The best time to create a website was a decade ago. The next best time is now. Every business today needs an online presence. Whether you sell products or offer services, your business needs a website. There are many top website builder apps available online where you can set up and launch a website within minutes. When you can launch a website with a click of a button, there is no reason not to have a website. With no coding experience, anyone can create a website using any of these best website builder tools. Creating a custom website requires a lot of technical expertise and money, whereas you can build a website on your own if you choose the right website builder platform. There are plenty of website builder apps on the web right now but choosing the best of the lot will not be tricky after reading this article. If you want more information check out our websites section for some quick tips from famous companies who built their reputation through having decent company-wide technology solutions which we shared in addition below.

Top Website Builder Apps [Pros & Cons]

WordPress

Using a website builder is not recommended if your goal is a fully functional website with a varied range of features. However, if you are looking for a simple website with basic functionality, then you can choose any of the following website builder solutions mentioned below:

Currently, WordPress dominates the 60.8% market share in the CMS ecosystem, whereas 14.7% of global websites use WordPress. Although created as a blogging platform, WordPress has evolved into a full-fledged website builder platform, thanks to the growing WordPress community.
(Note: This study does not take place within an “excluded” category such that we excluded our own sites.) However even if you’re completely unaware about all the changes taking effect at your company this time next year or beyond…you should be more cautious and aware before implementing any major updates on existing products/sites! These risks are much larger than it might initially appear though – just ask Adobe!

• Using WordPress is completely free.
• Free WordPress Themes and plugins available
• A dedicated WordPress community works towards making WordPress more secured, advanced, and user-friendly.
• Plugins like Yoast, Rank math turn your website into an SEO-friendly website.
• Offers both Hosted and Self-hosted options.
• Using plugins like Woo Commerce, turn any website into an online store.

Big Commerce

Next on our list is BigCommerce. Unlike WordPress, BigCommerce is not free to use. BigCommerce Essentials package starts from $29.95 per month. The price is justifiable if you consider the list of features embedded in this package.

However, BigCommerce is purely developed for small, medium, and large enterprises to create an eCommerce store. If you are looking for just an online presence, then stick to WordPress. The standard plan from the BigCommerce Essentials package is limited to $50K online sales per year.

An upgrade is required to go beyond this threshold. Out of 4 plans, 3 plans have threshold limits whereas the final Enterprise package offers custom pricing.

Pros:

• Dozens of conversion-focused themes and templates.
• Customization is easy with BigCommerce. Turn your online store into a unique, user-friendly eCommerce website with easy customization options.
• All the templates are designed with clean coding architecture considering SEO-friendly elements like on-page factors.
• You get a shared SSL certificate which is an essential feature in modern-day websites.
• You can find your domain name from the BigCommerce platform itself.

Cons:

• The biggest drawback of BigCommerce is that you have to pay more as your business grows in sales.
• Free themes are very limited and you have to rely on premium themes ranging between $150 and $300.

Wix

Next on our list of best small business website builders is Wix. It is an amazing website builder app designed for small businesses. Wix is also an ideal platform for artists, professionals, etc. to create an online profile of themselves.

Although Wix is not widely used or boasts of a large community like WordPress, it does offer some exciting features for your website. You get to choose from over 800 designer-made website templates. These templates are categorized and designed for different types of businesses. Whether you are a small business owner or plan to start an online store, you will find ready-made templates for your website.

Business owners or professionals can also add an online store, blog, and portfolio to their website. All the designs and templates available on Wix are responsive and mobile-friendly which is an essential factor to rank in Google.

Pros:

• Over 800 designer-made templates to choose from.
• Turn your website into an online store, a blog, a personal portfolio website, etc. with built-in features.
• 100% responsive and mobile-friendly templates.

Cons:

• Once you select a template, you are stuck with it forever. You have to start all over again if you want to change the template.
• No option to move or migrate your website on a self-hosted site outside Wix.

Squarespace

It is impossible to talk about small business website builders without mentioning Squarespace. If you are looking for a custom and highly functional website, then you can opt for Squarespace any day. Much like Wix, Squarespace also offers a wide range of templates to choose from when creating your website.

Squarespace is built to offer small business owners a simple way to set up a website. Based on the type of your business and website requirements, you can choose the right template. These DIY templates offer a painless process to edit and control without any coding knowledge.

All the templates available on Squarespace are mobile-friendly and 100% responsive. You can create blogs, online stores, agency websites, and other such websites with Squarespace.

Pros:

• Easily customizable templates to choose from. Change the colors and fonts to a theme that suits your business needs or voice.
• Multiple in-built features to set up an online store and other integrations.
• Get a free custom domain for 1 year with an annual subscription to Squarespace.
• Simple and secure check-out options for your online store. You can also introduce discount codes and recover sales.  

Cons:

• An in-depth menu hierarchy or navigation bar is not possible on Squarespace.
• Not very user-friendly for someone without any HTML or designing knowledge.
• Very limited features and restrictive ecosystem compared to other options on this article.  

Shopify

Shopify transformed the eCommerce industry like a storm. The platform allowed individuals to start an online store within minutes without any coding. Unlike WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace; Shopify is primarily designed for eCommerce sites.

With the Shopify membership plan, you get access to various templates, a payment processor, a blog, and email marketing tools to retain customers. You can also customize your website with the help of Shopify apps as well as custom code.

Over 1.6 million online stores are powered by Shopify that generates over $200bn in sales.

Pros:

• No coding knowledge is required and easy to use.
• Fully responsive and aesthetic designs.
• Excellent platform for a dropshipping business.
• Supports multi-currency payment options.
• Offers logistic solutions like Shopify Shipping.
• iOS and Android apps are available to manage your store on the go.
• No transaction fees if you use the built-in payment processor, Shopify Payments.

Cons:

• You are stuck within the Shopify ecosystem and rely on Shopify apps and templates.
• Shopify is a hosted platform and with over 1.6 million stores running on it, you are relying a lot on trust.
• You have to pay transaction fees if you opt for a third-party payment gateway.
• Multi-currency support is only available if you opt for Shopify Payments.
• Membership fees are too high compared to other available options such as WooCommerce on WordPress.

Over to you!