Best website builders for small business in 2024
Our team of experts closely collaborates with experienced researchers to thoroughly evaluate website builders and their feature sets. Rigorous internal testing methods are deployed to provide empirical evidence and offer accurate, independent web builder rankings.
We make sure the methodologies of our in-house tests are transparent and accessible to all readers.
Learn moreBuilding a website for your small business is now easier than ever. There are hundreds of website builders with pre-built templates, online stores, marketing tools, and a myriad of other features needed for your business. However, with so many options to choose from, it can be challenging to know what type of website builder is the best for your business.
To help you choose a website builder for your small business, I will explain what features you should look out for and give you my list of the top 6 small business website builders suitable for selling products/services online, booking appointments, or raising brand awareness.
6 best small business website builders
- Wix – my #1 choice, offering all the essentials for businesses
- Hostinger Website Builder – best for startup business websites
- SITE123 – simple-to-use website builder for blogs
- Shopify – best website builder for selling online
- GoDaddy website builder – simple business website builder for a low-budget
- Squarespace – best website builder with advanced design capabilities
Choosing a small business web builder
The number one thing small businesses should look out for is website builders that are intuitive and easy to use – the smaller the learning curve, the better. Depending on the type of your business, you should also look out for these features:
- Selling online? Look for website builders with built-in eCommerce tools – Wix and Shopify are great for online stores. Your chosen website builder should also support external plug-ins.
- Want to create a visually appealing website? Opt for website builders with beautiful templates that you can’t mess up, such as Squarespace.
- Need a simple website for your brand? Choose beginner-friendly websites that do the work for you. Hostinger is easy to use and has powerful AI assistance to make the process as smooth as possible.
You can also check out our best web builders for small businesses review on YouTube. Learn all about our top provider editors, templates, performance, and more.
Best website builder for small business – our detailed list
To create our list of best website builders for small businesses, we tested our top-rated website builders. Only those fit for small businesses were selected for our list. For that the providers had to meet our criteria of being fit to build a business site, providing eCommerce and SEO tools, and other useful features for businesses.
1. Wix – my #1 choice website builder for small businesses
Starting price: | From $17.00/month |
Templates: | 900+ |
Best for: | Design and site-building freedom |
Current deal: | Get Wix with 50% OFF |
Wix is my #1 choice website builder for small businesses. With over 900 website templates, an online store builder, handy tools for sales and marketing, like custom emails and creative tools, an extensive app store, and 2 very different approaches to building your website, Wix has something for your small business to thrive.
What does Wix offer to small businesses? Practically, Wix has everything a small business would need, including multichannel selling, built-in SEO, email marketing, and AI assistance.
Below, you’ll find an overview of what Wix offers for small businesses as well as what it lacks.
Features | Benefits | Limitations |
eCommerce features | - Mobile optimization - Multichannel selling (online store, Google, Facebook, and more) - Extensive media library - Secure payment gateways (PayPal, Stripe, and more) - Express checkout - Abandoned cart recovery - Currency converter - Automated tax calculations - Inventory management - Fulfilment options - Dropshipping - Mobile app for businesses on-the-go | - Advanced API customizations may require developer expertise or external tools - Complex operations may require integrating third-party tools or paid apps for full automation - More extensive eCommerce features are exclusive to high-tier plans |
Marketing tools | - Analytics and SEO tools - Integrations with multiple apps and social media - Referral program management - Coupons- Email marketing and automation | - Limited marketing tools in basic plans |
Blogging | - Supports various types of media - Offers AI text and topic generation - Straightforward and intuitive blog post management platform | - More limited compared to specialized CMS platforms like Ghost or WordPress |
My experience with Wix
I found the process of creating a website with Wix relatively straightforward. I chose one of the pre-built templates and customized it to my liking using the drag-and-drop editor. The designs are visually appealing and hard to mess up. This is great for small businesses who are just starting out, as it takes off the pressure of creating a good-looking website.
While the template selection is huge, I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t change the design once the website was set up, which means if I ever wanted to change the template, I would have to do it manually.
