9 Best WordPress Alternatives for Small Businesses

Both Wix and WordPress provide robust solutions for website development. However, Wix beats WordPress with its ease of use and the number of features available within the page builder system. Our head-to-head comparison of Wix vs WordPress explains more, but here’s a summary:

• Wix is much easier to use and almost as customizable.
• Wix has all-inclusive plans, whereas you need hosting, domain, secure sockets layer (SSL), and plugins separately for WordPress.
• Wix has excellent built-in search engine optimization (SEO), including automated schema markup that you’d have to learn how to code with WordPress.
• With 800-plus templates and drag-and-drop editing, you can build a custom site far more quickly with Wix, even if you have a user-friendly WordPress page builder and theme.
• WordPress is arguably more customizable for design and niche functionality; however, Wix has all the capacity needed for most small businesses.
• Depending on your hosting plan, WordPress may offer more storage in base tiers, making it better for content-heavy sites.

Wix offers an “all-in-one” solution to your website needs, whereas with WordPress, you still have to purchase hosting, a domain, an SSL certificate, a theme, plugins, and more. Additionally, installing Wix modules for additional functions like shopping carts or payment systems is as easy as a couple of clicks, providing users with ample functionality and customization. To achieve similar functions in WordPress, you’ll have to purchase and configure multiple plugins.

Wix’s editor makes it the top WordPress alternative for design freedom and website customizability. In fact, it leads the pack entirely, coming in as our top-recommended website builder for small businesses overall. Here are some of its best features:

• Drag-and-drop editor: Its powerful drag-and-drop editor provides virtually unlimited design customization without any coding knowledge required.
• Template selection: With more than 800 templates for different industries to choose from, Wix far surpasses any builder on our list when it comes to the variety and selection of templates.
• App market: The Wix app market offers more than 300 add-ons to further enhance your website functionality. It doesn’t compare to the thousands of plugins WordPress supports, but it’s a comprehensive selection for an all-in-one site builder.
• Industry-specific ecommerce store features: With the $27 per month Wix Business plan comes ecommerce, including industry-specific tools for restaurants (online ordering, reservations, and custom menus), companies needing online appointment booking tools, ticket and event management, hotel and short-term rentals reservations, fitness professionals, and artists.

What Weebly has in the ease of use category can quickly lose out to WordPress in the customization available. Templates for Weebly are quite limited, even when compared to other site builders in this list of WordPress alternatives. However, it does offer some advantages compared to WordPress:

• Weebly is very beginner-friendly; WordPress has a steep learning curve
• Payment processing is native with Weebly, but it requires plugins, setup, and maintenance with WordPress
• Weebly makes it easy to build an ecommerce website quickly; all WordPress ecommerce functionality comes from plugins you have to find, vet, install, configure, and maintain
• You can build an ecommerce website for free on Weebly, but not on WordPress
• WordPress is far more customizable and has tens of thousands of templates vs around 100 with Weebly

Weebly’s biggest advantage over WordPress is that it makes building a shopping cart and offering products quite simple. In fact, Weebly is one of the easiest ecommerce website builders we reviewed. This makes it ideal for small businesses needing an online store quickly. WordPress may be more capable, but it will also be more expensive and difficult to achieve similar results.

Weebly’s affordable ecommerce plans make this WordPress competitor worth the look. They offer a free plan to try before you buy, and even the free plan is feature-rich. Additionally, here are other reasons to consider Weebly:

• Ecommerce-enabled plans: Weebly offers some of the most affordable ecommerce capabilities for any site builder, with online selling available on all plans, including the free version.
• Built-in payment processing: Setting up payment processing via WordPress plugins can be complicated. With Weebly, Square payment processing comes fully integrated with all plans (even free).
• Shipping integrations: Weebly’s editor for personal sites comes with hundreds of one-click, pre-vetted, and fully compatible third-party integrations. Among these are integrations for shipping, taxes, and even dropshipping, further enhancing your online store’s capabilities.
• Restaurant functionality: Using the Weebly editor for personal sites, restauranteurs can add free and paid plugins with the click of a mouse. This makes setting up reservations, online ordering, menus, and other features a snap. In fact, Weebly tops our list of the best restaurant website builders.
• Affordable prices: Weebly’s paid plan prices are among the most affordable, especially vs comparable ecommerce-ready plans for WordPress sites. Ad-free plans also include a free domain and SSL for even more added value.

