Today, having a strong online presence is key to con­nect­ing with customers and boosting your brand’s vis­i­bil­i­ty. The good news? You don’t need any coding skills to build a stylish and effective website. Modern website builders make it simple by providing all the features you need to create a pro­fes­sion­al site with ease. In this guide, we’ll show you what to consider when selecting a website builder—and introduce you to the top 10 platforms to get started.

Website Builder
From idea to website in record time with AI
  • Intuitive website builder with AI as­sis­tance
  • Create cap­ti­vat­ing images and texts in seconds
  • Domain, SSL and email included

An overview of the best website builders

  1. IONOS: User-friendly, AI tools for automated page creation, ideal for ease of use
  2. Elementor (WordPress Plugin): Design-oriented WordPress plugin with AI feature, intuitive drag-and-drop
  3. Jimdo: Extensive e-commerce functions, ideal for small busi­ness­es
  4. Webador: Af­ford­able and easy to use, over 100,000 stock photos
  5. Weebly: Good SEO and marketing tools, simple design templates
  6. Square­space: Design-focused with AI content creation
  7. SITE123: Theme-based layout without drag-and-drop, user-friendly for beginners, perfect for fast and simple website creation.
  8. Webflow: Powerful website builder that is ideal for creating unique, re­spon­sive websites. Features an AI assistant.
  9. Wix: Large selection of design templates and flex­i­bil­i­ty. AI tools for automated website creation
  10. GoDaddy: Good social media in­te­gra­tion and AI-powered marketing features

The most important features of a website builder

With the help of a website builder, you can create a pro­fes­sion­al website without a great deal of technical effort. Depending on your re­quire­ments and goals, you should carefully consider which functions are most important for your in­di­vid­ual needs. While some website builders in­creas­ing­ly rely on ar­ti­fi­cial in­tel­li­gence (AI), others stand out with proven drag-and-drop editors and cus­tomiz­able templates. Here are the key features you should def­i­nite­ly look for when choosing the best website builder for you:

User friend­li­ness

A good website builder should have an intuitive user interface that can even be un­der­stood by people without pro­gram­ming ex­pe­ri­ence. Pay attention to the following functions:

  • Drag-and-drop interface: The ability to visually move and place elements such as text, images and buttons without having to write code is a key benefit.
  • Pre-built templates: Templates give you a solid foun­da­tion and help you envision the potential of your website.
  • Clear settings and cus­tomiza­tion options: You should be able to adjust colors, fonts and layouts without getting lost in a maze of menus.

Design flex­i­bil­i­ty

To stand out from the com­pe­ti­tion, it is important to choose a website builder that allows you to customize your website. These functions should be available:

  • Cus­tomiz­able templates: While templates are a good starting point, the ability to customize them is critical to making your website stand out. Look for providers that allow you at least some flex­i­bil­i­ty in cus­tomiz­ing the templates.
  • Mobile re­spon­sive­ness: Your website needs to look good and be usable on all devices, from smart­phones to desktops. Website builders should include tools that allow you to customize how your website looks on different screen sizes.
  • Various design options: With options to change colors, fonts, back­grounds and spacing, you can determine the aes­thet­ics of your website yourself and adapt it to your corporate design.

Basic functions

A website builder should offer more than just an appealing design. These core features will help you create a website that is user-friendly and can be found on Google:

  • Blogging features: If you want to share written content, look for a website builder with a built-in blog system or easy in­te­gra­tion with blogging platforms. By pub­lish­ing relevant content, you can increase your vis­i­bil­i­ty on Google.
  • Contact forms: A simple contact form allows website visitors to get in touch with you directly.
  • SEO basics: A website builder should at least allow you to edit page titles and meta de­scrip­tions. Good control over SEO settings gives you the op­por­tu­ni­ty to insert targeted keywords and optimize the ap­pear­ance of your website in search results.
  • Image op­ti­miza­tion: The speed of the website is also important! Look for providers that have some form of image com­pres­sion or op­ti­miza­tion. Slow loading times can have a negative impact on usability and search engine rankings.