One of the best things about Wix is that it offers many complex features. However, the sheer amount of options can feel overwhelming for beginners, and I found it confusing at times as well, even though I have some experience with website builders.
Price. There’s a free plan that Wix offers that is limited, but a perfect way to test if this website builder works for you. Then there are several different plans with prices starting at $10.50/month, and the more features you need, the price will grow in tandem. However, the best plans for businesses start at $17.00/month subscription price.
Learn more in our detailed Wix review.
2. Hostinger Website Builder – a comprehensive startup website builder
Starting price: | From $2.12/month |
Templates: | 150+ |
Best for: | Businesses on a budget |
Current deal: | Get Hostinger Website Builder, 82% OFF + 3 months FREE |
Hostinger Website Builder is an excellent tool to make a modern single or multi-page online store for startups. With its main advantage being the price, Hostinger is probably the cheapest website builder in the whole industry, making it an excellent option for aspiring entrepreneurs on a budget.
What does Hostinger offer to small businesses? Starting at just $2.12/month, Hostinger offers one of the cheapest website builders with great functionality, powerful AI solutions, and basic eCommerce tools.
Features | Benefits | Limitations |
eCommerce features | - Simple setup with already existing and AI-generated templates for online stores - Supports up to 500 products, each having up to 50 options - Includes shipping options, product categories, and inventory management - AI product information generation - Various payment methods, such as PayPal or Stripe | - Advanced features like custom checkout or multi-currency support are only available in high-tier plans |
Marketing tools | - Built-in analytics - SEO settings - AI tools for SEO optimization, marketing, email campaigns, and product descriptions | - Analytics rely on third-party integrations for deeper insights - Limited third-party app integration compared to Wix |
Blogging | - Basic blog creation features, including multimedia support and scheduling - AI blog content generation | - Lack of advanced blogging tools compared to dedicated blogging platforms like WordPress |
My experience with Hostinger
Hostinger is a beginner-friendly website builder, so it’s no surprise that I had zero problems setting up my website with it. I could choose from over 150 templates, each designed for different purposes, such as Portfolio, Marketing, eCommerce, Creative, and many more.
One of the best things about Hostinger is the AI tools, and there are many, including AI writer, image generator, SEO assistant, and even heatmaps. While these features are not perfect, they can set you on the right track when optimizing your website.
In addition, I found Hostinger’s AI assistant, Kodee, to be particularly useful when building a website for the first time. If you’re not sure how to add something to your website, simply ask Kodee, and it will guide you through the process.
When it comes to eCommerce, Hostinger’s features are a bit limited. For example, Hostinger allows you to offer up to 500 products, whereas Wix allows online stores to sell up to 50,000 products. Therefore, Hostinger is best for startups and small businesses with a small product selection.
Price. Hostinger offers only 1 website builder plan, which is also known as Website Builder and Web Hosting plan. The price for the plan starts at $2.12/month. It's suitable for eCommerce and business sites, has an incredibly good value for money, as the biggest website builders would charge you several times more.
Learn more in our Hostinger Website Builder review.
3. SITE123 – a simplistic website builder great for blogs
Starting price: | From $11.88/month |
Templates: | 160+ |
Best for: | One-person businesses, beginner users |
Current deal: | SITE123 coupon 40% OFF |
SITE123 is a simplistic website builder that is best for beginners in site-building and for small businesses that rely on blogs for traffic. It’s a speedy provider on a budget that will help you create the perfect site. For those who care about the results and not the journey, SITE123 is an excellent choice.
What does SITE123 offer to small businesses? SITE123 is designed with simplicity in mind and offers everything you need to launch an online store; however, if you have a large selection of products, you will need a more complex website builder, like Wix.
Features | Benefits | Limitations |
eCommerce features | - Simple setup with product management, shipping, tax, and inventory tracking - Coupons, digital downloads, and product reviews | - Lack of advanced features |
Marketing tools | - Built-in SEO tools - Social media integration - Email marketing | - Some automation and premium features require a high-tier plan |
Blogging | - Easy-to-use blog editor with support for images, videos, and scheduling | - Basic blogging features compared to specialized platforms like WordPress |
My experience with SITE123
I had a good, although rather limited, experience building a website with SITE123. It offers over 160 templates, all of which are free, and while the designs are nice, they didn’t blow me away.
