Web Building Sites
A website shows the online presence of any individual, organization, or entity. It allows people to display information on a specific topic and make it easy to promote their brand.
Different bloggers may also create websites for their personal blogs. For search purposes, they may create a free website.
This is because when creating a free website, these bloggers do not receive many extensive and customizable features. But the features that they receive are surely enough to help them create a free website for personal blogs.
Similarly, some organizations and companies want to create a professional website. To create a website, these companies require a website building platform that provides several extensive features. Generally, such website-building platforms come with paid plans.
This article aims at describing different ecommerce website building platforms at relatively lower prices. These website builders can assist you in creating a professional website for under $20.
So organizations and individuals may be required to purchase this domain and website hosting at extra prices. But this additional price will also not exceed $20.
In this article, you can find the best option where hosting and domain-name services are reasonably priced.
Choose the Best Website Builders for Small Business Under $20
1. WordPress.org, top website building platform
WordPress.org website builder plan is a famous platform. It is an open-source builder offering programs that helps different bloggers and businesses create their websites. This means it is free to use.
But organizations and bloggers need to pay for hosting and domain services.
| Services | Price |
|---|---|
| Web Hosting | $4/month |
| Domain Name | approx $10/year |
Besides these costs, you can get access to the certain features of wordpress.org for free. These features include different designs, templates, layouts, and a theme directory.
The theme directory is used by millions of users all over the world. You can even create your theme on WordPress.org.
This software consists of more than 8000 themes. These themes are mobile-friendly as well. They help you enhance the look of your web pages. You can always modify the layouts or themes of your web pages on this platform.
Another feature of the software is that it is search engine friendly and helps you work with social media. This means you get full ownership of your content.
Lastly, this website-building platform is highly extendable. This means that users can connect various functionalities to this platform. All this is possible due to the different plugins of the software.
WordPress.org has more than 55,000 plugins. Sometimes users may require some premium plugins or themes. In these cases, they can purchase these plugins and themes at extra cost. By incurring these extra costs, you can gain more control over your website.
So, you can choose this blogging platform to get your websites created. It provides you with full flexibility and control over the content of your website.
URL structure: since the platform is self-hosted, the URL structure depends on the domain.
Migration feature: There is scope for migration.
2. Gator, build your website
Gator is a website-building platform owned by HostGator. It helps people create different types of websites, like an online store, a business website, or a blog website. The software has an easy-to-use interface and drag-and-drop features.
This builder on the market has easy-to-use interface makes sure that people with no technical information can also use the platform. So, you can easily create your website without any knowledge in the field.
This software also provides SSL certificates and domain facilities. Besides this, you will never find any security or backup issues on this platform. This is because the hosting service, HostGator, checks for the security and backup of the websites.
The platform also helps to enhance the design of your website through different themes, templates, and layouts. This software has more than 200 professional templates. These templates are included in the paid plans of the software.
You can easily search for any template according to your category and needs. This is because different themes are classified based on different topics. These categories include beauty, fashion, architecture, services, restaurants, animals, real estate, etc.
The themes and templates of Gator are mobile-friendly. This means that they will automatically adjust to the screen resolution of your devices.
Moreover, you can even customize the design templates according to your company’s needs. Customization can be done based on the custom fonts, colors, and pictures.
The top ten themes on HostGator are as follows:
- Professional law firm
- Personal Diary
- Musician
- Fashion Boutique
- Newspaper blog
- The design.
- Fine cars dealership
- Retro pastels
- Marketing and advertisement
- Freelance Copywriter
All of these features are available to users in the platform’s paid plans. The paid plans also provide a money-back guarantee. The software has three different paid plans.
| Plan | Features | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter Plan |
|
$3.84/month |
|
| Premium Plan |
|
$5.99/month |
|
| E-commerce Plan |
|
$9.22/month |
So, you can choose any of these three plans. They are available for under $20 with many features.
Migration feature: There is scope for migration.
3. Tumblr
Tumblr is one of the most famous microblogging platforms. It helps the users share short-form content and media content with their viewers. The users have full control over the website’s design features.
