You are willing to create a website for your project ?
Here is all you need in order to make your decision knowing all the facts.
Top Website Builders
Name
Price
Description
Ease of use
Support
Score
With more than 100 million users in more than 200 countries, Wix is one of the most-known & best-used website builder around the world.
Free Account
From 0€ to 25€ per month
Most popular website builder on the market
Very intuitive & powerful editor
Great app market, full of qualitative et easy to use apps
Huge variety of beautifully designed templates (500+)
Ideal for beginners
What you should know before choosing a website builder
Most people think that building and launching a beautifully designed website takes a ton of time, technical skills, and effort. That, or a ton of money to pay someone to build it out.
While it might have been true way back in the early days of the internet, we’ve got a lot of tools that make the process a lot easier now.
The quick & easy way
Using an advanced CMS framework like WordPress. This usually requires the help of an agency or developer, unless you already have technical skills
The can-be-complicated way
Using an advanced CMS framework like WordPress. This usually requires the help of an agency or developer, unless you already have technical skills
The really complicated way
Building a website in straight HTML/CSS/javascript, or constructing a custom content management system (CMS) using a backend language like PHP
Differences between a CMS and a Website Builder
What is a website builder?
Website builder definition:
Website builders are (typically web-based) applications that enable users with no coding skills to build, design, launch, and manage a website all from a single platform. Pages are created using a visual editor, and everything from the content database to the web server hosting is handled by the platform.
The goal of website builders was to make it easier to build a beautifully designed website and launch it onto the web with an “all-in-one” solution.
Website builder platforms started emerging as more people and businesses were looking to launch their own website. They were built by web hosting companies as an alternative to more complex CMS solutions.
What is a CMS?
CMS definition:
CMS, or content management system, refers to open-source frameworks built for managing website content. They typically include multi-user environments for editing and publishing content, as well as a system for retrieving this content and arranging it according to the website’s intended design.
Key differences between a CMS and a Website Builder
CMS
Website Builder
Main Differences
CMS are much more focused on the scalability and management of a website’s content, while maintaining the freedom to customize anything you want.
Website builders are initially focused more on the aspect of designing a website and making that aspect easier with visual drag & drop editors.
Target Market
Developers, webmasters, or agencies looking for a framework to build out a website on which others can edit or publish content using scalable content blocks and pages.
Businesses or individuals looking to design and launch a website quickly on their own that anyone can manage without having to acquire technical skills or hire a developer/agency.
Access to system’s source code?
Yes (open-source)
No (closed-source)
Domain name and web server hosting
Not included
Included
Where is website data and content stored?
In a database that is connected to the framework and controlled by the user (usually open-source like MySQL).
In the website builder’s database that is included with the platform and controlled by the provider.
Plug-ins, apps, and add-ons
Created by external developers or you.
Generally more options and flexibility
Can cause conflicts or bugs with other integrations or the website itself
Support can be harder to find
Created, or at least validated by the platform provider.
Gernerally fewer options
No chance of conflicts or bugs with other tools or the website
Guaranteed support
Support
Through the open source community or developers/agencies specialized in your CMS.
Directly from the website builder provider.
While there are many differences, the line between CMS and website builders has become much more blurred over the years thanks to improvements on both sides.
CMS have become much more user-friendly for those without coding skills with the launch of more intuitive visual editing tools and updates.
Website builders have become more modular and customizable for more advanced use cases with add-ons and advanced features.
Wix vs. WordPress: steps to build a website
To illustrate the main advantages and limitations of a CMS and a website builder, let’s take a look at a more concrete example, looking into the main steps to build a website with WordPress, the most used CMS vs. Wix, the most used website builder.
Color key:
Easy
Moderately easy
Moderately difficult
Difficult
WORDPRESS
WIX
Installation
Rent a server from a web host
Install WordPress
Time: 0.5 days
Create a Wix account
Time: <1 hour
Register
Find DNS provider or buy a domain through your webhost
Time: <1 hour
Use free domain or buy one from your website builder
Time: <10 minutes
Total time:
1/2 day minimum
Less than 2 hours
WORDPRESS
WIX
Theme Setup
Choose one of the provided themes or buy one that fits your needs, then install it on your website
OR, create a completely custom theme from scratch (which can take much longer and usually requires outside help)
Time: 3 to 20 hours
Answer a few questions about your intended usage
Choose from one of the ready-made theme templates provided by your website builder
Time: <1 hour
Design
Use the visual “Customizer” editor to make minor changes or add custom CSS to your website design
Edit theme files directly to make more significant layout and design changes
Time: 1-2 hours
Use the visual editor to adapt the theme design to your liking
Time: <10 minutes
Structure
Create and organize the pages you want using page templates in your theme
Integrate content
Time: Depends on size of website
Create and organize the pages you want using page templates in your theme
Integrate content
Time: Depends on size of website
Total time:
1 day minimum
1/2 day
WORDPRESS
WIX
Plugins
Download and install apps from the app marketplace
Ensure there are no conflicts with your other plugins or theme
Time: 2-4 hours
Download and install apps from the app marketplace
Time: <1-2 hours
Collaborate
Create user accounts for collaborators
Define permissions for the level of access you want to give them
Time: <1 hour
Invite collaborators from the Wix platform
Define permissions for the level of access you want to give them
Time: <1 hour
Updates
Check for WordPress and plugin updates weekly
Updates can sometimes cause bugs or conflicts between plugins or with your theme, so you may need to rollback to a previous backup if there’s an issue.
