Best Website Builders

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Comparing the Best Website Builders for Canadians in 2024

Best Website Builders

Both starting your own business and setting up something for yourself on the side requires a reliable and flexible website. Unless you've devoted years to mastering HTML, CSS, JavaScript, or any other coding language, your best move is likely to opt for the straightforward, user-friendly route of website builders.

Reasons to use a website builder:

☑️ A website builder is more affordable compared to individual developers
☑️ Website builders are easy to use and reliable. 
☑️ You can have a website up and running in less than 30 minutes—without any detailed knowledge of WordPress, CSS, or HTML

The question is —how do you go about choosing the best website builders in Canada? Well, you’re in luck! We took the initiative ourselves and signed up on numerous platforms, tried and tested their features, and selected the top 14 Canadian website-building sites out there.

Website BuilderPlan CostLoad TimeUptimeUsabilityOur Rating
1. Hostinger Website Builder (formerly Zyro)$2.99 – $11.99430ms99.99%EXCELLENT★★★★★
2. Wix.com$11.00 – $35.00460ms99.99%EXCELLENT★★★★★
3. Constant Contact$0.00 – $225.00547ms99.95%GREAT★★★★
4. Pixpa$3.60 – $25.00440ms99.95%GREAT★★★★

* Yearly pricing

What is a Website Builder?

Website building platforms are tools for both beginners and seasoned creators to design websites without coding knowledge. Such providers would offer features like templates, drag-and-drop, pre-designed components, search engine optimization, online store setup, and mobile-friendly design to simplify the process. Note, it's up to you to choose a template, add content, and arrange text, images, and buttons; according to your website needs.

These sometimes also come with hosting and domain name options, so that you can manage updates, backups, and security from a single dashboard. This way, you're able to focus on design and content rather than technical issues.

Comparing the Top 14 Canadian Website Building Platforms

Let's have a quick look at some of the best website builders in Canada before diving into the details of each:

Website Builder

Why this one?

Hostinger

Best for simplicity

Wix

Best for beginner website builders

Pixpa

Best for photographers and creators

Shopify

Best for drop-shipping businesses

Squarespace

Best for small businesses

Site123

Best for getting online quickly

HubSpot

Best for creating a website for free

SiteGround

Best for already-existing SiteGround customers

WebSelf

Best for affordability

BoldGrid

Best value for money

Weebly

Best for startups and online stores

Jimdo

Best for freelancer portfolios and landing pages

Yola

Best for code-free customizations

Web.com

Best for versatility

The Top 14 Canadian Website Building Platforms

Our review process is simple:

☑️ Narrow down the options to 16 of the most popular website builders
☑️ Open an account with each site builder and actually build a website to see how well it works
☑️ Testing each site’s loading speed

Then, comparing these features and strengths with the price of the website builder, we were able to compile a list of website builders that should suit anyone looking to get started.

Here’s what we found.

1. Hostinger - Best for Simplicity


Pricing:

  • Premium website builder Plan: $2.99/month
  • Business website builder Plan: $3.99/month

PROS

  • Free domain and email
  • 30-day money-back guarantee
  • Round-the-clock customer support
  • Intuitive drag-and-drop interface
  • Reliable uptime
  • Powerful AI tools
  • Built-in logo creator
  • Free SSL certificate
  • Unlimited storage and bandwidth

CONS

  • No free plan available
  • Limited photo editing features
  • No option to switch templates

Hostinger is an affordable website builder with over 150 fully customizable templates and several AI tools, including an AI image generator, AI writer, AI blog generator, AI heat maps, and AI SEO tools. This way, you can experiment with element placement, colour variations, and font choices effortlessly, with no coding or design expertise required.

2. Wix - Best for Beginner Website Builders


Pricing:

  • Light Plan: $17/month
  • Core Plan: $29/month
  • Business Plan: $36/month
  • Business Elite Plan: $159/month

PROS

  • Custom domain
  • 24/7 customer service
  • Over 900 templates
  • 24/7 customer service
  • Smart drag-and-drop tool
  • Free domain for one year
  • Personalized SEO tools
  • Ecommerce support for small businesses

CONS

  • Only 14-day money-back guarantee
  • Unlimited storage only in the most expensive plan
  • More expensive than other competitors

What we love most about Wix is its range of tools and capabilities for users to build whatever they envision. Among these is the intuitive drag-and-drop interface for faster content deployment and the multi-site management feature, custom integrations, dedicated account support, and much more.

