Introduction

On the Internet, you will come across lots of website builders that will help you achieve your goal for a lower price. But how can you know what cheap website builder is the best? We will help you choose the best platform that will suit your online business. For that, we’ve provided a list of each cheap builder’s features, pros, and cons. Let’s have a look at the comparison chart below. 

Check Our Top 6 Best Cheap Website Builders:

1. IONOS Website Builder – best for its extremely low prices
2. Wix Website Builder – best overall cheap website builder

How Do We Test and Rank?

Testing and ranking website builders take time and lots of research. If you don’t want to do it yourself, you can use our ranking system to help you decide which cheap website builder fits your needs best. Our experts developed our ranking system by putting each and every builder through a series of rigorous tests and testing out their plans first-hand. 

Also, they have listed five factors that every website builder should have and have assigned specific percentages that showcase how important each factor is to determining which are the best cheap website builders. The five factors include:

• Price (30%): does the builder offer low prices, does it offer a free plan, do the plans come with a free trial, do users get a money-back guarantee from the builder
• Value for money (25%): does the builder offer good value for money, does it provide enough valuable features in its plans, how helpful will the features be for building a website
• Ease-of-use (15%): how easy it is to use the builder, can beginners use the builder without any prior tech knowledge, how steep is the learning curve
• Features (20%): does the builder offer valuable features, are the features that the builder offers suitable for building a website, are the features of good quality
• Support (10%): what kind of support does the builder offer (live chat, email, phone, ticketing system), how long does the builder take to respond to customers, does the builder offer any tutorials or guides, does the builder’s support team possess the skills and ability to solve problems efficiently

What is Cheap Website Building and What Can You Expect From It?

Website building is the process of developing the right website for your business. Websites are a crucial part of your business growth. They engage customers, promote your services, and they also bring money to your brand. Due to this, creating a website is an essential step of your job. No matter what you want to showcase, whether it is a blog, portfolio, online store, or some product or service, you will need to create an outstanding web page. 

However, this can cost lots of money, depending on what you are trying to add to the page. But, times have changed. Nowadays, it is possible to publish a website without spending plenty of money. The cheap website builders can offer some incredible features, but they can also come with some limited options. This doesn’t mean that you can’t include some sick options on your page. Also, don’t worry about how your website will perform if you use a cheaper builder. The websites that are created by using cheaper builders can become as good as the ones developed by paying more. This means that you can expect extraordinary performances from your website even if you don’t waste loads of dollars. So, if you have a smaller business and a limited budget, you should definitely consider using a cheap website builder. 

How to Choose the Best Cheap Website Builder?

After making sure that you can still expect some great features from the cheap website builders, we’ve come to one of the most challenging steps of your journey – choosing the best website builder. Before choosing one cheap website builder, it is of great importance to make up your mind about what purpose your website is. Yet, this might not be as easy as it sounds. There are some factors that impact our choice. After analyzing the main reasons why people go for a specific builder, we tried to narrow down your choice by reviewing three different categories of cheap website builders. 

• Super Value Builders: these builders are great for a simple website, but they should be avoided when you want to use special features. In this group belong Zyro and Gator. They offer hosting, domain name, and page designs. However, if you go for more complex features, like SEO tools, online ordering, blogs, etc., this group of cheap website builders might not be the best choice. Every more complex feature requires paying some more money.
• Smart Niche Builders: in this group, you will come across Zenfolio, which is the best example of a niche website builder. This particular group of website builders offers a solution to a particular problem. For example: working with clients, creating a portfolio, or if you look for photography features. But, think thoroughly about whether to use some of these builders. If you don’t have set some clear goals, try to avoid the smart niche builders, as they can come with some possible issues.  
• All-around Online Tools: this is the most expensive group of cheap website builders that is mainly used for some more serious business. Platforms like Squarespace and Wix provide tools for portfolios, blogs, online stores, and many more features you may want to include. However, as this category is more pricey and offers complete solutions, you should avoid it if you have a limited budget. 

2. 1&1 IONOS – Best for Its Extremely Low Prices

• Overall Score: 4.0
• Price: 4.2
• Value for money: 4.0
• Ease-of-use: 4.0
• Features: 3.9
• Support: 4.1

1&1 IONOS is a web hosting company that also offers website-building services. Its prices are what make it stand out from the crow, and it is by far the cheapest builder on our list. 

The builder is also great for growth and scalability and allows users to translate their websites into multiple languages. It has been around since 1988, and ever since then, the company has been providing reliable and highly affordable services to all of its customers.

Pros:

Cons:

1&1 IONOS is best for those who are looking to build a website and launch their business online for as low as $1 a month for the first year.

Unique Features:

Templates

With 1&1 IONOS, you can choose from many different templates for your website, including CV, wedding, restaurant, business, travel, real estate, photography, children’s hospital, NGO, bakery, interior design, and law firm, tattoo artist, and digital agency templates.

You will also have access to more than 17,000 free high-quality images, which you can add to your website. Also, you can change your font and edit your photos and text. All of 1&1 IONOS’ templates are optimized for all screen sizes, including mobile, desktop, and tablet screens. 

Other features that 1&1 IONOS offers include:

• SEO tools
• Professional email
• Free SSL certificate
• Responsive designs
• An analytics tool
• Built-in privacy tools 
• GDPR-compliant websites
• Marketing tools
• An uptime of 99.99%
• 30-day money-back guarantee

1&1 IONOS is a simple website builder that provides all the basic features one might need to create a website. It also provides users with great opportunities to grow by providing the lowest starting prices on the market. If you want to find out more about 1&1 IONOS, you can do so by reading our expert review on the builder.

