List & Comparison of the Top WYSIWYG Web Builder Tools with Features and Pricing. Read This Review to Select the BEST Tool to Build Professional Websites:
Website designing used to be hard in the past and designing a website required writing manual codes that were not for everyone.
You had to hire a professional website designer to build even a simple website. In short, creating a website was not everyone’s cup of tea. This article will give a list of the top Website Builders that are used worldwide.
Let’s Explore!!
What You Will Learn:
WYSIWYG Web Builder
With a website builder, you don’t need to:
- Know how to code,
- Have a certificate in website designing to build websites, and
- Hire an experienced website designer.
That’s because all the website coding and graphic designing work are handled by the website editor. With a WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) website builder, the process of designing a website becomes easier than you could imagine.
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In this article, we will review the best WYSIWYG website builders that would allow you to build professional e-commerce/personal websites.
FAQs About WYSIWYG Website Builders
Let’s take a look at some of the common FAQs About WYSIWYG Website Builders.
Q #1) What is a WYSIWYG Website Builder?
Answer: A WYSIWYG (pronounced “wiz-ee-wig”) builder is a graphical user interface (GUI) based website builder that allows you to create websites using layout, blocks, and grids. The program lets you see what a webpage will look like on the users’ screen while the webpage is being created.
In other words, what you see on your screen while building a website is exactly how the website will appear on the user’s screen.
With a WYSIWYG builder, you can create responsive and fluid layouts through a simple drag and drop feature. You can add images and change the fonts similar to using any desktop program.
No coding is required to build a website using the editor. However, if you have some coding knowledge, you can also add advanced features such as animations and other effects.
Q #2) What are the General Features of a WYSIWYG Web Builder?
Answer: WYSIWYG builders support a lot of features that make creating a website a breeze. The working space of the website design software is similar to the MS Word interface. The website editor consists of an intuitive user interface that allows you to easily add images & texts, make adjustments, and insert links to the web pages.
You can add different elements such as forms, social media buttons, comment sections, and much more using the website editor tool.
The website builder can also create a website using an existing template.
- Create web pages quickly.
- No coding knowledge is required.
- Drag and drop images.
- Template and custom website layout.
- Add custom codes and website elements.
- View the final version of the website on screen.
Q #3) What are the Advantages of using a WYSIWYG Website Builder?
Answer: The best thing about using a WYSIWYG Website Builder is that you can have a live view of what the website will look like on the target user’s screens. Features such as layout grids, full-page layout, and scroll transitions will help to create a responsive, and professional website.
With the WYSIWYG web editor, you can create animations that will enhance the appeal of the website. If you have basic knowledge of CSS, you can make advanced changes to the layout such as creating a slideshow or adding columns to the breakpoints.
You can also easily create logical forms using the WYSIWYG website editor with a drag and drop solution. Moreover, you can create grids and align or distribute elements without any coding. In short, using the website editor will help you to save a lot of time and effort involved in creating a professional-looking website.
Q #4) How does the cost of creating a website using a WYSIWYG website editor compare with hiring a professional designer?
Answer: The development cost of the websites fall between $1000 and $2000. Professional developers typically charge about $40 to $70 an hour. The average cost of a WordPress website design is about $50 per hour.
In contrast, you pay only a small monthly fee for using a WYSIWYG editor. The monthly cost can be as low as $36 per month for creating the website yourself. This makes it a cost-effective option for small business owners who want to minimize the cost of starting a website.
Q #5) What is the alternative to WYSIWYG Website Builders?
Answer: The alternative to the WYSIWYG website builder is the textual website editor. This type of editor requires knowledge of HTML, CSS, and other website programming languages. The textual website builders can only be used by professionals.
Examples of textual website builders include Apache NetBeans, Phase 5, Komodo Edit, Notepad++, and Aptana Studio 3.
The image given below shows the screen of a textual website builder.
[image source]
Unlike WYSIWYG website builders, textual website editors don’t have a graphical user interface. You cannot use this software without website coding knowledge. Creating a website using textual editors is time-consuming.
Tips For Selecting The Right Website Designer
You can find a lot of WYSIWYG Website Builders to create a professional quality website. However, the availability of various website builder software creates difficulty when it comes to selecting the right website builder tool.
You should select a website editor that suits the purpose of creating a website. An e-commerce store requires different features when compared to a personal blog site.
You should ask the questions below to yourself:
- Who is my target audience?
- What features will they like on a website?
- Will the site require integration with the payment gateways?
- Is adding videos and images important?
- What integration is important?
A focus on the above questions will help you to select the best website builder for you. Once you have determined your requirements, you should look at features such as portability, customization, integration, and ease of use.