Time: 1 hour
Updates are implemented automatically
Time: None
Support
Use open-source WP community resources to troubleshoot and resolve any problems
Hire an agency or a developer to maintain and work on the website
Time: Can sometimes take days or weeks
Consult the Wix help center articles to troubleshoot a problem
Contact Wix support
Time: <1-2 hours
Total time:
About a day per month
About 2 hours per month
Main advantages of using a website builder like Wix
As you can, there’s a significant amount of overlap between the two, as well as a few key differences. So what are the advantages and limitations of using a website builder like Wix instead of a CMS like WordPress?
Advantage 1: Build your website without learning how to code
Wix
WordPress
Use the visual drag and drop editor to get the exact design that you’re looking for.
You can add or remove various elements or sections to your pages, then modify the style and design using a tool that was built expressly to make this process easy for anyone, regardless of technical skill level. You can do all of this without ever typing a line of code.
Integrate HTML and CSS styling into your core theme files, or install a premade theme and use the Customizer menu to make minor changes to the styling.
At the very least, you’ll need to have a decent understanding of HTML and CSS if you want to maintain or edit your website, even using a theme.
Advantage 2: Get your website live in less time
Wix
WordPress
In theory, you can have a live website (albeit a very basic one) using Wix in less than an hour.
Everything is included in a website builder: web hosting, domain name services, website design and your database. No need for any external tools, which means you can get it all done much more quickly.
You need to find your own web hosting and install your instance of WordPress on their server. You also need to purchase your own domain name as part of this process. This is usually included with most WordPress hosting options though.
While there are many hosting options that specialize in WordPress and have made this process much easier, it’s still not nearly as easy or quick as having everything together in one place.
Advantage 3: Spend less money
Wix
WordPress
Even the most advanced plan on Wix is $50 per month, which is certainly not a lot.
That’s not much when you consider the fact that using a website builder means that you can easily maintain the website yourself, or delegate it to someone else with minimal training.
So, the only additional cost you need to factor in is the amount of time that you will spend working on the website yourself.
WordPress is open-source, so it’s inherently free. That means that you’re paying instead for the hosting and any costs associated with building and maintaining your website.
While hosting is generally not much more expensive than the Wix self-serve plans, the real cost of using WordPress comes with the agency or developer costs that you need to pay if you don’t have time to build and maintain the website yourself.
Limitations of using a website builder like Wix
As you might’ve guessed, there are certain trade-offs that you must make if you choose to use a website builder like Wix:
Less control over the technical aspects of your website
Website builders can be rather limiting if you’re looking to create a more custom design or experience with your site. These tools generally give you much less control than a CMS over things like:
Manual browser cache control
Optimizing server response time for better performance
Setting cookies server-side
Migrating to a CMS later is very difficult
Because you don’t have access to the real code of your website when using a website builder, it’s nearly impossible to migrate to a different CMS down the line, which means you are rather locked in unless you’re okay with starting over from scratch.
However, there are certain tools and plugins that might help you transfer content over — but you still might have formatting and layout issues and it’s not possible to migrate the design of your site.
This also means that if your website builder provider goes under, your website goes with them.
Fewer plugin options
While you never have to compromise on the essential add-ons of a website when you use a website builder, your choices will be much more limited. Website builders usually only have one or two options for tools like email marketing or signup forms, whereas a CMS like WordPress has dozens.
How to know whether you should be using a website builder
In the end, it all comes down to what your individual needs are. Although both a CMS and website builder are both capable of creating amazing websites, the main differences are:
Level of control
Website builders were created with a focus on enabling beginners to easily design and build a website with little to no technical skills.
They remove a lot of the hassle that comes with building and maintaining a website, but they also have limitations on what you can control on the technical side or if you want to switch to a different solution later.
Cost
With CMS vs. website builder, the question mostly boils down to whether you want to hire an agency or developer to build your website or spend your own time creating and maintaining it yourself.
