Searching for the best website builder for designers?
There are many website builders that even beginners can use. However, professional designers require more advanced customization tools. Fortunately, you don’t have to sacrifice ease-of-use for superior functionality.
To help you find the right solution for you, we took some of the best website builder tools for test drives and looked into their designer-friendly features.
Let’s dive in!
What to look for in the best website builder for designers
Just because you’re a web professional doesn’t mean you have to build your client sites from scratch. In fact, many designers and developers don’t. However, choosing a website builder to use for your business is a bit different than doing so for a DIY project.
Without a doubt, sophisticated customization options are a must. Your website builder shouldn’t restrict your design capabilities, so being able to modify each element should be on top of your requirements.
Apart from that, keep your eyes peeled for the following:
- A drag-and-drop builder: Being able to easily move various elements around the content area will improve your workflow.
- Visual effects: Impress clients with effects such as parallax scrolling or animations to elevate your work.
- A choice of templates: You’ll be able to work much faster if you have high-quality templates to use as your base.
- Integrations: Streamlined integration with third-party apps and/or platforms such as Google Analytics will enhance your final products.
Finally, keep cost in mind as well. You want to be able to keep your fees reasonable while still covering the expense of your website builder.
Five of the best website builders for designers
Now that we’ve covered the essential features, let’s look at five of the best website builders for designers that the market has to offer. Here are the solutions that we’re going to be featuring:
1. Wix
Wix is an all-in-one website builder that’s suited for beginners and professionals alike. It’s a fully hosted solution, which takes one more responsibility off your plate.
Designer-friendly features include:
- Templates: Wix offers over 500 themes that you can fully customize.
- Visual effects: You can inject extra interest in your projects thanks to parallax scrolling, smart transitions, 3D animations, video backgrounds, and more.
- A choice of editors: In case you need to tweak your website manually, you can always switch from the drag-and-drop builder to the standard editor.
- Customizable mobile view: You can make your client sites look their best on mobile devices by switching to the mobile editor.
- Wix App Market: Wix gives you access to free and premium apps, including design elements, to extend its functionality.
- Editor X: This advanced creation platform lets you build complex websites and gives you a wide range of integrated business solutions, such as ecommerce features, SEO tools, and more.
Additionally, this website builder is very easy to use. We encourage you to check out our step-by-step tutorial on how to make a website with Wix to see it in action. You can also view several beautiful designs created with this platform for inspiration.
While Wix is one of the best free website builders and does have a free plan, pros should consider its premium options. The Core Plan retails for $27.00 per month.
2. Webflow
Webflow enables you to build stunning projects at all levels of complexity. Unlike Wix, it has a bit of a steeper learning curve and is more suited for experienced users, especially those already familiar with tools such as Adobe Dreamweaver.
Some top features include:
- Templates. Webflow offers over 200 high-class, responsive themes. You can fully customize all of those templates or start from a blank canvas.
- Advanced editor. Although not as intuitive as other drag-and-drop builders, Webflow provides a superior editing experience with widgets, multiple modules, and other settings. You can also choose between a Designer or Editor mode.
- Dynamic content. Apart from Webflow’s designer tools, you can also integrate lightbox galleries or After Effects to apply impressive dynamic elements to your client sites.
- Advanced animation tools. You can build stunning animations without the need for code, including parallax and other scrolling effects.
- Code customization. You can incorporate custom JavaScript, CSS3, and HTML5 code.
- Advanced ecommerce solutions. Webflow enables you to create a fully-functional store for any business size.
Webflow provides comprehensive documentation, including video tutorials. There is also a designer section that goes in-depth into the platform’s advanced coding capabilities.
You can start building client sites with Webflow for free and upgrade when you’re ready to commit. If you want to take advantage of the platform’s premium features, you should invest in one of its Workspace plans. You can create unlimited sites for just $49.00 per month.