Lastly, you should consider a budget and select a tool that is affordable to you.
List of the Best Free WYSIWYG Web Builders
Listed below is the best free Website Builder software that is available on the market.
- Wix
- Web.com
- Webador
- Pixpa
- Maropost
- Weebly
- Strikingly
- Mobirise
- WordPress
- Duda
- Squarespace
- Adobe DreamWeaver
- CoffeeCup
- Jimdo
- 1&1 IONOS
Comparison of Top 5 Free Website Designers
| Tool/Service Name | Best For | Price | Free Version | Features | Our Ratings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wix | Small and large businesses, Online store, Personal Blogging. | Free | Yes | Custom templates, SEO websites, Social media integration, SSL security certificates, Automatic site backup. | 4.8/5 |
Web.com | Easy Website Creation, Ideal for Small Businesses. | Offer Starter Package - $1.95/month | No | Custom Templates, Drag and Drop Editor, SEO Services, Pay-Per-Click Advertising Assistance and Online Store Creation. | 5/5 |
Webador | Sizeable collection of templates | Lite: $6/month Pro: $10/month Business: $20/month | Yes | Custom Domain Name Set Professional Email 50+ Templates Simple Webshop creation | 5/5 |
Pixpa | Ideal for Photographers and creators. | Basic Plan: $6 monthly Creator Plan: $12 monthly Professional Plan: $18 monthly Advanced Plan: $25 monthly | 15 day free trial | Custom Templates, Drag and Drop Editor, Online Store Creation, Client Galleries, Blog, Extensive SEO and marketing tools etc. | 5/5 |
Maropost | Ideal for medium-sized and large businesses | Starts at $71/month | 14-day free trial | Custom templates, Order Management, SEO Optimization, Inventory management | 4.5/5 |
Weebly | Small and large businesses, Online store, Blogging, | Free | Yes | Professional themes, Photo galleries, Image editor – ImagePerfect No ads. SEO Optimized, E-commerce functionalities, Full CSS/HTML control, Password Protect Pages. | 4.7/5 |
Strikingly | Personal websites & small business owners | Free | Yes | Customization tools, Social media integration, manage the site using iOS, etc | 4.7/5 |
WordPress | Blogging Forums, Small online store, | Free | Yes | Open source, Pre-built Themes, Over 54,000 add-ons, Auto update, Survey builder, SEO management. | 4.7/5 |
Mobirise | Small or medium-size businesses, Online resumes, Landing pages. | Free | Yes | Based on Bootstrap 4 –Powerful mobile framework, Supports Google AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) Save sites on a local drive, FTP, Google Cloud, Amazon S3, Github Pages, or *Mobirisesite.com Supports paid templates, Forums creation, Social media buttons, Media & Galleries. | 4.5/5 |
Duda | Website agencies, Small and medium-sized Businesses, | Basic: $14 /month Team: $22 /month Agency: $74 /month | Yes | Multilingual websites, Website Personalization tool, Backup and restore, Code editor, SSL encryption. | 4/5 |
Let’s Explore!!
#1) Wix
Best For:
- Small and large businesses
- Online store
- Personal
- Blogging
Pricing: Free
Wix is the most popular website builder tool that holds about 22.61 percent share of the overall website builders market. The WYSIWYG website builder is free and you can use it to create fully immersive and responsive websites.
The highlight of the website editor is the plethora of plugins that extend the feature of the website. Moreover, there are hundreds of templates that you can select if you don’t want to build a site from scratch.
Features: Custom templates, SEO websites, social media integration, SSL security certificates, unlimited fonts, mobile-optimized, advanced design features, automatic site backup, etc.
Pros:
- Excellent value for money.
- Easy to use website editor.
- High security
- Large app market.
Cons:
- Templates can’t be changed after the website is published.
- Need to spend on paid apps for increased functionality.
#2) Web.com
Best For:
- Easy Website Creation
- Ideal for Small Businesses
Pricing: Offer Starter Package – $1.95/month, Full price of $10/month after the first month.
As far as the WYSIWYG website builders, Web.com is the simplest and most straightforward of the bunch. With Web.com, you get a platform that facilitates the creation of basic websites. You get a bunch of industry-specific templates, a library full of stock images, and a row-based drag-and-drop editor that makes designing a site very simple.
Customization is made simple thanks to clean and professional-looking templates, which can be sorted according to industry type. Everything you need to edit on the website can be found on the left-hand sidebar. If you want to change the color scheme or add a widget, you can do so with just a click.
