The Best Website Builder for a Small Business Depends on the Job It Has to Do

Key takeaways

• Wix is the safest default for most small businesses. Its Core plan, $29 a month on yearly billing, includes payments, basic ecommerce and scheduling in one price.
• Shopify is the pick if selling products is the business. Basic is $29 a month on yearly billing and $39 on monthly billing in US reads.
• Squarespace suits service firms that care about how the site looks. Scheduling is a separate subscription, though, and its cheapest plan adds a 2% fee on sales.
• Webflow and Framer suit design-led marketing sites. Their entry prices are the lowest here, and neither plan list includes bookings.
• A "starts at" price can mislead. Wix starts at $17, but the plan that takes bookings is $29, a gap of $144 a year. Before choosing, check what each platform lets you take when you leave.
• WordPress is the most flexible and the most work. You, or someone you pay, look after hosting, updates, backups and security.

We did not test these builders for this page. Every price and limit here is taken from the maker's site, and the opinions on ease of use come from reviewers who say they tested them, whom we name. Amariq builds websites on most of these platforms and sells that work, so we have a stake in the subject.

The short answer

All prices are in US dollars, before tax, on yearly billing unless stated.

Why the lists disagree, and what they skip

We ran this search on Google's United States results in English on 5 November 2026, then read the pages at the top. Their top picks are not the same, and it helps to know what stands behind each one.

None of this makes them wrong, and Zapier's use-case split is useful. Launch the Damn Thing also warns, rightly, that a $10 to $20 rate can rise quickly once you add what you need. But starting prices are what the comparison tables show, and they have drifted. Zapier and Titan both show Webflow at $14 and Squarespace at $16. Titan shows Shopify at $39, which is the monthly billing price. Webflow's page now shows $15, and Squarespace's Basic plan is reported at $19. The bigger gap is that none of them sets out, job by job, which plan does the work.

The cheapest plan that does each job

This is the table we did not find on those pages. It uses each maker's plan list as read on 5 November 2026.

Sources: Wix plans, Squarespace plan guide and contributor limits, Webflow pricing, Framer pricing, Acuity pricing. A worked case is the barber shop website, where the booking tool matters as much as the builder.

"Add a booking tool" means an outside service placed on your page. It works, but it is one more subscription and one more login.

A note on Squarespace and Shopify prices

Both change the price by the visitor's country, and where we work the pages show different figures. So we did not take a price from what we saw on those pages. For Shopify we used the copy of the pricing page that Google shows US searchers: Basic $29, Grow $79, Advanced $299 on yearly billing. Guides dated September and October 2026 agree, and give $39, $105 and $399 on monthly billing. For Squarespace, JPK Design Co's guide, dated 6 July 2026 in Google's results, reports Basic $19, Core $29, Plus $49 and Advanced $99, and the Core, Plus and Advanced figures match what Google's US copy of the pricing page showed us on 27 October. Please confirm on the maker's page before you budget, since yours may differ.

What a year costs

The sums below are the monthly price times 12, before tax and without apps. The first year often includes a free domain on yearly plans, and Wix and Squarespace both say so.

Domain, email and paid apps come on top, and our guide to website cost per month adds them up. For the whole picture, including paying someone to build it, see how much a website costs.

When Squarespace's cheaper plan costs more

Squarespace's Basic plan carries a 2% commerce transaction fee, and Core has none. On the US reads above, Core costs about $10 a month more. Two percent of $500 is $10, so if you sell more than about $500 a month through the site, Core works out cheaper. Payment processing of 2.9% + $0.30 on domestic cards applies on both, according to Squarespace's plan guide.

The builders, one by one

Wix. Zapier's author picks it for ease of use, and calls it a good choice for non-technical owners. The same review complains about slow loading on media-heavy pages and limits on technical SEO. Levitate adds that you cannot swap a template later without rebuilding. Wix also says a site must stay on its servers, as our Wix cost guide explains. Keep Wix if you want one account for the site, bookings and payments.

Squarespace. Zapier picks it for service businesses, and Launch the Damn Thing for almost everything, with the sponsorship stated. Its plan guide lists invoicing, memberships and a point of sale from the first tier. The trade-off is that Acuity, email campaigns and Google Workspace are each billed separately. Squarespace Core also lists a ChowNow integration, which matters to restaurants. Our Wix vs Squarespace post compares the two.