The platform also has an easy-to-use interface with several design features. Users can edit HTML texts to create custom themes. They can also choose from a list of free themes for the software.
These themes or templates give you control over the look of your blogs and websites. Tumblr offers the following free themes:
- Indy
- Wicked
- Salvia
- Tumblr Official
- Ten toes
- Basic
- Art She Said
- Persona
- Yuki
- Ashley
- Svbtle
- Hipster
Besides the theme, Tumblr also helps people share and reblog their content. By using the design options, you can easily post different multimedia videos and audios on Tumblr. But Tumblr also has certain disadvantages.
Disadvantages:
- The feature of the software that gives more importance to graphical and visual content. Due to this, this platform makes it difficult for writers to create their blogs.
- The platform requires people to incur additional costs. These additional costs are incurred to get certain features like third party themes, applications, and custom domains.
However, you can get the platform’s built-in features for free.
URL structure:
One level: yourwebsite.com
For example, xyz.com
Two or more levels: blog.yourwebsite.com
For example, abc.yourwebsite.com
Migration feature: There is scope for migration.
4. Squarespace, top website builder
Squarespace is a drag-and-drop website builder. The platform has blogging capabilities and is great for bloggers. But different business owners can also create their e-commerce or portfolio websites using Squarespace.
These business owners and brokers receive several services on Squarespace. These services include domain registration, web hosting, and e-commerce functions.
This software also has certain other inbuilt features. These features include different designs, layouts, and templates. All such things help to enhance the look of your web pages.
Squarespace has more than 100 templates in 14 different categories. The categories make it easier for the users to find a template according to their preferences.
These categories are as follows:
- Blogs
- Business
- Online store
- Services
- Non-profit organisations
- Portfolios.
- Travel and tourism
- Fitness and health
- Weddings
- Restaurants
- music and entertainment.
- Travel and tourism
- Photography.
- CV
After choosing a suitable template in any of the above categories, the users receive SSL encryption services. Finally, if they have any questions, they can always contact the software’s 24-hour customer support.
Pricing Plan: If the users pay annually for these subscriptions, then they receive a discount on a free custom domain. However, if they do not pay annually, they must purchase the domain name at an additional cost.
| Plan | Features | Pay Yearly |
|---|---|---|
| Personal |
|
$16/month |
| Business |
|
$23/month |
The other plans of this software are far more than $20. So you can opt for the preferably Personal plan and can also go for Business plan.
You can always opt for the 14-day free trial of Squarespace. This will help you to test the platform.
URL structure: If the user purchases the domain, the URL structure depends on this domain. But the format of the free custom domain goes as follows:
[Your username ].squarespace.com
For example: xyz.squarespace.com
Migration feature: There is scope for migration.
5. Wix website builder
Similar to Squarespace, Wix is a drag-and-drop website-building platform. It also has blogging capabilities, which makes it good software for bloggers and small business owners.
Artists who want to share their visuals or animations with their audience can also use Wix to create blogs.
Wix provides excellent hosting services to users. These users can make use of the free stock images on the platform to create their websites.
Moreover, the users do not need to have any technical skills to create a website with this software. This is because Wix has a graphical interface.
Another advantage of using this platform to build a website is the high quality of its pre-made templates and third-party applications.
The software has more than 500 free designer templates available. These templates will help you customize the look of your website.
Besides the templates, Wix also has several design options. These design options are built with HTML5. So, you can automatically design your website due to the artificial intelligence in this software.
But the disadvantage of the themes is that you cannot switch your template’s theme. Rather, you can transfer the parts of a template to your website.
The following are the various categories from which you can obtain templates using this software:
- Food and restaurants
- music and entertainment.
- Small businesses and services
- Fashion and beauty
- Design
To get access to all the features of the platform, you can sign up for one of its different plans.
| Plan | Use | Pricing (billed annually) |
|---|---|---|
| Connect domain | Most Basic | $16/month |
| Combo | For personal use | $22/month |
The other plans of this software are far more than $20. You can also opt for free trial plan.
URL structure: username.wixsite.com
For example: xyz.wixsite.com
Migration feature: There is no scope for migration.
