You don’t need to have web design experience—or even coding knowledge—to create a fully functional small business website. To design a professional website, all you need is a great drag-and-drop site builder. With so many to choose from, each with seemingly similar features, editing interfaces, and pricing, deciding which to use can be the tough part. We analyzed dozens to find which really are the best drag-and-drop website builders for you.
Best Drag & Drop Site Builders at a Glance
Wix | GoDaddy | Webnode | Squarespace | Elementor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Best overall drag-and-drop site builder | Best for easily building a site that can accept online bookings | Best for those who need a website to be as fast as possible | Best for ultra-easy web design | Best for advanced users building a site with WordPress |
Standout features: | Standout features: | Standout features: | Standout features: | Standout features: |
Most design freedom within a site builder | Built-in online booking system | Connect a domain for just $3.90/month | Tons of built-in marketing tools | Transform WordPress into a drag-and-drop page editor |
Looking for something more specific? Try one of these…
- Looking to build a portfolio website? Visit the best website builders for photographers and creatives.
- If you’re a real estate agent, head over to the best real estate website builders.
- Don’t have the budget for a site builder? Check out the best free website builders.
How We Evaluated the Best Drag & Drop Site Builders
Every provider claims to be the best, but we put each drag-and-drop site builder to the test and analyzed them across a number of different metrics. Site builders should enable users of any experience level to build a professional site with little to no learning curve. They should be affordable, a good value for your money, and include everything you need to build, launch, and manage your site. Click the tabs below to learn more.
20% of Overall Score
Site builders need to offer competitively priced plans for professional-use websites. We compared plans not only by price alone but also by price for plan type and contract length. We also considered the availability of free trials and money-back guarantees.
20% of Overall Score
It’s not just about price alone, but what you get for the price you pay. To illustrate value for money, we looked at the amount of storage and bandwidth each provider includes, as well as money-saving extras such as a free domain name, a free SSL certificate, and free business email.
30% of Overall Score
In order to make our list, every provider had to offer a user-friendly, drag-and-drop site editing interface. This is what enables beginners to build a site that looks like it was designed by a web expert. In addition to the quality of its site editor, we also evaluated the quality and quantity of prebuilt website templates and themes, which set users up for building great sites.
5% of Overall Score
Support matters when you need it, so we considered which providers offer the best support. To do this, we reviewed the responsiveness and helpfulness of support, as well as how accessible and convenient support is in terms of available channels (i.e., phone, live chat, and email) and the hours in which it’s available (i.e., standard business hours, 24/7).
25% of Overall Score
After many hours of first-hand experience building sites with these drag-and-drop site builders, we also took our own expertise into consideration. We analyzed each in terms of value for price, features, design, functionality, and popularity to give you our expert opinions and top picks.
Wix: Overall Best Drag & Drop Website Builder
Wix
What We Like
- True drag-and-drop site editor
- Maximum design freedom
- Tons of prebuilt templates to choose from
What's Missing
- You can’t change templates without losing your work
- No option to duplicate pages
- Not ideal for those without an eye for design
Highlights
- Free plan is available
- Premium plans start at $14 per month
- 500+ templates available
- Ability to sell online, accept bookings and reservations, and create a membership site
Wix is the best overall drag-and-drop site builder because it’s one of the very few site builders that uses a true drag-and-drop site editor. Unlike other platforms that use content blocks, where you can only drag blocks to specific sections within a page, with Wix you can drag elements anywhere within your web pages, giving you maximum design flexibility within a very user-friendly platform.
Tiered Pricing & Features
Combo | Unlimited | Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|
Price | $14 per month | $18 per month | $23 per month |
Storage Limit | 3GB | 10GB | 20GB |
Bandwidth Limit | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Drag-and-Drop Site Editor | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Ease of Use | Beginner-intermediate | Beginner-intermediate | Beginner-intermediate |
Free Domain Name | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Free SSL Certificate | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Unique Features | 30 minutes of video | 1 hour of video $300 ad vouchers Site booster app Visitor analytics app | 2 hours of video $300 ad vouchers Site booster app Visitor analytics app Events calendar app |
Unique Features
What’s nice about Wix is that it offers the best of both worlds by combining the capabilities of WordPress with the ease of use of a traditional site builder. And though it doesn’t quite have all of the capabilities of WordPress, it does have just about all major features you could want. So if you’re not building a website with a radically new feature that requires custom coding, Wix will likely offer what you’re looking for in a business website.
Here’s a look at what you can do with Wix:
- Sell physical and digital products online
- Accept recurring payments
- Create gated content (e.g., membership sites)
- Accept online bookings and reservations
Using Wix’s Drag & Drop Site Editor
The Wix site editor was developed to be user-friendly, and though it requires zero coding, there is still a small learning curve involved with using it. It is packed with features, giving you the opportunity to add just about any business website functionality you could want, from selling subscriptions and accepting recurring payments to creating membership sites with gated content.
