Best Website Builder Software: All the Online Tools to Launch Your Website

For a company or an entrepreneur, having its own website is an essential resource for the proper development of its activity. Therefore, choosing the best website builder software is a real guarantee to boost your online presence.

If you're just looking for an effective tool to build your personal brand, start a blog, or even showcase a portfolio, then website builder software will meet all your needs.

It is essential to combine the best website creation software with the best web host to be able to put the odds on your side in terms of e-reputation. Fortunately, there is such a variety of specialized editors today, that you are bound to find the one that suits you best.

The first step in choosing the right website creation software is to ask yourself the question: what should your future web page look like? Is it an e-commerce store, a catalog of services or a showcase intended to promote your talents / hobbies?

To determine which will be the idyllic website builder software, you will need to consider what exactly each vendor offers, including the number and quality of features offered, value for money, level of support offered, and ease of use. of grip.

Whatever your online strategy and whatever your budget (we've also listed exclusive discount codes), we've compiled the comprehensive list of the best website building services today.

Here are the three best website builders today

1.Wix - a top-notch website builderWix is ​​one of the best free website builders out there, but it also has some powerful paid offerings. These start from 10.20 euros per month for the Combo subscription, which gives you 3 GB of storage space, a free domain name and SSL certificate.

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2. Web.com - a serious and high-quality website builderWeb.com offers a very easy-to-use website builder ideal for beginners, allowing anyone to get their site online quickly. With top-notch support and rock-bottom prices, it's a must-have for those looking for an affordable yet versatile solution. You get a 50% discount on the first month, starting at $1.95 (around €1.72).

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3. Gator - a great value website builder service HostGator's Gator website builder service offers an extremely cheap starter package, with free hosting and domain name, plus an SSL certificate free: all with 55% off, which means prices start at just $3.46 per month (about €3.06).

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Which website creation software to choose in 2021?

1. Wix

The best website builder ever

Technical characteristics

E-commerce features: YesWeb Analytics tools: YesFree domain name: YesUnlimited bandwidth: Yes

Why buy it

+A wide range of features+The most intuitive interface

Why wait

-No technical support

When it comes to recommending the best instant website builder, Wix is ​​immediately cited, thanks to its flexible and easy-to-use interface.

Wix offers much more freedom than its competitors to customize your website pages and offers a wide range of subscription plans to meet everyone's different needs. With drag and drop functionality and over 500 generated themes for various business sectors, building a website from Wix is ​​a seamless process, even for newbies.

Without the need to know how to code, Wix allows amateur webmasters to adjust and customize all sections of their site.

Its development platform is cloud-based, making it one of the most popular web building software in the world - with over 200 million registered users in 190 countries.

Wix empowers millions of businesses, nonprofits, and individuals to build their brands and expand their online presence.

The greatest strength of Wix is ​​that it adapts to any market, delivering options but also dedicated themes depending on your branch. You can put an e-commerce store or a portfolio online, and why not both, as you see fit.

At the beginning of your odyssey with Wix, you will have the choice between two options: WixADI or WixEditor. WixADI asks you a few preliminary questions before fully generating a website based on your answers. This option is great if you're the indecisive type, but not if you want complete control. WixEditor, on the other hand, offers a drag and drop process which takes more time but allows you to design a 100% customizable website.

Wix doesn't have many drawbacks, but the fact that it imposes a limit on available space (varies according to the chosen plan) will pose a problem for users of the most economical plans. Also, some subscribers have already complained about the lack of technical support.

To compensate, Wix offers a 14-day trial period, and if you're not fully satisfied, you can get your money back.

Overall, the Wix website builder software is brilliantly designed, with top-notch SEO and marketing tools. This means that Wix remains our number one choice to date, regardless of the plan chosen. A free version is offered, alongside the three other paying ones: Business, Unlimited and VIP.

2. Gator Website builder

The cheapest and most suitable option for small businesses

Technical characteristics

E-commerce features: YesFree SSL certificate: YesFree domain name: YesUnlimited bandwidth and storage: Yes

Why buy it

+Powerful and simplified drag-and-drop builder+Lots of features

Why wait

-Blog editing functions are insufficient

Another popular choice is HostGator, whose website builder solution, Gator Website Builder, has been praised for its simplicity and price, both of which should appeal to small businesses.

