Web Builder Statistics 2025: 1 in 3 Have Built a Site, But Most Struggle to Finish
The All About Cookies team compiled statistics about web building platforms and surveyed 1,000 people to understand coding and web building literacy among internet users.
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As any business owner, creator, or individual knows, nothing creates online credibility like a well-crafted website. As a result, tens of millions of people have taken the time to build their own websites, but that doesn’t mean they’re doing it without help: most rely on web builders like Wix or Squarespace to create their sites vs. designing and coding from scratch. The reasons why are mostly obvious: it’s just a lot easier when you get help, and requires a lot less know-how to execute.
So, how many people are relying on web builders, and why? Are web builders truly serving as gateways that introduce people to coding, or do they primarily attract users who prefer to avoid programming altogether? How prevalent is the web builder experience, and what role do these platforms play in shaping people's technical skills?
To better understand the state of web building, the All About Cookies team surveyed internet users to find how many have built a website before, which web builders are most popular, the biggest challenges users face when building a website, and more.
Around one-third of people (32%) have built a website before.
Among those who have built a website, nearly three-quarters (74%) have used a website builder service, such as Wix or Squarespace.
Self-led coding paths are attracting attention
More than half (51%) of people with coding experience learned to code through YouTube. 43% reported learning from other self-taught methods, like online tutorials and articles.
Website building hurdles
Only one-quarter of those who built their own website were able to do so without major issues or delays.
Top challenges: Design, layout, and security. Over half (51%) reported abandoning the development of their website as a result, including 22% who never returned to complete the project.
Building a website from scratch isn’t that common
Once someone has decided to build a website, they have a variety of options available to them. From coding the site from scratch, to web-building tools like Wix or Squarespace, to outsourcing the project to someone else — the route a user chooses can have a big impact on how the website turns out as well as how long it takes to build.
About 1 in 3 internet users have built a website before (32%). That percentage is much higher among younger adults, however, as more than half of Gen Z (54%) say they have built a website at some point in their young lives.
For how they built these sites, website builders were by far the most common method. Nearly three-quarters of people (74%) who have built a website in the past used easy-to-use web builders to create their digital spaces.
While coding a website from scratch can give users increased control over the look, feel, and functionality of their website, it is also more difficult and time consuming than using a dedicated web-building service. It is not surprising, then, that only 32% of people code their websites themselves.
Top web-building platforms
Web builders are popular, and demand for them shows no signs of stopping. Because of that demand, more and more companies have gotten into the web-building game, giving users more options than ever when it comes to picking the right service to meet their needs.
The most popular of these services is the Canva website builder, a product that more than 40% of those who have built a website have used, followed by GoDaddy (35%) in second place and Wix (31%) taking the bronze.
When reviewing the most used web builders, cost appears to be a major factor for many when choosing a service, as some of the most popular choices, such as Wix and WordPress, offer some of the best free web building services on the market.
51% of people have abandoned web projects
While building a website is more accessible than ever before, it is still a process that can be more challenging than users expect.
More than half of the people who have started web building projects (51%) gave up and abandoned their website before finishing it. That includes 29% who did finish the project at a later date with outside help, but 22% abandoned their site altogether and never returned.
Unexpected issues seem to be one major factor of these numbers, since only 25% of people report being able to build a website without any significant issues. 24% finished their site but say it took much longer than anticipated.
The hardest parts of website building, according to users
With so many people running into major obstacles when building a website, the question becomes which parts of the web-building experience create problems most often.
The most common source of frustration is designing and laying out the site, something that more than one-third of respondents (37%) listed as a top challenge. Figuring out how to keep their site safe and secure was the second-biggest hurdle, cited by 31% of respondents, while implementing custom functionality proved frustrating for a little over a quarter of respondents (27%).
Just 9% of respondents said they didn’t find any part of building a website to be challenging, meaning 91% found some part of the task to be overly difficult.
Interestingly, the top challenge when it comes to web building varies among users of top web builder services. Canva, Wix, and Shopify users all cite design and layout as the biggest obstacles they faced when building their sites, but WordPress users found implementing custom functionality to be the most frustrating, while those who used GoDaddy listed security and custom functionality as their joint top complaints.
