5 Best Free Website Builders 2024: The Definitive List

Compare the Top 5 Free Website Builders

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Get all of the key information at a glance with our helpful comparison table:

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BEST IN TEST
Wix	GoDaddy	Square Online	Pagecloud	Webflow
Overall Rating 4.8	Overall Rating 4.3	Overall Rating 3.6	Overall Rating 3.5	Overall Rating 3.2
Cheapest plan $17 $15.30 with code ‘TAKE10’	Cheapest plan $9.99	Cheapest plan $29	Cheapest plan $20	Cheapest plan $14
Number of free templates 900+	Number of free templates 200+	Number of free templates 50+	Number of free templates 50+	Number of free templates 40+
Storage space on free plan 500MB	Storage space on free plan Unlimited	Storage space on free plan 500MB	Storage space on free plan Unlimited	Storage space on free plan 1GB
On-site ad on free plan Sticky top banner	On-site ad on free plan Top banner	On-site ad on free plan Bottom banner	On-site ad on free plan Footer disclaimer	On-site ad on free plan Limited ads
Visit Wix	Visit GoDaddy	Visit Square	Visit Pagecloud	Visit Webflow

Prefer to have someone talk you through the key highlights, pros, cons, and pricing of each builder? Check out our video comparison!

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1. Wix – Best Overall Free Website Builder

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Editor's Choice

Wix

Best overall website builder with a variety of free features

Outstanding

4.8

out of 5

• 900+ customizable designs
• Easiest builder to use
• Tons of creative freedom

Free plan available

Paid Plans: $17 - $159 / month

Pros

• Plenty of features on the free plan
• 250+ apps to add more power to your site
• Free SEO wizard helps gain more traffic

Cons

• Free plan ads are very noticeable
• Can’t switch templates after publishing
• Cheapest upgrade costs $17/month

Wix Review

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If you’re looking to make the best website for free, I can’t recommend Wix enough. While all the free plans on this list come with some limitations, it’s the versatility of the Wix editor that makes even its free plan head and shoulders above the competition!

To see a free Wix website in action, check out my demo site: carnagelucy.wixsite.com/lucyscupcakes 

My Experience With Wix

On the free plan, you’ll get a choice of over 900 impeccably designed templates, ranging across a number of varying industries. When testing, I used Wix’s AI website builder which created a custom website template for me.

From Wix Booking, Wix Menu, Wix Video, Wix Forms, and a whole host of other free-to-install apps, Wix sets itself apart by giving you the best variety of features to use and make your website your own – no matter what type of website you want to make.

However, there are some drawbacks to the free plan. You’re limited to only 500MB of storage, meaning your site cannot be too large to have too many images. Additionally, while you do get a lot of customization options, I found Wix’s editor a little overwhelming with too many creative options at times – even on the free plan! If you do get stuck, Wix’s Help Center can guide you through its handy search bar directly in the editor.

Upgrade Cost: $17 per month

Wix’s pricing begins with the Light plan for $17 per month, billed annually. This plan removes any ads from your site, lets you use a custom domain, and increases your storage to 2GB.

If you’re looking to sell, you’ll need to upgrade to the Core plan, which begins at $29 per month.

These plans are slightly more expensive than others on this list, so I understand you may not be entirely convinced to upgrade. But with all the features on offer, our research shows that Wix is still great value for money.

If you love getting deals, use the code TAKE10 at checkout to get 10% off your Wix plan.

More Information

• See Wix’s potential for an online store with our Wix Ecommerce Review.
• What’s better? Wix AI vs Wix Editor? See our detailed breakdown to find out.

2. GoDaddy – For Getting A Free Website Online Quickly

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GoDaddy

Best for getting online quickly for free

Very Good

4.3

out of 5

• User-friendly with ADI
• Quickest builder to use
• SEO Wiz to help optimize

Free plan available

Paid Plans: $9.99 - $20.99 / month

Pros

• Plenty of features on the free plan
• Switch templates when you want
• Improved site performance

Cons

• Lack of creative control
• No mobile editor
• Upgrade for custom domains

GoDaddy Review

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GoDaddy is a lot like Wix in that it comes with plenty of features and templates, even on the free plan. GoDaddy also features an AI builder and suggested I use it before looking at its templates. Ease of use is the name of GoDaddy’s game, and thanks to its AI functionality, the builder even matches Wix for user experience in our research.

To see a free GoDaddy website in action, check out my demo site: samspetgrooming.godaddysites.com

My Experience With GoDaddy

With the support of AI and a breezy editor, I could build a polished GoDaddy website in under an hour.

But this does reveal a weakness of GoDaddy’s, which is its lack of customization options. This can appeal to beginners who may agonize over creative choices with a builder like Wix or Webflow, because GoDaddy gives you a much more limited array of options for creating a website. However, I don’t recommend it if you’re looking for lots of creative freedom.