Gator is available in three versions. The Starter subscription costs $3.84 ($3.46 with our special offer) per month and includes free hosting, website analysis, free domain name registration for one year and storage space. unmetered storage. The Premium Plan includes all of these, plus priority support, for $5.99 ($5.39 with our special offer) per month. The e-commerce offer, on the other hand, costs $9.22 ($8.30 with our special offer) per month and offers additional features like an inventory management tool, a shipping cost calculator with taxes , and the ability to create coupons.

Whichever plan you choose, you'll have access to an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface. This allows you to employ popular design elements such as images, videos, text boxes, columns, maps, and contact forms. Each of the 200 Gator templates is fully customizable, so it's easy to make your website look the way you want. A large number of mobile-friendly themes are also available to ensure that your online portal displays correctly on all devices.

For small businesses that don't have access to quality photographic equipment, Gator comes with its own royalty-free photo library, and a number of video tutorials offered if you need additional help.

If there's a real downside here, it's the lack of functionality for more complex websites. There are no integrated web marketing functions (including sending newsletters for example) - and the options for creating a blog remain relatively basic.

Still, with 24-hour tech support available to all users and free analytics solutions for admins to know in great detail how their site is performing, there are plenty of reasons to choose Gator here.

3.Zyro

The easiest and most intuitive site builder

Technical characteristics

Free domain name: YesMobile optimization: YesFree SSL certificate: YesE-commerce features: Yes

Why buy it

+Ease of use+Easy to bring your own ideas to life+Ideal for beginners+Very fast

Why wait

-Not as professional as its competitors

Hostinger's Zyro stands out for its simplicity - it really is the perfect site builder for businesses or individuals who don't have much experience building web pages. This is a great drag and drop editor that makes it easy to select your design and features. The platform's AI writer can even create some of the textual content for you, which can save you a few extra hours. Once live, Zyro websites load very quickly.

There are over 150 models available, which is less than other providers, but that only adds to Zyro's strengths in some ways. Rather than sifting through countless templates, the smaller range of premium and impactful options should allow novices to speed up the process of building a website.

Zyro is offered with several pricing options. The free plan includes 500MB of storage and monthly data transfers, but users will have to put up with a few ads.

The Unleashed subscription, on the other hand, offers unlimited bandwidth and storage, as well as a free domain for one year, for €2.90 per month. There are also e-commerce offers that facilitate online payments, order tracking and tax management.

Also note that you can get an additional 10% off Zyro's already impressive discounts by using the code TECHRADAR at checkout, so you can pay as little as €2.61 per month.

For small businesses, the Zyro builder is a great choice - having the most requested features by customers, Zyro doesn't overload its users with unnecessary options, resulting in the most streamlined building experience.

Since Zyro is relatively new to website building, updates and improvements are constantly being made. For now, Zyro remains a great option for anyone looking for a simple and intuitive website builder with 24/7 support and no unnecessary extras.

4. 1&1 IONOS MyWebsite

The largest gallery of themes for your future website

Technical characteristics

Mobile Optimized: YesFree SSL Certificate: YesFree Domain Name: YesMultilingual: Yes

Why buy it

+Really well-designed editor+Some handy bonus features

Why wait

-No free offer

Europe's largest web hosting provider, 1&1 IONOS, currently has over 12 million domains and is a great choice if you're looking to build a serious and professional website to promote your business.

If the absence of free offers proves disappointing (although the first month is free), the paid options are reasonable enough, starting at 5 euros per month and then 15 euros per month after 6 months. For this price, customers can access the MyWebsite Now or MyWebsite Creator packages.

MyWebsite Now comes with a domain name, a professional email address and an extensive image library. But it lacks some of the more advanced features you get with the Creator bundle.