Keep in mind that with this degree of design freedom, it’s easy to go overboard if you’re not careful (or if you simply don’t have an eye for design); you can end up going off the rails, developing a site that doesn’t look professionally designed. It also doesn’t let you duplicate pages, making design inconsistencies common. If you’re not looking to get creative and you don’t want to risk your site looking homemade, try Squarespace instead.
Get more insight by checking out the step-by-step instructions on how to build a website with Wix.
Our Expert Opinion
If you’re looking for a true drag-and-drop website builder, choose Wix. It’s not only the best in terms of its site editor with maximum design freedom, but it’s also designed to be easy so that it doesn’t matter whether or not you have web design experience—you can build a professional business website with it.
GoDaddy: Best for Accepting Online Bookings
GoDaddy
What We Like
- Live site editor
- Swap out templates any time
- Ultra-easy-to-use
What's Missing
- It’s not a true drag-and-drop editor
- Templates are not broken out by category or industry
- It does not offer a free version
Highlights
- Affordable plans starting at $9.99 per month
- Best for service-based businesses with built-in booking and reservation tools
- Build a site in just minutes
GoDaddy may be best known for its domain name registration service. However, it’s also one of the best drag-and-drop site builders on the market for service-based businesses. What makes it stand out is that its live visual site editor is very intuitive and simple, making it beginner-friendly, in addition to coming standard with built-in booking tools. And by enabling you to accept bookings and appointments online, your site is able to serve as a 24/7 receptionist.
Tiered Pricing & Features
Basic | Standard | Premium | |
|---|---|---|---|
Price* | $9.99 per month | $14.99 per month | $19.99 per month |
Storage Limit | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Bandwidth Limit | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Drag-and-Drop Site Editor | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Ease of Use | Beginner-friendly | Beginner-friendly | Beginner-friendly |
Free Domain Name | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Free SSL Certificate | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Unique Features | Website guidance and analytics 1 social media platform 100 email marketing sends per month Branded content creator | SEO tools 3 social media platforms 500 email marketing sends per month Branded content creator | SEO tools Unlimited social media platforms 25,000 email marketing sends per month Branded content creator |
*Billed annually
Unique Features
What’s different about the GoDaddy site builder is that templates aren’t broken out by category or business type, and you can change out templates at any time without losing all of your work (as you would with Wix). It also has built-in booking tools, allowing your customers or clients to schedule appointments and process booking payments directly from your site.
- Easily sell services and accept bookings online
- Templates vary by layout and style, as opposed to industry
- Templates are interchangeable, so you can swap them out any time
Using GoDaddy’s Drag & Drop Site Editor
Like all drag-and-drop website builders, GoDaddy is designed to make building a website quick and painless. And it manages to achieve this goal. It uses a very simple website editing interface, where you can edit your site live and see exactly what it will look like once you publish it. Unlike other site builders, its templates are not broken out by industry or business type, so while that can be helpful, it has its perks to be able to easily apply any template available.
Note that it doesn’t come with complete design flexibility, so while you can drag and drop content blogs into your web pages, you can’t necessarily move elements anywhere. Granted, this can help ensure your site looks professional, so it’s not a bad thing for web design beginners to have to color inside the lines, so to speak.
Take a look at the step-by-step instructions on how to build a GoDaddy website.
Our Expert Opinion
Service-based businesses that want an ultra-easy way of building and managing a website that can accept online bookings will find GoDaddy to be a great choice. It has a beginner-friendly, drag-and-drop site editor, affordable all-inclusive plans that start at $9 per month, and a built-in booking system so your website can serve as a 24/7 marketing tool—giving you the time to get back to running your business and serving your customers.
Webnode: Best for Building a Website Quickly
Webnode
What We Like
- Industry-low pricing starting at $3.90 per month
- Beginner-friendly site builder
- Highly developed templates come packed with what you need
What's Missing
- The free plan doesn’t suffice for business use
- Cannot change templates without losing data
Highlights
- Free plan is available (limited use)
- 100+ templates available
- Ecommerce-enabled
- Easily build a membership site
- Tons of built-in tools geared toward restaurants and food service businesses
Webnode may be the new kid on the block, and yet in many ways, it’s the new and improved all-in-one site builder. It stands out for being one of the most beginner-friendly editors, enabling just about anyone to build a high-quality website in under half an hour. Part of how it does this is by having very developed templates. So, if you choose a template that suits your industry, it will come with everything your site needs. All you’ll need to do is customize photos and text.
