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The Best Cheap Website Builders: 6 Excellent Low-Cost Options

Cheap website builders became massively popular amidst today’s inflation levels. While general living costs are increasing, the most affordable website builders keep them nice and low. Simultaneously, they provide exceptional value and lots of handy features for the money.

However, not all cheap site builders are great. We tested over 40, and most of them were average. For this reason, we narrowed our list to the six best cheap website builders of 2025 based on their features, ease of use, site-building tools, and, of course, ongoing costs.

These free site builders may scratch the itch if you want to save even more. But we must warn you of their degrading quality and lack of features. You’ll get the most value from our recommended inexpensive site creators, so let’s explore each in depth to help you pick the right one.

The 6 Best Cheap Website Builders Ranked

  1. Hostinger Website Builder – the best cheap site builder overall
  2. Squarespace – a low-cost builder with beautiful templates
  3. Wix – the most powerful cheap site creator
  4. Shopify – the least expensive eCommerce website builder
  5. SITE123 – an easy-to-use option with a free plan
  6. Weebly – a versatile site builder for blogs and eCommerce

Best Affordable Website Builders: Expert Reviews

Now that we have the shortlist sorted out, it’s time to compare the top-ranked cheap site builders. We tested all thoroughly and described our experiences with each. Read on for more information.

1. Hostinger Website Builder (Starting Price: $2.99/mo)

Hostinger Website Builder
© Hostinger

Advantages

  • The cheapest option on the list
  • 0% transaction fees
  • AI website builder
  • Free domain for a year
  • The fastest web hosting
  • 24/7 customer support

Shortcomings

  • Limited email marketing
  • No free plan

Hostinger Website Builder is easily the cheapest option in 2025.

However, its inexpensive price doesn’t mean quality reduction. What if we told you you can sell online for under $4 monthly in its Business plan? Hostinger’s eCommerce tools include up to 600 products, marketing integrations, 0% transaction fees, and an AI toolkit.

The latter is lovely, as Hostinger leverages AI to aid your SEO, content generation, and logo creation. Moreover, its drag-and-drop website editor is among the most intuitive. Pair this with about a hundred innovative site templates, and you have a recipe for success.

Additionally, Hostinger is the fastest web hosting on this list. As a web host, it’s understandable that it offers the best uptime and lowest downtime. Another perk of this cheap website builder is email hosting, which includes five mailboxes per website, free for a year.

Visit Hostinger

Hostinger allows you to host and create fifty websites, which is excellent. However, you won’t have to spend money on a domain, as it’s free for an entire year! Hostinger recently introduced email marketing, where you can send up to 200 monthly emails to up to 100 subscribers.

It’s impressive what this cheap website builder managed to pack for the price. Of course, it’s not better than Wix, but given the lower cost, excellent 24/7 support, and the most extensive roster of AI features, Hostinger Website Builder is the #1 cheap site creator with another twist.

That twist is a 14-day free trial! You don’t have to spend a dollar or even provide a credit card to test it. Then, if you like it, you can use the button below to save up to 75% on Hostinger Website Builder. We highly recommend the Business plan as the best value proposition.


2. Squarespace (Starting Price: $16/mo)

Squarespace Blog Edit
© Squarespace

Advantages

  • Stunning templates
  • Beginner-friendly editor
  • Robust eCommerce features
  • Website analytics
  • 14-day free trial

Shortcomings

  • 3% transaction fees in the Business plan
  • A free trial requires a credit card

Squarespace strikes a balance between price and performance. While costing more than Hostinger, this inexpensive site creator is still affordable, at only $16 monthly for the Personal plan. This plan doesn’t support eCommerce, but you’ll have to spend $23 on the Business plan if you want it.

Whatever the case, Squarespace’s value for money is nearly unbeatable. It offers over 200 free templates, an easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor, and some of the best template designs. All plans include a free domain to maximize their value, and this time, you get superior marketing and SEO tools.

Squarespace’s Business plan, which is eCommerce-friendly, endorses more complex inventory management, low transaction fees, and unlimited products, rather than 600 in Hostinger. Moreover, Squarespace offers four plan tiers, which makes it flexible for growing businesses.

Visit Squarespace

Having tested Squarespace, we realized it’s not faster than Hostinger, with slightly slower load times. Luckily, it’s compensated with the ability to add collaborators, many analytics tools, and an extension store with countless third-party apps to spice up the experience.

Squarespace ticks nearly all the boxes a good, cheap website builder should have, including an intuitive interface, pocket-friendly prices, a helpful 14-day trial, and flexible plans. However, it doesn’t offer a free plan, and its free trial requires a credit card.

The Business plan also has 3% transaction fees, which can be dropped to 0% by upgrading to Commerce plans. Alas, at the starting price of $28, these aren’t the best definition of a low-cost website builder, making Hostinger’s value for money much higher.


