Website builders are visual design tools that make it easy to create your own site in minutes without using code or having previous technical expertise. Many website builders even offer AI site generation tools, creating full sites — including images and boilerplate text — for you in minutes. This makes website builders great if you’re building a website for the first time and you don’t want to learn complex new systems. And while website builders like Squarespace can be more expensive than traditional web hosting, there are some affordable and even free website builders available.
I’ve built test websites using numerous free website builders, evaluating their templates or AI-generated sites, along with storage, bandwidth and security features available to free users. I also tested the servers and customer support of the companies behind popular website builders like Wix. I used the data from these tests to compile this list of the free website builders with the best balance of attractive site creation, easy-to-use editing tools and features like storage and security protocols.
What is the best free website builder for 2025?
Site123 is the best free website builder thanks to its rapid AI site generation, excellent site editing tools and fast customer service. The free Site123 plan also includes features restricted to paid plans by other website builders, including advanced search engine optimization tools and basic e-commerce tools.
Best free website builders
Best overall
Pros
- Rapid site creation
- Excellent AI-generated templates
- Full range of AI content editing tools
- E-commerce functionality available for free users
- SEO tools available for free users
- Fast customer service
- Site123 branding in the website footer is small
Cons
- No template library to choose from or options to build a site from scratch
- Can’t use a custom domain with the free plan
Site123 is a freemium website builder with a 4.2 out of 5 star ranking on Trustpilot based on over 8,500 reviews. Free users get enough storage for two large pages or twenty small pages, plus enough bandwidth for a few dozen monthly visitors.
Site123 is 100% AI-generated, building a custom site template for you based on the purpose and name of your website. This template will determine the overall layout of your site, including the placement of images, text and interactive elements like buttons. The AI site will also include some basic text explaining what your site is about. You can edit these elements to better suit your needs or leave them as-is. This process is simple, but most AI comes with ethical issues as it’s currently trained by scraping data from the web — sometimes without its owners’ consent. We strongly recommend disclosing to your audience when you use generative content on your website.
Why we like it
Site123 is fast, completing your website template almost instantaneously. Editing your site is easy, with both manual editing and AI options for improving various site elements. You’ll also get e-commerce functionality (something often restricted to paid plans) if you choose the “Online store” option during site creation.
Site123 offers great SEO tools for free users, including the ability to customize how your pages appear in Google search results and an automated SEO auditor.
Another benefit of Site123 is good customer service, even for free users. I contacted Site123 to ask for clarification about some of the free plan’s features and was pleased to receive a near-instant, very helpful response via the 24/7 live chat.
Who it’s best for
Site123 is a great option if you want to quickly build anything from a static website (a site where you don’t regularly publish new pages) or an e-commerce store with minimal products.
Unfortunately, the restrictions on storage and bandwidth mean you’ll likely need to switch to a paid plan sooner rather than later. The lowest-tier paid plan doesn’t have much storage. It’s only enough for approximately three large pages or 30 small pages, or enough for about a few hundred monthly visitors. You’ll be forced to upgrade again if your site starts gaining traction.
Best for flexibility
Pros
- Excellent site templates
- Fast AI site generator
- Unlimited storage and traffic on the free plan
- Access to a library of stock photos
- Webador branding on free sites is small and located in the footer
- Paid plans are highly affordable
Cons
- No ability to connect a custom domain on the free plan
- Steeper learning curve than other website builders
Launched in 2020, Webador is a powerful website builder with a lot of impressive features, including one of the most generous free plans you’ll find. Webador also has a 4.5 out of 5 stars ranking on Trustpilot based on over 11,000 reviews.
Why we like it
Webador offers a small but mighty selection of 50 high-quality site templates, plus an AI site generator that creates a website for you — including the full layout, premade text and AI-generated images — based on your site title, description and purpose. The editor has many tools that might feel overwhelming to new users, but there are excellent tutorials to help you get started. You’ll get more customization options than you would from many other free website builders.
Another big benefit of Webador is the generous free plan. You’ll get unlimited storage, unlimited traffic and access to a library of over 100,000 stock photos.
Webador’s premium plans are extremely cheap, starting at $0 for the first six months and $5 a month afterward. These plans include e-commerce features and SEO tools.