Tiered Pricing & Features
Limited | Mini | Standard | |
|---|---|---|---|
Price | $3.90 per month | $7.50 per month | $12.90 per month |
Storage Limit | 100MB | 500MB | 2GB |
Bandwidth Limit | 1GB | 3GB | 10GB |
Drag-and-Drop Site Editor | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Ease of Use | Beginner-friendly | Beginner-friendly | Beginner-friendly |
Free Domain Name | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Free SSL Certificate | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Unique Features | — | 1 email account Background video | 20 email accounts Background video Online store No Webnode ads Google Analytics Google AdSense 100 members for membership registration 2 languages |
Unique Features
There’s a lot you can do with Webnode thanks to its range of unique features. Whether you’re looking for an easy way for your team to collaborate and manage your website, or trying to build a multilanguage site so that you can connect with your audience, no matter which language they speak, Webnode offers features to help.
- Option to give editing access to other users
- Built-in online reservation request form (for complete booking tools, use GoDaddy)
- Easily create a multilanguage website by adding languages
- Site backup and recovery included in premium plans
Using Webnode’s Drag & Drop Site Editor
It gives users the ability to duplicate pages, as well as add prebuilt pages to your theme (e.g., a member’s area page for membership sites). These functionalities make it ideal for businesses that need to add multiple webpages in addition to the standard pages templates typically include. It also offers built-in search engine optimization (SEO) data, which you can add to each page of your site.
One downfall is that you can’t easily swap out templates, so be sure to take your time to find the right one for your website before you begin investing your time in customizing a template.
Our Expert Opinion
Anyone looking to build a website quickly and headache-free will find Webnode to be a great option. Since it’s so user-friendly, it takes hardly any time to build a full-fledged small business website with it, and what’s more, it’s ultra-affordable with plans starting as low as $3.90 per month. Thus, it’s not only fast and easy, it also won’t break the bank.
Squarespace: Best for Top-notch Web Design
Squarespace
What We Like
- True drag-and-drop site editor
- Maximum design freedom within an easy-to-use site builder
What's Missing
- You can’t change templates without losing your work
- No option to duplicate pages
- Month-to-month plans are not available
Highlights
- Award-winning template designs
- Plans start at $12 per month
- 100+ templates available
- Ability to sell online, accept bookings and reservations
Squarespace consistently ranks as one of the best overall website builders, and what it really stands out for is its offering of expertly designed and industry-specific templates. These enable you to easily build a professional website with very little customization. In return, your site will look like you spent thousands of dollars to have it professionally designed—and yet, its all-inclusive plans start at just $12 per month.
Tiered Pricing & Features
Personal | Business | Commerce | |
|---|---|---|---|
Price* | $12 per month | $18 per month | $26 per month |
Storage Limit | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Bandwidth Limit | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Drag-and-Drop Site Editor | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Ease of Use | Beginner-intermediate | Beginner-intermediate | Beginner-intermediate |
Free Domain Name | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Free SSL Certificate | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Unique Features | 2 contributors Mobile-optimized websites Basic website metrics Squarespace extensions | Unlimited contributors Mobile-optimized websites Advanced website analytics Squarespace extensions Professional email from Google Up to $100 Google Ads credits Fully integrated ecommerce | Unlimited contributors Mobile-optimized websites Advanced website analytics Squarespace extensions Professional email from Google Up to $100 Google Ads credits Fully integrated ecommerce POS system ecommerce analytics tool Products on Instagram |
*Billed annually
Unique Features
Squarespace is a very well-rounded site builder that enables you to create nearly any type of business website, from an online store to a membership site. And though its award-winning template designs tend to get the spotlight, Squarespace also offers some really unique and helpful features to help you not only build a professional website, but build a business with your site using built-in marketing tools. These would include creating shoppable posts on Instagram or adding a Pinterest save button so visitors can add your site content to their Pinterest account.
- Easily add an online store to any template
- Built-in scheduling option to accept online appointment booking
- Ability to create shoppable posts on Instagram from your website
- Let visitors save your webpages and media to their Pinterest with the click of a button
- Option to create a membership site with gated content
Using Squarespace’s Drag & Drop Site Editor
With the Squarespace site editing interface, you can drag-and-drop prebuilt content blocks into sections of your webpages. However, while it doesn’t offer complete design freedom like, say, Wix, the limitations can be ideal for web design beginners as it’s really difficult to break (aka ruin) a template. In other words, you’ll be hard-pressed to mess it up and it’s unlikely to turn out homemade-looking, so it’s great for those with limited skills who want a beautiful site.
For more insight, check out the step-by-step instructions on how to build a website with Squarespace.
Our Expert Opinion
Squarespace is a good choice for users of all skill levels who need a high-quality site that both looks and functions as if it were built by a web design expert. And with its extensive list of built-in marketing tools, it doesn’t just help a business get a great website, but it can actually help launch and grow businesses.