With both IONOS and WordPress, you can build a professional-looking website. However, IONOS has limited templates compared to the seemingly infinite number of themes available in WordPress. That’s offset somewhat by IONOS’ built-in stock images library and industry-specific templates, and some advantages it offers:

• IONOS plans are far cheaper, starting at $1 per month the first year
• Plans include all you need to build a website (hosting, domain, SSL, templates, apps, images, and more); WordPress users have to get all this separately
• IONOS automatically optimizes images to improve site speed—this requires plugins on WordPress
• IONOS includes Google PageSpeed optimization; WordPress sites can get slow and clunky depending on your site’s code, file sizes, number of plugins, bandwidth limitations, and more

However, WordPress offers near endless possibilities when it comes to function by way of tens of thousands of plugins. While IONOS is more limited in functionality, it still offers shopping carts, online appointment booking, a reservations system, and other key features. The result is a site builder that is easy to use while providing the core functionality most small businesses will need.

And like any site builder vs WordPress, IONOS is inherently easier to use. It’s intuitive, and apps are just a click away. Plus, your plan includes a domain, SSL, business email account, automatic optimization features, Google PageSpeed, built-in security, and more. WordPress users spend a lot more time learning how to use the content management system (CMS), sourcing hosting and plugins, and optimizing images and content on their sites.

IONOS may not be the most well-known website builder, but we found it to be one of the best WordPress alternatives. Plus, IONOS is Europe’s leading web hosting company, making it a reliable choice for building a small business website. Here are some key features to focus on from IONOS:

• Cheap plans—especially the first year: With intro pricing starting at $12 for the first year (and $15 per month thereafter), IONOS is one of the cheapest WordPress alternatives you can use to build a professional website for your startup or small business, especially over the long term. See why it tops our list of the best cheap website builders.
• Inclusive plans: IONOS’ plans come with ample storage and unlimited bandwidth, a free domain name, free SSL, and a free business email account. If you want to build a small business website on a budget, you can’t go wrong with IONOS.
• Beginner-friendly interface: Though IONOS isn’t the most powerful all-in-one site builder, its sectional interface and intuitive menus make it easy for beginners to build a professional website in just a few hours.
• Built-in business apps: WordPress functionality only comes through plugins, whereas with the cheapest WordPress competitor, IONOS business apps are native to the platform. Add appointment booking, send marketing emails, password-protect pages for members, or add an online store to your plan.
• Individualized support: IONOS is the only site builder to include access to a dedicated success consultant. This can speed up your site-building process immensely and give you expert tips to get the most from your website.

When it comes to the speed with which you can build and launch your new website, there is no comparison between GoDaddy and WordPress. GoDaddy takes as little as a couple of hours, while WordPress can take anywhere from a few days to weeks, depending on the site’s complexity. In terms of how GoDaddy compares to WordPress:

• GoDaddy’s intuitive editor is much easier to use than WordPress blocks and page builders
• GoDaddy is cheaper than WordPress since plans start for free
• Built-in appointment booking and site engagement chatbots, even on the free version—you can’t get this in WordPress without plugins

That’s not to say GoDaddy is flawless. What you gain in speed, you lose in customizability and functionality.

There are dozens of native widgets in GoDaddy’s site builder, but the number doesn’t come close to the tens of thousands of plugins available for WordPress. Similarly, with a limited number of templates, your design freedom is quite restricted. If you’re building a basic website for your small business, though, GoDaddy offers a fast, easy way to go from zero to a finished site.

The GoDaddy website builder is one of the simplest and quickest ways to take your small business online. It’s also effortless to edit pages. Here are a few top reasons why you should consider GoDaddy’s website builder:

• Online booking and appointment scheduling tools: GoDaddy is known for its robust appointment scheduling system. Appointments are built in, easy to use, and available on all GoDaddy plans (including the free plan).
• Website chatbots: Another freebie included with GoDaddy site builder plans are website chatbots. The “Hello” bot greets visitors and can provide canned responses and collect information so you can follow up later. Likewise, the “Order” chatbot responds to customer-related inquiries and collects and forwards queries to you.
• Beginner-friendly: The GoDaddy website builder is one of the simplest site-building web content management systems (CMS) out there. Template and customization limits mean it’s hard to mess your site up, and even true web design beginners will have no trouble building a professional-looking website quickly.