Take a look at our Wix comparisons:

3. Pixpa - Best for Photographers and Creators


Pricing:

  • Basic Plan: $3.60/month
  • Creator Plan: $6.75/month
  • Professional Plan: $9/month
  • Advanced Plan: $11.25/month

PROS

  • 24/7 expert support
  • 30-day money-back guarantee
  • Free SSL certificate
  • Integrated SEO tools
  • Specialized tools for artists and photographers
  • Password protection
  • Integrated ecommerce

CONS

  • The free domain for one year is not available with the basic plan
  • Cannot publish during trial period

Since its launch in 2013, Pixpa has been offering some pretty affordable pricing plans, with a 15-day free trial, no credit card required, and features for creatives to boost their web footprint. There are over 180 website templates to choose from and around 100 built-in apps and integrations.

Read our full Pixpa review to learn more.

4. Shopify - Best Online Store Builder


Pricing:

  • Basic Plan: $24/month
  • Shopify Plan: $69/month
  • Advanced Plan: $299/month
  • Plus Plan: Starting at $2,300/month

PROS

  • In-depth analytics
  • AI tools
  • 8,000+ apps
  • 24/7 chat support
  • Localized global selling
  • POS Lite
  • Upgrade or downgrade anytime

CONS

  • Few free templates
  • Expensive plans
  • Short trial period

Shopify is one of the best ecommerce website builders thanks to its superior sales features like multichannel integration and a customizable checkout to boost your online store. Plus, you're free to pick from over 8,000 integrated apps and enjoy a 3-day free trial, no credit card required, regardless of the plan you go for.

Read our full Shopify Review.

5. Squarespace - Best for small businesses


Pricing:

  • Personal Plan: $16/month
  • Business Plan: $23/month
  • Commerce Basic Plan: $28/month
  • Commerce Advanced Plan: $52/month

PROS

  • 14-day trial
  • Fully integrated ecommerce with business plans
  • Drag-and-drop editor
  • AI guidance
  • 160+ templates
  • Unlimited bandwidth
  • Free custom domain
  • 24/7 customer support

CONS

  • Few free templates
  • Expensive plans
  • Short trial period

Squarespace is good for everyone who sets their mind to building a website. But, if we had to link it to a specific group of people, we’d say creatives who want a design-centric site and beginners who will appreciate its intuitive drag-and-drop editor would benefit from it the most.

The only thing about it is that it lacks a free plan; however, you can try it out using its 14-day trial period.

6. Site123 - Best for getting online quickly


Pricing:

  • Free Plan: $0/month
  • Premium Plan: $7.80/month

PROS

  • Free-plan option
  • User-friendly
  • 24/7 customer support
  • Supports multiple currencies and languages
  • Mobile friendly
  • SEO tools

CONS

  • Only 14-day money-back guarantee
  • Limited customization options
  • Few templates available

Site123 is one of the few website builders offering a free plan, and it comes with 250MB of storage and bandwidth. Should you decide to upgrade, you'll be able to benefit from a free domain for your first year and 3GB storage and bandwidth, among many other features.

7. HubSpot - Best for creating a website for free


Pricing:

  • Free Plan: $0/month

PROS

  • Excellent marketing tools
  • Strong security ex: SSL certificates
  • Custom domain support
  • Free plan
  • Seamless HubSpot CRM integration
  • 1,500+ third-party apps
  • 24/7 customer support

CONS

  • No native ecommerce tools
  • Slight learning curve for advanced tools

Use HubSpot’s free drag-and-drop builder to design and customize your business website using any of the customizable, professionally crafted themes. Also, make sure to take advantage of the pre-designed page templates, personalized modules, style settings, and more to get your new website up and running before you know it.