Whom we recommend Website builders for:
Beginners with basic needs
First ecommerce store
Brick and mortar retail
Small businesses looking for an online presence
Anyone looking to get a site up quickly without coding or paying a developer
Visual artists and photographers
Bands
Restaurants
Non-profits
How to choose the best website builder for you
Once you’ve decided that you want to use a website builder, the real work begins: choosing the best website builder for your needs.
There are tons of website builders on the market, so you’re going to have to do a bit of research to find the right choice — thankfully, we’re here to help!
What are the key selection criteria for choosing a website builder?
There are several criterias which can be taken into account to choose your website builder. Here is a quick overview of theses criterias and the bests website builders for each.
Who are they talking to?
The first thing to consider is how website builders position their respective offers:
Feature Scope
Offers a broad range of features
95%
80%
75%
Feature Depth
The features offered are robust and powerful
84%
79%
40%
Simplicity
The platform is intuitive and easy to use
63%
77%
97%
Design
Strong focus on offering sleekly designed websites
81%
66%
99%
What is their target usage?
Many website builders also have a specific positioning when it comes to use cases:
Blogs are one of the most classic use cases for website builders. Almost every website builder has some form of blogging functionality, but there are several solutions that focus heavily on building out blog-related features.
Portfolio websites are all about design. Artists, bands, designers, or anyone else looking to showcase their work on a sleek website that they can build themselves have a number of options to choose from when it comes to website builders.
Small businesses looking to create a beautiful website can easily find website builders that are dedicated to their needs: easy to setup, offering wide array of integrations, and great support.
Some website builders are made especially for very simple sites, such as one-page websites for restaurants and brick & mortar shops. These are perfect if you’re just looking to get something live as soon as possible.
What features do they offer?
In addition to the positioning, you’ll need to make sure that the website builder you choose offers other key features that you need for your business:
Website Template
All website builders include a library of templates to give you start on building your website. Make sure that whatever solution you’re considering has templates that were created for your business or use case.
Wix offers more than 600 customizable for website templates for online stores, portfolios, small businesses, blogs, and more…
If you have certain tools or functionality that you need to use on your website, you should check to see which solutions have options for them. Examples include things like payment software, SEO, email marketing, popup banners, and social media connections.
Squarespace offers over 50 different official integrations that help you manage orders & shipping, website performance, marketing, and more.
Whether it’s for a business, side hustle, hobby, or something completely different, cost is always going to be a factor.
Luckily, website builder tend to be less expensive when you factor in the amount of time and money you save by creating and maintaining the website yourself rather than working with an agency.
What some of the factors that affect the pricing of a website builder plan?
Storage space
Bandwidth
Advanced features
How much disk space to have to store media and content on your website. If you’re looking to store heavy files like large images or videos, this could be important.
How much media your website can serve at once to visitors. For example, if your bandwidth limit is 2GB, and your webpage serves 1,000KB of data, you could have up to 2,000 visitors on your website at one time.
Do you want more advanced features such as ecommerce payments or priority support? Most providers offer additional functionality and support for higher-priced accounts.
Finally, the last thing you should check is customer reviews. Since you are going to be a user of the product, it’s always helpful to know how current users of the product feel about it.
FAQ for beginners looking to create their first website
What are the risks of using a website builder?
Your code is not your own. Website builders take the coding aspect out of the process for creating a website template, but it also means you don’t own the source code. That means if you want to switch providers or to a CMS later, you’ll have to start the design over from scratch. This also means that if your website builder provider goes under, your website goes with it.
Are there website builders that also let me edit HTML and CSS code?
There are a few (webflow and Weebly), but it’s not everywhere, and the functionality can still be limited. Generally, website builders are meant for people looking to build a website with no coding, so any coding features are mostly for minor adjustments.
Do I need to know HTML/CSS or other coding languages to build a website?
If you use a website builder, you don’t need to know how to code, but it can help if you want more control or to give you a better understanding of more advanced topics like SEO.
How difficult is it to change website Builder or to move to a CMS like WordPress?
Switching from a website builder to a CMS like WordPress is not a simple process. Because the code of your website in a website builder tool is not your own, switching to a CMS usually requires a complete rebuild of the site using the new framework. This can take several days or weeks, depending on the complexity of your website, and will likely require the help of an outside developer or agency.
How much time and money should I expect to spend building a website using a website builder?
It’s difficult to know exactly how long your website will take because a lot depends on your specific needs. In general, your budget will vary based on the complexity of your site:
Simple: 2 – 10 hours; $10 per month
Medium: 10 – 20 hours; $10 per month
Highly complex: 20 – 40 hours; $50 per month
What should I anticipate for maintenance/extra cost?
Most website builders are transparent on their pricing. The only things that will likely increase your regular costs are:
Website traffic
Increased data storage needs
If you decide to make a change to a different website solution
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