6. Typepad website creator
Typepad is a website-building platform meant for professional bloggers and organizations. The platform has an easy-to-use interface with a variety of features. The variety of Typepad themes, templates, and layouts is one of its best features.
The design needs of the people can be fulfilled through the custom CSS feature of the platform. The designers can work easily with the CSS and class structure of Typepad.
The custom CSS helps the users modify existing layouts and create new ones. The users can add background images or edit the existing styles to create advanced designs.
But there can be situations when the custom CSS does not satisfy the requirements of the designers. In such a case, the users can make use of the advanced template sets of the software.
An advanced template assists users in customizing their designs. This is possible by editing the CSS and HTML Typepad template tags.
But you should use the advanced templates only if you have strong knowledge of CSS and HTML skills. Once you apply an advanced template, you need to make the changes by coding manually.
You cannot modify the templates because the software does not have a graphical user interface. Hence, the advanced template set of Typepad provides you with full control over the design, layout, and HTML structure of your website.
Whenever you create a new advanced template, some default features appear in it. These features include the asterisk theme and a two-column right layout. But you can even modify this layout and theme according to your preferences.
Let’s take a look at some of Typepad’s other features. These features include the monetization feature and Google friendly posting features. The software can also help you with live video and audio podcasts.
| Plan | Features | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| Plus Plan |
|
$8.95/month |
| Unlimited Plan |
|
$14.95/month |
The next plan is the premium plan. The price of the premium plan is above $20.00. So you can build your website for less than $20 using the two plans mentioned above.
Before choosing any of the plans, the user should also make use of the 14-day free trial of the software. This trial will help them to either subscribe to the plans or avoid using the software according to their needs.
URL structure: [your username].typepad.com
For example: xyz.typepad.com
The users can also purchase their domain. In such cases, the URL structure differs.
Migration feature: There is scope for migration.
7. Weebly
Weebly is a web-based website builder with drag-and-drop features. It is one of the best website-building platforms for people who do not have knowledge in the technical field.
To create their website, the users can choose a template. After this, they need to place their content in different areas of the template to build their web pages.
This software has a wide range of professional templates. These templates range from ultra-modern to bold and classic. You can choose any of the free templates according to your design requirements.
Weebly users can also customize their websites.This means users can modify the look of the website templates. They can do this by altering different web design elements like the font, header, color scheme, etc.
Thus, the templates of the software are free and flexible to modify. Moreover, every template has an advanced theme editor. This editor helps in custom development by providing the users with full control over HTML and CSS codes.
The codes make sure that the templates are fully responsive. Responsive websites adapt to the screen resolution of the devices on which they function.
You can also further personalize the website design. This is possible through the powerful background editor in Weebly. You can do this by selecting high-resolution stock photos from the Gallery.
You can even select different filter options, advanced blur, and other customization features for such pictures.
Apart from the design services, Weebly also has great SEO services. You can even connect the platform with Google Analytics. All such services make the platform a good choice for bloggers and different business owners.
To get access to all such features, you need to subscribe to the software’s plans. The software has a free account. But to use the free account, you have to purchase the custom domain.
The cost of this domain depends on the service provider. The approximate price to get a domain is $6 per month.
You can even get access to some advanced features of the software. For this, you need to subscribe to the paid plans. The price of the paid plans ranges from $12 to $26 per month.
URL structure: The bloggers need to purchase the domain, and their URL structure depends on this domain.
Migration feature: There is scope for migration.
8. Write.as
Write.as is a website builder that is owned by free and open-source software called WriteFreely. The platform has a minimalist interface that helps users create their websites.
The users should create the websites with the stripped-down editor of write.as. This editor makes sure that the pages of the website are automatically saved due to the autosave feature.
The software also has several other elements as well. These elements depend on the type of plan you choose. Write.as offers two plans to its customers.
The first plan is the free plan. The free plan allows you to post under your username or anonymously. It does not have any advertisements as well.
So, you are assured that your text will be impressively displayed on the website without being hidden by the advertisements.
Under this plan, the users can make use of Markdown syntax and plain text to create their website. Markdown syntax helps users enhance the look of their website through special characters.
