Cheapest Website Builders: Get Online for Under $15

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Hunting for a bargain? Don’t want to break the bank to get online? You’ll want to choose a cheap website builder, but this doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice quality for price. Hostinger is our top choice, offering its website builder for just $2.99 per month.

The Cheapest Website Builders of 2024

  1. Hostinger $2.99 per month introductory deal
  2. Shopify $5 Shopify Starter plan, $1 for first month
  3. Pixpa $8 per month
  4. GoDaddy $10.99 per month
  5. Squarespace $14.40 per month with our code “WBE10”

A lot of these lower prices are introductory deals, so make a note of renewal fees before subscribing to a plan to make sure you’re not caught off guard by the bill.

1. Hostinger: $2.99 per month

Hostinger’s website builder plans range from $2.99 to $3.99 per month (for a 48-month term). To unlock Hostinger’s full suite of AI tools and ecommerce features, you’ll need the new $3.99 Business Website Builder plan.

However, the majority of core website features, such as a free domain name and marketing integrations, come with the cheaper plan.

Pricing for Hostinger's cheapest website builder plan, showing different terms and prices
Hostinger's pricing differs depending on the length of the subscription, from one month to 48 months. Source: Website Builder Expert

Is Hostinger Good Value for Money?

Hostinger performed well in our value for money research. Still, it’s not as cost-effective as GoDaddy or Squarespace which offer a better quantity and quality of features for their price points. Hostinger is let down by its tunnel vision on AI tools, such as its AI Heatmap to help you track user engagement and AI Blog Generator to support content creation. These are incredibly useful, especially for beginners, but it means other fundamental features, such as email marketing, have been neglected.

Additionally, Hostinger’s cheap introductory deals don’t last forever. The initial $2.99 per month on the Premium plan jumps up to $7.99 per month when it’s time to renew. Signing up for a 48-month contract is a big commitment, but Hostinger’s 12-month pricing is still considerably cheaper than other builders, costing just $3.19 per month (billed annually). GoDaddy’s cheapest plan is more than double the price of Hostinger!

Hostinger doesn’t offer a free plan, but there is a 30-day money-back guarantee and you can get your first three months for free. Plus, you can test the AI website builder for yourself with Hostinger’s 30-day free trial.

Hostinger is a fantastic option if you’re looking to build a website on a budget! Its plans are so affordable compared to other builders, but don’t compromise on great features and Hostinger will give you the freedom to create a great-looking website.

Headshot of Ollie Simpson
Ollie Simpson Research Executive

Who Do We Recommend Hostinger For?

  • Website building beginners – Not only is Hostinger very affordable, but its drag-and-drop editor and AI tools make it easy to set up a website

Read our Hostinger Website Builder Review to find out more.

2. Shopify: $5 Shopify Starter plan

Shopify’s pricing ranges from $29 to $299 per month (billed annually). Now, these might seem expensive, especially when compared to cheaper options like Hostinger, but you don’t have to spend this immediately. Luckily, the $5 per month Shopify Starter plan exists!

If you’re simply interested in selling via social media platforms – and don’t need to build an entire online store – then the $5 per month Shopify Starter plan is an affordable entry point to our top-rated ecommerce website builder. The Shopify Starter plan offers:

  • Social selling on platforms like Instagram and WhatsApp through product links
  • A Linkpop page to drive customers to products
  • Basic inventory management tools
  • Analytics to monitor selling
  • Customer support from Shopify

When you’re ready, you can upgrade to one of Shopify’s fully-fledged commerce plans – you’ll need this if you want advanced selling features like abandoned cart recovery and greater customization options to showcase your brand. While the plans start from $29 per month, you can get your first month for just $1.

Shopify Starter plan homepage
Shopify Starter is great for selling across social media, but you'll need to upgrade if you want to build an online store. Source: Website Builder Expert

Is Shopify Good Value for Money?

Shopify doesn’t perform well in our value for money testing – it’s the weakest option out of the five builders mentioned in this list due to its expensive prices and the fact that not everyone needs its suite of ecommerce features. If your business requires ecommerce functionality, Shopify is a top website builder and worth the cost, but there’s no need to splurge on a Shopify plan if you’re not looking to build an online store.

Given the high costs, Shopify does give you access to powerful ecommerce features from its cheapest plan. The same can’t be said for other website builders, like GoDaddy or Squarespace.

Who Do We Recommend Shopify For?

  • Ecommerce businesses and entrepreneurs – Shopify’s focus on selling products, a functionality available across all Shopify plans, makes it the ideal website builder for setting up an online store

Read our Shopify Review to find out more.

3. Pixpa: $8 per month

Pixpa’s plans range from $8 to $25 per month. But, if you’re happy to commit to a two-year subscription, you can get Pixpa’s cheapest plan for just $3 per month!