Features: Custom Templates, Drag and Drop Editor, SEO Services, Pay-Per-Click Advertising Assistance, Online Store Creation, WordPress Support, etc.
Pros:
- Easy and instant website creation
- 24/7 Customer support
- Cheap starting price
- Free domain included with each plan
Cons:
- No free plans
- Absence of advanced website building elements like booking calendars and promotional pop-ups.
- Limited customization
#3) Webador
Best for Sizeable collection of templates.
Price: Webador offers a free forever plan with limited features. It also offers three premium plans which will cost you $1 for the first three months. After the initial 3 months, the pricing will be as follows:
- Lite: $6/month
- Pro: $10/month
- Business: $20/month
You get tons of tools to customize your website as you wish. Plus, you are granted a custom domain name as well as a professional email address if you go with Webador’s relatively more expensive premium plans. Overall, Webador is easy to use and ideal if you wish to create a well-optimized website in no time.
Features:
- Custom Domain Name
- Set Professional Email
- 50+ Templates
- Simple Webshop creation
Pros:
- Drag and drop website builder
- Tons of customization options
- Good customer support
- Flexible pricing
Cons:
- The cheaper plans cannot be used to create ad-free websites.
#4) Pixpa
Best For:
- Easy Website Creation
- Ideal for Photographers and creators
Pricing: Pixpa is also the most affordable option, with all-inclusive, flat-fees pricing plans ranging from $6 – $25 per month. Discounted yearly and 2-yearly plans are also available. All plans come with a 15 days free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee. All plans offer the ability to connect a custom domain name, generous storage space, unlimited bandwidth, SSL certificates and 24×7 live email and chat support.
- Basic Plan: $6 monthly
- Creator Plan: $12 monthly
- Professional Plan: $18 monthly
- Advanced Plan: $25 monthly
If you are looking for a WYSIWYG website builder that is simple, flexible with powerful editing features, Pixpa clearly fits the bill.
Pixpa is an all-in-one no-code platform for photographers, creators and small businesses to build and manage beautiful, professional websites complete with an ecommerce store, blog, and client galleries. The versatile platform is designed to be easy to use, even for those with no previous coding knowledge.
Pixpa offers a wide range of stunning, mobile-friendly templates to fit every style and requirement. Adding pages to your website is a breeze with Pixpa’s drag-and-drop page builder. Additionally, the 24/7 customer support and comprehensive help centre provides users with the resources they need to get assistance when needed.
Features: Custom Templates, Drag and Drop Editor, Online Store Creation, Client Galleries, Blog, Extensive SEO and Marketing Tools etc.
Pros:
- Beginner-friendly, no-code website building platform. Create a stunning, professional website without writing a single line of code.
- 150+ professional, mobile-optimized and responsive website templates.
- Full-featured online store to sell products, services, or digital downloads.
- eCommerce galleries can be used to sell prints or digital downloads.
- 24/7 Customer support via email and chat
- Affordable pricing
- Keep your website safe and secure with Pixpa’s SSL security – included on all websites!
Cons:
- Custom domain names need to be purchased from a third party. No built-in options for purchasing a custom domain.
- Pixpa is a paid service, it is not open source and does not offer a freemium model or free plans.
#5) Maropost
Best For:
- Simple Online Store Creation
- Ideal for medium-sized and large businesses
Price: Maropost’s commerce cloud comes with a 14-day free trial and 4 pricing plans. Its essential plan costs $71/month. Its essential plus and professional plans cost $179/month and $224/month respectively. A custom enterprise plan is also available.
Maropost is software that any online store businessmen can use to create a stunning and feature-rich website within minutes. You get more than 40 ready-made templates to play with so you can create an online store that best suits your brand and preferences.
Maropost also allows you to add products to an unlimited number of categories. This way you can create a website that is easy to navigate for your visitors. Plus, the platform also allows you to integrate your website with multiple payment gateway options and shipping carriers.
Features: 40+ themes, Add customer wish list, Integrated B2B Features, Design immaculate check-out system, Strong integration with multiple payment gateways.
Pros:
- User-friendly store builder
- SEO Friendly
- SSL Secure store creation
- Flexible pricing
Cons:
- Might not be ideal for small businesses and start-ups.
#6) Weebly
Best For:
- Small and large businesses
- Online store
- Blogging
Pricing: Free
Weebly is another great website editor that has the 3rd largest market share at 15.67 percent. The website design software allows you to create professional-quality websites. Considering the fact that the software is available for free, it offers excellent value for money.
Features: Professional themes, photo galleries, image editor i.e. ImagePerfect, no ads, SEO optimized, e-commerce functionalities, full CSS/HTML control, password protect pages, etc.