For example, you need to type asterisks to start creating bullet points. Similarly, you can place a link on your website by typing [link] or use hashtags to create headers.
But the pro plan provides you with additional features.
- It provides you with a custom domain and can help you create more than three blogs.
- It also provides you with several custom themes.
- You can even customize these themes according to your preferences.
- This feature helps you to design the look of your website as a novel, blog, notebook, or newsletter.
- You can get access to all such features for only $4 per month.
9. site123
Site123 is another cheap website-building platform with an intuitive user interface. This software has several features that help users create their websites.
One of the best features of Site123 is its variety of free templates. These templates give users complete control over the appearance of their website.
The following are the categories from which you can obtain templates using this software:
- Blog
- Restaurant
- Business
- Photography.
- CV
- Event
- Music
- Landing page.
- Designing.
Other important features of the software are as follows:
- Comment-reply tool
- Blog post scheduling
- Comment auto-confirmation facility
- RSS
- social media facilities
But there can be users who want to avail of some extra features as well. In such cases, these users can visit the application market on site123.
This market has different paid and free applications. These applications can help users modify the look of their websites. Some of these applications include Google Analytics and Live Chat.
| Plan | Features | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| Free |
|
$0 |
| Premium |
|
$5.80/month |
The next plan on this platform, which comes in at under $20, is the advanced plan. The price of this plan is $19.80 per month. Other plans at site123 are greater than $20.
So, you can use either of the two cheap plans to get a custom domain and create the website.
10. Webnode
Webnode is yet another website-building application with an easy-to-use interface. It enables users to create websites with no restrictions on the number of pages. The users can even change the SEO settings for different pages.
Webnode also provides a wide range of themes and templates to its users. These templates and designs are quite modern. This is because Webnode has modified its editor to make it more modern.
Moreover, the templates are responsive. This means they can easily adapt to the screen of the device on which they are operated.
You can always change the template according to your preferences. Changing the template keeps the information and content of your website the same.
The different categories in which you can search for templates are as follows:
- Restaurants and food
- Music.
- Business
- Personal
- Blog
- Portfolio
- Wedding
These categories provide many templates. The names of some of these templates are:
- Nivea
- Trendy
- Atlax
- Selfie
- Clouds
- Stylic
- Breeze
- Sticky
- Inspire
You will receive the following URL for free: customname.webnode.com.
11. Mozello
Mozello is a Latvian website-building platform. This is one of the most popular platforms for creating a multilingual website. On Mozello, users can create such a website for free.
Other features of Mozello include SEO services, an online store, and a blog. The free plan of the software also has 500 MB of storage.
But the biggest disadvantage of Mozilla is its editor. This editor restricts the control of users on their websites. For example, you can add certain features, like a gallery, only on a gallery-specific page.
This reduces the control and flexibility of the platform.
But other features can help you customize the look of your website. These elements include the predesigned layouts, templates, and themes of the software. Mozello has 48 predesigned layouts. These layouts are mobile-responsive.
This means they can adapt the resolution of the mobile device on which the website is operated. The layout consists of different colors.
But the users can even change the color or choose different font options for their layouts according to their requirements.
To create sites on this platform, you need to subscribe to one of the different plans offered by this software. Mozello has a free plan as well.
Pricing Plan:
| Plan | Features | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| Free |
|
$0 |
| Premium Plan |
|
$8/month |
| Premium Plus Plan |
|
$16/month |
Hence, you can choose any of the paid plans to get your website created for under $20.
URL Structure: customname.mozello.com
12. Strikingly
Strikingly is a website-building platform that belongs to California. It consists of a number of free one page layouts. This means you can create a single-page website easily in strikingly.
But if you want to create multiple pages, then you will have to subscribe to the paid plans of the software. The platform also has an easy-to-understand editor and several responsive themes and templates.
These themes and templates belong to various categories, like:
- Personal
- Event
- Blog
- Organization.
- Startup
- Store
- Service
- Business.
- Company.
After choosing any of the above themes, the users can also opt for website editing. The software has an Android and iOS application that supports website editing. Users can get help from the software team if they have any questions.