8. SiteGround - Best for already-existing SiteGround customers


Pricing:

  • Free Plan: $0/month

PROS

  • Available for free
  • User-friendly
  • Limited features
  • Excellent uptime
  • Multiple servers
  • High-speed hosting service

CONS

  • Only available to SiteGround customers
  • Fairly new service, thus not reputable enough

Siteground, best known for its web hosting service, saw that many of its customers were using CMS platforms like WordPress, Joomla, and Magento, but they often found them challenging to work with. To address this, they recently started offering an integrated website builder to simplify creating professional websites, with a drag-and-drop editor, mobile-ready themes, and a comprehensive ecommerce solution.
All SiteGround customers can use this feature for free by logging into their account and enabling it from the User Area under the My Accounts > Sitebuilder tab.

9. WebSelf - Best for affordability


Pricing:

  • Free Plan: $0/month
  • Basic Plan: $8.95/month
  • Pro Plan: $13.95/month
  • Ecommerce Plan: $18.45/month

PROS

  • Customizable backgrounds
  • User-friendly
  • Wide selection of templates
  • Free plan available
  • Image library
  • Built-in SEO tools

CONS

  • All plans limited to 2 email accounts per domain
  • Only 14-day money-back guarantee

Webself lets you create a website affordably without worrying about high design and development costs. In fact, it offers a free basic version with up to 5 pages, access to a free image library, modern designs, a blog, and a contact form. However, you can also choose from three other packages with free domains and multilingual support.

BoldGrid - Best value for money


Pricing:

  • WordPress Page Builder Plan: $2.50/month
  • WordPress Website Builder Plan: $5/month
  • WordPress Creator Bundle Plan: $8.25/month

PROS

  • User-friendly drag and drop editor
  • Expansive design tools
  • Video guides and tutorials
  • Responsive design
  • Fair pricing

CONS

  • Limited widget types
  • Some pre-made blocks look outdated

BoldGrid is a straightforward page builder with a visual editor for pages and posts. It's mostly known by freelancers for its WordPress themes and plugins like Total UpKeep and W3 Total Cache, and while it doesn't have features like a WooCommerce builder or mega menu, it does cover the basics.

11. Weebly - Best for start-ups and online stores


Pricing:

  • Free Plan: $0/month
  • Personal Plan: $10/month
  • Professional Plan: $12/month
  • Performance Plan: $26/month

PROS

  • Simple to use
  • Available ecommerce options
  • Budget-friendly plans
  • Access to 300+ apps
  • Hundreds of stylish, free themes
  • Unlimited storage and bandwidth
  • Free SSL security
  • Chat and email support

CONS

  • Phone support only available for the Professional and Performance plans
  • Limited customization options
  • Weak social media integrations

Weebly’s wallet-friendly plans make it super easy to create a website without overspending. In fact, the platform, now part of Square, was created with the goal of giving everyone the necessary tools to grow their business from an idea to a fully launched and expanding venture. Remarkably, their tools streamline marketing, analytics, shipping, taxes, and inventory management for online stores.

Jimdo - Best for freelancer portfolios and landing pages


Pricing:

  • Free Plan (Website): $0/month
  • Start Plan (Website): $11/month
  • Grow Plan (Website): $18/month
  • Unlimited Plan (Website): $45/month
  • Basic (Online Store): $18/month
  • Business (Online Store): $22/month
  • VIP (Online Store): $45/month

PROS

  • Mobile optimized
  • User-friendly
  • No fees on sales; thus you keep 100% of your revenue
  • Free plan available
  • You can effortlessly change templates without losing any content

CONS

  • Limited customization options
  • A few SEO restrictions
  • Slow support
  • The selection of available templates is quite limited.

Jimdo makes building a website super easy and affordable—you can start with a free plan and potentially move to the paid options, which begin at $11 a month. You get to pick from mobile-friendly templates, add multimedia content, and benefit from features like a dedicated mobile editor with no commission on sales.

However, while it's excellent for straightforward sites like portfolios, landing pages, or small online stores, it misses out on advanced features and customization options.