Pros:
- Responsive themes
- A large number of apps.
- Easy-to-use
- Team management
- Membership restriction
Cons:
- Limited customization
- No option for restore
- Lacks design flexibility
#7) Strikingly
Best For:
- Personal website
- Small business owners
Price: Free
Strikingly is a good website creator that features the simplicity and beauty of the design. The website builder allows you to create scrolling page designs with multiple sections. A great thing about this software is its increased control over different sections of the sites.
You can easily create a feature-rich website with this tool. But the shortcoming of this software is the lack of customization tools to edit the site. There are fewer choices of templates as well even with the paid account.
Features: Customization tools, Social media integration, Manage the site using iOS, etc.
Pros:
- Simple website designer.
- Preview website for mobile and desktop viewing.
- Create responsive websites.
Cons:
- Less customization
- Fewer template choices.
#8) Mobirise
Best For:
- Small or medium-sized businesses
- Online resumes
- Landing pages
Price: Free
Mobirise is a free WYSIWYG website builder that lets you create a professional quality website with no coding experience required. The website editor allows you to create mobile-friendly websites using a simple drag and drop feature.
This is a great website editor for small and medium-sized businesses. The software allows you to export the website to an external editor. You can create a beautiful layout easily with this website builder.
Features: Based on Bootstrap 4 – Powerful mobile framework, Supports Google AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages), Save sites on a local drive, FTP, Google Cloud, Amazon S3, Github Pages, or *Mobirisesite.com, Supports paid templates, Forums creation, Social media buttons, Media & Galleries, etc.
Pros:
- Free WYSIWYG website editor.
- It creates a layout quickly and easily.
- Optimized sites for mobile screens.
- HTML and CSS code is customizable.
- No watermark despite being a free editor.
Cons:
- Expensive themes.
- The software includes some code between the lines while exporting to an HTML editor.
- It doesn’t support precise customization.
- It only supports Stripe and PayPal payment gateway.
Website: Mobirise
#9) WordPress
Best For:
- Blogging
- Forums
- Small online store
Price: Free
WordPress Editor is an open-source WYSIWYG website builder that you can use to build responsive pages easily. Similar to Mobirise, the website builder is available for download for free. You can create a website from scratch or select the existing themes.
The best thing about WordPress Editor is the large collection of plug-ins that can greatly increase the functionality of a website. Some of the plug-ins are for free while the others require you to pay a small fee.
Features: Open source, Pre-built Themes, Over 54,000 add-ons, Auto-update, Survey builder, and SEO management.
Pros:
- 100% free open source WYSIWYG website editor.
- SEO Friendly Mobile optimized sites.
- Customizable designs
- High security
- A large number of add-ons and themes.
Cons:
- Need technical support for publishing a site to a host.
- No customer support as it’s open-source software.
- Coding knowledge is required to customize designs such as header images, etc.
Website: WordPress
#10) Duda
Best For:
- Website agencies
- Small and medium-sized businesses.
Price:
- Basic: $14/month
- Team: $22/month
- Agency: $74/month
- A 30-day trial
Duda is a paid website builder that supports drag & drop and GUI interface. Using the website design editor, you can create an SEO optimized website. The website designer has powerful media support that includes images and videos.
The basic version allows one person to build a website while the team allows up to four members to work on a website. Agency supports 10 team members and also supports website export and access.
Features: SSL encryption, multilingual websites, website personalization tool, backup and restore, code editor, etc.
Pros:
- Simple & Fast Editor.
- Supports multiple payment integration | PayPal, Square, Visa, American Express, and MasterCard.
- Instant customer support.
- Multiple language support.
Cons:
- Lack of strong security features.
- Limited functionality for online stores.
- A limited number of widgets.
Website: Duda
#11) Squarespace
Best For:
- Online store
- Small and medium-sized retail businesses.
- Fashion designers
- Blogging
Price:
- Personal: $12 per month
- Business: $18 per month
- E-commerce Basic: $26 per month
- E-commerce Advanced: $40 per month
- 14-day Trial
Squarespace is the second most popular WYSIWYG website designer with 17.15 percent market share, according to Statista. The website editor lets you create high-quality websites using different tools. The website editor tool is equally good for both retail businesses and independent fashion designers.
You can also use the editor for creating a quality personal blog site. Designing the site using the website editor tool can be time-consuming, however, the effort will be worth it at the end.
Features: E-commerce site builder, social media integration, SEO & marketing tools, SSL security, etc.
Pros:
- High-quality templates
- Full customization control
- Ease of use
Cons:
- Price plans are relatively expensive.
- Not ideal for beginners.