Shopify. Every list we read agrees on Shopify for selling products, and our guide to the best ecommerce platform for a small shop works out the fees at three sales levels. Zapier notes that page design options are limited compared with visual builders, and Levitate warns that paid apps raise the monthly cost. Our Shopify cost guide covers the fees. If you sell services and only a few products, it is more than you need.

Webflow. It gives the most design control of the group, and reviewers agree it takes longer to learn. Basic has no CMS, so a blog needs Premium at $25. Our Webflow plan guide walks through the choice.

Framer. It is the cheapest entry here at $10, with 2 CMS collections. Site redirects are listed on Pro, not Basic, which matters if you are moving an old site. Launch the Damn Thing rates it for designers who care about speed, and we compare it in Framer vs Wix.

WordPress. The software is free, and you pay for hosting. Levitate lists the jobs that come with it: hosting, plugin updates, security, backups and performance. Our WordPress cost guide prices them, and Wix vs WordPress helps if you are torn.

Square. Square says you can start an online store for free. Zapier picks it for restaurants because online orders, payments and stock stay in sync with the point of sale, while calling its site builder the least friendly of its list.

AI builders. If you want a first draft in minutes, our guide to the best AI website builders compares them on credits and on what you can take with you. For a choice between builders and agency-built sites by country, see our platform guide for Australia, the UK and the US.

How to choose in five questions

1. What must the site do for a customer? Book, buy, or call? That sets the plan more than the logo on the builder does.
2. Who will update it? If it is you, between other jobs, ease beats flexibility. Count how many other people need a login.
3. Will you sell online? If products are the business, go to Shopify. If you sell a few items alongside a service, check the fee on each sale.
4. Could you ever want to move? Hosted builders rarely let you take the whole site with you, and a rebuild is the realistic cost of leaving.
5. Does the business need a website at all yet? Our guide on whether you need a website is honest about who can wait.

When a builder stops being the right answer

A builder is a fine start, and many businesses never need more. It starts to cost you when customers compare you against firms with a site designed around their decision, or when your time spent on the site costs more than a build would. If you do reach that point, keep your domain in your own name so the move stays simple. Our web design cost worksheet helps you compare the two routes for your own numbers.

How we help at Amariq

Some owners would rather not spend their evenings in a page editor. If that is you, we design and build the site, on whichever of these platforms fits: Webflow, Framer, WordPress, Shopify, Wix or Squarespace, or on custom code when none of them does. Quotes follow the scope of the work, and we do not bill by the hour. You pay 40% at the start, 30% when the design is approved and 30% ahead of launch. The final payment hands you the design, the copy and the code, with the domain, hosting and analytics held in accounts under your own name. Our web design services page has more.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best website builder for a small business?

For most, Wix, because one plan covers the site, payments and bookings. If you mainly sell products, choose Shopify. For a design-led service firm, consider Squarespace, and for a marketing site with no shop, Framer or Webflow.

Which website builder is cheapest for a small business?

Of the plans we read, Framer Basic is the lowest at $10 a month on yearly billing, or $120 a year. If you need bookings or payments, the fair comparison is Wix Core or Squarespace with Acuity, at about $29 to $45 a month.

Is there a 100% free website builder?

Wix, Webflow and Framer all have free plans, but they use the maker's address, not your own domain. WordPress software is free too, though it needs paid hosting. That is fine for trying an idea, and thin for a real firm.

Is Wix or Squarespace better for a small business?

Wix includes scheduling on Core, while Squarespace bills Acuity separately, so Wix usually costs less for booking businesses. Squarespace has unlimited contributors from Core, against 5 on Wix Core. Our Wix vs Squarespace post has the detail.

What about Hostinger or GoDaddy?

Both are popular low-cost choices. Zapier picks Hostinger as its budget option, from $2.49 a month when it wrote in February 2025, and Titan lists GoDaddy at around $10 a month. Hosts often reach their lowest price on long prepaid terms, so check the term and the renewal price. Our hosting cost guide shows how far renewals can move.

Do I need an LLC to make a website?

Nothing on the plan pages we read asks for one. Rules on trading names and taxes vary by place, so ask a local adviser. This is not legal advice.

Can I switch website builders later?

Yes, but expect to rebuild the design on the new platform. Text and images can move, and you should redirect old addresses so you keep your search rankings. Our website redesign SEO checklist covers that step.