Support and as­sis­tance

When using a website builder, good support for questions or trou­bleshoot­ing is in­valu­able, es­pe­cial­ly if you do not yet have extensive ex­pe­ri­ence in creating websites. You should therefore also pay attention to the following before deciding on a website builder:

  • Doc­u­men­ta­tion and tutorials: Clear guides and step-by-step in­struc­tions will help you fa­mil­iar­ize yourself with the new tool.
  • Forums and user groups: The op­por­tu­ni­ty to get in touch with other users, ask questions and share solutions is another level of support.
  • Support channels: Is 24/7 support available to quickly resolve urgent issues? Can you reach the support team via email, live chat, or phone? For specific concerns, it’s important to have des­ig­nat­ed contacts who can offer you targeted, expert as­sis­tance.

Another important aspect when choosing a website builder is the legal re­quire­ments, par­tic­u­lar­ly with regard to data pro­tec­tion. Pay attention to the following points:

  • Data pro­tec­tion com­pli­ance (GDPR): Make sure that the website builder is GDPR-compliant if you’re doing business in the EU. Data pro­tec­tion de­c­la­ra­tions and legal notices should be easy to integrate and adapt.
  • Legally compliant texts: Some website builders provide ready-to-use, legally compliant templates for legal notices and privacy policies.
  • Cookie banners and tracking options: A good toolkit should include functions that make it easy to implement cookie banners that comply with legal re­quire­ments. Also look for trans­par­ent tracking and data col­lec­tion options.

The top 10 website builders

Now that you know what to look for in the best website builders, we’d like to present our top 10 most popular options. We’ll highlight the strengths and weak­ness­es of each provider and explain what types of projects they’re best suited for. This will help you make an informed decision that meets your in­di­vid­ual re­quire­ments.

IONOS Website Builder

Image: IONOS Website Builder landing page
IONOS: Simple website design using AI-powered tools; Source: https://www.ionos.com/websites/website-builder

Benefits:

  • Ease of use
  • AI-powered tools
  • 24/7 support
  • Com­pre­hen­sive e-commerce functions

The IONOS Website Builder offers a user-friendly solution for creating websites, making it es­pe­cial­ly easy for beginners to get started. With its intuitive interface featuring drag-and-drop elements, users can easily customize their sites. A wide range of adaptable design templates allows you to create a pro­fes­sion­al website that aligns with your brand. The builder offers templates for various in­dus­tries, such as hos­pi­tal­i­ty and retail, which are optimized for mobile devices.

The builder’s features include AI-powered tools, which optimize content and improve the user ex­pe­ri­ence, including automatic text sug­ges­tions, image cus­tomiza­tion and search engine op­ti­miza­tion. The AI website generator enables the automatic creation of a website, complete with relevant texts and images, by simply entering the industry and keywords. In addition, there are e-commerce functions so an online store can easily be in­te­grat­ed as well as ap­point­ment booking functions that allow ap­point­ments to be made directly on the website.

IONOS provides support that is available 24/7 via phone, email, and live chat. The website builder is GDPR-compliant and includes tools for managing cookies, data pro­cess­ing agree­ments, and legal notices. There are three different plans, with the Plus plan starting from one dollar per month.

MyWebsite Now Plus
Create a business website
  • Easily get your business online
  • In­te­grat­ed online booking tools
  • Pro­fes­sion­al templates & 17,000 stock images

Elementor page builder

Image: Elementor plugin landing page for WordPress
Elementor is one of the most popular plugins for creating WordPress websites; Source: https://elementor.com/products/website-builder/

Benefits:

  • WordPress plugin
  • Theme Builder & Loop Builder
  • Cloud hosting optional
  • AI-powered features

The Elementor page builder is a user-friendly solution for quickly creating pro­fes­sion­al websites based on WordPress. The plugin can be down­loaded directly in the WordPress backend and has an intuitive drag-and-drop operation that makes it easy to create re­spon­sive designs for different end devices. The basic version of Elementor is free and offers a sur­pris­ing number of functions.