While HubSpot edges WordPress on the speed with which you can build a website, both systems have a learning curve that will take a little time to overcome. Once you’ve learned to navigate HubSpot’s page builder, though, the speed with which you can make changes to pages greatly outpaces WordPress. Here’s how they compare:

• HubSpot’s editor is more intuitive than block builders in WordPress
• If you own a domain, you can build your website for free on your domain with HubSpot; you’ll still need to get hosting to build on your domain with WordPress
• HubSpot plans are more expensive than WordPress, especially in upper tiers, but integrated SEO, strong website security, and sales and marketing software may make it worth the cost
• You can integrate HubSpot tools into WordPress sites, but it will take more work on your part

Integrated features and additional apps are easy to install and configure in HubSpot, usually taking just a couple of clicks to get up and running, whereas with WordPress, you can spend hours hunting for the right plugin, installing it, and configuring it to work how you need. Moreover, because of its content-forward focus, CMS Hub takes a position as a better content management system (CMS) than WordPress.

HubSpot’s website builder offers one of the most advanced marketing integrations available. Even the free plan provides access to powerful tools to help you attract customers. Here are just a few features that make HubSpot worth considering:

• Enterprise-level tools at an affordable starting cost: HubSpot’s world-class customer relationship management (CRM) software can be integrated into your HubSpot CMS website seamlessly, as can hubs for customer support, operations, and marketing. All have freemium models, meaning you can avail yourself of the entire HubSpot ecosphere at a $0 starting cost, then scale up with paid plans as your business and revenue grow.
• Build for free on your domain: HubSpot is the only website builder allowing you to build a website with the free version on your domain. This is far more credible for startups and small businesses trying to build brand presence online. WordPress.org is a free CMS, but you have to purchase hosting and SSL separately, even if you already own a domain.
• Strong SEO and security: Enterprise software extends to the optimization, content delivery network (CDN), and security features that come with all HubSpot website builder plans. You can rest assured that your site is protected 24/7 and that your content can be found online.

It’s worth noting that you can enjoy enterprise-grade software integrations, including HubSpot apps, with WordPress websites. The caveat is that you’ll have to configure everything and maintain it constantly, whereas for HubSpot CMS users, this is all managed for you.

Neither Squarespace nor WordPress are the most beginner-friendly website creators for building and editing pages, (though Squarespace is still far easier than WordPress). Plus:

• WordPress website costs (hosting, domain, security, theme, and plugins) are likely to be far more expensive.
• SEO in WordPress requires third-party plugins—dozens are built-in with Squarespace.
• Squarespace has built-in SEO and security features you can’t get versus plugins with WordPress.

Another key feature differentiating Squarespace from WordPress is the Video Studio mobile app included in every Squarespace plan. The mobile app uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help you keep your videos on brand, such as by providing a color palette that matches your website. It also provides step-by-step guides and templates to create engaging video content.

Squarespace’s sleek templates and extensive library of third-party apps make it a WordPress competitor worth looking at. Here are some benefits of using Squarespace instead of WordPress:

• Versatile, modern templates: Squarespace’s modern templates are diverse, applicable to most industries, and visually impactful. Also, unlike WordPress, swapping templates is simple and fast and doesn’t require you to rebuild all your content.
• Advanced SEO features: Squarespace also appears on our list of the best site builders for SEO. All plans have built-in SEO tools that take little to no prior knowledge of optimization to use, and Squarespace’s checklist helps ensure you don’t miss anything.
• All the capacity you need: All Squarespace plans include unlimited storage and bandwidth, and up to 1,000 pages, making it a great option for blogging and media-heavy portfolio websites.

Shopify isn’t the easiest page builder, but it’s still miles ahead of WordPress in terms of simplicity and learning curve. Functionally (as far as ecommerce), Shopify is on par with WordPress. Here are some of the key comparisons:

• An integrated payment system means you don’t have to configure third-party payments, unlike WordPress
• Social and marketplace selling is built in, whereas you’ll have to configure separately in WordPress using plugins
• You can share an inventory between your online store and a brick-and-mortar store using Shopify POS; similar functionality in WordPress is complex and requires multiple plugins
• Comparable WordPress setups will require multiple ecommerce plugins, making it both more time-consuming and challenging to set up and more expensive
• Shopify only comes with a handful of free themes, whereas there are thousands for WordPress

Though Shopify lacks the thousands of plugins available in WordPress, its curated list of apps provides virtually all of the functions you might need to build an online store. A built-in payment system makes opening your store and taking payments simple.

