6 Easiest Website Builders for Beginners in 2024 (Compared)

These days, having an online presence is a must. Without a website, you might as well be invisible on the internet. But if you’re not tech-savvy, the thought of creating and designing a website can be pretty intimidating. CSS, HTML, and coding can seem like a foreign language. You’ve probably seen website builders that promise to make everything easy, but not all of them are user-friendly.

In this post, we’ll dive into what makes a website builder truly easy to use. Plus, we’ll share some top-notch options to help your online presence shine. Ready to get started? Let’s get to it!

What Makes a Website Builder “Easy”?

An easy-to-use website builder helps you make professional websites even if you don’t have much technical know-how or coding skills. Factors that make it user-friendly may include:

Intuitive Drag-and-Drop Interface

This approach enables you to design websites visually. You can click, drag, and drop elements onto the page. This approach mirrors physical arrangement, making it intuitive and removing the necessity for coding. You can observe instant modifications, which helps you feel in control and grasp your design decisions quickly.

Pre-designed Templates

A wide range of professionally crafted templates is available to give you well-designed starting points. These templates are tailored to different industries and needs, such as portfolios and eCommerce websites. They provide a structure you can personalize easily, guaranteeing a polished appearance and easing the initial challenges of starting from zero.

Straightforward Customization Options

While providing flexibility, user-friendly builders offer straightforward customization tools. These tools may consist of options like choosing colors, selecting fonts, and adjusting layouts without needing extensive design expertise. The aim is to help you achieve your desired look without getting stuck in intricate design concepts or coding.

AI Features

Modern website builders now integrate AI features more and more to make creation easier for you. These AI tools can handle tasks such as creating content, enhancing designs, and improving layouts automatically, making using these builders simpler.

Tutorials and Support Resources

Beginners find straightforward guides and tutorials helpful in construction. These resources include video demos, detailed written instructions, and easily searchable knowledge bases. Effective support materials are designed to address common queries proactively and offer clear explanations without technical terms. Moreover, an active user community can add to the ease of getting started.

Simple Content Management System

These systems let you effortlessly add, edit, or delete content without impacting the overall design. They commonly feature user-friendly text editors, image uploaders, and menu managers. By separating content from design, they empower non-technical users to easily maintain their websites without worrying about messing up the layout.

Features and Integrations

Easy builders frequently come with pre-installed widgets or modules for popular functionalities such as contact forms, social media feeds, and eCommerce features. These integrations are ready to use, saving you from the hassle of adding these features yourself or using external plugins.

Based on these vital must-have features, let’s find out which website builders are the easiest in the market today.

The 6 Easiest Website Builders

Now that we’ve gone through the essential factors to consider when picking an easy website builder, let’s discover our list of recommendations!

1. Divi (for WordPress)

The Easiest Website Builder Overall

Divi, crafted by us at Elegant Themes, stands out as one of the most loved WordPress page builders. Our users praise it for its easy-to-use interface, which caters to both newbies and seasoned users alike. Its strength lies in its Visual Builder, making it an excellent choice for those unfamiliar with coding. It enables anyone to drag and drop website elements (or modules) onto the canvas and build websites visually.

You don’t even have to start on a blank page. Divi offers a wide selection of premade layouts and website packs designed by experts, totaling over 2000 and 300 packs, respectively. These layouts are optimized for desktop and mobile viewing and cater to various industries. Thanks to its continuous library updates, which add a new layout almost every week, Divi’s layouts offer truly limitless design options.

Using Divi’s Theme Builder, you can customize every element of your website just as you like: Headers, Footers, Post Loops, and More. Moreover, websites designed with Divi are responsive out of the box. You can leverage this simplicity and ease of use to even build eCommerce websites without the usual hassle.

That’s not all. Divi AI, baked right into the Visual Builder, helps you swiftly create website content, images, sections, and layouts. Analyzing your website’s context can generate custom code that works perfectly. With this AI feature, you can easily integrate professional designs into your website and add your personal touch to our layouts.

