The best free website builders: Expert tested

Wix is our most recommended website builder for both free and paid users. It offers lots of customization options, from an extensive collection of templates and embedded apps to an easy drag-and-drop interface with AI tools to help you build or refine your design. Wix also makes it easy to upload and add media to your site. You can build as many sites as you want at no cost, though they will have free Wix URLs (siteprefix.wixsite.com/siteaddress) rather than custom domains, as well as Wix branding, unless you upgrade to a paid plan starting at $17 per month when billed annually. One design downside: You can't change templates once you've selected one, unless you start a new site from scratch. 

All of Wix's websites include an SSL certificate at no charge, but folks on the free tier get just 500MB of storage and 1GB bandwidth -- a significant limitation if you want to add large images and videos or multiple pages or you expect to have a lot of visitors. Free sites won't have any e-commerce or customer marketing functionality either. 

If you need a website builder that offers great design options with solid performance and security features as well as 24/7 customer phone support, Wix is worthy of consideration. 

Wix features: Large template collection | SSL certificate included | AI site builder | 99.99% uptime guarantee | 24/7 customer support 

GoDaddy is a solid alternative to Wix if you want to get a simple and visually appealing website published quickly and easily. It's not quite as customizable in terms of templates and themes, but the setup wizard is easier to navigate for anyone new to building a website, and GoDaddy's AI tool is helpful for getting started or refining your site's design and content. Free sites have GoDaddy branding and subdomains (e.g., yoursite.godaddysites.com), and they're free forever unless you upgrade to a paid plan with premium features, starting at $10 per month when billed annually. 

Review: GoDaddy

Free sites don't have e-commerce functionality, but you do get a limited number of marketing email sends per month, as well as appointment booking and reminders, and product listings (just no online transactions). GoDaddy has 24/7 customer support via phone, text, and chat. 

GoDaddy features: 99.9% uptime | SSL certificate included | AI site builder | Email marketing and appointment scheduling | 24/7 customer support 

If you want to set up an online shop with no up-front cost, Square Online -- from payment processor Square -- is the best website builder for you. Users on the free plan can accept payments for products and services both online and in person, including with Cash App Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Square Pay, and even Afterpay. You also get shipping discounts, label printing, and a range of SEO and marketing tools to promote your offerings -- a unique suite of features among free website builders. 

That said, you can't customize your website from the basic design theme and layout, nor can you connect a custom domain or remove Square branding unless you upgrade to a Plus or Premium plan (billed annually at $29 per month and $79 per month, respectively). This makes Square Online's free tier a great choice for small businesses that want to start selling quickly on a basic website, but it's less so for those with a specific design vision for their brand. 

Square Online features: SSL certificate included | E-commerce and SEO tools | Square payments | Phone and chat support during business hours

WordPress is an established name in the world of website creation, and it's still a solid choice, especially for writers and bloggers who want to put up content with some ability to brand their site and personalize its design. Note that this review refers to WordPress.com, which is less robust in terms of customization compared with WordPress.org, but it takes care of hosting and security, so you don't need to install software or manage your own server. 

WordPress.com's free plan allows you to create unlimited pages with unlimited contributors, and you have a selection of free themes and templates to choose from, which you can change at any time. The builder is simple and straightforward to use. On the free tier, your website will have a subdomain (e.g., sitename.wordpress.com) and WordPress banners, and you're limited to just 1GB of storage. An upgrade to the $4-per-month Personal plan will get you a custom domain and additional themes, but customer support is available only on the $8-per-month Premium tier and above. 

WordPress features: SSL certificate included | Unrestricted bandwidth 

If your workflow already includes Google apps, Google Sites is a solid option for creating a basic website at no cost. The builder uses a simple template with options to customize colors and fonts as well as drag and drop page elements -- plus, you can easily integrate content blocks using content from other Google apps, such as Docs, Sheets, Forms, and YouTube. It's also easy to add pages and edit text. 

Note that If you want to set up an online store on a Google Site, you'll need to embed a third-party tool, as Google Sites doesn't have any paid tiers or add-on features. 

When you publish your site, you can select a subdomain (e.g., sites.google.com/view/sitename) or connect a custom domain at no charge (other than purchasing the domain itself), which is a paid upgrade with most website builders. Using Google Sites won't get you a particularly unique or beautifully designed website, but it is easy to use if you want to publish something quickly. Note that customer support for Google Sites is, well, Google's customer support. 

Google Sites features: SSL certificate included | Integration with Google apps