The cheapest plan, Basic, offers the following features:

  • 10 website pages
  • Up to 200 images
  • Password-protected pages
  • A free SSL certificate
  • SEO tools
  • Social media integration
  • Ecommerce functionality

We’re impressed that you can sell online with Pixpa’s cheapest plan, especially since this costs less than $10. For example, with GoDaddy, ecommerce tools will set you back $20.99 per month.

Pixpa's website builder pricing showing 4 plans
We could get a cheaper deal if we chose to commit to Pixpa for two years. Source: Website Builder Expert

Is Pixpa Good Value for Money?

Pixpa’s Basic plan does offer a lot of the standard features you’d expect from a website builder, such as SEO, which is good considering the low price point. But you’ll need to upgrade to at least the Creator plan ($15/mo) for unlimited website pages and images, blogging functionality, a free domain name, advanced SEO like 301 redirects, and additional selling tools, such as coupons. For advanced features like abandoned cart recovery, you’ll have to sign up for the Advanced plan, which costs $25 per month (billed annually).

To get the most out of your money, we recommend choosing the Professional plan since this unlocks almost every feature – this will cost you just $10 per month (billed annually) since you can get 50% off with a yearly subscription.

Who Do We Recommend Pixpa For?

  • Creative websites – Pixpa offers a lot of visual and design-focused elements when building a website, making it a decent option for portfolios and artist websites

4. GoDaddy: $10.99 per month

GoDaddy offers three plans, ranging from $10.99 to $20.99 per month (billed annually). Not only is GoDaddy incredibly cheap for a website builder, but it’s also one of the best options if you’re looking to get online quickly – we got our test website up and running in less than 30 seconds.

GoDaddy’s cheapest plan, Basic, includes:

  • Free SSL certificates
  • Website analytics to track performance
  • GoDaddy Payments integration
  • Marketing tools, such as business listing management and email automation

You’ll need to upgrade to the $14.99 per month Premium plan to offer appointments online or choose the $20.99 per month Commerce plan to start selling online. But, if you’d like to test things out before spending a cent, you can try out GoDaddy’s editor and features with its free plan.

However, GoDaddy’s free plan is a little limited. It includes basic features, such as email marketing and website security, but your website will have a GoDaddy banner ad at the top of the page.

GoDaddy free test website for a pottery business, showing the GoDaddy free ad banner
Our free test website featured a GoDaddy banner, so you'll need to upgrade to a premium plan to remove ads. Source: Website Builder Expert

Is GoDaddy Good Value for Money?

GoDaddy’s plans are very affordable, sitting just behind Squarespace in our value for money research. You get a decent amount of features for the price point, and its ecommerce plan is a cheaper alternative to builders like Wix or Squarespace. Plus, GoDaddy offers a free plan which you can stay on for as long as you’d like. However, we’d recommend upgrading to remove ads and unlock additional features, such as ecommerce.

Who Do We Recommend GoDaddy For?

  • Individuals looking to get online quickly – GoDaddy’s fast onboarding process and beginner-friendly editor mean you can get a website up and running within a day
  • Informational websites – GoDaddy doesn’t have much flair or pizzazz but its straightforward templates and simple designs make it a good option for content-heavy sites

Read our GoDaddy Review to find out more.

5. Squarespace: $14.40 per month with our code “WBE10”

Squarespace is one of the more expensive website builders on this list, but you get a lot of bang for your buck. Squarespace’s four plans range from $16 per month to $49 per month (billed annually) – you can get the cheapest plan for just $14.40 if you use our code “WBE10” at checkout.

Squarespace’s cheapest plan, Personal, includes:

  • Free custom domain
  • Unlimited bandwidth
  • SEO features
  • Free SSL security
  • Email marketing tools

This is a good starting point, but you’ll need to upgrade to the Business, Commerce Basic, or Commerce Advanced plans to sell products or services online.

Squarespace pricing plans
Squarespace's cheapest plan costs $16 per month, but you can get a cheaper deal with our code "WBE10". Source: Website Builder Expert

Is Squarespace Good Value for Money?

If you’re looking for a cheap website builder, Squarespace is the best value for money. On paper, this might seem surprising considering its cheapest plan is more expensive than Hostinger or Pixpa. But you get a lot for your money with Squarespace – the majority of features, besides ecommerce, are available on the cheapest Personal plan.

Plus, Squarespace’s pricing doesn’t leap up when upgrading. Its most expensive plan costs less than $50, whereas Shopify’s top plan costs $299 per month (billed annually).

Who Do We Recommend Squarespace For?