Divi checks all the checkboxes: its user-friendly interface, a rich selection of pre-designed layouts, flexible customization tools, world-class support, and ever-growing community, making it one of the easiest website builders. This approachability ensures a smooth website-building process for beginners and seasoned designers. Excited to get started? Follow this guide, which explains how to build a website using Divi.

What We Like About Divi

• Layouts: Divi has more than 2000 premade designs and adds new ones almost every week. If the current templates don’t completely fit your needs, you can modify the elements of the layouts or design a brand new template using Divi AI.
• Advanced AI: Divi AI stands out from other AI integrations in website builders because it goes the extra mile for you. It doesn’t just assist with creating layouts from scratch; it also empowers you to create and modify content, generate images, add code, correct grammar, enhance tonality, and even compose complete blog posts, among other capabilities.
• Theme Builder: Create distinctive templates and layouts for headers, footers, blog posts, archive pages, and more. You can establish universal styles for fonts, colors, and custom designs. These styles can be implemented across your entire website or specific sections to ensure design uniformity. Making changes is a breeze – with just a few clicks, all the applied parts will reflect the updates seamlessly.
• Documentation and Support: Divi’s documentation is top-notch in the industry, providing detailed articles to assist you. Additionally, a vibrant community of dedicated users is always ready to lend a hand whenever you require help. Moreover, a reliable support team is available 24/7, every day of the year, to assist you when everything else fails.

What Could Be Improved

• Dependent on Shortcodes: Shortcodes are the unique tags Divi uses to incorporate dynamic content or features on your site without requiring coding. If you turn off the theme, the shortcodes may be displayed as is instead of showing the actual content. As Divi 5.0 is being developed, we aim to move away from this structure completely.

Why We Picked It

Divi secures our top spot as the easiest website builder, shining bright with its straightforward interface and the convenience of a drag-and-drop feature. It’s a goldmine of robust and ready-to-use templates, customizable modules, and cutting-edge AI features. Not to mention, it also has a thriving user community. Whether you’re dipping your toes into website creation for the first time or a seasoned designer, Divi makes the process quite a breeze.

Who Is Divi Best For?

If you use WordPress and want an easy website builder, Divi is the choice. It’s designed for total beginners and intermediate users who prefer a simple interface with drag-and-drop features. With Divi, you can create professional-looking websites without needing advanced coding skills, thanks to its 2000+ layouts to get started.

Additionally, with Divi AI, you can generate copy for your websites, write code, generate and edit images, and even generate an entire web page by just adding a prompt without any limits for a simple monthly cost.

Community Reviews and Ratings

Users on platforms like G2 and Capterra share their appreciation for Divi’s features like user-friendliness, affordability, flexibility, community, assistance, templates, and other aspects, which they emphasize in their feedback.

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Pricing

Divi is a premium-only WordPress theme. Prices begin at $89 per year (excluding the additional costs of hosting WordPress).

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2. Wix

Best Website Builder for Simplicity

Wix has simplified web design since its 2006 launch, empowering users with an intuitive drag-and-drop editor. This tool lets you position elements freely, crafting a unique online presence without needing technical expertise. With over 900 professionally designed templates spanning various industries, Wix ensures your site looks polished and appealing.

Wix’s AI Website Builder steps in when templates fall short, crafting tailored designs based on your business goals and preferences and streamlining the process.

For those venturing into eCommerce, it delivers robust features: You can list up to 50,000 products, link to major marketplaces and social platforms, and integrate Wix’s Point of Sale system. It also offers multi-currency and language support, comprehensive shipping options, abandoned cart recovery, and diverse payment methods.

Wix stands out with its easy-to-use interface, wide range of templates, website builder powered by AI, and comprehensive eCommerce package. While the basic plans may have some limits on storage and bandwidth, the platform’s focus on being user-friendly and customizable makes it a popular choice for individuals and small businesses.