3. Wix – Best Overall Cheap Website Builder

• Overall Score: 4.9
• Price: 4.8
• Value for money: 4.9
• Ease-of-use: 5.0
• Features: 5.0
• Support: 4.9

Wix was founded back in 2006 and has become one of the most popular website builders on the market today. Thanks to its stunning high-quality templates, low starting prices, intuitive drag-and-drop builder, and all the other features and services it offers, it has become the go-to website builder for millions of individuals and businesses.

Currently, it serves more than 200 million users from more than 100 countries worldwide and powers millions of websites. 

Pros:

Cons:

Wix is best known for its high-quality, designer-made templates, extensive App Market, and easy-to-use website builder and editor. It is best for those who want to create a beautiful website in the easiest way possible.

Unique Features:

Easy-To-Use Website Builder and Editor

Thanks to its intuitive technology and powerful built-in features, Wix enables anyone and everyone to create a website with no prior tech knowledge required. It also lets its users have complete freedom over their website’s design. 

Wix’s editor allows you to use a drag-and-drop system with which you can add and edit all your content by simply dragging and dropping elements on your website. Also, every design element that Wix offers is fully customizable, and you can resize, recolor, rotate and align all the elements however you like. 

What makes Wix even easier to use is its ADI functionality. Namely, you can choose to create your whole website with Wix’s ADI builder, where you will only answer a few questions and get a fully-functional website coupled with all the content you want. You can choose your own design theme and custom color pallet and upload your own photos and content to make your website entirely match your brand. 

Also, Wix lets you hire a Wix partner who is a professional website builder to create your website for you.

Features

Wix offers a wide array of professional features to its users. However, keep in mind that you will either have to go for a more expensive plan or buy the additional features you need to use them, as not many are available in Wix’s cheapest plan. Wix’s features include:

• The ability to create an online store and sell online – you can also start dropshipping with Wix if you want to
• Create a portfolio
• Create a blog
• Online scheduling
• Promoting events
• Make a website for your restaurant with professional menus and the ability to accept online payments and orders
• Powerful built-in SEO tools
• Email marketing 
• Integration with various third-party apps
• Built-in analytics tools
• And more.

Overall, Wix is an excellent website builder that offers more than enough powerful tools and features you can use for your website. It may be a bit more expensive than the other builders on our list, but it provides a good value for money thanks to the large number of features and tools it offers. If you want to learn more about Wix, you can do so by reading our expert review on the builder.

Cheap Website Builder – For Whom Is It?

Website builders are an incredible tool for people who are relatively new to this business and need an easier way to create their own website. Instead of wasting time and energy by using your coding knowledge to develop a page, you can make a purchase and use some of our best-rated cheap website builders. If you use coding, you will waste a lot of time, as each feature has its own code that you mustn’t write wrong. So, the first usage of cheap website builders is to help you save some time. Another reason why people go for website builders is to save money. This might be the crucial reason why the usage of builders has drastically increased in the last few years. 

On the market, there are billions of platforms that come with different templates, features, and options, and most importantly, each builder comes with different plans that vary in price. For example, if you want to build a website for portfolios, you will come across at least thousands of website builders that more or less provide the same features, but come with different prices. As the first important step when choosing a builder is determining your budget, you should make sure that the builder you go for is affordable for you. When people have a limited budget, they are often worried that they won’t find the right platform for their web page. But, there is no place for worries. Our team has carefully selected the best cheap website builders that still provide decent features, so your website won’t be much different from those whose developing process has cost more. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that although these builders provide different templates and features, they can still be limited in some options, so you should carefully read what they offer and customers’ reviews. Usually, cheap website builders are used by people with small businesses who need more simple designs. 

What Features Should I Expect to Get in A Cheap Website Builder?

In some of the previous parts, we’ve mentioned that your website will be functional, but some features will not be allowed due to the builder’s low pricing plan. You must wonder what features can you get from using a cheap website builder, so we won’t waste more of your time. 

Some people misdefine the term cheap website builders. These builders allow you to use any feature you can think of. The only difference is that some of the features may be limited to a certain level, and you couldn’t upgrade them. So if you are thinking about some advanced or complex features, we must disappoint you, as that won’t be possible. But, let’s stick to our subject and see what features you can get from the cheap website builders. 

• Good-looking website
• Thousands of templates
• Easy-to-manage tools
• Smooth functionality
• Photography features
• Online selling
• Portfolio tools
• Social media branding
• Simple eCommerce tools
• Some SEO tools
• Marketing features
• Free domains
• Remove ads tools
• Hosting plans
• Mobile usability

These are some of the most frequent and most important features you can get from any website builder. However, not all of them are available with every cheap website builder. You will receive some features, depending on the platform you choose. That’s why it is essential to read through their features, pros, and cons thoroughly. Our reviews offer a more detailed explanation for each cheap website builder, so you can easily understand what we’re talking about. 

Conclusion

Cheap and free are not the same thing. Even though there are quite a few builders that allow you to build a website with them completely for free, it doesn’t necessarily mean that free plans are the best deal you can get. Namely, most free plans come with minimal features for building a website, and you might find yourself buying specific tools or apps just to have basic functionality on your website. However, opting for a cheaper option can save you from that, and above, you can find the cheapest website builders that also provide the best features for low prices. 

So, if you are on a tight budget and want to get your online business on its feet, feel free to use our recommendations and choose the builder that best suits your budget and your needs. Let’s summarize.