Website Builder for Designers: 5 Code-Free Tools in 2024
When looking for the best website builder for designers, you don’t have to choose between ease of use and quality. Here are our top five code-free options to get started with.
Squarespace
Wix
Webflow
Simvoly
Bluehost Builder
Whether you’re a beginner or a professional designer, you will need the best website builder for designers. Not all creative professionals build their client sites from scratch or learn how to code today, and you can provide your clients with the best quality work using the top no-code website builders.
Let’s take a closer look at the best website builders for your next design project.
What to Look For In The Best Website Builder for Designers
Choosing the best website builder for designers involves looking out for specific features that will be helpful to your career. You should consider a site builder that does not limit your creative freedom and comes with multiple options for customization. Here are other factors to look out for:
- Drag-and-Drop Functionality: The website builder for designers should feature a drag-and-drop builder so you can move elements around the way you want.
- Wide Range of Templates: With a wide range of templates, you will never create similar-looking projects for clients. You should also look out for high-quality website templates.
- Visual Tools: Extra features like animations, image galleries, or parallax scrolling will give you creative freedom in the design process and can greatly impress clients. Look out for builders that allow you to add visual effects.
- Availability of Integrations: The website builder should be able to integrate with different kinds of third-party apps, third-party themes, and more to improve your design project.
- Cost: It should be affordable, so you don’t pass over an expensive cost to your clients. You need to keep your fees reasonable while easily paying for the builder.
Best Website Builders for Designers
Here are the best website builders for designers with no code required.
- Squarespace: All-in-One Builder With Professional Templates
- Wix: Top Site Builder for Creative Freedom
- Webflow: Advanced No-Code Website Builder for Designers
- Simvoly: Best for Building Small Projects and Landing Pages
- Bluehost Builder: Best Self-Hosted WordPress Websites
1. Squarespace
Best Overall
- Award-winning, professional, and attractive templates.
- Unlimited contributors and e-commerce features from the Business plan.
- Unlimited bandwidth and storage.
- Free custom domain for a year on annual billing.
- Wide range of integrations, including marketing tools.
- Upgrading to the latest version, 7.1, requires you to rebuild your site.
At the top of our list is Squarespace, and I recommend this website builder for designers due to its award-winning templates. With the best templates on our list and full control over your design, you can easily make a wide range of elegant sites for your clients. You can also make professional content for your clients with the Squarespace Video Studio app.
Squarespace is a fully hosted website builder that offers all a beginner or professional designer will need to express their creative freedom and impress clients. The award-winning templates have looks that appeal to photographers, artists, and graphic designers.
You can also use Squarespace to build e-commerce stores for your clients, although it is mostly suitable for stores with small inventory or anyone selling digital products. It is beginner-friendly and comes with different videos, webinars, and guides, so newbies can learn and practice before offering services to clients.
Key Features
WYSIWYG Website Builder
Squarespace offers a visual creation process with a What You See Is What You Get format. This means that you can edit the appearance of your site in real time. Simply click on the element you want and move it to where you want. You don’t have to preview the design; the website templates have a preset structure for mobile-friendliness and ease of use.
Advanced Design Tools
One of the highlights of Squarespace is the Style Editor, which offers more advanced design and preset options. You can tweak elements on the site without having to know CSS code. If you know code, Squarespace features an HTML/CSS editor to take advantage of.
Integrations and Add-Ons
There are so many extensions that you can access when using Squarespace for creating a client site or an online portfolio. These include Shippo, QuickBooks, ShipStation, Printful, FreshBooks, and more. The add-ons cover social media, accounting, marketing, fulfillment, live chat, email marketing, and more.
Website Admin Tools
When building a website for a client on Squarespace, you can invite them to log in and view your progress. Squarespace allows multiple contributors for designers working as a team or when you want the client to check and give feedback.
Pricing
- Mobile-Friendly Websites
- 100+ Templates
- Free Custom Domain
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- 2 Contributors
- Ecommerce Functionality
- Unlimited Products
- 3% Transaction Fees
- Custom Code (CSS & JS)
- Unlimited Contributors
- 0% Transaction Fees
- Point of Sale
- On-site Checkout
- Product Reviews
- Facebook and Instagram Selling
- Abandoned Cart Recovery
- Advanced Shipping
- Advanced Discounts
- Subscription Selling
- Commerce APIs
Read more Squarespace pricing or Squarespace ecommerce examples
Squarespace offers a 14-day free trial and four pricing plans. The Business plan is the ideal choice for designers, except if you need advanced e-commerce functionality for your clients.