What We Like About Wix

• Templates: Wix provides over 500 professionally designed templates that suit different industries and personal preferences. Additionally, Wix’s ADI technology helps you create website templates and designs according to your preferences during setup.
• Excellent Design Components: Wix offers sophisticated design options, such as video backgrounds, animations, and scroll effects, for crafting vibrant websites.
• Apps and Integrations: The Wix App Market offers you a variety of apps and services. These can improve your website’s features and help you avoid the hassle of manually transferring data between third-party services you use or require.
• SEO and eCommerce Tools: Wix provides excellent tools for managing SEO, like customizing meta tags, organizing structured data, and optimizing site speed. It also helps with various eCommerce tasks, such as managing products and tracking inventory.

What Could Be Improved

• Template Lock-in: Once you’ve selected a template, switching to another one is not simple. Changing templates would require redoing the entire site.
• Customer Support: While Wix does offer customer support options, some users have reported mixed experiences with the level of support provided in their reviews.
• Dependency on Wix: You are tied to their platform and hosting when using Wix. If you decide to switch to a different website builder or hosting provider in the future, it may require rebuilding your website from scratch.

Why We Picked It

Wix is our second choice for an uncomplicated website builder. It offers a user-friendly interface and easy drag-and-drop functionality, making website creation a breeze without coding skills. One notable feature is Wix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence), which lets you personalize your site by answering a few questions and streamlining the process further. However, it’s worth noting that while Wix is beginner-friendly, it may lack the advanced customization options and robust content management features found in WordPress.

Who Is Wix Best For?

If you’re a small business owner, artist, or someone who aims to establish a polished online presence without requiring technical expertise, Wix is undoubtedly a great option to consider. Often hailed as the easiest website builder available, Wix offers professionally designed templates, an AI-assisted website creation tool, and an intuitive interface. Its many app integrations are excellent if you appreciate simplicity over complete control, making it an ideal choice for those seeking a straightforward way to build their online presence.

Community Reviews and Ratings

Wix has solidified its position as a popular choice for beginners and small businesses due to its user-friendly interface, great templates, helpful website management tools, and ability to create and manage websites with versatility.

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Pricing

Wix’s pricing starts at just $17/mo for its Light Plan.

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3.  Hostinger Website Builder

Best Website Builder for Basic Websites

Hostinger’s Website Builder streamlines site creation for individuals and small businesses alike with its standout AI-powered assistant, which guides users through a quick survey to understand their site’s goals and design preferences. Based on your responses, the AI generates design options, color schemes, and a basic content outline, making the website creation process more efficient. Unlike Wix’s ADI, the questionnaire on Hostinger only consists of five questions, making it even easier for you to begin your website creation journey.

Like others, it also offers an intuitive drag-and-drop interface, allowing you to tailor your site by simply moving elements around.

Hostinger provides various other AI features, including an AI image generator, AI blog generator, and AI SEO tools to assist users in enhancing their websites for improved visibility and user experience. Additionally, the platform includes basic eCommerce tools for effectively handling products, inventory, orders, and order data.

Hostinger’s focus on AI website building means it has a much smaller collection of premade templates, limited to just 150.

Overall, Hostinger Website Builder stands out for its simplicity and affordability, making it an excellent choice for beginners or those looking to create a basic website quickly without a steep learning curve. Still, it loses points for generating generic design and content through its AI.

What We Like About Hostinger Website Builder

• Simplicity: The platform makes it easy for you to create websites with a simple drag-and-drop builder.
• AI-Powered: You can quickly generate an entire website and use AI tools like a content generator and heatmap tool to speed up your web design process. The website builder’s simplicity is also seen in its AI questionnaire, where you only need to answer about five questions, taking just a minute or two to complete.
• SEO and Analytics: You can optimize and track your website performance with the help of built-in SEO tools and Google Analytics integration.