The Pro version of Elementor gives users access to advanced features such as the Theme Builder and the Loop Builder, which make it possible to display dynamic content such as blog posts or product lists in a clear way. AI-powered design sug­ges­tions are also available to au­to­mat­i­cal­ly optimize layouts and color schemes. Elementor is com­pat­i­ble with almost every WordPress theme and also offers a cloud hosting solution. AI functions can also be in­te­grat­ed for an ad­di­tion­al charge. Prices for Elementor Pro range from 59 euros (around 65 dollars) to 199 euros (around 220 dollars), depending on the chosen plan.

WordPress itself, as a content man­age­ment system (CMS), has no in­te­grat­ed solutions for privacy, cookies and legal notices. As WordPress is an open-source platform, the re­spon­si­bil­i­ty for im­ple­ment­ing legal re­quire­ments such as privacy policies and legal notices lies with the website operator. However, there are numerous WordPress plugins that can help.

Tip

In our Digital Guide you will find more detailed in­for­ma­tion about WordPress and other content man­age­ment systems.

Jimdo website builder

Image: Jimdo website builder landing page
The Jimdo website builder offers all the functions a company needs; Source: https://www.jimdo.com/website/how-to-create

Benefits:

  • Quick & easy
  • Image database
  • Analysis options

Jimdo is a versatile website builder that is char­ac­ter­ized by its user-friend­li­ness and generous range of functions. There are both free and paid plans, ranging from 11 to 45 euros (around 12 to 50 dollars) per month, depending on the features you want. These plans are ideal for in­di­vid­u­als and companies who want to create a pro­fes­sion­al website quickly and easily.

You can choose from a variety of templates and customize your websites with an intuitive drag-and-drop system. An extensive image database of royalty-free photos is available, and content can be imported directly from social media, making it easy to integrate existing materials. Jimdo websites are fully optimized for mobile devices; automatic search engine op­ti­miza­tion is offered as well as detailed analytics to track and improve per­for­mance.

Jimdo offers com­pre­hen­sive e-commerce functions for companies that want to sell online. The online store allows the sale of up to 100 products with different variants without incurring trans­ac­tion fees. Jimdo also provides caution-proof legal texts. Support at Jimdo is provided ex­clu­sive­ly by email or via a chat in the dashboard, there is no telephone support.

Webador website builder

Image: Webador website builder landing page
The Webador website builder offers a cost-effective option for small busi­ness­es; Source: https://www.webador.com/

Benefits:

  • over 100,000 free stock photos
  • Includes custom domain
  • SEO tools
  • AI website builder

Webador is a user-friendly and cost-effective option for small busi­ness­es looking to create a pro­fes­sion­al website. The platform offers SEO op­ti­miza­tion and AI-powered content creation, so you can simply specify what type of website you need, and AI will do the rest. An intuitive drag-and-drop system allows for quick cus­tomiza­tion of website content and design, and over 100,000 free stock photos are available to enhance your visual design.

Webador offers a free version and three paid plans, which are free for the first six months and then cost between 4.50 and 17 euros (around 5 to 18.50 dollars) per month. These plans typically include a custom domain, a matching email address, seamless in­te­gra­tion of an online store, and tools to manage your own blog. Support is available via email, and all data is stored on servers located in Europe, helping ensure com­pli­ance with GDPR reg­u­la­tions.