Who it’s best for
Webador is the best choice if you want to create a for-fun hobby site or blog and keep it free forever, regardless of how much it grows. There’s a slightly steeper learning curve than you’ll experience with other web hosting companies, and customer service is only available via email, but these are fair trade-offs for the number of features you’ll get on the free plan.
The one drawback of Webador is the lack of a formal uptime guarantee. Webador customer service assures me that they work hard to minimize downtime, but this might make Webador a poor choice for business websites that rely on consistent uptime for revenue.
Best template library
Pros
- 900-plus designer-made templates
- AI site and content generation tools
- Some SEO tools available for free users
- Above-average uptime guarantee of 99.98%
Cons
- Can’t connect custom domain on free plan
- Wix ad at the top of the page is highly intrusive
Launched way back in 2006 as an alternative to complicated content management systems like WordPress, Wix is one of the oldest and most well-known website builders. Wix has offered a free plan since its inception, and while it’s not listed on the pricing page, you can still access Wix for free.
Why we like it
Wix offers over 900 website templates, including options for e-commerce stores, blogs and service-based business websites. There’s also an AI site generation tool that creates a website layout based on your site title and description. Editing your site is easy, with a mix of manual and AI tools for adding and updating content.
Free Wix users get basic SEO tools, including analytics, a guided checklist for site optimization and tools for connecting to Google Search Console so you can better understand your website traffic.
Wix uses cloud hosting, allowing it to offer an above-average 99.98% uptime guarantee. This means Wix sites shouldn’t experience more than two minutes of downtime per week.
Wix customer service, which is available via 24/7 live chat for free users, is also fast, professional and helpful.
Who it’s best for
The free Wix plan can be an excellent option if you’re looking to create a small static website. The limited storage (only enough for five large pages or fifty smaller pages) and bandwidth (only enough for a few hundred monthly visitors) mean you’ll have to switch to one of Wix’s expensive paid plans sooner rather than later. Wix also places invasive branding on free websites, encouraging users to click away from your site to purchase a Wix plan.
Additional details
Best for easy management
Pros
- Offers both AI site generation and premade templates
- Easy integration with a variety of tracking tools
- No limit on monthly visitors
- GoDaddy branding on free plan is small
- Full access to GoDaddy customer support
- Paid plans are somewhat affordable
Cons
- Can’t connect custom domain on the free plan
- Editor is extremely limited
GoDaddy is a popular web host that performed reasonably well in our hands-on testing, with solid server performance and fast, reliable customer service. GoDaddy offers both traditional web hosting options like shared hosting and a website builder you can use for free with a subdomain.
Why we like it
The GoDaddy website builder offers AI site generation and a small but mighty collection of premade site templates. The site editor is user-friendly, with a guided Next Steps process to help you optimize your website.
The GoDaddy website builder also simplifies analytics integrations with tools for connecting Google Search Console, Facebook Pixel, Meta Pixel, Pinterest Pixel and even AdSense tracking to your website. This helps you understand the traffic flowing to and from your site, and how to grow it.
Free users also get full access to GoDaddy customer support (which is some of the best support I’ve experienced during my web hosting tests) via 24/7 live chat, text and phone.
Who it’s best for
GoDaddy’s website builder is a great choice for building a basic site in a hurry. The paid plans are also affordable, starting at $10 a month ($13 a month on renewal), so you won’t get sticker shock when it comes time to upgrade. The design tools are very simplistic, so you’ll want to choose another option if you want to get creative with your website.
Factors to consider in a website builder
AI site generation vs. manual site creation
Most website builders offer both AI site generation and manual site creation through the use of premade site templates. Some only offer one of these options, so it’s important to decide how you want to make your site before you choose a website builder.
AI site generation builds an entire website for you based on basic information about your site’s purpose and goals. This includes the overall layout, dictating the placement of things like images and text, as well as premade text and images designed to explain and complement the purpose or goals you set out for your site. You can use this content as-is or change it to better meet your needs.
AI generation can be faster, but the layouts may not be as attractive and the images/text created are often generic or even bland. There are also ethical issues to consider, as current AI is often trained by scraping data from the web without its creators’ consent, using an enormous amount of power in the process. Moreover, AI creations cannot be copyrighted in the US at this time, so you won’t technically own what you create.
Manual site creation requires you to choose a site template that will dictate the placement of site elements like images, text and buttons. You’ll have to manually change the text and images to suit your website’s goals and purpose. This can be more time-consuming than using an AI site generator but the templates are often more attractive. Manual site creation also avoids the ethical, environmental and potential legal issues of AI.