13. Yola - Best for code-free customizations


Pricing:

  • Free: $0/month
  • Bronze: $6.95/month
  • Silver: $16.95/month
  • Gold: $30.95/month

PROS

  • User-friendly interface
  • Diverse templates
  • Intuitive design tools
  • Convenient domain registration
  • Extensive customization
  • Tutorials and webinars
  • Responsive layout
  • Mobile-friendly design

CONS

  • Lacks advanced options
  • Challenging for unique layouts due to its design limitations
  • Higher pricing than competitors for the paid plans
  • Very basic ecommerce features
  • Limited SEO tools

Yola is a user-friendly website builder aimed at small businesses needing a code-free way to create professional sites. It offers reliable hosting with 99.9% uptime, a library of professional templates, and helps you get listed on major search engines like Google and Bing.

Plus, the drag-and-drop interface allows anyone to quickly build a website while adding elements like photos, videos, maps, and forms.

14. Web.com - Best for versatility


Pricing:

  • Website: $4.95/month
  • Website + Marketing: $7.95/month
  • Ecommerce: $13.95/month

PROS

  • Affordable prices
  • Industry-specific templates
  • Support available via email, phone, and 24/7 live chat
  • Easy-to-use
  • Plenty of AI tools
  • Free domain and domain privacy for the first year
  • SSL certificate included

CONS

  • No free plan
  • Limited customization
  • Lacks advanced features

Web.com ranks highly among the best website builders for small businesses. Sure, it misses some advanced features and lacks a free plan, but the three options available are still versatile enough to help you quickly reach your goals. It's USP?

Being a one-stop shop—you'll find everything from expert design services to search engine optimization and an AI domain generator.

A Quick Breakdown of the Top Website Builders in Canada


Here's how leading Canadian website-building services measure up against each other:

Website Builder

Rating (out of 5)

Starting Price

Free Trial

Key Features

Hostinger

4.5

$2.99/month

Yes

AI tools, drag-and-drop, free SSL, unlimited storage, uptime

Wix

4.7

$17/month

Yes

900+ templates, custom domain, SEO tools, ecommerce support

Pixpa

4.2

$3.60/month

Yes

180+ templates, 100+ apps, SSL, SEO tools, ecommerce

Shopify

4.6

$24/month

Yes

8,000+ apps, analytics, AI tools, POS, global selling

Squarespace

4.4

$16/month

Yes

160+ templates, SEO, ecommerce, unlimited bandwidth, custom domain

Site123

4.0

Free

Yes

Free plan, SEO, mobile-friendly, multi-language support

HubSpot

4.3

Free

Yes

Marketing tools, SSL, CRM integration, 1,500+ apps

SiteGround

4.1

Free

No

Hosting, uptime, drag-and-drop, mobile themes, ecommerce

WebSelf

4.0

Free

Yes

Free plan, templates, SEO tools, image library, ecommerce

BoldGrid

4.2

$2.50/month

Yes

Drag-and-drop, design tools, video guides, responsive design

Weebly

4.1

Free

Yes

Ecommerce, 300+ apps, themes, SSL, chat/email support

Jimdo

4.0

Free / $18/month

Yes

Mobile optimized, no fees on sales, SEO, templates, free plan

Yola

3.9

Free

Yes

Drag-and-drop, templates, domain registration, responsive design

Web.com

4.3

$4.95/month

Yes

Templates, AI tools, domain privacy, SSL, 24/7 support

How to Choose the Best Website Builder for You


All the 14 Canadian website-building services we've listed have something special to offer. Picking one comes down to what features you care most about. Here are seven tips to help you out:

  • User-friendly - This may come out as obvious, but go for platforms that, from the get-go, feel easy to use. Stuff like drag-and-drop tools can really make your life easier.
  • Cost and value - Think about your budget and weigh the costs of different plans. But don't look just at the numbers; consider what you're getting for your money, like custom domains and storage. Aim for the best value, not just the lowest price.
  • Design options - Check that the templates available match the style of your brand.
  • Support availability - Choose website builders that have support—live chat, phone, and email—ready for whenever you might need it.
  • Necessary features - Make sure you know what specific features your site needs. Are ecommerce functions important? SEO tools, perhaps? Or are you after easy marketing integrations and mobile optimization?
  • Growth potential - Pick a builder that can grow with your business. It should offer advanced features and higher-tier plans for the future, so you won't have to switch platforms later.
  • Trial and refund policies - Make the most of free trials and money-back guarantees. They let you try out platforms and see if they fit your needs without any financial risk.

Best Website Builder FAQ