Weebly website builder

Image: Weebly website builder landing page
Weebly: Ideal for those who want to create a simple website without a lot of bells and whistles; Source: https://www.weebly.com

Benefits:

  • Three levels of pricing
  • Global page editing
  • SEO and marketing tools

Weebly’s website builder offers three plan options: a free version, the Pro­fes­sion­al plan for 14 euros (around 15 dollars) per month and the Per­for­mance plan for 25 euros (around 27 dollars) per month. While Weebly enables solid websites to be easily created, the e-commerce functions are limited. Although extensive product in­for­ma­tion and in­di­vid­u­al­ized articles can be offered, if you want to integrate PayPal, this requires an upgrade. In addition, shipping service providers such as DHL cannot be in­te­grat­ed directly and cus­tomiz­ing invoices is limited.

In terms of design, Weebly provides a limited range of re­spon­sive design options compared to its com­peti­tors. It does not offer pre-made templates for quick website design cus­tomiza­tion. However, with global page editing, you can modify color schemes, fonts, buttons, and layouts across all subpages at once, creating a con­sis­tent and har­mo­nious look.

Content such as text, image galleries and videos can be easily in­te­grat­ed, and Weebly also provides a beginner-friendly wizard to help out at the start. The platform provides effective SEO and marketing tools; however, the terms and con­di­tions and privacy policies are not legally foolproof. As well as a support team, Weebly provides a community forum where users can assist each other.

Square­space website builder

Image: Squarespace website builder landing page
Square­space is par­tic­u­lar­ly well-suited for show­cas­ing creative services; Source: https://www.square­space.com/

Benefits:

  • Intuitive op­er­abil­i­ty
  • Flexible design
  • Special features e.g. for restau­rants

The Square­space website builder is easy and intuitive to use; there are pro­fes­sion­al templates with high design quality. The platform also offers a wide range of SEO and marketing tools, along with a blog feature that out­per­forms many com­peti­tors. However, its rel­a­tive­ly slow loading times and lack of a backup function are notable drawbacks. Support is limited to email and live chat. Ad­di­tion­al­ly, the terms and privacy policies fall short of legal re­quire­ments due to the server location in the United States, and there are no legally compliant templates for legal notices or data pro­tec­tion.

Square­space e-commerce provides versatile layout options, enabling you to arrange page elements like forms, videos, and text freely. Besides offering a web shop and blog, you can also create protected member areas and set up menus with a reser­va­tion feature using OpenTable.

This builder is aimed at both beginners and advanced users who aren’t satisfied with their current system. It is par­tic­u­lar­ly suitable for coaches, small con­sult­ing agencies, and solo free­lancers who want to showcase their portfolio or sell digital products and services without having to get deeply involved in the tech­nol­o­gy. Square­space offers four plans that cost between 16 and 52 dollars per month.

SITE123 website builder

Image: SITE123 website builder
SITE123: The website builder does not have a drag-and-drop function; Source: https://www.site123.com/

Benefits:

  • Setup wizard
  • Templates + theme-specific elements
  • SEO options

SITE123 is an Israeli website builder provider that is char­ac­ter­ized by theme-based placement instead of a free drag-and-drop system. You can choose between ready-made templates and add theme-specific elements as needed. A setup wizard helps to customize the website to your in­di­vid­ual wishes. The websites are fully re­spon­sive and optimized for mobile devices. You can also customize the SEO settings to improve vis­i­bil­i­ty. SITE123 also allows you to quickly set up an online store.

A downside is the absence of legal texts such as the privacy policy. Support is available 24/7 through live chat, but there is no phone hotline. SITE123 is ideal for those seeking a straight­for­ward and user-friendly solution. The premium version is priced at 12.80 dollars per month.