- Personal at $16 per month allows for two contributors and Squarespace extensions but has limited website analytics.
- Business at $23 per month offers website and conversion analytics, unlimited contributors, CSS and JavaScript, professional Google email, and promotional banners. It is the best option for designers.
- Commerce Basic at $27 is best if you make online stores for your clients, as it comes with merchandising features and checkout on your custom domain.
- Commerce Advanced at $49 offers shipping and discounting features, the option to sell subscriptions, and everything from Commerce Basic.
Squarespace is an all-in-one builder for designers who want to create an online portfolio website or professional site with advanced tools and no coding knowledge.
2. Wix
Best for Highly Customized Websites
- Different editing tools, including Editor X and Wix Editor.
- Hundreds of app integrations are available.
- Flexible and affordable pricing plans.
- Excellent SEO tools on all plans.
- Easily add visual effects to your website.
- Free domain name.
- Storage limits on all plans, including VIP.
- You can’t switch a site’s template after it is live.
Wix comes with all you need to create attractive websites without coding or design experience, and you don’t need a large budget. I especially recommend Wix for its extensive customization; you can choose between two types of editors. A full selection of features, from great SEO tools to integrations, all at a lower price.
Wix is the next option on our list, with hundreds of design templates you can use to make a blog, online portfolio, or small business website for your clients. The beginner-friendly website builder allows you to connect to over 300 third-party apps, so there’s no limit to the advanced features you can add to your website.
The website builder has many SEO tools, including meta tags, robots.txt files, Google indexing, XML sitemap, bulk 301 redirects, URL structure, and more. You can work on optimizing your client’s website for search engines while designing it.
Key Features
Customizable Website Building
Wix has over 800 themes and templates, all fully customizable. You can also add visual effects to your sites, like smart transitions, video backgrounds, parallax scrolling, and 3D animations. There is an option to preview your site on mobiles and customize it.
Two Main Editors
Designers on Wix can choose between the standard editor and the drag-and-drop builder; the latter is ideal if you want to tweak your site manually. The Wix Editor allows you to start from scratch or use the templates.
Editor X
Editor X by Wix was specially made by designers as it comes with advanced features for design and layout. You can create a complex site, and you don’t need coding. Some features include grid layout, advanced sizing control, flex layout system, stacking and scaling media or text, docking, and more.
Wix App Market
Wix offers an App Market that allows you to add features and functions to your web design for a client. It comes with over 300 apps, including popular business tools, social media tools, live chat, contact forms, and more.
Pricing
- Custom Domain
- 1GB Bandwidth
- 500MB Disk Space
- 24/7 Support
- Free Custom Domain
- No Wix Ads
- 2GB Bandwidth
- 3GB Disk Space
- Unlimited Bandwidth
- 10GB Disk Space
- SEO Booster App
- Visitor Analytics App
- Priority Customer Support
- 35GB Disk Space
- Professional Logo
- Lead-Capture Forms
Read more Wix pricing or beautiful examples of Wix
Wix has a free plan, but designers should consider the Unlimited or VIP Plan. There is a 14-day money-back guarantee.
- Connect Domain at $4.50 includes Wix branding and won’t be suitable for professional sites but will do for your online portfolio.
- Combo at $ 8.50 monthly removes Wix branding. It is suitable for small-scale websites for clients.
- Unlimited at $12.50 per month offers the Site Booster App and Visitor Analytics app for a year, unlimited bandwidth, and 1 video hour. It is still limited but comes with all you need for building a client’s site.
- VIP at $24.50 per month allows you to design professional logos and comes with 5 video hours and priority customer care. It has all a graphic designer will need in the design process and is affordable.
Wix is the best website builder for beginner designers looking for extensive customization options without coding knowledge.
3. Webflow
Best for Advanced Designer Tools
- Affordable pricing plans.
- No coding is needed on advanced designer tools.
- Special freelancer plans for designers.
- Extensive customization.
- Wide range of integrations.
- Steep learning curve.
If you’re looking for a website builder that allows for complex sites and advanced designer tools, Webflow is the ideal choice. Aside from the standard website building plans, Webflow has plans for freelancers and agencies, so you can consider that. Although the learning curve is a bit steep, it is worth learning.
Webflow allows you to build websites for your clients with its advanced designer tools. This top website builder for designers comes with hundreds of responsive themes, or you can start from a blank canvas with the intuitive editor. You can add different dynamic elements and animations without learning how to code.
