The realistic spend on a small-business website lands in one of four bands. A free plan at $0 with a branded subdomain and platform ads. A budget plan at $5 to $15 a month that adds a custom domain and removes the ads. A working SMB plan at $20 to $40 that adds e-commerce and proper templates. A specialized plan at $50 and up that buys volume or vertical features. The right builder is the one that fits the band the owner realistically plans to stay in. The 8 builders below are matched to those tiers.
GreenGeeks Website Builder
GreenGeeks bundles its AI builder with every shared hosting plan at no separate fee. The price the buyer sees is the hosting price, and the builder rides along for free. The Lite plan is $2.95 a month introductory and $13.95 on renewal, sized for one website with 25 GB of storage, a free domain for year one, free SSL, and a free CDN.
Plans and price band
Pro is $4.95 introductory and $18.95 on renewal, with unlimited websites, 50 GB of storage, on-demand backups, priority 24/7 support, and the WordPress repair tool. Premium is $8.95 and $30.95 with 100 GB, a free dedicated IP, free AlphaSSL (a $99 standalone value), and Redis object caching. Bundled-with-hosting puts every plan into the under-$15 working band.
Where it pays off
The AI builder generates a complete WordPress site in roughly 60 seconds from a short business prompt. Because the output is real WordPress, the owner gets the full 58,000-plugin library at the same price, full SEO control, and clean export rights. The 300% wind-energy match through Bonneville is a secondary line for buyers who track it.
Hostinger Website Builder
Hostinger sells the builder as a standalone product with two paid plans, Premium and Business. Premium is $2.99 a month introductory and $10.99 on renewal. Business is $3.99 introductory and $16.99 on renewal regardless of term length. A 14-day free trial is available with no credit card required.
Plans and price band
The price band is the deep-discount intro for the first term and the $10 to $17 working band on renewal. The AI builder generates a working site in roughly 20 seconds from a prompt. The product line includes AI Writer, AI Image Generator, AI Blog Generator, and an AI SEO Assistant. Business adds e-commerce with 0% platform transaction fees, capped at 500 products per site.
Where it pays off
Solopreneurs on a tight budget who want the cheapest 12 to 48 month upfront commit get the most value here. The platform is closed, and exporting content to WordPress is partial, with most of the site not transferring cleanly. G2 rates the builder 4.4/5 across more than 600 reviews.
Bluehost AI Website Builder (WonderSuite)
WonderSuite is bundled with Bluehost hosting on a model similar to GreenGeeks. Basic is $3.95 a month introductory and around $9.99 on renewal, with 10 websites and 10 GB of SSD. Choice Plus stays $3.95 introductory and adds 50 websites, 50 GB of SSD, daily backups, and Yoast SEO.
Plans and price band
eCommerce Essentials is $6.95 introductory with 100 websites, 100 GB of NVMe storage, and WooCommerce. The renewal jump on Basic from $3.95 to $9.99 is a 150% increase, which is the line worth pricing into a two-year cost-of-ownership view. The renewal multiplier is the friction.
Where it pays off
WonderBlocks is the prebuilt-section library, and the AI flow guides setup through a chatbot conversation. Output is a real WordPress site, so the buyer keeps the same plugin library and export rights as a standard install. The best fit is a business that wants WordPress with hand-holding and does not mind a closed AI layer on top.
Wix
Wix is the only major builder with a permanent free plan. The free tier provides 500 MB of storage, 1 GB of bandwidth, a Wix subdomain, and Wix ads on every page. No custom domain, no e-commerce.
Plans and price band
Paid plans on annual billing run Light at $17 a month, Core at $29, Business at $36, and Business Elite at $159. All paid plans include unlimited bandwidth and remove the Wix branding. Wix charges 0% platform fees on paid e-commerce. Payment processing is standard 2.9% + 30 cents.
Where it pays off
The template library is the deepest in the category at 2,700+ designer templates, with an AI builder and the Wix Harmony layout engine available on the free tier. The best fit is the owner who wants to start free, build something serviceable, and grow into the paid plan when the custom domain and ad removal become the priority.
Squarespace
Squarespace has no permanent free plan, only a 14-day trial. Personal is $16 a month annual with a 2% platform transaction fee plus standard payment processing. Core at $23 removes the 2% fee and adds advanced analytics, full e-commerce, and professional Google email.
Plans and price band
Plus is $39 with reduced 2.7% + 30 cents processing. Advanced is $99 with 2.5% + 30 cents, abandoned cart recovery, and advanced shipping. Core at $23 is the SMB sweet spot because the 2% Personal-plan fee adds up fast on any business that takes real payments.
Where it pays off
The Fluid Engine editor is a 24-column grid drag-and-drop layout, paired with a smaller template library of roughly 140 to 200 minimalist designer templates. The mobile editor is built in. The best fit is the design-forward small business in services, creatives, restaurants, and any brand that needs the site to look right out of the box.
Shopify
Shopify is e-commerce-first and prices on transaction volume rather than feature count. Starter is $5 a month, with social and messaging commerce and hosted product pages but no full storefront. Basic is $39 with a real online store and a 2.9% + 30 cents Shopify Payments rate.
Plans and price band
Grow runs $105 a month, formerly the Shopify plan tier. Advanced is $399 and Plus starts at roughly $2,300 monthly. Annual billing saves about 25% on Basic through Advanced, and the 5% + 30 cents online card rate on Starter is the highest in the line.
Where it pays off
The theme library is around 100 themes, free and paid, all tightly e-commerce focused. The Shopify App Store carries more than 12,000 apps. Reddit consensus on the $5 Starter plan is that it works for testing product ideas and low-volume pop-up selling but does not function as a serious brand-build platform. The real storefront starts at $39.
