Today building a website doesn’t have to be expensive or difficult. There is an excellent range of cheap website builders for novice users and small businesses. These website builders mainly use drag and drop tools that anyone can use.
They also often have a range of professional templates, and plugins to improve the website utility. If this is something you are looking for, we have picked the top 5 cheap website builders available in 2022 below!
1. Weebly
Weebly is one of the best cheap website builders in terms of pure price. If you are simply concerned with cost and don’t want to spend a fortune, this is the top option. To start, it has a basic free plan for £0 per month. Admittedly this is limited, but it does include 500MB of storage and a free website domain name. Bear in mind that it is a Weebly subdomain and not your own business domain.
The other plans are still incredibly cheap too. For example, the “Connect” plan is just £4 per month. This includes 500MB of storage and a custom domain.
Aside from the excellent price plans, Weebly also has one of the easiest editors to use. The editor is geared towards novice users and although some of the tools can be limiting, the usability is fantastic. Moreover, if you do want a little more control, it has a full HTML code editor too.
Weebly also benefits from a decent array of templates. There are approximately 40 templates to choose from. These all look professional and are mobile-responsive too. Unlike some other builders, you can also switch themes at any time.
If you want a cheap and simple website builder for your small business – Weebly is a great option. It may, however, not be the best choice for advanced websites and scalability.
Check out the full Weebly review for more information.
If you’re looking to get started with minimal cost, check out this list of the best free website builders.
Pros
- Great basic tools to build a website
- Can use and edit simple templates
- Websites are mobile responsive
- Large app store containing useful website plugins
Cons
- Drag and drop tools can be limiting
2. Wix
Another fantastic budget website builder is Wix. Wix has a similar offering to Weebly and it also has a free plan available. It also has four different basic website plans, and a selection of business and eCommerce plans.
The cheapest plan is the “Connect Domain” plan. This is just £3.50 per month. For this, you get 1GB of bandwidth per month, and 500MB of storage. The most popular plan after this is the “Unlimited” plan. This is £9.50 per month which is still inexpensive. For this, you get unlimited bandwidth and a much higher 10GB of storage.
Like Weebly, Wix also has an incredibly easy-to-use website builder. It has a solid range of drag and drop tools and you can easily add different elements like graphics, links, and forms to your pages. It also has a much larger set of templates with 800+ available. Most of the templates look great, but there are some that look a little outdated so choose wisely.
We also like the range of tools Wix offers. For example, it has an app market with hundreds of third-party integrations available. You can also connect your website to your social media accounts for improved SEO. If you want to create a small business website with more functionality, Wix is a great option.
Compare Weebly vs Wix in this review, or read the detailed review of Wix.
Pros
- Drag-and-drop editor requires no technical knowledge
- Strong set of eCommerce tools to start an online business
- The templates are highly customizable
- One of the largest template collections available with 800+
- Wix app market has free and paid integrations
Cons
- Limited ability to switch templates once website is published
- May not be the best choice for long-term scaling
3. Shopify
Shopify the best of the cheap website builders for eCommerce. The platform is centered on selling online and it is a great choice if you want a simple and affordable way to sell your products online.
The basic plan starts at £29 per month. This is admittedly more expensive than Weebly, Wix, and Squarespace. However, remember that this is an eCommerce plan – not just a standard website builder plan. As a result, for that price you get far more value for money. The basic plan includes unlimited products, and useful store features like abandoned cart recovery and the ability to create discount codes.
Where Shopify really excels is its sales tools. This includes tools for shipping, dropshipping, product management, payment options, tax, and selling via apps.
The editor is also easy to use, but does require a little more design-knowledge than some of the other website builders. You can also choose from one of 10 different free templates, but there are also 64 different premium templates too.
If you want an affordable eCommerce website builder, Shopify is the best option.
Check out this detailed review of Shopify for more information.
Pros
- The basic plan has comprehensive eCommerce tools
- Has features like abandoned cart recovery
- The store editor is relatively easy to use
- It also has a great selection of sales and marketing tools
Cons
- More expensive than other cheap website builders
- Does not have the same range of templates as others
4. Squarespace
If you want to create a stunning website that will grab the user’s attention, Squarespace is an excellent choice. It’s centered on design, usability, and the style of websites. However, it still has some excellent tools and features too.
Squarespace is a little more expensive than Weebly and Wix, but it is still highly affordable. The basic “Personal” plan is £10 per month for an annual subscription. For this, you get unlimited storage, unlimited bandwidth, and a custom domain name for the first year. They also have three other plans with the most expensive being the “Commerce” plan at £30 per month.
For design purposes, Squarespace has some of the best looking templates available. All templates are fully optimized for desktops, mobiles, and tablets – without requiring any additional work from you. The templates are modern, sleek, but still have great performance too.
Aside from this, Squarespace also has a good selection of integrations and tools. For example, you can easily link your various social media platforms. It also has a selection of proprietary extensions made by Squarespace to extend the utility of your website. It has an app store too, but this is limited compared to other platforms.
There are currently only 24 third-party plugins to choose from. If you’re comparing cheap website builders to use for a portfolio or photography site, we recommend Squarespace.
Check out this review of Wix vs Squarespace.
Pros
- Creates fully optimized sites for mobile, desktop, and tablets
- Also has a great mobile app that allows you to make changes on the fly
- Has some of the best looking templates available
- The website editor is clean and minimalistic
- All prices plans include unlimited storage and bandwidth
Cons
- The editor can take a while to get used to
- There is no autosave feature for the website editor
5. WordPress
Last in the list of top 5 cheap website builders is WordPress. This platform offers something different to the above choices. It is suited for those with greater technical knowledge. Also, it is better suited for larger businesses that want to take their website to the next level.
WordPress has a drag and drop editor, but it is not as user-friendly as the other options. Also, there is an initial setup fee, and after this, you pay a monthly fee for the hosting etc.
Where WordPress shines is its flexibility and customization. WordPress has a vast marketplace of plugins. There are literally thousands of plugins available from third-party developers. These include things like eCommerce functionality, SEO tools, contact forms, and analytical tools.
As a result, what you can achieve using WordPress is far beyond the scope of the other four options in this list. For example, you can use WooCommerce for WordPress which allows you to build a detailed online store. Alternatively, you can use plugins like YOAST SEO to optimize your website content for Google.
In terms of pricing, WordPress has a range of plans and it works in-conjunction with some reputable web hosting providers like Bluehost. Plans start from £3 per month for personal use, through to £36 per month for their eCommerce package.
Pros
- Has an immense database of plugins and widgets
- Excellent eCommerce functionality with add-ons like WooCommerce
- Offers the most flexibility and customization in terms of design
- Has a vast range of professional templates
Cons
- Requires more tech knowledge to use effectively
Cheap Website Builders – Which Is Best?
We hope you have found this guide on the best cheap website builders informative! But which is the best option for you? This depends largely on the purpose of your website, and your technical knowledge.
If you purely want cheap website builders to create a small business website, Weebly is the best option. Weebly is incredibly cheap, but still allows you to create high-quality websites via its editor and templates.
Alternatively, if you want something more advanced with greater customization and flexibility, WordPress is the best option. It is difficult to beat the features and customization offered through the thousands of WordPress plugins available.
If this list of cheap website builders helped you, please recommend DigitalSupermarket.
