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Best for AI Tools
Best for Ecommerce
Best for Blogging
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Plugins marketplace is overwhelming, and ecommerce plugins are paywalled
Wix, Square Online, and WordPress are the best free web builders with plenty of features and functionality.
We were impressed by the scale of Wix’s AI tools, which built us a gorgeous site in 5 minutes flat. Square Online gave us plenty of ecommerce options, even with the free plan. And WordPress, a long-established blog hosting platform, offers up a robust set of tools and features for budding bloggers.
Below, we listed what we liked and didn’t like, and our own experiences building websites with each platform.
 Best Free |
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| Star rating | |||
| Starting price | Starts at Free or $17/mo | Starts at Free or $29.00/mo (billed annually) | Starts at Free or $4/mo (billed annually) |
| Free trial | Yes — 14 days | ||
| Money-back guarantee | Yes — 14 days | Yes — 14 days | |
| Number of collaborators | Up to 100 | 1 Admin and unlimited Team Members | Unlimited |
| Storage space | 2GB – unlimited | Unlimited | 6GB – 150GB (for additional fee) |
| Custom domain | Free for one year with Core plan and above | Free for one year with Plus and Premium plans | Free for one year with paid plans |
| Site analytics | Yes, starting with Core plan | Yes, starting with Plus plan | Yes, offers basic insights starting with Personal plan |
| Ecommerce tools | Yes, starting with Core plan | Yes, with Business and Commerce plans only | |
| AI tools | Yes, via plugins | ||
| Learn more | Get Wix | Get Square Online | Get WordPress |
We use our proprietary grading rubric in all of our testing, which considers ease-of-use, design, price, compatibility, and features (among other metrics).
Our testing process is designed to ensure that the product isn't too confusing, delivers on its claims, and offers you a lot for a reasonable price. We sign up for each option ourselves, just like you would. Our ratings reflect the real-world performance of the product, which allows us to give our best advice on whether or not it's worthwhile.
To learn more about how we test, check out our full testing methodology here.
Free plan includes comprehensive AI and editing tools
Easy-to-use platform with intuitive design elements
If you’re new to website building and want help, you’re in luck, because Wix has comprehensive AI tools that can build your site for you. You’ll still be able to edit and personalize your website, but you won’t need any coding or design skills to get it up and running.
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AI web builder: Wix requires minimal effort, especially if you choose to use AI to build out your page. When we tested it, we had a website that was ready to be published in less than 5 minutes. We obviously tweaked it and added details, but if we didn’t want to, we really wouldn’t have needed to add anything. This was an impressive feature.
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Easy-to-use design tools: In addition to website building, AI is integrated across the editing tools as well. Whether we needed assistance coming up with text for a page or creating a new section, everything was easy to use. Even if you’ve never touched web design before, Wix makes it easy for you to get started and continue to personalize your design.
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AI text generator: While we are genuinely impressed by Wix’s AI tools, we feel the generated text lacks depth and authenticity. We think Google and other search engines would feel the same. If you’re joining Wix because it makes it easy to use AI, make sure you also put a very human element into your pages. Especially the copy.
Seamless integration with the Square POS
Robust ecommerce features
Square Online focuses on ecommerce entrepreneurs like neither of the other two web builders in this review. Whether you sell physical products, print on demand, or want to dropship, Square has the integrations necessary for success.
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Square POS integration: Square POS can be found everywhere, from farmer’s market stands to brick-and-mortar stores. The integration between the payment processing hardware and the ecommerce website you can build is seamless, making it easy to sell in person or on the web. This was definitely a plus for us.
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Scalability: Square also caters to your type of business. You can start small and grow into more than a sole proprietorship, and the platform will grow with you. We liked that it identified the kind of business we wanted to set up and customized our experience. This means anyone can take steps toward success no matter how small they have to start.
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Limited free plan: The free plan allows you to start small, but it is limited. Once you begin to grow, you’ll likely need to purchase a paid plan. It’s nice that anyone can start a business even with limited resources, but we wished we had a little more growth opportunity with Square before being forced to upgrade.
Free plan includes a custom subdomain
Versatile platform that's highly customizable via plugins
WordPress started as a blog hosting platform 20 years ago and still offers robust tools to cater to that demographic. The free plan doesn’t include many features useful to ecommerce, but bloggers, creatives, and anyone needing an online presence will find the tools offered for free to be a useful way to start.
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Customizable subdomain: With WordPress, you can actually customize the subdomain for your free site, which isn’t a feature that every free web builder offers. This means your URL won’t be so offensive or fake looking, a random hodgepodge of letters and numbers, but will include a little of WordPress’s own branding. If you don’t mind that, you can have a custom URL for free on a free web building plan.
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AI image generator: While WordPress offers almost no AI assistance, it does include an AI image generator that can quickly complement your blog or web page. All we had to do was follow the structure of the image prompt that was already available to help create an image for our site. While we wouldn’t suggest using AI images to represent big things on your page — like your art, references to your business, or people — the generator can give you plenty of stock images to enhance your background visuals.
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No free ecommerce functionality: Any type of ecommerce activity on WordPress runs almost exclusively on plugins. To access plugins, you have to purchase a Business or Commerce plan, which are tiers 4 & 5, respectively. There aren’t any features in the free plan to help you launch your online marketplace.
Google Sites is a simple web builder that provides an online home for basic pages and ideas. If you want to blog, start an ecommerce store, offer a mailing list, or do anything else that requires customization, you’ll likely find Google Sites lacking.
While Google Sites is quick and easy, it’s not advanced enough to sustain a scalable site. Google Sites will work if you’re a non-profit or a small organization looking to create a page to guide people about a fundraiser or organizing an activity. If you want any kind of website that you can build and grow, you’ll need a more robust web builder.
Yes, Wix offers a free plan that is always free, so you’ll never need to pay to use it. It is limited in its capabilities, though, and the domain looks a little spammy and unprofessional.
No, GoDaddy offers a free trial, but ultimately, you’ll need to purchase a plan to continue. You can start on GoDaddy and see if you like the software before deciding to purchase. If you want a free web builder with a genuinely free plan, check out Wix, Square Online, or WordPress.
Yes, Google has an extremely limited and simplistic website builder called Google Sites. It’s great for announcing a fundraiser or organizing an activity, but we wouldn’t recommend it for a site you want to grow. Plenty of free website builders like Wix, Square Online, and WordPress can be scaled as your idea — or business — gets bigger.
Honestly, not if you plan on growing your website or business. A free website builder is an excellent way to start a site and get your feet wet before making a financial commitment. You can even use the best ones for smaller sites like portfolios. But anyone wanting to scale will eventually need to purchase a plan. Still, using a free website builder lets you test out the platform’s features and understand your website needs before jumping to a paid plan.
Based on our experience, we think Wix is the best free web builder overall. You can use the platform’s robust AI tools to have a functional website in minutes.
But other free web builders have their strengths. Square Online gives you ecommerce capabilities, while WordPress offers the most blogging tools for a free platform. Each of these allows you to start for free, refine your idea, and hone it before making a bigger financial commitment.
Starting a successful website takes time and work, so having the ability to do that for free is important. These free web builders let you start your project quickly and also give you the tools to grow. The best web builders will let you take that growth and turn it into something truly worthwhile.
| Price | Best for | Learn more | |
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Starts at Free or $17/mo | Best for AI tools | View plans |
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Starts at Free or $29.00/mo (billed annually) | Best for ecommerce | View plans |
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Starts at Free or $4/mo (billed annually) | Best for blogging | View plans |
Flexible and affordable pricing
Pay-per-item option instead of monthly fees
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