The interface is easy to navigate and straightforward, allowing you to fully edit your website without any coding. Its simplicity makes SITE123 a good option for beginners, as it's less overwhelming compared to Wix or Shopify. That said, for more experienced users and small businesses with greater needs, SITE123 may feel limited.
I found SITE123 to be great for blogging for beginners. It’s easy to set up and launch your first post and allows for easy monetization. Moreover, SITE123 includes basic SEO – meta tags and titles, automatically generated sitemaps, aids for search engines, and integration with Google’s Webmaster Tools, making it excellent for blog-driven websites.
With the rise of AI, the vast majority of website builders employ AI to streamline the process of building and managing a website. While SITE123 has a few AI tools, such as a text generator, I missed advanced AI solutions, such as generating and enhancing images, that you can find with Wix or Shopify.
Price. SITE123 offers a basic free plan for testing the service, and then the premium subscriptions start at $11.88/month. To get more features for growing your business, you’ll need to upgrade your plan.
Learn more in our SITE123 review.
4. Shopify – the best advanced eCommerce platform for selling online
Starting price: | From $29.00/month |
Templates: | 70+ |
Best for: | Growing eCommerce businesses |
Current deal: | Try Shopify free for 3 days + 1 month for $1 |
Shopify is an eCommerce juggernaut, striking a perfect balance between being highly customizable and offering an absolute truckload of sales features – both offline and online. Shopify is perhaps the best website builder for small business that wants to sell, and sell big.
What does Shopify offer to small businesses? Shopify specializes in building online stores and includes all of the key features needed for them to be successful, including online and offline selling, fulfillment network, shipping, subscriptions, discounts, pre-orders, tax settings, third-party apps, and much more.
Features | Benefits | Limitations |
eCommerce features | - Customizable themes for online stores - Integrated payment and inventory management - Supports global sales and multi-channel integration - AI item description - Shopify Shipping helps streamline order fulfillment and tracking - Integration with POS for in-store sales - Shopify Magic, an AI-powered eCommerce assistant | - Some features and their higher capacities are in more expensive plans - More advanced fulfillment features may require third-party apps or Shopify Fulfillment Network |
Marketing tools | - Built-in SEO - Email marketing - Social media integration - Analytics, reports, and live view | - Some marketing automation tools/customer support options are only available in premium plans |
Blogging | - Easy-to-use blog editor with support for images and videos - Schedule publishing | - Doesn’t provide the same extensive features as professional CMS |
My experience with Shopify
Creating an online store with Shopify was fairly easy as it walks you through the entire process step by step. In terms of templates and design, I found Shopify quite limited, especially when compared to the customization options of Wix or Hostinger.
For example, Shopify has a vast selection of themes, however, the majority of them are paid, and can be anywhere between $100 and $500. Buying a template can be quite expensive for a small business considering it’s already paying for a Shopify plan. Therefore, if you have limited resources and visuals are a priority, I wouldn’t go for Shopify.
If your main focus is selling, Shopify is one of the best options. Its eCommerce features are what make Shopify truly stand out. Shopify has practically every feature your online store might ever need.
On top of all that, Shopify includes in-house marketing tools, letting you send out emails and do social media or SMS outreach. I found the extensive built-in analytics tool especially useful, allowing me to get a better understanding on how my website is doing.
Price. There’s no free plan option available. Shopify’s subscription plans start at $29.00/month, and if you need to upgrade to more features and for a bigger site, then the prices will grow.
Learn more in our Shopify review.
5. GoDaddy website builder – low-budget website builder with advanced marketing features
Starting price: | From $20.99/month |
Templates: | 20+ |
Best for: | Small businesses and marketing |
Current deal: | Get up to 34% OFF GoDaddy website builder |
Simple, cheap, and tailored to small businesses, GoDaddy's website builder is a quick and effective website-building solution. Named Websites + Marketing, this product combines simple site-building features with an advanced marketing suite, perfect for beginners and small businesses.