Although Webflow is difficult to learn, it comes with Webflow University and a selection of tutorials. There are separate tutorials for designers to learn how to use the more advanced features before working with clients. You can also add clients as contributors to the site.
Key Features
Advanced Editing Features
On Webflow, you can choose between the Designer or Editor mode. The Designer mode allows you to design the look and feel of your site and the structure, add custom code, and create interactions without code. The Designer allows you to add multiple teammates or clients to work together in real time.
Dynamic Content for Sites
When using Webflow, you can add animations like scrolling effects, lightbox galleries, and after-effects to your site. You can integrate cool effects into your site without coding.
Add Code
If you know how to code, Webflow supports HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript code. Not only this, but even if you don’t know code, the Webflow Designer outputs web-ready code that you can export, making it easy to build on other platforms.
Workspace Plans
Aside from the standard plans, Webflow has plans under Workspaces. This includes a Freelancer plan for $24 per month per seat. Paying per seat will be costlier than using the standard plans, but you can make up to 10 unhosted sites and get free guest access for 2 of your clients.
Pricing
- 40+ Mobile-Friendly Templates
- 50GB Bandwidth
- Unlimited Storage
- Add Custom Code
- Site with 100 Pages
- 2000 CMS Items*
- 200GB Bandwidth
- On-site Search
- 3 Content Editors
- API Access
- 10000 CMS Items*
- 400GB Bandwidth
- Advanced Security
- 10 Content Editors
- Customer Success Manager
Read more Webflow pricing
Webflow has a free plan that you can use to get the hang of the website builder and an annual discount of 22%. The CMS or Business plans are suitable for designers.
- Basic plan for $14 per month does not support CMS functionality, making it unsuitable for professional sites. It also does not allow other editors.
- CMS plan for $23 per month is ideal for building medium sites, allowing you to add three content editors. There are 2,000 CMS items allowed and 1,000 monthly form submissions. It is great for designers.
- Business plan for $39 per month allows up to 10 content editors and 10,000 CMS items. It also offers 400 GB of bandwidth and 2,500 monthly form submissions. It is the best option for designers.
- Enterprise plan is customizable.
Webflow is the perfect choice for web designers who want to add advanced features without any code required and don’t mind learning to build professional websites.
4. Simvoly
Best for Small Websites
- Easy to use, and you can switch themes after publishing the site, unlike with Wix.
- Includes analytics and SEO.
- E-commerce functionality from the lowest plan.
- Drag and drop editor interface.
- Integrate 1000+ apps through Zapier and other options.
- The designer-friendly plans are expensive.
Although Simvoly is a relatively new website builder, it’s a fantastic choice for designers who want to make smaller client projects. Simvoly allows you to create a white-label website builder, giving you access to over 500 additional templates. It also allows you to create your own website with branded designs for clients.
Simvoly is another top website builder for designers, as it is aimed at users who are not tech-savvy. If you’re a beginner taking on small projects like a landing page and web portfolio site, you can use Simvoly to get started. It is known for its product funnels, allowing you to design client campaigns.
Simvoly is a user-friendly platform, and you can even start building a site before paying and pay after the trial is over. There are different how-to videos that you can watch before you get started, and with the drag-and-drop interface, you can start customizing their templates.
Key Features
White Label Builder
Simvoly offers a white-label partnership allowing graphic designers to create their branded designs. You can create a white-label site builder for others to design their sites and get paid. This way, they won’t know you’re using the Simvoly website builder.
Widgets and Integrations
Simvoly is not as advanced as the other website builders for designers on our list, but it allows you to add widgets and integrations to your site. The site builder has tools to add drag-and-drop widgets and over a thousand integrations.
Ecommerce Site Builder
Unlike most website builders with separate plans for e-commerce, Simvoly allows you to build online stores for clients from the entry-level plan. You can also use sales funnels for customized checkouts and, thus, better conversions.
SEO and Analytics
Simvoly has basic features for search engine optimization, like meta titles and descriptions, SSL protection, and SEO-friendly URLs. You can also integrate other analytics tools for tracking the progress of a site.
Pricing
Simvoly has separate pricing plans for websites and white labels. In the website plans, you can pay annually or monthly and enjoy a 14-day free trial.
- Personal at $12 per month is unsuitable for designers since it only allows for one website and funnel.
- Business at $29 per month is good if you want to make small websites, but it still limits you to one website and five funnels, which is too little for a freelancer.
- Growth at $59 per month offers 20 funnels and 1 website with unlimited pages. It’s a great option for designers and allows unlimited products for e-commerce.