Styling your site is easy with the templates and page builder, but keep in mind there are only about 10 templates to choose from. You can make simple changes on the page, or using Shopify’s global settings, you can change color schemes, headers, and more site-wide.

Shopify offers a powerful, easy-to-use inventory management system. You’ll always know where your inventory stands with Shopify. Here are other reasons to consider Shopify:

• Point-of-sale (POS) system available: If your online store operates alongside a brick-and-mortar business, Shopify offers a point-of-sale (POS) system that integrates your inventory into a single point, making tracking easy.
• Built-in payment processing: You won’t have to configure third-party payments or find a credit card provider with Shopify. It’s baked into the system.
• Integrated shipping: Shopify calculates shipping costs for you, and provides shipping services at steep discounts over those available to the general public.

Both Dorik and WordPress support additional functionality through add-ons and plugins, which Dorik refers to as integrations. With integrations, you can easily add email subscriptions, shopping carts, and more. Most integrations are easy to configure, and many are free through the Dorik site. Here’s how Dorik stacks up to WordPress:

• Block-style editor is easier and more intuitive than WordPress
• Building and editing pages is faster with Dorik than on WordPress
• Dorik is currently fairly limited as to functionality, whereas it’s virtually endless with WordPress
• Similarly to WordPress, extending functionality on Dorik requires the use of third-party integrations, which are likely to drive up your monthly costs

Designing in Dorik vs WordPress is a breeze once you’ve mastered the basics of the navigation tree and the menu system. However, getting bogged down in the sheer number of customizations is tough to avoid, and it can take a little time to overcome the learning curve. However, that learning curve is still easier to overcome than learning WordPress.

Dorik’s clean templates and easy-to-use page builder set it apart from WordPress. Here are the top reasons to consider Dorik:

• Built-in members-only system: If you’re sharing paid content, Dorik is the system you’ll want to use. Memberships are easily integrated from the design dashboard, and you can sell paid memberships for $4 a month.
• Affordability: Even the most expensive plan runs less than $20 monthly, meaning Dorik is priced to fit any budget.
• Build custom pages easily: If you don’t see a template that works for your needs, Dorik makes it simple to build a page from scratch using content blocks and page elements.

Hands down, Zyro is one of the easiest builders we reviewed. But that ease of use comes with a trade-off in advanced functionality, though there are apps and add-ons that bring Zyro closer to WordPress. But if you anticipate needing more advanced features than a shopping cart or appointment booking, Zyro may not be the best choice for your small business. Here are a few key comparisons:

• Fewer available templates limit design possibilities in Zyro, whereas WordPress themes are nearly endless.
• Built-in artificial intelligence (AI) tools aren’t as readily available for WordPress, including a content writer, heat map to show you where page engagement is happening, page meta description generator, and brand logo and slogan maker.
• Achieving Zyro’s marketing integrations requires multiple paid plugins in WordPress.
• All-in-one plan for hosting, SSL, and domain through parent company Hostinger has to be obtained separately for WordPress.
• Despite the increase in monthly costs after the introductory period, comparable WordPress sites will cost quite a bit more—learn more about how much WordPress costs.

If you need a simple, clean website that’s fresh and contemporary, Zyro is worth a look. Adding a shopping cart is easy, and its product management is simpler than similar functions in WordPress. Managing digital marketing is also much easier with the integrated tools in Zyro, whereas WordPress requires multiple plugins to accomplish the same result.

Zyro is a simple, elegant page builder with enough features for most small business websites. Here are four reasons to consider Zyro:

• Integrated digital marketing: Keep on top of website trends, boost sales, and improve search engine optimization (SEO) with the built-in digital marketing system.
• Inexpensive and fast websites: Build your website fast and inexpensively using Zyro’s site builder system.
• AI writing assistant: The AI writing assistant is powerful and speeds productivity, meaning your site is up and running faster.
• Cost-savings: Keeping startup costs down is a must, which is easy with Zyro. First-year pricing for ecommerce is just $4.99 a month with annual billing, giving you time to establish your brand online and grow it.