I was impressed that, on the free plan, I could utilize the basic features of GoDaddy Studio to create visual content for my sites. Plus, I was able to send marketing emails – albeit with a default GoDaddy domain. Its range of features,  as well as how easy it is to use, makes GoDaddy a great option if you want to experiment with website building for free before starting to sell online – which you’ll need to upgrade to GoDaddy’s Commerce Plan for.

Upgrade Cost: $9.99 per month

GoDaddy’s pricing begins at $9.99 per month, when billed annually with the Basic plan. With this plan, you get access to a custom domain, no ads, plus improved marketing capabilities like advanced SEO and the ability to send 100 emails per month for your business.

If you want to dive into the world of ecommerce, the dedicated Commerce plan is your go-to, setting you back $20.99 per month. It has everything you need – from selling on Facebook and Instagram to connecting with marketplaces like Amazon and Etsy.

More Information

• Everything you need to know about building an online store in a flash with our GoDaddy Ecommerce Review.
• We compare the differences between Wix and GoDaddy to help you decide.

3. Square Online – For Selling Online For Free

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Square Online

Best for selling online for free

Good

3.6

out of 5

• Sell online for free
• Speedy set up
• Mediocre templates

Free plan available

Paid Plans: $12 - $79 / month

Pros

• Good value for money if upgrading
• Simple to navigate dashboard
• Unlimited products on free plan

Cons

• Hard to customize
• Pay for the best features
• Weak design options

Square Online Review

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Square Online is the only builder on this list that lets you sell for free. This is a huge advantage for those who want to create an online store without breaking the bank in website costs.

To see a free Square Online website in action, check out my demo site: lucys-cupcakes.square.site

My Experience With Square Online

With Square Online, I was able to access basic SEO tools, integrate social media, and choose from lots of widely accepted payment types – all for free. This builder does charge transaction fees for each purchase made on your site, meaning you’ll have to pay 2.9% + 30¢ on each transaction. However this is a common occurrence with most builders, and being able to make a profit (transaction fees notwithstanding) for free is an incredible feature, and one not shared by any other on this list.

Unfortunately, Square Online’s editor and design customization are some of the weakest I’ve tested. Unless you upgrade, you won’t be able to access themes, remove Square Online ads, use custom fonts, or connect a custom domain.

Upgrade Cost: $29 per month

Square Online’s pricing begins with the Plus plan for $29 per month, when billed annually. This plan is more expensive than others on this list due to the fact Square Online is primarily an ecommerce platform, meaning it needs a wider range of features to accommodate businesses. These features include accepting PayPal, scheduled product drops, subscriptions, and personalized ordering – as well as giving users custom domains and no ads.

More Information

• Read our How to Customize a Square Online Website to get the most out of your plan.

4. Pagecloud – For One-Page Sites

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Pagecloud

Best for one-page websites

Average

3.5

out of 5

• Not ideal for beginners
• Lots of customization
• Drag-and-drop editor

Free plan available

Paid Plans: $20 / month

Pros

• Unique website elements
• Build with other people

Cons

• No autosave feature
• Difficult to navigate

Pagecloud Review

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Coming in fourth place on our list of the top five free website builders is Pagecloud. When building my demo website with Pagecloud, the editor and dashboard were fairly easy to navigate but it didn’t feel as intuitive or user-friendly as other builders, such as Wix.

To see a free Pagecloud website in action, check out my demo site: lucys-cupcakes.mypagecloud.com

My Experience With Pagecloud

I faced a lot of slow loading times when editing, and some steps felt unnecessarily complicated. For example, I could edit text directly on the page, but editing an image opened up a separate menu, which was very frustrating.

Pagecloud’s free plan feels more like a free trial; it’s incomplete, and geared towards pushing you to upgrade to a paid plan. For example, it only lets you publish one page. One-page website builders do exist, but they’re limiting in terms of the type of website you can make. Plus, you’ll be capped at 10 blog posts and 1,000 website visitors per month – limits that will be problematic for many ecommerce and personal sites.

That said, Pagecloud’s free plan would be a solid choice for certain types of portfolio websites – such as for a presentation or school project – that work well with the one-page format and won’t require a high volume of site traffic.

Upgrade Cost: $20 per month

Pagecloud’s pricing begins at $20 per month, billed annually on the Launch plan. With this plan, you get 100 pages, redirects, no ads, a custom domain, plus free Google Workplace (priced at $72 value).

While the Launch plan is closer in price to an ecommerce plan, it doesn’t have sales features. If you require ecommerce functionality, Pagecloud’s ecommerce pricing begins with the Starter plan for $29 per month.