3. Wix (Starting Price: $17/mo)

Wix Editor
© Wix.com

Advantages

  • Generous storage
  • Comprehensive sales tools
  • Drag-and-drop functionality
  • 900+ website templates
  • Extensive app store

Shortcomings

  • eCommerce plans cost more
  • Average hosting performance

You don’t have to ask us twice if Wix is the best overall site builder. It is! The reason for its placing is the price. While it’s a cheap site builder, it’s not the most affordable, especially compared to Hostinger, Squarespace, and SITE123. Nevertheless, Wix starts at $17 monthly.

To sell online, you must rush to the Core plan at $29, making Wix’s position on this list flimsy. Don’t worry, though. You’ll get your money’s worth with a free domain, 50 GB of storage, site collaborators, comprehensive SEO tools, eCommerce features, and excellent email marketing.

Wix has it all, and that makes it unbeatable. The Core plan’s fees are also some of the lowest, indicating that Wix can suit small and large businesses. At the same time, it offers a comprehensive website builder with drag-and-drop functions and plenty of freedom.

Visit Wix

It’s easily the most intricate site editor, allowing you to choose from 900+ templates and adapt them to your needs. Wix admirably handles inventory management, shipping, product descriptions, and even POS. In eCommerce, Wix was nearly on par with Shopify in our tests.

More impressively, Wix offers a full-on app store, where you can extend its reach. With marketing, SEO, site creation, and other tools, you can make Wix a powerful all-arounder that tackles all aspects of your website. It’s among the rare site builders with a 100% free plan.

While it’s underpowered compared to the ‘real’ thing, it’s generous for those willing to give it a shot before splurging their money. Wix’s only downside is, as silly as it sounds, the price and slightly slower hosting speeds, which can be partially mitigated with adequate site optimization.


4. Shopify (Starting Price: $19/mo)

Shopify Editor
© Shopify

Advantages

  • The best eCommerce site builder
  • Simple website editor
  • Unlimited products
  • Access to POS and dropshipping

Shortcomings

  • No free domain
  • Higher-tier plans are expensive

Did someone mention Shopify? Oh, we did! Shopify is the best cheap website builder for online sales. While the price tag of $19 for the Basic plan doesn’t seem extremely affordable, we’ll remind you that this plan contains the best sales tools for small and large businesses.

Compared to the other picks, Shopify lacks very few things, including a free domain. If you can stomach that, you’ll enjoy low transaction fees, dozens of payment vendors, detailed online shop designs, and a couple of AI tools. Shopify’s templates are very versatile.

However, most are paid, so we suggest relying on its twenty or so free ones and customizing them through its editor. Shopify’s editor screams simplicity, and while less impressive than Wix, it allows for functional, sales-oriented design that makes your site look professional.

Visit Shopify

Shopify displays excellent hosting performance and offers unlimited products and advanced sales analytics. Like Wix, Shopify relies on many third-party and first-party apps in its online store. Most of these apps are premium, but many offer free trials, which we mentioned in our review.

Shopify’s Basic plan includes 24/7 support, unlimited bandwidth, and unrestricted storage. If you’re not on a very limited budget, Shopify is ultimately one of the best cheap website builders in 2025. eCommerce platforms usually cost more, but Shopify offers the most.

We forgot that Shopify is more affordable in the first three months when it costs only $1 monthly. That said, your initial period is a free test of Shopify’s capabilities, so you have very little to lose (and spend).


5. SITE123 (Starting Price: $7.80/mo)

Site123 Website Editor
© Site123

Advantages

  • Cheap Premium plan
  • Effortless site creation
  • The free plan is included
  • Great for small online stores

Shortcomings

  • Limited bandwidth and storage
  • It offers very few features

SITE123 is mostly a section-based site builder with a touch of drag-and-drop magic. This makes it highly intuitive and suited to beginners. Simultaneously, it’s a great, cost-effective website builder that costs as little as $7.80 or nothing, if you pick its free subscription plan.

The paid plan, at $7.80 monthly, offers plenty. Users can obtain a free custom domain name, sell online, and use one of dozens of cleverly designed templates. SITE123’s registration is simple; you can create your website in a few hours and manage its aspects fairly easily.

We love SITE123’s stellar performance, albeit it’s not the best we’ve encountered. This stems from its 3 GB storage and bandwidth limit, which makes it more viable for smaller websites. On the brighter side, SITE123 includes a few helpful SEO and marketing tools we liked.

Visit SITE123

If you spend more on its pricier plans, you get more advanced eCommerce features, such as store translation, coupon codes, customer accounts, etc. SITE123’s free plan should also be mentioned. With 250 MB of storage and traffic, it’s sufficient for so-called ‘personal’ sites.

We used it to make a few portfolios and private party invitations. Still, as highlighted in our full review of this provider, we preferred SITE123’s paid plan. Remember that it’s not as comprehensive as the other best cheap site builders, so don’t expect as many features.

While it’s great for blogs, church sites, and online stores, more ambitious users will find it underwhelming. If you own a growing business, consider Hostinger, Squarespace, or Wix as affordable and scalable website builders.


6. Weebly (Starting Price: $10/mo)

Weebly Editor
© 01net.com

Advantages

  • Great for selling online
  • Reliable support
  • Simple-to-use website editor

Shortcomings

  • Outdated templates
  • It could use feature updates
  • Weak hosting performance

Weebly usually isn’t our go-to, but regarding the best cheap website builders, it can be a great option.