Building a site from scratch has its limitations
Those looking for increased control over how their website looks and functions can try to create it themselves from scratch through coding, but not many people are familiar or comfortable with that approach.
When asked how they would handle even a simple task that required hand-coding, such as changing the text color on a webpage, only 30% of people say they would need minimal help or no help at all to accomplish the task. A little less than a third (30%) would need to use a step-by-step tutorial to accomplish the task, while 40% say they could not do it on their own, including nearly a quarter (23%) who say they simply couldn’t do it no matter what.
Coders are relying on YouTube and online tutorials
A little less than one in five people (19%) have coding experience, although that number is significantly higher among younger individuals. More than a quarter of Millennials (27%) and over one-third of Gen Z (36%) report having coding experience, indicating that this skill is becoming increasingly common among younger generations.
Regardless of age, the most popular source of coding education is watching YouTube videos, a method that more than half of those with coding experience (51%) report using to learn how to code. The second most popular way people learn to code is by teaching themselves through articles and tutorials they find online, which 43% of coders have used. These top answers show just how accessible the internet has made a coding education.
That doesn’t mean that more formalized education and training have gone completely by the wayside, however. A third of coders report that they learned coding as part of their formal education in high school or college, while nearly the same percentage (31%) acquired coding skills through official on-the-job training at their workplace.
HTML is outpacing other programming languages
Most people have at least heard of different computer programming languages, which are used to create websites, software, and more. But knowing of these languages and having hands-on experience with them are not the same thing.
When it comes to some of the most common programming languages, HTML is the only one that even a third of people (34%) have some kind of experience with. JavaScript is the only other language that more than a quarter (27%) have used before, while just 10% or fewer report having used other systems, such as Python or C++, in the past. Nearly half of respondents (48%) said they have never used any of these programming languages before in their lives.
Not sure where to start? From concept to launch, these resources can set you on the right path
Compare platforms:Explore the top website builders ranked by features, ease of use, and built-in security.
Privacy-backed, without the price tag: Not ready to spend a dime yet? Design your digital storefront with trusted free web building platforms that don’t compromise on safety.
Advice from our experts
When your online presence speaks before you do, understanding how to build a website becomes a modern-day essential. That’s why we brought together a panel of experts to share their thoughts on coding, tech skills, and how we can help more people feel confident in our digital world.
Why is coding an important skillset in today's job market?
In today's world, programming is a valuable skill in the modern job market because software interacts with most parts of business operations. Be it in healthcare, finance, education, or even agriculture, being able to write code empowers one to automate tasks, analyze complex data, and build tools to solve complex problems.
It’s the lingua franca of the digital age. Everything runs on software. Being able to script, automate, or prototype means you’re not at the mercy of off‑the‑shelf tools; you create your own. It trains you to think algorithmically, break complex problems into manageable pieces, and debug not just code but processes and assumptions. In a world where data-driven decision‑making is king, coding fluency lets you tap into datasets, build models, and seize opportunities before someone else writes the same script.
In short: coders don’t just use technology — they bend it to their will.
As AI systems become increasingly capable of writing code efficiently and accurately, some question whether learning to code remains a valuable skill in today’s job market. However, as Andrew Ng, founder of DeepLearning.AI, has discussed, coding is not becoming obsolete, it is evolving. Learning to code will offer individuals the ability to harness AI in novel and powerful ways, moving far beyond what someone with no coding skills can achieve.
The challenge then is determining exactly what coding skills need to be learned, and of those, which need to be mastered without AI support and which skills are acceptable to manifest with AI support. And, most importantly, what kind of critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and creativity skills are necessary to help individuals with coding experience position themselves to add value and vision to the companies they join or create.
What software/programming limitations are cybersecurity professionals being faced with?
In today's threat landscape, cybersecurity professionals are navigating a range of software and programming limitations that impact their ability to defend systems effectively. A key challenge they encounter is fragmentation of security tooling. Several organizations rely on vendor patchwork for endpoint protection, cloud monitoring, and identity management, but these tools don't often integrate well. The lack of interoperability forces security professionals to write and maintain custom scripts to achieve automation across different environments. Over time, managing and keeping the scripts up-to-date turns into a major ordeal that stifles cybersecurity teams.