What Could Be Improved

• Basic Design: Hostinger’s AI features generate quick and remarkable results but churn out standard and generic design options. These may not be the best choice if you want your website design to be unique and distinctive.
• Lack of Templating: For each component of your website that may require templatization, such as blog posts and custom post types, you have to build individual layouts for each, which can be time-consuming and repetitive.

Why We Picked It

Hostinger Website Builder provides a straightforward AI wizard to outline your requirements and quickly have an essential website up and running, making it our third pick. With its easy drag-and-drop interface, responsive designs, AI SEO tools, and cost-effective pricing, you can swiftly design and publish a website in practically no time. This makes it a desirable choice for anyone needing a user-friendly website builder to create barebone websites that get the job done.

Who Is Hostinger Website Builder Best For?

Hostinger’s AI Website Builder is perfect for individuals seeking to create a straightforward website without breaking the bank. It’s especially suitable for beginners or small businesses aiming for a quick and efficient website creation process using AI. With Hostinger’s reliable builder platform, you can have your website up and running in just a couple of hours.

Community Reviews and Ratings

Users value Hostinger’s user-friendly dashboard, exceptional customer service, affordable pricing, fast website load times, and easy team access. These features suit both new and experienced users.

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Pricing

Hostinger Website Builder offers appealing pricing for its Premium Website Builder Plan, which starts at merely $2.99 per month.

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4. Elementor (for WordPress)

Elementor is a well-liked plugin for WordPress website building thanks to its easy-to-understand interface and drag-and-drop builder. What makes Elementor so valuable is its setup – with containers, CSS grids, columns, and widgets that let you craft one-of-a-kind and attractive websites without any hassle.

The platform provides an assortment of templates that cater to diverse design requirements. These are available in both free and premium options.

Moreover, Elementor AI allows you to create and improve text, images, and custom CSS/HTML for designing websites. Using AI text and image generators, Elementor AI makes content creation and website customization easier, aiming to increase productivity and creativity. However, Elementor’s AI may need to improve its functionality and context awareness to match Divi’s AI.

Elementor works well with WooCommerce and different eCommerce plugins if you want to create an online store. It gives you the tools to design and personalize your store pages and products. Moreover, with dozens of add-ons, integrations, and community support, you will find solutions for your unique needs.

While Elementor offers numerous benefits, like having a solid community and seamless integrations, it also faces criticism for its sometimes inadequate support, occasional price hikes, incomplete updates, bugs, and compatibility issues. Despite some limitations, such as a learning curve, costs, and potential compatibility issues, Elementor remains a popular choice for designers looking to efficiently create visually appealing and functional websites.

What We Like About Elementor

• Ease of Use: Elementor provides a friendly interface that allows you to create websites effortlessly, even if you don’t know how to code. Additionally, it offers a good variety of ready-made templates and sections.
• Third-Party Extensions: The platform offers a wide range of third-party extensions in its marketplace. These extensions give you extra widgets, templates, and design choices. You can use these to customize and add more features to your experience.
• Versatile Popup Builder: Elementor Pro offers a wide range of popup design choices to cater to various needs like email sign-ups, announcements, and more, thus removing the necessity for standalone popup plugins.
• Elementor AI: The AI tools offered by Elementor provide additional assistance in creating content, images, and code.

What Could Be Improved

• Compatibility Issues: You may encounter issues accessing Elementor after upgrades because of outdated PHP versions or incompatible settings. These problems could be resolved by enhancing detection and warning systems.
• Slow Update Cycle: Elementor often updates its software slower than its competitors. Some features that were introduced years ago are still considered beta. The free version of Elementor is occasionally criticized for containing numerous bugs in the updates, resulting in increased complexity.

Who Is Elementor Best For?