- Pro at $149 per month offers unlimited funnels and pages and 3 websites. It’s the perfect choice for designers as it comes with everything you need. It allows for about 400,000 visitors per month.
Simvoly is ideal for designers who want to build small websites and online stores for their clients, although it is a bit pricey.
5. Bluehost Builder
Best for WordPress Sites
- Beginner-friendly with the drag-and-drop builder.
- Built-in features from WordPress.
- Wide range of plugins.
- Reliable hosting resources.
- Top-notch e-commerce support.
- The template designs are basic.
- No free trial.
Rounding up our list is the Bluehost Builder, which is the best option for anyone who prefers to design in WordPress. If you want all the features from WordPress.org without the technicalities, you can use Bluehost Builder, which has a drag-and-drop interface. Plus, the builder is integrated with a reliable hosting platform for making your WordPress site.
The Bluehost Builder offers designers the best of both worlds. You get all the benefits of WordPress.org but with the ease of a no-code website builder. Not only this, but Bluehost is a top web hosting provider known for its reliable uptime and speed.
Bluehost Builder comes with a setup wizard that helps you get started. You will customize your site with the drag-and-drop editor, which allows you to create professional websites but can limit your creative freedom. Bluehost Builder is especially great for graphic designers creating blogs and small business websites, but it also has a plan for making online stores.
Key Features
Access to the WordPress Dashboard
Since Bluehost Website Builder is built on top of WordPress, you and your client can access the dashboard. You can offer your client a site with a WP dashboard for easy management. The WP dashboard allows you to edit content and install plugins like in WordPress.
E-commerce Support
You can create stores for different clients using the Online Store plan. The highlight is that this plan has unlimited products and a wide range of plugins for product search and filtering, bookings and appointments, gift cards, shipping labels, wishlists, and customer account creation. You can build a full-featured store for your clients.
Wide Range of WP Integrations
A wide range of integrations is available on Bluehost Builder. Since it is integrated with WordPress, you can access lots of add-ons for social media, themes, marketing, SEO, analytics, email, and more.
SEO Features
The Bluehost Builder has basic SEO features, and you can edit the meta title, description, and URL slug. You can add alt text to images and upload posts to social media directly from the site. If your client wants more advanced SEO, you can add a plugin.
Pricing
- Bluehost-Certified Themes for WP
- WordPress-Optimized Hosting
- Drag-and-Drop Page Builder
- Free Domain Name
- Unlimited Websites
- Free Daily Backups for 1st Year
- 40GB SSD Storage
- Yoast SEO Free
- Unlimited Products
- Store Analytics
- 100GB SSD Storage
- Multiple Payment Options
Read more Bluehost pricing or Bluehost review
Bluehost Builder offers discounts of up to 73%, although it auto-renews regularly, and it offers a free domain. All the plans are great for graphic designers except the Basic plan.
- Basic at $10.99 per month allows you to make only one website, which is unsuitable for designers.
- Choice Plus at $19.99 per month offers unlimited websites, daily website backup, custom domain privacy, and malware scanning. It’s an affordable choice for designers but offers only a 40GB SSD.
- Online Store at $24.95 per month is ideal for designers who want to make online stores for clients. It comes with eCommerce tools and plugins, store analytics, and exclusive store themes.
- Pro at $28.99 per month comes with all the features in Choice Plus and adds optimized CPU resources and a free dedicated IP. It also has a 100 GB SSD and is ideal for designers that can afford it.
Bluehost Builder is the best choice for starting designers that want all the functionality of WordPress.org but on an affordable drag-and-drop builder and a reliable web host.
What is The Best Builder for Designers?
You will need the best website builders in the market to work efficiently as a graphic or web designer. While there are many options in the market, we’ve narrowed the list to the top five. When compiling our review of the website builders for designers, we considered their design features, ease of use, integrations, and affordability.
Here are the top five options:
Squarespace
Wix
Webflow
Simvoly
Bluehost Builder
You can check out these resources as you begin your journey in web design:
- How to Create a Website in 10 Steps
- How to Design a Website in 2023
- Wix vs. Squarespace
- Best Squarespace Websites
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Martin Luenendonk
Martin loves entrepreneurship and has helped dozens of entrepreneurs by validating the business idea, finding scalable customer acquisition channels, and building a data-driven organization. During his time working in investment banking, tech startups, and industry-leading companies he gained extensive knowledge in using different software tools to optimize business processes.
This insights and his love for researching SaaS products enables him to provide in-depth, fact-based software reviews to enable software buyers make better decisions.