordable overall, but you’ll need the $20.99 per month (billed annually) Commerce plan to unlock its ecommerce functionality. If you’re just after a basic site and don’t need to sell products, you’ll be fine with the Basic or Premium plan.

Is GoDaddy Good Value for Money?

GoDaddy’s plans are very affordable, and it dropped the price of its Basic plan from $10.99 to $9.99 per month (billed annually) in August 2024. This cements its position as the best value for money builder on this list! You get a decent amount of features for the price point, and its ecommerce plan is a cheaper alternative to builders like Wix or Squarespace.

Plus, GoDaddy offers a free plan which you can stay on for as long as you’d like. However, I’d recommend upgrading to remove ads and unlock additional features, such as ecommerce.

Squarespace

Best for creatives

Excellent

4.6

out of 5

• For creatives
• Beginner-friendly editor
• Stunning designs

Free trial available

Paid Plans: $16 - $52 / month

Pros

• Easiest website builder
• Improved AI tools
• Drag-and-drop editor

Cons

• No autosave when editing
• No free plan
• Pay extra for scheduling

Squarespace Review

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Squarespace is one of the more expensive website builders on this list, but you get a lot of bang for your buck. Its newly revamped AI website builder (Blueprint AI) will have your business online in minutes, and its intuitive editor is the easiest one I’ve tested. While Squarespace lacks some multilingual features to help you expand your store overseas, Squarespace does excel when it comes to its designs and built-in tools.

I highly recommend using Squarespace if you’re a creative in need of affordable website design, thanks to its stunning templates and elements. Squarespace’s Acuity Scheduling tool also makes offering appointments and bookings seamless for service-based businesses.

How Much Does Squarespace Cost?

Squarespace’s pricing and plans are listed below, with only the Personal plan lacking ecommerce functionality:

• Personal – $16 per month
• Business – $23 per month
• Commerce Basic – $28 per month
• Commerce Advanced – $52 per month

The Personal plans includes unlimited storage, SEO tools, and a free custom domain name. However, you’ll need the Business plan or above to start selling products online. Once you hit the Commerce Basic plan, Squarespace removes transaction fees entirely and provides additional sales features, but Commerce Advanced is the only plan to include abandoned cart recovery and subscription products.

Squarespace is currently rolling out new plans and pricing, ranging from $16 to $99 per month (billed annually). These plans haven’t been widely introduced yet, but I’ll update the information once the new plans become the default option. Until then, you can get started with Squarespace’s 14-day free trial and save 10% with our exclusive “WBE” code.

Is Squarespace Good Value for Money?

If you’re looking for a cheap website builder, Squarespace is great value for money, sitting just behind GoDaddy in our research. On paper, this might seem surprising considering its cheapest plan is more expensive than Hostinger or Pixpa. But, you get a lot for your money with Squarespace – the majority of features, besides ecommerce, are available on the cheapest Personal plan.

Plus, Squarespace’s pricing doesn’t leap up when upgrading. Despite pricing increases in April 2024, Squarespace’s most expensive plan only costs $52, whereas Shopify’s top plan costs $299 per month (billed annually).

Read the Q&A below to discover an insightful first-hand experience with Squarespace:

Lauren Galvez

SEO Consultant

Lauren Galvez is an SEO marketing consultant for small businesses and she runs her business from her website built on Squarespace. She’s been a Squarespace fan for the last 5 years having tried many popular CMSs (Wix, Weebly, Duda, WordPress, and Shopify).

Take advantage of Squarespace’s 14-day free trial and see how you like using their platform.

Q&A

1. What appealed to you the most about Squarespace’s pricing?

I found Squarespace’s pricing to be competitive with other popular hosted CMSs and it was easy to get started with the 14-day free trial. It’s also not hard to find Certified Squarespace users who advertise their 20% discount offer for your first year.

2. Which Squarespace features do you think are great value for money?

My favorite things about Squarespace are its ease of use and aesthetic design elements. Squarespace offers just enough customizability without overcomplicating the web design process. As someone who has analysis paralysis, this was just what I needed to get up a beautiful and professional website quickly. I enjoy being on the Squarespace platform because of its user-friendliness and this is one less potential headache for all that comes with managing a business.

3. Do you have any budgeting tips for other businesses who are considering using Squarespace?

Take advantage of Squarespace’s 14-day free trial and see how you like using their platform. Experience what it will be like designing or making edits to your website by trying the different design blocks. Explore Squarespace’s settings and business integrations to ensure it’ll have everything you need to manage your unique business. Compare your experience to the free trials with other website builders. If you commit to using Squarespace, find a discount for your first year and consider paying annually for more savings.

Check out Lauren’s website here

Thinking about building a website? A cheap website builder is a great place to start since you won’t break the bank as you figure things out, but there are a few factors to consider when looking:

• Review the website builder’s pricing and plans – Is there an affordable option that suits your needs? Is there a free trial or plan to test things out first? Is there a steep price increase between plans or can you scale your website steadily?
• Assess your website’s “must-haves” – For example, if you want to create an online store, you’ll need a plan that lets you accept payments. Thinking about writing content? Then your plan should include blogging tools. Shop around to find the right fit for your needs, or consider upgrading to a higher plan if you need access to certain features.
• See which builder suits your style of learning and skill level – Is the website builder easy to use? Are there templates that you like? Can you design the website you want to create with the builder’s editor? Is there support available if you need a helping hand?

Should You Choose a Free Plan?

Of the five builders in this list, GoDaddy is the only one that offers a free plan. A free plan will save you more money than a cheap plan, but you’ll miss out on a lot of features. Depending on the website builder, this could mean no ecommerce tools or SEO features. Usually, free plans come with ads that take attention away from the content on your site, and you won’t be able to connect a custom domain name until you upgrade.

For a more professional look and better backend management, I recommend opting for a paid plan as soon as possible. But you can take a look at our list of the best free website builders to see what’s out there.

We put every website builder through our rigorous testing process to create our data-backed recommendations. We want you, our readers, to have all of the information you need to make an informed decision when it comes to deciding what website builder to pick. To do that, I’ve built a website with each of these builders to test its features and limits, meaning I can share my unique experiences throughout the article.

Our research is broken down into seven categories: website features, sales features, design functionality, help and support, user experience, customer score, and value for money.

To determine our list of the cheapest website builders, we’ve assessed the average pricing plans for each builder and reviewed the cheapest introductory deals on the market.

Are you looking for an affordable way to get online? Or, maybe you think you’re paying too much with your current website builder and want to find a cheaper alternative? I’ve shared the cheapest introductory deals across five top website builders to help preserve your budget.

Hostinger is the cheapest website builder out there, starting from $2.99 per month with its Premium Website Builder plan. And, its very affordable $3.99 Business plan includes a suite of AI features and ecommerce functionality. So, because of its easy-to-use platform, I highly recommend Hostinger for beginners.

Just remember to keep an eye out for renewal prices and upgrade costs. The cheapest plan might only offer some of your website or business needs, but it can be a great place to start!