Elementor works well for WordPress users who want an easy-to-use page builder. It is ideal for those new to coding, designers who like visual editing, and small business owners making their own websites. Its drag-and-drop interface is easy to use, making web design accessible to people with different skill levels. This allows you to create professional-looking layouts quickly without much technical knowledge. However, its limited AI features, confusing/higher pricing, and bugs may deter some from making it their go-to option.

Community Reviews and Ratings

Users love Elementor for its user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, wide template selection, design flexibility, and quick website creation capabilities on platforms like G2, Capterra, and WordPress plugin repos.

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Pricing

Elementor offers a free plugin on the WordPress plugin repository. However, its paid pricing starts at $59/yr for some premium features such as Pro widgets and form builder. This also excludes the general cost of WordPress hosting.

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5. GoDaddy Website Builder

GoDaddy’s Website Builder is another practical choice. Its user-friendly interface and simple approach cater to those starting, aiming to create an online presence quickly and easily. You can easily add and rearrange elements on your site, even if you lack design or coding skills.

Regarding templates, it offers a wide range of attractive themes in multiple categories, with approximately 100 options available. These themes are created to be responsive, so your website will appear fantastic on any device.

If you’re unsure which template to choose or if you’re busy, the AI integration can help you quickly select a template by asking a few questions. Based on your answers, it then designs a website for you. You’ll find this feature helpful if you prefer a more guided approach.

GoDaddy’s eCommerce features are designed to help you sell online effectively with the minimum. They include tools for creating product catalogs, ensuring secure payments, and running promotions. Although not as comprehensive as WooCommerce or Wix, GoDaddy allows you to sell physical and digital products. Additionally, it provides management tools such as an AI description writer, product reviews, and cart recovery to improve your selling experience.

Although it does not provide as many customization options as other platforms, its emphasis on simplicity and ease of use still makes it a reliable choice for anyone aiming to build a professional website without dealing with complex features.

What We Like About GoDaddy Website Builder

• Affordability: GoDaddy provides budget-friendly plans, including a free option, which can be a good choice for new businesses like yours that have budget limitations.
• Ease of use: The editor has an intuitive structure, allowing you to easily add, remove, and edit elements without many difficulties.
• Business Tools: This software provides a convenient, all-in-one solution for small businesses, with a range of tools such as appointment scheduling, email marketing, social media management, and CRM.

What Could Be Improved

• Limited Creative Control: Users have expressed worries about the platform’s restricted customization choices compared to other advanced website builders.
• Limited eCommerce Capabilities: GoDaddy may not be the best choice if you are looking for advanced online selling tools like WooCommerce. Its main focus is not on eCommerce features, which could be a downside for businesses that depend greatly on eCommerce functionality while also seeking user-friendly options.

Who Is GoDaddy Website Builder Best For?

GoDaddy Website Builder is perfect for small businesses or individuals wanting to set up an online presence with ease quickly. It suits users looking for a simple interface and ready-made templates. However, if you need more creative freedom or advanced eCommerce features, you might find GoDaddy lacking compared to platforms like WordPress.

Community Reviews and Ratings

GoDaddy’s Website Builder is well-liked by users for its easy-to-use interface and drag-and-drop feature, which are great for beginners. Many people find its variety of templates, smooth connection with GoDaddy services, and helpful customer support to be really important.

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Pricing

GoDaddy Website Builder offers a free 7-day trial, after which the basic plan starts at $10.99/month.

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6. Squarespace

Squarespace has become a go-to for many creatives and business owners looking for a sleek, no-fuss way to build websites. Its clean design and user-friendly setup make it a hit with folks who want a pro look without diving into code. Like all options in this list, you can drag and drop elements to craft your pages.

The platform shines with its diverse template options, catering to various industries and professions. That said, there’s a noticeable focus on digital marketing and photography. Given how visual-heavy these sectors tend to be, it’s easy to see why.