What does GoDaddy offer to small businesses? GoDaddy’s Websites + Marketing solution offers help with marketing, which is especially useful for small businesses. It includes social media integration, email marketing campaigns, and multichannel selling. GoDaddy also offers insights to help you understand how your website and marketing efforts are doing.
Features | Benefits | Limitations |
eCommerce features | - Easy setup for online stores with built-in tools for product catalog, payment processing, and shipping integration | - Small-scale eCommerce features |
Marketing tools | - Built-in SEO tools, email marketing features, and easy social media integration - Insight analytics tool provides personalized advice for improving site performance - AI text generation | - Minimal SEO features in low-tier plans |
Blogging | - Supports multimedia within blog posts - Customizable blog templates | - Basic blog manager - it can’t compare to WordPress and other competitors |
My experience with GoDaddy
GoDaddy is a beginner-friendly website builder with plenty of templates. I found the templates decent, although a bit outdated. What I liked about building a website with GoDaddy is that you can try out different layout styles with the click of a button without having to do any manual work. Nonetheless, the customization options are limited compared to Wix or Shopify.
Unfortunately, I encountered quite a few bugs when trying to set up my website. One recurring issue was being repeatedly logged out while creating my website. After logging back in, the setup page would reappear, even though the new website I was editing had already been added to the page list.
GoDaddy also offers generative AI tools for small businesses, such as content generation and FAQs. You can use AI to build your website from scratch, set up marketing campaigns, and generate logos for your brand.
Price. There’s no free plan available, but the premium plans for eCommerce start from $20.99/month. This is the best plan to run a small business of an e-shop, with all the needed features, tools, and capabilities to successfully run your site.
GoDaddy is an excellent option for beginner users. It simplifies absolutely everything. Sure, helping to easily build a website is nothing new – but the advanced marketing and design features make this a great all-around platform for those just looking to kickstart their new endeavors.
Learn more in our GoDaddy website builder review.
6. Squarespace – designer-built templates for creative small businesses
Starting price: | From $23.00/month |
Templates: | 110+ |
Best for: | Small, contemporary businesses |
Current deal: | Get up to 36% OFF Squarespace |
Squarespace offers a modern, lightweight, design-focused website-building solution for businesses looking to make a beautiful website simply and efficiently. If your business focuses on social media and visuals, Squarespace is the perfect builder for you.
What does Squarespace offer to small businesses? With over 170 designer-made templates, a grid-style drag-and-drop editor, and generative AI tools, Squarespace is the best website builder for small businesses that prioritizes visuals.
Features | Benefits | Limitations |
eCommerce features | - Simple setup with tools for physical and digital product sales - Supports payment gateways and inventory management - AI product description generation | - Basic plans lack advanced product and service features |
Marketing tools | - Built-in tools for email marketing, SEO, and social media integration | - Lacks sophisticated marketing tools - Products and services features are only available in premium plans |
Blogging | - Simple platform for writing and scheduling blog posts - Supports multimedia content like images and videos in blogs - Generative AI | - Less advanced blogging tools compared to other website builders like Wix or Hostinger |
My experience with Squarespace
Building a website with Squarespace was enjoyable. Its drag-and-drop editor is easy to use, and the grid system ensures that every element is in harmony. Compared to Wix or Shopify, Squarespace is simple, offering easy navigation and fewer features.
I recommend Squarespace to small businesses that do creative work. You can easily create a stunning website to display your work; however, creating an online store or building an online presence will prove to be more difficult as Squarespace lacks advanced features unless you opt for the most expensive plan.
I also enjoyed using Generative AI to enhance my website. AI tools like product descriptions produce decent texts, but tools that are supposed to create extensive pieces of content, such as blog posts, are lacking.
Price. With 4 plans available, the business plan subscriptions start at $23.00/month for the most basic plan. To access more features and build bigger sites, you’ll have to upgrade to a more expensive plan.