The choice of themes is where IONOS really stands out. Templates are organized by industry and type, so it's easy to find the right layout for your website, whether you're in retail, tourism, or real estate. Some templates are more visually oriented, while others will enhance your texts. Anyway, they are all easy to develop; no coding knowledge is required and the templates can be easily adjusted using a drag and drop type editor.

Small businesses are also likely to be attracted to the multilingual translation offered by IONOS, which can translate site content into 62 different languages. This makes IONOS a great choice when it comes to scalability: as a business grows, this website builder is more than equipped to facilitate international expansion.

Targeted content is also an option – so businesses can configure their website to present special offers to new visitors. If you're looking for a scalable website builder with a great selection of themes, IONOS is worth serious consideration.

5. GoDaddy

The best customer support guaranteed

Technical characteristics

SSL security certificate: YesE-commerce features: YesOptimized for mobiles: YesSEO tools: Yes

Why buy it

+Excellent 24/7 technical support+Affordable subscriptions

Why wait

-Some options are missing

GoDaddy is arguably one of the easiest website builders to use, with an extremely intuitive publishing process and basic editing tools. This means that even if you've never designed a website before, creating one should only take a few minutes.

For people looking for a more in-depth experience, the GoDaddy Websites + Marketing solution provides in-depth analysis of your site's performance. The analytics tool provides a comprehensive set of metrics that compare the performance of your online presence to that of other websites in your domain. So far, the tool has proven to be very effective, with customers seeing an 18% increase in revenue within 12 months of using it, according to GoDaddy.

Of course, even the most impressive online platforms can present challenges, and GoDaddy's website builder is no exception. Fortunately, GoDaddy's support is some of the best around. Detailed PDF guides cover a multitude of questions and troubleshooting topics, with technical support available 24/7. Additionally, the forums are a great resource and someone is likely to have a quick answer. detailed answer to your question. A live chat function is also available on weekdays.

In terms of pricing, GoDaddy is very competitive and offers four pricing tiers. These range from €3.59 per month for the basic subscription to €11.99 per month for the E-commerce offer. As you might expect, the E-commerce plan comes with everything you need to start a full online store, with the cheapest plans offering slightly reduced functionality.

6. Weebly

The best online store builder

Technical characteristics

Ergonomic design: YesSEO tools: YesContent sharing via social networks: Yes

Why buy it

+Good e-commerce features+Excellent viralization tools+Secure payment form

Why wait

-Limited editor-No ADI option

Weebly is a great choice for people looking to build an online store quickly because it gets you right into the action. While some creative software wastes time with the signup process, Weebly simply asks you to provide a name, email address, and password, and then you're good to go.

The service begins by asking you a few questions about your future website, including the theme you want to adopt, the domain name and the pricing plan you are interested in. On that last point, there are three options (Personal, Professional, and Performance) that each offer a different set of features.

However, e-commerce is where Weebly really shines. Initially, users can choose to build a "website with an online store", which will unlock a number of premium features. These include an integrated shopping cart and secure checkout form, inventory tracking, and a filtered product finder.

The "drag and drop" interface is also making an appearance in Weebly's e-commerce platform, allowing businesses to showcase their products through a range of display and merchandising options. Social login integration is also included, prompting shoppers to promote a product page via Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Another major advantage is the assistance delivered to users. Live chat, email support, and a number of other resources, including several step-by-step guides, provide Weebly members with everything they need to set up and grow their store.

The variety on offer is also very impressive. Online store managers can sell physical goods, digital products, or services, and retailers can set their own prices and set their own configurable product options (by color, by size, etc.)

7. Zoho Sites

The best website builder for big business

Technical characteristics

E-commerce features: YesErgonomic design: YesFree SSL certificate: YesSEO tools: Yes

Why buy it

+Free trial+HTML and CSS design+Good range of internal add-ons

Why wait

-Limited third-party app integration-Only 190 themes offered

As with most of the website builders featured here, you don't need any technical knowledge to get the most out of your experience with Zoho Sites. The platform offers an impressive range of features, including over 190 themes, an extremely well-organized interface, and an intuitive code editor.

In terms of pricing, it's worth noting that Zoho doesn't offer an unlimited free option, but you can try the platform for 15 days before committing. After that, there are two different subscription plans, Starter or Pro, both of which come with custom domain hosting, mobile optimization, and SSL certification.