Storage
Storage space dictates the number of pages, blog posts and other files, like images, that you can host on your website. Many free website builder plans have strict storage limits. For example, Wix only provides 500MB of storage on a free site, so you’ll have to switch to a paid plan if/when the files you’re storing exceed 500MB. This may be enough for a static website that you don’t make many changes to, or a blog in its early days, but most websites and blogs will outgrow it.
You can generally host 10 large pages (like product pages with several high-resolution images) or 100 small pages (like blog posts with only two or three images) on 1GB of storage. Some estimates say you can host as many as 1,000 small pages on 1GB. I prefer sticking with the smaller estimates of 10 pages per GB for an e-commerce site and 100 pages per GB for a blog, as it’s typically better to choose a plan with more storage than necessary than to run out of storage halfway through building your site.
Bandwidth
Bandwidth is a measurement used to determine how quickly your site’s web server sends data to visitors, expressed as gigabytes per second. Most website builders use the word bandwidth to describe data transfer, the total amount of data you can send to visitors each month.
Some free website builders, like Webador, offer unmetered or unlimited bandwidth/data transfer, meaning your site can handle thousands of monthly visitors and accommodate major traffic spikes. Many website builders restrict bandwidth/data transfer on their free plans. Wix, for example, only provides 500MB of bandwidth/data transfer. This is plenty if you’re only expecting a few dozen visitors per month, but it won’t be enough for a site with hundreds or thousands of monthly visitors.
Security
Your website builder should provide two layers of security for your site:
- Secure socket layer certification: An encryption protocol that encrypts data sent to and from your site, like email addresses submitted through a contact form. SSL certification also signals that your site is safe; some browsers and VPNs won’t open a site without it. Google also penalizes sites lacking SSL certification. Most free website builders use subdomains connected to a domain with existing SSL certification.
- Firewall: Filtration software that scans site traffic and blocks malware and malicious traffic. It’s kind of like the website equivalent of wearing a mask during COVID or flu season; the good stuff (air or regular website traffic) gets through, but the bad stuff (germs or malware) doesn’t. Neither masks nor firewalls are 100% effective, but they can protect you (or your site) from many threats.
Website builders might also have other built-in security features, like distributed denial of service protection to prevent malicious traffic from flooding your site and two-factor authentication to keep nefarious users out of your account.
If security features aren’t listed on the plans page for the website builder you’re considering, contact customer service. Most website builder companies have live chat representatives available 24/7 to answer your questions about site security.
Customer support
You should be able to email customer support at any time. Some free website builders also offer 24/7 live chat support and/or phone support. Response times and helpfulness vary a lot from one company to the next, especially when you’re on a free plan. This makes it important to consider a website builder’s reputation and reviews before selecting it as a permanent home for your website.
Ease of use
The main appeal of using a website builder instead of a traditional content management system or CMS is simplicity. You don’t need to update the software yourself, the design tools are highly visual and you usually don’t need to install extensions or plugins for basic functions like search engine optimization.
Not all website builders are equally simple. Some have crowded design interfaces or make it difficult to find essential features, like configuration for site-wide color schemes. Your own experience with design and your level of comfort with technology can also influence how easy it is to use a site builder. What I find intuitive might feel awkward or even difficult for you, so it’s good to test multiple website builders before choosing a long-term home for your site.
Design options
The best free website builders provide a wide range of professionally designed templates for sites in various industries. You don’t necessarily need a variety of options; you only need one template you’ll be comfortable sticking with as your site grows.
The other important factor in design is flexibility. You should be able to add many types of content, including text, images, videos and multimedia files. The best website builders also provide tools for changing the overall look of a site by modifying site fonts, color schemes and other universal elements.
Domain options
Like free web hosting, no-cost website builders often require using a subdomain connected to the host’s name, like yoursite.yourhost.com. This makes your URL longer and more difficult for visitors to remember.
Using a subdomain is fine if you’re building a hobby site or creating a website to get a feel for how site design works. Using a subdomain can be problematic if you’re building a portfolio or business site, as some users may think you’re unprofessional or uncommitted to your business if you don’t have a custom domain.
You’ll need to choose a cheap website builder instead of a free one if you want to use a custom domain for your website.