Elementor: Best Drag & Drop Page Builder for WordPress
Elementor
What We Like
- Transforms WordPress into a drag-and-drop editor
- A free version is available
- It’s the best page builder plugin for WordPress
What's Missing
- It’s not an all-in-one site builder, so you’ll still need to get web hosting
- Steep learning curve involved with WordPress
- It can be glitchy
Highlights
- A free version is available (with limited features)
- Premium plans jump to $49 per year
- There are no templates, but prebuilt pages and content blocks
- Compatible with many WordPress themes (though not all)
Elementor has quickly become the best drag-and-drop page builder plugin for WordPress. Unlike its rival plugins, it transforms WordPress into a visual page and post-editing interface, making it a lot easier to design pages, and with the Premium plan, you can even use the visual editor to customize your header and footer.
Keep in mind that this doesn’t mean there won’t still be a steep learning curve involved in using Elementor with WordPress. So if you don’t have some web design experience or don’t have the time to learn, it’s probably not the best option for you.
Learn more about all of the best website builders for WordPress.
Tiered Pricing & Features
Free Plan | Essential Plan | |
|---|---|---|
Price | $0 | $49 per year |
Drag-and-Drop Site Editor | ✔ | ✔ |
Ease of Use | Intermediate | Intermediate |
Access Prebuilt Pages and Content Blocks | Partial access | Full access |
Unique Features | 40+ basic widgets 30+ basic templates | 50+ pro widgets 300+ pro templates 10+ full website template kits Theme builder Form builder WooCommerce builder Pop-up builder Premium support |
Unique Features
It’s one of the only true drag-and-drop page builder plugins for WordPress. Unlike other page builder plugins, it enables you to edit your WordPress pages and posts in a live visual editor, so you can see what your site will look like after you publish or update. What’s also unique about it is that you can add prebuilt pages and content blocks (e.g., contact forms, testimonials, galleries, and so forth), and with the Premium version, you can even edit your header and footer in the live editor.
- Transform WordPress into a drag-and-drop editing interface
- Integrates with tons of leading tools (e.g., Mailchimp, HubSpot, reCAPTCHA)
- Customize your header and footer with the live visual editor
- Easily create pop-ups
- Build an online store with WooCommerce
Using Elementor’s Page Editor
While Elementor helps make the process of building pages in WordPress a lot easier, you’re still using WordPress, and so the overall process of building your business website will be a lot more challenging than if you choose an all-in-one site builder. Also, keep in mind that Elementor won’t work with every theme, so you’ll need to specifically choose a theme that is compatible with Elementor. And as always with WordPress, you’ll need to get third-party web hosting.
Want a better idea of what’s involved? Take a look at the step-by-step details on building a site with WordPress.
Adamant in using WordPress and need to build your site quickly? Your best bet is to use the Bluehost website builder. It enables you to easily build a WordPress site, and it costs just $2.95 per month and includes everything you need.
Our Expert Opinion
Elementor is a really cool plugin that revolutionized how pages are designed in WordPress. And while it’s a great drag-and-drop page builder for those with some web design expertise or the time to learn, it’s not the easiest way to build a business website—nor is it the cheapest.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Which is the better site builder: Wix or Squarespace?
Wix and Squarespace are both leading all-in-one website builders, though they’re not without their differences. For example, Squarespace is more design-forward, helping to ensure that no matter what your experience with web design is, your site will look like it’s designed by a pro. On the other hand, if you have an eye for design and are looking for the most design flexibility, Wix will be your better choice. Get the complete breakdown of Wix vs Squarespace.
Are there any website builders that are free for nonprofits?
Yes. IM Creator is a website builder that is available to nonprofits, students, and artists for free. Unlike other free site builder plans, you actually get access to its premium plan at no cost, giving you the ability to build an ad-free business website that connects to your own domain name. It’s also a pretty user-friendly website builder, making it a great value for nonprofits.
How much does it cost to hire a web designer?
The cost to have a website professionally built varies greatly, from as little as a few hundred to thousands of dollars. Two major factors that influence your cost will be how you source your web designer (e.g., freelance or a web design agency) and what your site specifications are. If you just need a basic business website, you can get an experienced web designer to build your site for under $500 from places like Fiverr or Hibu. Learn more about website costs.
Bottom Line
Building a small business website is easier than ever thanks to all of the best drag-and-drop website builders that are available. And what’s great is that you not only save a lot of money and time, but by building your own site, you’re able to also manage it in-house. If you’re still not sure which is the best option for you, you can’t go wrong with Squarespace. It’s affordable, easy to use, and your site will look like a professional designed it, leaving your customers impressed.
You Might Also Like…
- Still need a domain? Get help from the experts on choosing a domain name.
- Start getting found in local search results by creating your free Google My Business account.
- Drive traffic to your website using these easy website marketing strategies.