One of the main advantages of Zoho Sites is its flexibility, it is ideal for businesses that are growing rapidly. The Pro plan includes three separate add-ons that you can subscribe to as your company grows. If you need expanded capacity to accommodate more visitors, more web pages, or more contributors, there are reasonably priced add-ons.

Additionally, many other products in the Zoho family are well suited for large enterprises. For example, Zoho Projects, a suite of collaborative tools for all of your employees. Other tools like Zoho Books, Zoho Reports, and Zoho Creator are likely to prove equally useful.

On the downside, Zoho Sites offers fairly limited integration with third-party features, including some of the major social networks. Although it offers a fairly comprehensive list of internal apps, including a CRM and a marketing center, the inability to simply activate external apps may be a problem for some.

Nevertheless, with a wide range of design-specific options, support for newsletters, e-commerce functions and tools for analyzing your traffic, Zoho is a great alternative for any business that is growing or has already acquired a large customer base.

8. Jimdo

The best option to publish your portfolio

Technical characteristics

Professional templates: YesContent sharing via social networks: YesSEO tools: YesMobile optimization: Yes

Why buy it

+Free tier has a few unusual extras+Good tech support

Why wait

- Fewer features than some competitors

Since 2007, more than 25 million websites have been created with Jimdo, whose simplicity remains eminently acclaimed. Another strong point is its appearance, with a range of clean and flexible templates. The professional and modern styles available make Jimdo a great site builder for designers, photographers, or anyone else who wants to showcase their portfolio online.

The platform even offers its own logo maker to help make your brand recognizable. All you need to do is enter your business name and select a starting point for your logo design. Then you customize your icon and layout, choose a color and font, and voila! Your logo is ready to adorn your business cards, social accounts and of course your website.

Another useful design feature that Jimdo users will appreciate is how the colors of the website automatically match a logo or uploaded image. In addition, Jimdo comes with a host of support documents to help you through every step of creating your website.

Other advantages of Jimdo are its speed and simplicity. First, users have a choice between Jimdo Creator and Jimdo Dolphin. Creator offers over 100 templates in four categories (Business, Store, Portfolio, and Personal) and plenty of customization options. Dolphin, on the other hand, offers you a site created entirely by AI. There is also a partnership with Facebook, which allows you to sell your products directly on Facebook and Instagram.

In terms of pricing, there is a free plan that has no time limit, but will require you to post a Jimdo subdomain and advertise. Some Jimdo users have complained about a lack of fancy features, but if you want a quick and straightforward way to launch a great site, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better website builder than this one.

How do we test each website builder software?

In the same way that we test web hosting services, our evaluators register and subscribe on each platform, following the same process as an average user.

We look at the options offered, ease of use, price, support in place, and other extras like blogging and online store editing. One of the main features we look for in a website builder is the ability to have a free trial period to allow you to get a feel for and familiarize yourself with the tool before committing to it. more permanent.

Once our reviewers sign up for each website builder, they create a specific page to get a clear idea of ​​what you can expect. We have tested and reviewed all of the website builders listed above.

As nothing can be 100% perfect, we made sure to highlight the positives and negatives of each website architect so that you are clear on what to expect.

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What is a website builder?

Contrary to what you may think, website builders have been around for a long time. Have you ever heard of Geocities or Angelfire? They were the precursors of today's giants like Wix or Weebly.

In its simplest form, it is a set of templates like those found in Microsoft Word. A website builder frees you from knowing a coding language like HTML or JavaScript and relies on the WYSIWIG process to upload what you see directly on the screen.

WYSIWIG stands for "What you see is what you get". It's basically a graphical user interface that lets even novices move images around and enter blocks of text like they would in a regular photo album.

Website builder or web design software which to prefer?

Another key difference between web design tools, like Adobe Dreamweaver, and website builders, like Jimdo, is price. Web design tools are often more expensive and there may not be a free option like most website builders. Although web design tools try to provide an intuitive experience, it's probably best to have some coding knowledge before trying them out. Ultimately, choosing a website builder or web design software will mostly come down to your level of experience and the type of site you need. In most cases, a simple website builder will be enough, but if you want to get more into code, there's no harm in trying a web design solution.