From a programming perspective, there is a shortage of secure-by-default development practices. Most applications are built with speed-to-market in mind, often compromising security. As a result, security teams write custom scanners, fuzzers, and hooks to compensate for weak authentication logic and improper API usage.
Finally, AI-powered threats such as expedited malware mutation, deepfake-based identity attacks, and sophisticated phishing campaigns pose a serious threat because cybersecurity teams often lack the programmatic tooling or real-time intelligence pipelines to keep up and defend their systems effectively.
Legacy hell: Centuries‑old C and C++ codebases still power critical infrastructure, riddled with buffer overflows and undefined behavior. You can’t “rip and replace” overnight.
Tool fragmentation: SIEMs, IDS/IPS, endpoint agents — each has its own language, quirks, and blind spots. Integrating them is like herding cats.
Memory‑unsafe languages: Vast swathes of enterprise software remain in memory‑unsafe languages, and rewriting at scale is practically a myth.
Cloud complexity: Serverless, containers, microservices — they abstract away hardware but introduce a dizzying sprawl of APIs and trust boundaries. Misconfigured IAM roles are now the new perimeter.
AI‑generated code: Sure, CoPilot is handy, but it occasionally spits out insecure code patterns or references outdated libraries that open gaping holes.
AI is a transformative opportunity and a wake-up call for today's professionals. It is important to distinguish between technical and non-technical roles in this regard.
1). For professionals in technical roles such as software developers, it is no longer enough to know how to code. With tools like ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot, and automated code generators that are able to generate and refine code, the real value now lies in understanding how systems work under the hood. Developers who gain a deep understanding of the architecture, data flow, performance trade-offs, and security implications are the ones best positioned to evolve with AI and build scalable systems supplemented by AI. The use of AI can help reduce application development time, catch bugs sooner, and allow for faster iterations to better fine-tune applications.
2). For non-technical professionals, AI is creating an entry point through what is popularly referred to as "vibe coding." It refers to the ability to build logic, scripts, and even applications using natural language and code assistants without programming training. For instance, a marketing professional can describe a data pipeline in plain English and get a functional script back in a language of their choice. This makes their collaboration with technical teams more fluid.
AI is a force multiplying reward, but only for those who evolve with it.
It’s both — but let’s call it a force multiplier with a side of chaos.
On the reward side, AI accelerates boilerplate code, suggests optimizations, and can even fuzz‑test your code at scale. Suddenly you can prototype entire modules in hours instead of days.
However, the risk is real: hallucinated code might compile just fine, but that doesn't make it secure; over‑reliance that atrophies your critical thinking muscles; and let's not forget that AI systems that are not secured themselves are ripe targets for integrity attacks.
The smart move is to treat AI like a tool, and never a substitute for human judgment and secure coding practices.
Whether AI is a risk or a reward for coders depends on the nature of their skills and responsibilities. AI is likely to automate routine or lower-level programming tasks, posing a threat to coders working primarily at that level. In contrast, those with advanced skills, particularly in developing LLM-based applications, are likely to see increased demand.
As AI lowers the barrier to entry for basic coding, professional coders must differentiate themselves by cultivating adjacent strengths. For instance, an individual working to develop a tutoring app, would benefit from not only coding skills but also domain knowledge, such as learning theory and how a given skill, such as mathematics, is effectively taught and how it develops within students.
Furthermore, as AI systems grow more powerful, the need for ethical awareness grows. Coders who can not only deliver technically sound solutions, but think critically about fairness, bias, and human impact, and how those issues manifest within a given domain, will be better positioned to lead in the AI era.
Some responses may have been slightly edited for clarity and brevity.
Methodology
All About Cookies surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults ages 18 or older using a survey platform in May 2025. Results were stratified across age and gender to create a nationally representative sample.
Robust Phishing Protection Backed by $1 Million in ID Theft Insurance
Josh Koebert is a seasoned data journalist whose work has appeared in top-tier outlets including CNET, PCMag, Forbes, TechCrunch, and a range of other respected media platforms. His work explores topics relating to privacy, data security, and technology in an increasingly digital world.
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