Comparing 11 of the Best Free Website Builders [2023]

What is a Free Website Builder?

There are many websites that market their web building platform as "free" for building a business website, online portfolio or ecommerce shop. We’ve done the research here to help future web content creators find the most free website builder software available. There is a lot to sort through and compare, all the pricing plan pages and conspicuous limitations, fees and conditions. 

Overall the search criteria here is simple. Get the most features for the lowest cost, and we are shooting for free. That said, there are different levels of free: free software, free hosting and an ad-free experience.

What’s the Catch with These Free Site Building Websites?

You may have heard nothing in this world is free. How does that phrase translate to the world of simple, “free” labeled site builders? Here are some of the problems you might commonly encounter:

A Quick Comparison of "Free" Site Builder Pricing Plans & Their Limitations

GoDaddy

Wix

Weebly

Wordpress

Webflow

Site123

Carrd

Yola

GitHub Pages

Framer

Google Sites

Why You Should Always Buy & Connect a Custom Domain

What you need to buy for any successful website - a domain name. A website that is a subdomain of the site builder app, like carloslaw.wix.com or chicagocoffeeco.webflow.com , is not a memorable, unique or authoritative site. You won’t get far if your business is subdomained as it basically cripples the site’s effectiveness. Therefore, regardless of the platform, buy a .com. We have some recommendations for getting started on a website.

Is There a Completely Free Website Builder?

If you are looking for the most free, or completely free, website builder then use Google Sites. You will need a Google account to get started and here is the login page for Google Sites.

Wix, Weebly, GoDaddy, Carrd, Framer, Canva, Hubspot, Wordpress and Webflow all have very limited free plans available. These limitations necessitate the upgrading to higher, premium tier plans to launch a fully-functioning website.

To learn more about Google Sites, check out our extensive resources page.

Other Considerations for Choosing Your Platform

Access to Support

It is important to weigh your choice against the level of support, development updates and tutorials you expect from the platform or its community. For example, Google Sites support for a free Gmail account is basically no existent from Google Inc. themselves. There isn't a way to submit a ticket or talk to a Google representative. With a Google Workspace subscription the situation improves, but it comes at a cost there. However, there is an active Help Community of product experts, which is a forum type system. You may consider:

Access to Templates

Templates make launching a new website much easier. The workload of design and user interface has mostly been completed by a talented designer. Therefore, it is an added bonus if the site builder website has:

If you are interested in Google Sites templates, we got you covered.