  • Beginner builders – Squarespace is the easiest website builder to use, offering stylish templates and an intuitive editor to help you create a beautiful website
  • Design-focused websites – Squarespace is well known for its stunning templates, so we highly recommend the builder for creatives, especially for artist websites and musician websites
  • Businesses offering services – If you need to offer appointments or take bookings, Squarespace’s Acuity Scheduling tool makes this a smooth experience for both customers and business owners

Read our Squarespace Review to find out more.

How To Choose a Cheap Website Builder

Thinking about building a website? A cheap website builder is a great place to start since you won’t break the bank as you figure things out.

You’ll want to take a look at the website builder’s pricing and plans. Is there an affordable option that suits your needs? Is there a free trial or plan to test things out first? We also recommend checking out the website builder’s scalability – is there a steep price increase between plans or can you upgrade steadily?

We also recommend thinking about your website’s “must-haves”. For example, if you want to create an online store, you’ll need a plan that lets you accept payments. Thinking about writing content? Then your plan should include blogging tools. Shop around to find the right fit for your needs, or consider upgrading to a higher plan if you need access to certain features.

You’ll also want to assess which website builder suits your style of learning and skill level. Is the website builder easy to use? Are there templates that you like? Can you design the website you want to create with the builder’s editor? Is there support available if you need a helping hand?

These are all important areas to consider when choosing a website builder, cheap or not.

You can see how these five cheap website builders compare to one another when it comes to value for money and the website features they offer:

Quadrant chart for value for money vs website features, showing five website builders toward the top right
Our in-house research team examined the value for money of each website builder and the quality and quantity of website features available. Source: Website Builder Expert

Should You Choose a Free Plan?

Of the five builders in this list, GoDaddy offers a free plan. A free plan will save you more money than a cheap plan, but you’ll miss out on a lot of features. Depending on the website builder, this could mean no ecommerce tools or SEO features. Usually, free plans come with ads that take attention away from the content on your site, and you won’t be able to connect a custom domain name until you upgrade.

For a more professional look and better backend management, we recommend opting for a paid plan as soon as possible. But you can take a look at our list of the best free website builders to see what’s out there.

How We Test Cheap Website Builders

We put every website builder through our rigorous testing process to create our data-backed recommendations. We want you, our readers, to have all of the information you need to make an informed decision when it comes to deciding what website builder to pick.

Our research is broken down into seven categories: website features, sales features, design functionality, help and support, user experience, customer score, and value for money.

To determine our list of the cheapest website builders, we’ve assessed the average pricing plans for each builder and reviewed the cheapest introductory deals on the market.

Cheapest Website Builders: Summary

Are you looking for an affordable way to get online? Or maybe you think you’re paying too much with your current website builder and want to find a cheaper alternative? We’ve shared the cheapest introductory deals across five top website builders to help preserve your budget.

Hostinger is the cheapest website builder out there, starting from $2.99 per month with its Premium Website Builder plan. And, it’s very affordable $3.99 Business plan includes a suite of AI features and ecommerce functionality – because of its easy-to-use platform, we highly recommend Hostinger for beginners.

Just remember, keep an eye out for renewal prices and upgrade costs. The cheapest plan might only offer some of what your website or business needs, but it can be a great place to start!

FAQs

Hostinger, our top recommendation if you’re looking for a cheap website builder, includes a free custom domain name in its $2.99 per month plan.
Wix is our top-rated website builder and the best free option on the market. You can stay on its free plan for as long as you’d like, but your website will feature Wix ads and an assigned Wix domain name. You’ll need to upgrade to one of Wix’s premium plans, starting from $16 per month (billed annually), to remove ads, add a custom domain, and unlock additional features, such as ecommerce tools.
Written by:
emma ryan author bio
Emma’s been a Senior Writer at Website Builder Expert since 2022, having first-hand experience with website builders, such as Wix and Shopify, through hands-on testing and research analysis. Her work and expertise have been featured in Digiday, TechRound, Industry Today, and Digital Information World. Specializing in writing about website builders, ecommerce platforms, and hosting providers, Emma stays in the loop of industry updates by attending conferences such as eCommerce Expo and managing Website Builder Expert’s news articles.
Researched by:
natasha_willett
I love to understand human behavior and the cognitive biases that drive us to do what we do. For over nine years I have worked as a mixed method researcher – research using a mix of numerical data and personal experiences – across a range of sectors, from insurance and policy development to finally arriving at Website Builder Expert five years ago. Fascinated by consumer decision-making, I meticulously built our leading ranking methodology to explore where providers like Wix sit within a competitive industry and what value they truly bring to our audience.
As a member of the Market Research Society, I’m an advocate for high ethical, commercial, and methodological best practices. All of this combines to give you the most ethical recommendations based on real data.

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