To begin using it, you must subscribe to one of strikingly’s various plans. This software has a free plan. The free plan provides you with several features along with a subdomain. But you can also opt for the paid plans of a strikingly.
The first 2 paid plans of strikingly, called Limited and Pro, are below $20. These plans offer users a custom domain as well as other benefits.
URL structure: accountname.strikingly.com
Migration feature: There is no scope for migration.
13. Bookmark
Bookmark is a website-building platform that creates websites using artificial intelligence. Using Bookmark’s AI Assistant, the artificial intelligence posts information on your website.
The software also provides different features and modules that can help you increase the usability of your website.
The editor of the software can create responsive websites. This means the websites can adapt to the screen resolution of the device on which they are operated.
You can even modify the design elements of your website. All this is possible through the step-by-step teaching procedure of AiDA.
To get your website created on this platform, you can opt for the different plans offered by BookSpot. Bookmark also has a free plan.
| Plan | Features | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| Free |
|
$0 |
| Professional Plan |
|
$14.99/month |
The other plan is the business plan, which costs more than $20. So you can always opt for the professional plan to get your website created for less than $20.
URL structure: yourname.bookmark.com
Thus, these are some of the website-building platforms that can assist you in creating a website at a low cost. Some platforms charge for domain and web hosting services as well.
But sometimes you may purchase domain names and web hosting services separately from the website-building platform.
Such a situation can occur when you opt for the free plan of a website-building platform. Free plans generally do not provide a domain or web hosting service.
In such cases, such services can be obtained for less than $20. So, here are some web hosting service providers and domain registrars that can assist you in obtaining hosting at a lower cost.
Web Hosting Service Providers and Domain Registrars
1. Bluehost
Bluehost is one of the most popular web hosting service providers. This software has officially been suggested by WordPress to its users.
The service provider even provides free elements to WPBeginner users. These elements include a domain, an SSL certificate, and a discount on web hosting.
| Plan | Features | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting Plan |
|
$2.75/month |
2. Siteground
Siteground is yet another fast hosting service provider. This platform has also been officially recommended by WordPress to its users.
It provides excellent support to customers and has some amazing features. The hosting services come with a site builder, unlimited email addresses, and one-click installers for Joomla and WordPress.
The price of this hosting platform starts at $3.95 per month. There are even some special plans for students and teachers. The price of student web hosting is only $1.99 per month.
Similarly, teachers can use SiteGround to get free hosting services.
3. Dreamhost
This website hosting platform was launched in 1997. Hence, it is one of the oldest hosting service providers. Presently, the platform hosts 1.5 million sites. This figure is enough to show the popularity of DreamHost.
DreamHost’s starter plan costs $2.59 per month. This plan provides a free domain name to the users as well. Besides this, the users receive unlimited email addresses, free domain privacy, and free SSL. These users can also get one-click installers for different website-building platforms.
Besides the hosting services, the website owners also need a domain name to create their websites. Some of the site hosting service providers mentioned above also provide a domain name to the users.
But, people can even seek the services of a domain registrar to purchase a domain separately from the hosting service. Different domain registrars provide domain names at different costs. Let us have a look at some of them.
4. Domain.com
Domain.com is the top domain registrar in the world. Besides providing a domain, this platform also offers web hosting services and a website builder. This company was formed in 2000. Since then, it has provided users with various types of domain names.
The prices of different domains on this platform are as follows:
| Domain | Pricing |
|---|---|
| .digital | $2.99 for the first year |
| .blz | $5.99 for the first year |
| .com | $9.99 for the first year |
5. Namecheap
As the name of this domain registrar suggests, Namecheap provides cheap domains to its users.
| Domain | Pricing |
|---|---|
| .com | $11.69/year |
| .org | $11.48 for the first year |
| .net | $11.48 for the first year |
Conclusion
Thus, the best website builders of 2023 are those that offer a free website builder, as well as popular website plans for businesses and individuals.
Many of these options in the builders list are easy to use, allowing you to quickly create an online website with a few clicks.
Whether you’re looking to build a small business simple website or a personal one, there is sure to be a popular website builder out there that meets your needs.
Good Luck!