Webflow website builder

Image: Webflow website builder landing page
The Webflow website builder provides a good variety of templates, but it has some usability issues; Source: https://webflow.com

Benefits:

  • Drag-and-drop editor
  • Built-in CMS for content man­age­ment
  • Option to integrate custom HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
  • AI-powered design assistant for faster page creation

Webflow is a robust website builder known for its powerful design ca­pa­bil­i­ties and flex­i­bil­i­ty. It offers a visual design interface with a drag-and-drop editor, allowing users to create re­spon­sive websites without writing code while providing control over CSS prop­er­ties like grids and ty­pog­ra­phy. Webflow includes a built-in CMS for content man­age­ment, re­spon­sive design features, hosting with security measures like SSL and global CDNs, e-commerce ca­pa­bil­i­ties, and tools for SEO op­ti­miza­tion. In recent updates, Webflow in­tro­duced an AI Assistant that helps stream­line the design process by au­to­mat­i­cal­ly sug­gest­ing and gen­er­at­ing page sections based on the existing design system. This sig­nif­i­cant­ly speeds up workflow, es­pe­cial­ly for larger projects.

Users can also create complex an­i­ma­tions and integrate custom HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The platform’s strengths lie in its design flex­i­bil­i­ty and advanced features, making it ideal for designers who want to create unique websites. However, Webflow can have a steep learning curve for beginners, and its pricing might be higher than some other website builders. Ad­di­tion­al­ly, while the number of pre-designed templates is growing, it remains limited compared to com­peti­tors like Wix or Square­space. Its e-commerce func­tion­al­i­ty, although con­tin­u­al­ly improving, may still fall short for managing large-scale online stores when compared to spe­cial­ized platforms like Shopify.

There is a free plan available for those first starting out with Webflow. The Business plan costs 39 dollars per month, but if you’re looking for an even more advanced solution, the En­ter­prise plan is available upon request, which comes with en­ter­prise security and support.

Wix website builder

Image: Wix website builder landing page
Hardly any other provider has as many design templates in its reper­toire as Wix; Source: https://www.wix.com

Benefits:

  • Apps with ad­di­tion­al functions
  • Version history
  • Marketing suite
  • AI website builder

Wix is a popular website builder that provides almost 1,000 design templates and numerous ex­pand­able functions via apps. The website builder enables you to create a pro­fes­sion­al website and offers a permanent free plan with a Wix extension in the URL and an ad­ver­tis­ing banner on the page.

A standout feature of Wix is the version history that allows you to undo changes, which is es­pe­cial­ly helpful for beginners. Wix supports re­spon­sive design meaning that websites are displayed well on all devices.

While the platform offers extensive features, there are some drawbacks, es­pe­cial­ly regarding data pro­tec­tion, since the servers are located outside the EU, which can lead to GDPR com­pli­ance issues. Wix does not provide support for setting up cookie banners, privacy policies, and other legally required elements.

Compared to the other providers mentioned, the plan prices, ranging from 13 to 177 euros (around 15 to 195 dollars), are rel­a­tive­ly high. However, Wix’s Business Elite plan includes features that are par­tic­u­lar­ly ben­e­fi­cial for medium-sized busi­ness­es, such as the ability to integrate up to 15 col­lab­o­ra­tors, unlimited storage space, and an advanced marketing suite.

GoDaddy website builder

Image: GoDaddy website builder landing page
GoDaddy also provides the right graphics tool for ad­ver­tis­ing campaigns on Instagram or Facebook; Source: https://www.godaddy.com/websites/website-builder

Benefits:

  • Good range of templates
  • Supports various payment methods
  • Social media con­nec­tions

The GoDaddy website builder makes it easy to create appealing websites and online stores, as well as sup­port­ing blogs and scheduled services like fitness classes or webinars. With 220 templates available, designing a layout quickly is straight­for­ward.

GoDaddy provides all the necessary tools for selling products, including support for all major payment methods. However, shipping needs to be managed manually, and invoicing is limited to a basic email solution.

GoDaddy performs better in the areas of SEO and marketing. There are con­nec­tions to platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Google Shopping** as well as options for targeted mailings. Con­ve­nient­ly, GoDaddy has a graphic tool for creating Facebook ads, flyers and Instagram stories. Customer support is available at certain times via telephone and chat. As the servers are also located in the USA, it is important to keep an eye on data pro­tec­tion. Prices lie between 9.99 and 20.99 dollars.

Go to Main Menu