Website builders and web design software certainly have a lot in common. Both can be used to create beautiful, professional-looking websites with all the features your business needs.

In general, website builders are online platforms, often available in free versions, which emphasize simplicity and usually offer drag-and-drop editors. Website design software, on the other hand, is a little more complex, with some aimed at experienced programmers and offering the ability to code a site line by line.

Free vs. Paid Website Builders: Which Ones Are Worth Your Attention?

Why pay for a website builder when you can get one for free? Well, as is often the case, you usually get what you pay for. That's not to say, however, that there aren't great free website builders out there. Many of them offer all the features you need to create fantastic online portals: customizable templates, intuitive drag-and-drop editors, marketing tools, and mobile optimization. It's essential to have a clear idea of ​​how you want your website to look and to conduct thorough research to avoid paying more than necessary for a website builder.

It is true, however, that some features are less often included in free website builders. E-commerce tools, for example, are often paid for and a number of other functions are generally excluded from free offers. Free website builders often come with advertisements over which you have no control - you may not mind, but sometimes they can be intrusive. Plus, they can make your site look unprofessional. Free website builders won't give you a dedicated web address, which can also affect your credibility. Fortunately, many paid website builders offer free trials that allow you to test out the service before signing up.

How much does a website builder cost?

There is no simple answer to this question. For businesses that stick with standard templates and are happy to put up with ads and a generic URL, it's possible to find website builders that cost absolutely nothing. Of course, most brands won't stop at this free solution, which can lead to unprofessional-looking sites. The good news is that there are some very effective website builders available at reasonable prices. Most of them operate on a monthly billing system, with costs for entry-level subscriptions sometimes as low as 6 euros per month.

However, all website administrators should be aware of the amount of fees charged by website builders for additional features. Even if your base package is cheap, costs can quickly add up if you need to buy add-ons for security, e-commerce features, and marketing tools. It's important for companies to be transparent about their website expenses, so it's still a good idea to research potential platforms thoroughly before making your choice. It is also important to consider the scalability of your website builder: will it remain suitable as your business expands and how will costs increase in the near future?

Is creating a website difficult?

It might seem like a daunting prospect, but setting up a website doesn't have to be difficult - although of course it all depends on how much involvement you want to have, what kind of website you want and your level of experience. Heureusement, de nombreux créateurs de sites web sont conçus pour s'adapter aux grands débutants, avec des éditeurs de type "glisser-déposer" qui ne nécessitent aucune expérience du codage. En fait, la plupart des créateurs de sites web vous permettront de créer un site entièrement fonctionnel en moins d'une heure. Les futurs webmasters disposant de ressources financières plus importantes peuvent également faire appel à un concepteur de sites web professionnel pour créer leur site à leur place.

Pour ceux qui sont prêts à se lancer eux-mêmes dans la création d'un site web, le niveau de difficulté dépendra du créateur de site choisi. Bien qu'ils soient tous relativement intuitifs, certains proposent des fonctionnalités supplémentaires dont la mise en œuvre peut nécessiter une certaine connaissance du processus de création de sites web. La plupart des plateformes sont accompagnées d'une assistance de qualité, notamment de guides pratiques et de didacticiels vidéo. Il convient toutefois de mentionner que les créateurs de sites web les plus basiques offrent une personnalisation limitée. Pour ceux qui souhaitent vraiment avoir un contrôle total sur leur site, une certaine expérience du codage, ainsi qu'une connaissance préalable du langage HTML, seront utiles.

Quels sont les créateurs de sites web les plus populaires ?

Il existe aujourd'hui un nombre impressionnant de créateurs de sites Web, qu'ils soient gratuits, destinés à des professions spécifiques ou à des petites entreprises, et bien d'autres encore. Bien que chaque créateur de site Web ait ses propres avantages et inconvénients que les utilisateurs doivent évaluer eux-mêmes, un coup d'œil à certaines des plateformes les plus populaires est un bon point de départ. La première place revient à Wix, qui compte plus de 180 millions d'utilisateurs dans 190 pays. La plateforme a réussi à se constituer une telle audience en combinant un large éventail de fonctionnalités puissantes avec une interface très intuitive.