We compared Weebly to Squarespace, and while the latter was better, Weebly had a few redeeming qualities. For example, it offers a free plan where you can sell unlimited products. This plan automatically calculates taxes and includes eCommerce features like item badges, shopping carts, coupons, gift cards, etc.

However, we recommend its Professional plan, which costs $12 monthly and includes a free domain. This plan allows you to sell digital goods and use shipping labels. Weebly offers a few SEO and marketing tools while doubling down on its excellent email and chat customer support.

Visit Weebly

Overall, Weebly is dead simple to use, and its drag-and-drop functionalities paired with section-based templates result in a foolproof design. Weebly’s templates aren’t the ‘freshest’, but you can make them shine with some work. What about the hosting performance?

Sadly, Weebly performs okay, but rarely more than that. Its hosting speed is far below Hostinger’s; however, Weebly’s modus operandi is cost-efficiency and cheap website-building tools. Even a look from afar will make you realize Weebly’s outstanding value.

At $12 monthly, which is less than Wix and Squarespace, you get lots of eCommerce and SEO tools. At the same time, Weebly is great for blogging and online marketing. If you wish to give it a shot, grab a discount below and enjoy a risk-free 30-day money-back guarantee.


Cheap Website Builder Ranking Methodology

The word ‘cheap’ is often associated with poor quality. Something you use short-term and discard like a rag. Well, inexpensive site builders are usually pretty good, with a few exceptions we avoided in this ranking.

So, how did we select these six and rank them from worst to best? Here are our non-negotiable criteria:

  • Value for money. This is the #1 criterion, which doesn’t necessarily mean we opted for the cheapest website builders. We emphasized value, which means a price-to-performance ratio. In other words, we looked for as many features for as little money; that’s why Hostinger is our numero uno.
  • Performance. Cheap web hosting can be slow (some of them); some low-cost site creators follow along. Well, not our top six! While some are faster than others, all provide enough performance for smooth, responsive, and stable websites.
  • Site-building convenience. Site builders aim to help you build a site as quickly and efficiently as possible. We avoided complex interfaces and emphasized drag-and-drop and section-based builders that balance freedom and ease of use for maximum efficiency.
  • Features. By features, we refer to marketing tools, SEO features, templates, eCommerce tools, and more. Every cheap site creator on this list offers a long list of functionalities to suit everyone’s needs.
  • Scalability. Growing businesses can’t always choose the least expensive website builder plans. For this reason, we included providers with tiered plans that allow you to scale up as your business grows.

Cheap vs. Free Website Builders Differences

Cheap website builders can fool you into thinking they’re similar to their free counterparts.

If I can pay as low as under $4 monthly, why not drop down to the ‘free’ tier? Well, the devil is in the details. Cheap site builders still charge you for their services, and doing so makes them responsible for delivering premium services. Free options don’t have this obligation.

If we compare free plans from Wix and SITE123, we’ll see:

  • Restricted bandwidth and storage
  • The lack of eCommerce tools
  • Subdomain, instead of a custom domain.
  • The lack of a free domain
  • No email marketing
  • Almost no SEO tools, etc.

These are minor differences, and when they add up, the experience becomes tedious rather than enjoyable. Meanwhile, pocket-friendly prices can still offer a lot, from a free domain to email marketing, SEO functionalities, and full-on eCommerce integrations.

Having experienced both, the choice between cheap and free website builders is a no-brainer for us. Saving a few monthly dollars won’t make you a Rockefeller overnight, but spending a few dollars on a reliable, cheap website builder can bring you a few steps closer.

The Bottom Line

Starting a website costs little when you know how to do it properly.

Inexpensive website builders are phenomenal and often underappreciated for their formidable performance and features. Our #1 is Hostinger Website Builder, a jack of all trades at under $4 monthly. It’s great for blogs but also medium-sized online shops.

While Wix and Squarespace are objectively better, their pricier plans make them less suitable for a higher spot on this list. They’ll make online sales, email marketing, SEO, and website management even more efficient if you can spend a bit more. The other picks are also worth considering.

Shopify is the best option for eCommerce, SITE123 is a simple-to-use builder, while Weebly packs many features at wallet-friendly prices.

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FAQ

Are low-cost site builders any good?

Yes, they’re exceptionally good considering the price. Most importantly, they contain all the essentials, such as a free domain name, fast hosting, eCommerce tools, stunning templates, easy-to-use website editors, etc.

What is the cheapest website builder in 2025?

You’ll save the most by snatching Hostinger Website Builder at under $4 monthly for the Business plan. Considering its eCommerce and AI tools, it’s undoubtedly the most impressive option you can get for pennies.

Is it worth spending more on a site builder?

Yes, but only if you really need more. Spending more usually comes with perks, such as increased storage and bandwidth, more eCommerce/SEO/marketing tools, collaborators, and additional websites.

Generally speaking, you’ll get more if you spend more, which is unsurprising. That’s how everything works. The more you invest, the more you get, up to a certain point.

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