Webflow
Webflow’s Starter plan is free with a webflow.io subdomain, 2 pages, 50 CMS items, and 1 GB of bandwidth. Basic is $15 a month annual ($25 monthly) with a custom domain, 300 static pages, 10 GB of bandwidth, Webflow AI, and no CMS.
Plans and price band
Premium is $25 a month annual ($39 monthly) with 20,000 CMS items, 40 collections, and AEO tools. The May 2026 plan update merged the old CMS and Business plans into a single Premium tier, expanded CMS limits, and added AI credits across Workspace plans.
Where it pays off
The SEO controls are the deepest in the category for SMBs. The panel covers full meta title and description, Open Graph, canonical URL, 301 redirect control, AI-powered schema generation, and a built-in audit. The best fit is the SMB whose site is a content engine rather than a brochure, the agency, content brand, or marketing-heavy services business.
Weebly (by Square)
Weebly’s free plan provides 500 MB of storage, basic e-commerce, a Weebly subdomain, a Weebly ad in the footer, and free SSL. The paid line is short. Personal is $10 a month annual with a custom domain and downloadable products. Professional is $12 a month with the Weebly ad removed and a free domain for year one.
Plans and price band
Performance is $26 a month and removes the 3% Weebly platform transaction fee, which is charged on every sale on the Free, Personal, and Professional plans on top of standard 2.9% + 30 cents payment processing. The math favors Performance for any store doing more than roughly $1,000 a month in sales.
Where it pays off
The Square ecosystem is the trade. Payment processing routes through Square, and the inventory and POS pieces integrate cleanly for businesses that already use Square in-person. The best fit is the small retailer or food business that wants a stable, low-maintenance builder and already takes payments through Square.
Matching builder to budget
The four bands map cleanly onto the picks. At $0 the realistic options are Wix free, Weebly free, and WordPress.com free, each with ads, a branded subdomain, and storage caps under 500 MB. At $5 to $15 the cheap legitimate band is GreenGeeks Lite, Hostinger Premium, WordPress.com Personal at $9, and Weebly Personal at $10. At $20 to $40 the working SMB band is Squarespace Core, Webflow Premium, Shopify Basic, and Wix Core. Above $50 the specialized band covers Squarespace Advanced, Wix Business Elite, Shopify Grow and Advanced, and WordPress.com Commerce.
The two universal upgrade triggers from a free plan are needing a custom domain to look professional and needing to accept payments without a platform ad in the footer. Both arrive at most small businesses within the first three months of running a site that gets shared with real customers.
Picking a website builder by budget: Reader questions
Is there really a free website builder for small business?
Yes. Wix, Weebly, WordPress.com, Webflow, Jimdo, and SITE123 all offer permanent free plans. Every one of them places ads on the site, uses a branded subdomain, and caps storage and bandwidth. A free plan is fine for testing a concept and not fine for a customer-facing brand.
What is the cheapest website builder for a small business in 2026?
Hostinger Website Builder Premium starts at $2.99 a month on a 48-month term, GreenGeeks bundles its AI builder with hosting at $2.95 a month Lite, and Bluehost starts at $3.95 a month. All three renew at $10 to $14 a month, so the second-term cost is the line worth pricing.
Is Squarespace worth $23 a month?
For SMBs that sell products or services online, Core at $23 removes the 2% platform transaction fee that applies on the $16 Personal plan, so the math usually favors Core once you take real payments. The 2% fee adds up fast on any store doing meaningful revenue.
What is the best website builder under $10 a month?
GreenGeeks Lite at $2.95 introductory and Hostinger Premium at $2.99 introductory are the cheapest under $10. WordPress.com Personal at $9 a month and Weebly Personal at $10 a month are the budget-tier non-hosting options.
Does Wix really have a free plan?
Yes. Wix offers a permanent free plan with 500 MB of storage and 1 GB of bandwidth. The site shows Wix ads, gives the owner a yourname.wixsite.com subdomain, and blocks custom domains and e-commerce. The free plan works for hobby sites and not for paid customer traffic.
How much does Squarespace cost in 2026?
Squarespace plans run from $16 a month for Personal to $99 for Advanced, with Core at $23 and Plus at $39. All prices assume annual billing, with monthly billing roughly 30% higher.
Does Shopify have a free plan?
Shopify offers no permanent free plan. The company ended its free trial at the standard three-day point, and the cheapest paid tier is Shopify Starter at $5 a month. Starter gives the owner a hosted product page and social-commerce tools, not a full storefront.
What is the difference between Wix free and paid plans?
Wix free has 500 MB of storage, 1 GB of bandwidth, Wix ads, and a wixsite.com subdomain. The cheapest paid plan, Light at $17 a month, removes the ads, adds a custom domain, and gives unlimited bandwidth.
Can you sell on a free website builder?
Yes, but with limits. Weebly free supports basic e-commerce and charges a 3% platform fee plus payment processing. Wix free does not allow accepting payments at all.
Is Hostinger Website Builder good for small business?
Hostinger Website Builder fits solopreneurs and new businesses on a tight budget, with AI tools and 0% transaction fees on the Business plan. The platform caps the catalog at 500 products and uses a closed format that does not fully export to WordPress.
Should a small business use Wix or Squarespace?
Wix is cheaper, has a free plan, and offers 2,700+ templates with more design freedom. Squarespace costs more but has tighter design defaults and removes transaction fees on the Core $23 plan. Pick Wix for flexibility and price, Squarespace for design ceiling.
What transaction fees do website builders charge?
Wix and Shopify charge 0% platform fees on their paid e-commerce plans. Squarespace Personal charges 2%. Weebly Free, Personal, and Professional charge 3%. All are layered on top of standard 2.9% + 30 cents payment processing.