5. Webflow – For Having Limited Ads

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Webflow

Best free plan with limited ads

Above Average

3.2

out of 5

• Advanced customization
• Section block editor
• Industry-specific themes

Free plan available

Paid Plans: $14 / month

Pros

• Virtual design assistant
• Ideal for experienced builders
• No ads on free plan

Cons

• Overwhelming for beginners
• No drag-and-drop editor
• Hardest free builder to use

Webflow Review

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Webflow is a website builder with advanced customization features and superb-looking templates, plus its free plan has the least amount of ads on it – a small, unintrusive “Powered by Webflow” at the bottom of the page!

To see a free Webflow website in action check out my demo website: lucys-cupcakes-e53b96.webflow.io

My Experience With Webflow

Webflow’s advanced customization features are pretty technical, and I had trouble feeling comfortable when using the builder. Webflow is designed with professional web developers in mind. In my experience, I found the lack of a drag-and-drop editor to be a struggle. For beginners, Webflow is difficult to get to grips with.

But, if you have web developer experience (or just the patience to learn), Webflow’s free plan will give you a great-looking website for free with limited ads.

Although its editing capabilities are strong, Webflow’s free plan also caps your site at 1,000 monthly visitors, like Pagecloud. You’ll also only have 1GB bandwidth to work with, making it best suited to simple static sites. I wouldn’t recommend Webflow’s free plan if you’re looking to build a content-heavy site, as it won’t be able to handle much traffic.

Upgrade Cost: $14 per month

Webflow’s pricing is split between two types of paid plans: General and Ecommerce plans.

Of the general paid plans, the Basic plan costs $14 per month (billed annually). You’ll get:

• A custom domain
• No ads
• Increase in traffic allowance from 1K visitors to 250K
• 150 pages to edit instead of just two

If you want ecommerce, the Standard plan starts at $29 per month, when billed annually. The plan gives you access to over 500 product slots to sell – this is disappointing when compared to Square Online which, for the same upgrade cost, gives you unlimited items to sell.

More Information

• See which of these website builders wins the battle of design in our Squarespace vs Webflow head-to-head.

How To Choose a Free Website Builder

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When choosing a free website builder, you must first accept that you’ll be receiving a lesser product than if you paid for it. Website builders are businesses after all, and they charge a subscription fees so they can make a profit where no one else can.

That being said, it doesn’t mean you should lower your standards when looking for a free website builder. You can have it all if you know what to look for. That’s why we’ve come up with three important questions you should consider when looking over the potential candidates for your free website builder:

• Do the limitations outweigh the benefits?
• Will there be any other costs?
• Would you be better off with a paid subscription?

You should consider each of these carefully when choosing. For instance, if you want to build a free online store with Square Online, you have to take into account that its customization is weak and you’ll still have to pay transaction fees. In the end, it may be worth just spending the money for a full ecommerce platform subscription.

Can You Actually Make a Website for Free?

Yes, as long as you’re fine with the limitations. It all depends on the type of website you want to make. If you want to start a business with a professional website front, then I recommend shelling out a bit to make sure you look like a trustworthy business someone could spend money with.

But if you just want a website to journal thoughts, post art, or info-dump on niche topics, a free plan on any of these builders mentioned is absolutely fine for that purpose. Ads, non-custom domains, and limited design options won’t matter if the website is predominantly for you – and if you can’t accept the ads or non-custom domain, the builders tend to do a thorough job of directing you to the upgrade button!

How We Test

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At Website Builder Expert, we pride ourselves on sharing data-led recommendations with our readers. To bring you the best free website builders on the market, our in-house research team has put over 50 builders through our expert research methodology.

While the most important aspect was whether they had a free plan or not, we also wanted to evaluate each free plan by its own merits. This involved changing the weighting of our research categories, so that website features and sales features counted the same because being able to sell for free is a significant advantage for a website builder.

Here is the full list of our unique category weightings for free website builders:

• Website Features – 25%
• Sales Features – 25%
• Design Functionality – 15%
• Help and Support – 12%
• User Experience – 10%
• Customer Score – 8%
• Value for Money – 5%

5 Best Free Website Builders: Summary

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To recap, I recommend Wix as the best free website builder. While its ads and no custom domain can be annoying, the free plan offers the best features and editing tools of any builder on this list. You can truly build an extremely professional website with Wix, even for free.

It’s possible to create a website for free – as long as you don’t mind the limitations. They may not seem like much in the beginning, but they can lead to further frustration down the line once your website takes off.

That’s why I suggest you make the most of the free plans by building, playing, and experimenting with the different website builders, but I don’t recommend staying on a free plan forever. There’s no time limit for the free plans, meaning you can have all the practice you need to nail the look and purpose of the website before upgrading to a paid plan.

So enjoy trying out our favorite free builders – come back and let us know which one you liked the most!