Si Wix est le créateur de sites Web le plus populaire au monde, il n'en demeure pas moins qu'il a sa part de concurrents à affronter. Parmi les autres créateurs de sites web plébiscités figurent GoDaddy et Weebly. En ce qui concerne les créateurs de sites plus personnalisés, Shopify est devenu extrêmement recommandé en offrant un large éventail d'outils d'e-commerce pour les détaillants en ligne. Il est important de noter, cependant, que le créateur de site web le plus populaire n'est pas forcément le mieux adapté à vos besoins. Il est peu probable que vous vous trompiez avec les grands acteurs, mais les créateurs de sites web plus petits et plus spécialisés peuvent offrir de meilleures offres ou des fonctionnalités plus pertinentes pour votre propre site. Il est donc important de faire des recherches approfondies avant d'opter pour un créateur de site web particulier.

Faut-il privilégier WordPress à un créateur de sites web ?

L'utilisation de WordPress ou d'un créateur de site Web sont deux options intéressantes pour quiconque souhaite créer un site web, mais chacune présente ses propres avantages et inconvénients. Différent d'un créateur de sites web, WordPress est en fait un système de gestion de contenu, ou CMS. Depuis son lancement, WordPress a ajouté un certain nombre de fonctionnalités au-delà de son offre CMS de base, en proposant des thèmes, des modules complémentaires et des fonctions e-commerce. Les créateurs de sites web novices peuvent toutefois trouver que WordPress a une courbe d'apprentissage assez raide. Le langage peut être trop technique et les utilisateurs peuvent même avoir besoin d'ajuster un bout de code pour qu'un plugin fonctionne.

Bien que WordPress propose une assistance par chat et par courriel, les utilisateurs moins expérimentés trouveront peut-être qu'un créateur de sites web est plus accueillant. La plupart des créateurs de sites web sont ravis de leur facilité d'utilisation, et beaucoup d'entre eux emploient des éditeurs de type glisser-déposer qui permettent d'accéder à une page web opérationnelle en quelques minutes, même sans aucune expérience préalable.

WordPress et les créateurs de sites web proposent tous deux plusieurs formules d'abonnement différentes et sont tous deux capables de produire des sites d'apparence fantastique. Aucune des deux approches ne peut être considérée comme meilleure que l'autre, mais les créateurs de sites web sont certainement plus simples à utiliser dans la plupart des cas.

Créateur de site web ou hébergeurs web : quelle est la différence ?

La plupart des internautes pensent probablement que les sites web résident sur une adresse web personnalisée. En réalité, les sites web doivent également être stockés dans un lieu physique, sur des serveurs localisés. L'hébergement web fait référence à la fourniture et à la maintenance de ces serveurs physiques. Chaque site web a besoin d'un fournisseur d'hébergement web afin de faire fonctionner l'infrastructure physique dont il dépend pour rester en ligne. Le fait qu'il existe différents types d'hébergement web complique quelque peu les choses. L'hébergement mutualisé est parfait pour les petits sites, car ils partagent les ressources avec d'autres pages Web en échange de frais réduits. L'hébergement dédié est plus cher, mais il offre davantage d'options de personnalisation, une bande passante plus large et une meilleure sécurité.

Dans sa forme la plus simple, un créateur de sites web fournit uniquement les outils nécessaires à la conception d'une page Web et n'est pas du tout impliqué dans l'hébergement web physique. Toutefois, de nombreux créateur de sites web proposent également l'hébergement web, moyennant un coût supplémentaire. Bien entendu, toute personne qui n'utilise pas un créateur de site web pour créer son site en ligne devra trouver son propre fournisseur d'hébergement web séparément. En termes simples, un constructeur de site web affecte l'apparence d'un site Web, tandis que l'hébergement Web vous indique où le site est physiquement stocké.