Website: Squarespace
#12) Adobe DreamWeaver
Best For:
- Individuals
- Businesses
- Students/teachers
- Professional Photographers
Price:
- Adobe Dreamweaver Single App:– $20.99/month
- Creative Cloud All Apps: $52.99/month
- Students and Teachers: $19.99/month
- Businesses: $33.99/month
- 30-day Trial
Adobe Dreamweaver has a clutter-free and simple dashboard that allows you to easily build a large website. You can collaborate with a team with Git support. The WYSIWYG editor is great for photographers as it allows you to edit and polish all the images.
The website software supports expanded workplace on multiple monitors. Moreover, this software also supports Chromium Embedded Framework thereby allowing you to build great HTML5 websites.
Features: Git sport allows collaboration with the team, Multiple monitor support, HTML 5 support, CSS grids, and JavaScript support.
Pros:
- Supports the latest website format i.e. HTML5.
- Advanced codes
- Professional photo editing.
- Git Support
Cons:
- Pricy for most of the users.
- The basic plan has limited functionality only.
Website: Adobe DreamWeaver
#13) CoffeeCup
Best For:
- Small business owners
- Personal website
- Website Design Agencies
Price:
- Basic: Free
- Advanced: $29
- A 28-day free trial.
CoffeeCup is another free website builder that supports advanced features. A unique part of the website builder is the structured data support that helps to optimize the site for search engines.
Another great part about this website builder is the CSS framework support which provides you great flexibility in designing the site. The site supports the bootstrap framework as well and provides you greater flexibility over website design.
Features: Semantic strutted data, Responsive themes, HTML validation tool, HTML, PHP & CSS tags, Split-screen preview, etc.
Pros:
- Split-screen preview
- W3C markup validation
- Supports HTML5, CSS3, Markdown, and PHP.
- No coding required
Cons:
- Additional add-ons are required for most of the features.
- Lack of quality templates.
Website: CoffeeCup
#14) Jimdo
Best For:
- Blogging
- Small business owners
- Personal website
- Landing pages
Price:
- Play: Free
- Grow: $15 per month
- E-commerce: $19 per month
- Unlimited: $39 per month
- No free trial
Jimdo supports excellent e-commerce functionalities. You can start small and scale up as your business grows with its added functionalities.
A great part about this WYSIWYG website editor is that it was the AI, template builder. Jimdo will gather information about your preferences and create the template that is best for you. You can then customize the template using a step-by-step tutorial.
Features: E-commerce support, Product integration, AI template builder, SEO, HTTPS security, etc.
Pros:
- Easy to use.
- AI design templates.
- Unlimited storage with large plans.
Cons:
- No backup and restore.
- Editing elements can be difficult.
- Lack of export tool.
- Limited design features.
Website: Jimdo
#15) 1&1 IONOS
Best For:
- Blogging
- Small and medium-sized businesses.
- Online store
Price:
- Online: $5/month
- Online Store: $15/month
- Online Store Advanced: $25/month
- Online Store Expert: $45/month
- 30-day free trial
Created by a German-based company, 1&1 IONOS supports a lot of advanced features. This website builder allows free wildcard SSL support. The highlight of this website builder is its free domain and email name including .com, .org, .biz, and .net extensions You won’t have to pay as long as you are subscribed to one of its plans.
The website builder supports thousands of images, which gives you great creativity in customizing the site. Moreover, the website builder also boasts of captivating templates. You can cancel the plan anytime you like at no extra cost.
Features: PHP OPcache, Daily backups, Managed WordPress hosting, Free SSL/TLS certificate, Free domain privacy, etc.
Pros:
- Fast and easy to create.
- Relatively inexpensive plans.
- Lots of add-ons.
- SEO Optimized.
- Back up and restore.
Cons:
- VPS hosting is not supported.
- No malware scan with cheap plans.
- Poor customer support.
Website: 1&1 IONOS
Conclusion
WYSIWYG web builder software makes it easy even for a layman to create a professional quality website. With this website builder, you don’t have to hire a professional website designer to create a website for you.
A lot of WYSIWYG website editors are available for free. As a result, website owners can save a lot of money in designing a website and there would be no need to spend thousands of dollars on website design.
All of the website builders that we have listed here offer great functionalities for creating a professional website. Small and medium-sized businesses should consider Mobirise and WordPress to create a website. For large businesses, Wix and Weebly are great online tools.
If you want to create personal or blogging websites, the WordPress website editor is the best. Lastly, if you want to create pages in multiple languages, then you should consider Duda as the preferred WYSIWYG website builder.
Suggested reading =>> Top Website Builders for Small Businesses