Learn more in our Squarespace review.
Web builder ranking methodology
Here at Cybernews, we follow a rigorous testing process for website builders. Together with the research team, we overviewed 32 and picked the best six website builders for small businesses to test in terms of:
- Website builder system (25%). Small businesses don’t have the time nor the resources to spend building a website. We picked website builders that are easy to use, offer pre-built templates that can be customized, and AI assistance for an even smoother website-building process.
- eCommerce features (25%). For small businesses that sell products or services, we looked for website builders with eCommerce tools, such as product galleries, inventory management, and payment gateways. Ideally, these tools are easy to set up and manage.
- Marketing tools (20%). Small businesses need to be seen. We chose website builders that provide marketing solutions, including email marketing, ad campaigns, social media integration, and more.
- Blogging (20%). For small businesses that rely on blogging, we picked website builders with built-in blogging systems and SEO optimization to make your blog visible online.
- Price (10%). Most small businesses don’t have the budget for a website, so we selected affordable website builders that offer a great price-to-value ratio. All of our picks have budget-friendly starting plans that can be upgraded as your business grows.
Comparison of the best small businesses web builders
Wix | Hostinger Website Builder | SITE123 | Shopify | GoDaddy website builder | Squarespace | |
Rating | ||||||
Best for | Small and big businesses | Small and big businesses | Small and big businesses | Big businesses | Small business | Small and big businesses |
eCommerce features | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
SEO tools | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Free domain name | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Custom email | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Templates | 900+ | 130+ | 160+ | 70+ | 22+ | 110+ |
Free plan | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
Price for eCommerce plan | $14.00/month | $2.12/month | $11.88/month | $29.00/month | $20.99/month | $23.00/month |
Best deal | Get Wix with 50% OFF | Get Hostinger Website Builder, 82% OFF + 3 months FREE | SITE123 coupon 40% OFF | Try Shopify free for 3 days + 1 month for $1 | Get up to 34% OFF GoDaddy website builder | Get up to 36% OFF Squarespace |
Video guide
If you're looking for a different perspective, check out our video guide to best web builders for small businesses:
Wrapping up
A small business doesn't have to invest big to build a solid online presence. With a reliable website builder that offers features for small businesses, you can build your site very quickly and easily and start selling your goods or services.
For the best experience, you should pick a website builder with various templates available to help you start setting up your site, speedy loading times, and features for small businesses. The features you should look for include eCommerce tools, SEO analytics tools, and social media management tools.
Based on our testing, the two best website builders for small businesses are Wix and Hostinger Website Builder. Both providers offer excellent tools for building your site and selling your goods or services, have an easy website setup and customization features, and come for a great price based on their value.
More website builders guides from Cybernews:
Best eCommerce website builder: elevate your online retail
Best affiliate website builders: boost affiliate sales with best tools
Cheap website builder: affordable website solutions
Best free website builder: unleash creativity for free
Best website builder for small business – FAQ
Is Wix free for businesses?
Wix offers a free plan for everyone who wants to build a website. It’s a good option for those just starting out as it has plenty of templates. Wix’s free plan may not be a great option for businesses as it lacks key features such as eCommerce, marketing, and SEO tools.
Is Wix good for small business?
Yes, Wix is one of the best website builders for small businesses. It's incredibly versatile, offers various template options, and a chance to build your site from the ground up yourself. More so, the subscription prices are extremely low, and you get lots of useful features, like SEO tools, email marketing, and eCommerce tools.
How much should a website cost for a small business?
Building a website can cost anywhere from zero to a couple thousand to tens of thousands of dollars – it all depends on the size and complexity of your website. A small business can easily build a website without spending a lot of money by using a website builder with a free plan, such as Wix.
Comments
I really like Squarespace's contributor options, so you can add other people and give them whatever level of access you wish to attribute. It's also very user-friendly and helpful in building a modern-looking site. If you're looking for something hassle-free and great for small businesses, Squarespace is a top pick.
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