Additionally, Squarespace provides two AI tools that make web design and content creation easier. Squarespace Blueprint helps design websites similar to Wix ADI, while Squarespace AI generates content. Using these features, you can swiftly create attractive websites and effortlessly generate first drafts of content.

Squarespace’s eCommerce tools cover all bases for online sellers. You can sell physical items, digital downloads, subscriptions, and services without sweating. The platform’s nifty features keep your shop management humming, such as product listings, stock tracking, flexible checkout, and automatic tax calculations. Plus, their mobile app lets you manage your store on the go.

For anyone looking for a polished online presence without technical headaches, Squarespace is worth a look. It strikes a nice balance between aesthetics and ease of use, making it a solid choice for those who prioritize design but might lack advanced tech skills. Even though it offers visually-appealing templates and user-friendly tools, it lacks integration options and has higher pricing than other platforms. Its limited customization capabilities and lack of a free plan may deter users from seeking more flexibility. Read our complete review here.

What We Like About Squarespace

• Sleek Templates: With more than 160 templates, Squarespace enables you to design visually attractive websites perfect for different needs, like showcasing portfolios, running blogs, or setting up eCommerce sites.
• SEO Tools: Squarespace includes SEO features and connects with Google Search Console to enhance your website’s visibility and ranking on search engine result pages.
• Free Domain: When you choose a yearly subscription plan on Squarespace, you receive a free custom domain name. This helps enhance your website’s professionalism and branding.

What Could Be Improved

• Limited design flexibility: While Squarespace offers appealing templates, the customization choices are somewhat limited if you want to make detailed design changes. Moreover, just like Wix, once you select a template, switching to another is a tedious task.
• Pricing: When compared to competitors such as Wix or GoDaddy, Squarespace tends to be a bit pricier, particularly if you need advanced eCommerce features.
• Limited AI Features: Squarespace incorporates AI features like Blueprint AI, quite akin to Wix’s ADI; it even has an AI dedicated to generating text. However, when it comes to advanced features, Squarespace lags behind. It doesn’t stand up well to Divi AI or Wix ADI.

Who Is Squarespace Best For?

Squarespace is a superb option for a small business owner, artist, or creative without the technical skills to establish a professional online presence. Its appealing templates, eCommerce capabilities, and easy-to-use website-building tools make it perfect for creating portfolios and stylized sites. However, if you require intricate customization or extensive scalability, Squarespace may not best suit your needs.

Community Reviews and Ratings

Squarespace is loved for its easy-to-use interface, attractive templates, customizable options, detailed analytics, and responsive customer support. It makes website creation a breeze for both individuals and businesses without coding knowledge.

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Pricing

Pricing for Squarespace begins at $16 per month.

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The Easiest Website Builders, Compared

After exploring the easiest website builders for beginners, let’s analyze them from a bird’s-eye view.

Feature Comparison

Let’s take a brief look at the features of the top 3 listed website builders:

Price Comparison

Finally, let’s examine the pricing of the website builders we’ve discussed:

The Easiest Website Builder? The Simple Answer Is…

Divi. It offers the best of all worlds— pre-designed templates, simple and advanced modules, a user-friendly interface, and a range of AI functions to help you with web design tasks. Additionally, you’ll have access to detailed documentation, round-the-clock friendly support, and the full capabilities of WordPress, all at an affordable price!

If you prefer not to use WordPress and want complete control and flexibility, Wix is a great choice. It offers professionally designed templates, ADI features enabling you to build a website with a ChatGPT/Gemini-esque user interface, and numerous integrations through its apps.

Lastly, if you’re on a strict budget, lack design skills, need AI to assist you, and don’t need a fancy website with the bells and whistles of most website builders, Hostinger Website Builder is an eminent choice.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Let’s conclude by addressing some common queries about the simplest website builders. If we’ve missed anything, feel free to leave your question in the comments section. We’ll be sure to respond!

The post 6 Easiest Website Builders for Beginners in 2024 (Compared) appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

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