Ads and branding
A website builder might be free for you, but it costs money to maintain and host. Some companies recoup these costs by placing third-party ads on your site. You don’t get any control over what these ads are and you won’t make any money from them; all of the ad revenue goes directly to the website builder company.
Another way free website builders make money is by placing their own branding on your site so visitors will check out the website builder company. This may be unobtrusive, like a link in the site footer, or invasive, like a full-size logo at the top of the page.
How CNET tests website builders
Our testing process begins with a thorough analysis of popular website builders’ plans, features and pricing. We then evaluate reviews from various sources, including Trustpilot, looking for a ranking of at least four out of five stars. We also scour the Better Business Bureau website and exclude any website builders with warnings or a high number of open complaints on their business profiles.
Some free website builders aren’t well-known enough to have reviews on Trustpilot. Others are located outside of the US and lack BBB profiles. We evaluate these website builders through a combination of user reviews on other websites and our own testing process.
We perform two levels of testing for website builders. The basic level is conducted for all of the website builders on the list above and involves creating an account to explore the template library and/or AI generation tools. We also quickly examine the website builder itself to determine the overall ease of use.
For in-depth reviews, we use a testing process with a similar framework to our testing process for web hosts. This involves publishing a test website for one week and using this test to evaluate the website builder in the following categories:
- Template availability
- Ease of use
- Site performance (speed and uptime)
- Customer support
- Value
Information from our reviews is included in listings where appropriate.
Cheap website builders: Good alternatives to free website builders
Free website builders come with strict storage and bandwidth restrictions, and the premium plans for website builders can be expensive, with low-tier paid plans costing $15 to $20 per month. This means you can save money in the long run and often get more flexibility in building your site by choosing a cheap website builder instead.
Hostinger
The Hostinger website builder offers 150 designer-made templates. There’s also an AI site generator that uses your domain, site title, site description and stated purpose (like e-commerce or blog) to create a website in about two minutes. Plus, you’ll get the excellent server performance, security and value that helped Hostinger earn top marks in our hands-on assessment.
You can use the website builder on most Hostinger shared and cloud hosting plans. There are also specialized website builder plans starting at $3 a month ($8 a month on renewal) for enough storage to host at least 1,000 pages and unlimited bandwidth. You can upgrade to the Business Website Builder plan to gain e-commerce features for $4 a month ($9 a month on renewal). You must sign up for a four-year contract to access these discounted prices.
Read our Hostinger review.
Bluehost
Bluehost’s website builder combines the best parts of WordPress with visual design technology which fosters an incredibly simple website creation experience. The website builder also includes AI tools to help you optimize color schemes, page layouts and other design elements based on your industry.
You can use the Bluehost website builder on any Bluehost shared hosting plan. The most affordable plan starts at $3 a month (renews at $12 a month) and includes enough storage for at least 100 pages, plus bandwidth for up to 40,000 monthly visitors.
Zoho Sites
Zoho Sites is a visual website builder with over 50 site templates and built-in integrations with other Zoho business tools like Zoho Bookings, Zoho CRM, Zoho Marketing Automation and Zoho Campaigns.
The most affordable Zoho Sites plan is $5 per site per month, billed annually. This plan includes five static pages, unlimited blog posts and enough bandwidth for roughly one thousand monthly visitors.
Free website builder FAQ
Is Wix actually free?
Wix offers a forever-free plan suitable for small hobby websites. The free plan limits your storage, bandwidth and ability to use a custom domain. You’ll need to switch to a paid plan if your site grows beyond those limits or you want to use your own domain.
Can I create a website for free?
Yes, you can create a website for free using a free website builder or a free web hosting plan built for a content management system like WordPress.
Is Google Sites really free?
Google Sites is free. I don’t recommend using it because there are only 16 site templates. Google Sites also has a limited range of content blocks, making it difficult to fully customize your site.
Is the GoDaddy website builder actually free?
The GoDaddy website builder does offer a free plan for sites with under 50 pages. The design tools are limited, but they’re more flexible than Google Sites and you’ll get full access to GoDaddy’s high-quality customer service. You won’t be able to use a custom domain on the GoDaddy website builder’s free plan.
What is the minimum cost to start a website?
You can create a small, simple website for free. You’ll need a paid web hosting plan if you want to create an e-commerce site, a long-running blog or a complex business website with many pages. Simple paid hosting plans typically start at $2 to $5 a month.