3. Squarespace
Similar to Wix, Squarespace is a popular, fully-hosted website builder. This all-in-one-package makes an attractive choice for beginners and professionals drawn to its simplicity and beautiful designs.
There are many handy features to consider, such as:
- WYSIWYG editor: The platform’s editor provides an intuitive visual creation experience and lets you fully control the design process.
- Templates: Squarespace offers award-winning templates, all of which are customizable and super responsive.
- Integration tools: You can access various add-ons and widgets to extend your website’s functionality, including Google Analytics.
- Advanced customization: Squarespace gives you access to an HTML/CSS editor, advanced style editor, and more.
- Ecommerce: You can use Squarespace to build basic online stores.
Squarespace is beginner-friendly and offers plenty of resources such as webinars, guides, and videos that explain every step. Getting started is as simple as signing up for an account.
You can start with a free trial and upgrade when you’re ready. Unless you require advanced ecommerce functionality, we recommend the Business Plan, which goes for $23.00 per month.
4. Simvoly
Simvoly is a newer player in the drag-and-drop website builder market, but it’s already proving a worthy contender. Aimed at less tech-savvy users, this platform is easy to pick up and suitable for smaller client projects.
Some notable features include:
- Templates. Simvoly offers various templates that you can customize with content blocks.
- Ecommerce. You can create an online store even with the entry-level plan. Simvoly is known for its product funnels, which are excellent for growing businesses.
- Widgets. Although not as advanced as some of the other best website builders for designers, Simvoly lets you expand your website’s functionality with drag-and-drop widgets.
- Integrated analytics. The platform provides integrated analytics tools and essential SEO features.
- White label builder. If you opt for Simvoly’s white label partnership, you can choose from over 500 additional templates or create your own personally branded designs.
Simvoly is user-friendly and offers various how-to videos that take you through the platform’s capabilities. After you sign up, you can start using its drag-and-drop editor pretty much immediately.
Simvoly offers a free trial and enables you to upgrade later if you’re ready to commit. To access its advanced features, you should consider its white label plans, which start at $29.00 per month.
5. DreamHost’s WordPress Website Builder
Our last pick is DreamHost’s WordPress website builder, which is powered by BoldGrid. This solution is much different from the others on this list. However, if you prefer to design in WordPress, it makes sense to use a builder that’s fully integrated with one of the best hosting solutions for the platform.
Key features of this platform include:
- Intuitive creation wizard: DreamHost’s design wizard will guide you through the process of building a WordPress site and even add extra functionality where you need it.
- Templates: You can choose from over 200 starter sites that can be fully customized.
- Advanced customization: DreamHost enables you to build with over 100 design blocks that you can style individually.
- Real-time SEO suggestions: Your sites will gain better visibility thanks to this platform’s in-built SEO tools.
To use Dreamhost’s WordPress website builder, you’ll need to sign up for one of its WordPress hosting plans. There are shared and managed options available.
Once you get a new site up and running, you can launch the website builder, which will walk you through selecting a theme, creating default pages, and adding brand details. You can check out DreamHost’s guides for more information.
Shared hosting plans from DreamHost start at just $2.59 per month. However, we recommend the Shared Unlimited plan for managing multiple projects. It costs $3.95 per month.
Which is the best website builder for designers?
A website builder can become your best friend if you’re a designer who wants to work efficiently.
However, with so many options on the market, choosing one can be overwhelming.
Of the five popular options we compared, we found Webflow offers the most advanced customization options on a granular level. However, all the website builders from our list are great solutions for most professionals, depending on the complexity of their work.
If you can handle setting up WordPress yourself, you also might prefer a WordPress page builder/theme builder. While these website design tools might not quite count as website builders by themselves, they give you all the flexibility that you need to build great-looking websites, with no code required. Three great options to check out are:
You can follow our WordPress setup tutorial to create the base and then install a page builder on top.
Do you have any questions about picking the best website builder for your needs and knowledge level? Ask us in the comments!
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