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The best website builders for small business in the UK.
Nine builders, compared on what it costs to go live, who owns the site afterwards, and how much of the work you are still doing yourself. Our own product is in the table, it is not first, and its catch is listed alongside everyone else's.
| Builder | Best for | Published price | The catch | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Squarespace | Looking good with no design skill | From £13/mo | You still write every word yourself | Strong |
| Avago | Being finished today | Free to build, £34.99/mo to publish | You cannot export the built site | Strong |
| Wix | Control and extensions | From £9/mo | Cannot change template after publishing | Strong |
| Shopify | Selling physical products | From £19/mo | Weak as a brochure site, extra fee on third-party payments | Strong |
| WordPress | Owning the whole stack | Hosting from £5/mo | You maintain it, forever | Fair |
| GoDaddy | Already having a domain there | From £8/mo | Low design ceiling, renewal pricing jumps | Fair |
| IONOS | Absolute lowest headline price | From £1/mo intro | The intro price is not the price | Fair |
| Canva | One-page sites | Free tier available | Not a website platform in any real sense | Limited |
| Google Sites | Internal pages | Free | No real SEO control, no commerce | Avoid for business |
Ranked on published pricing and documented capability. We have not run a timed build test across all nine, so there are no time-to-live figures here.
How we compared them.
Published in full so you can disagree with it properly.
Published pricing
Entry price as each vendor lists it in the UK, plus the renewal figure where it differs. Prices change often, so check before you buy.
Documented capability
Whether a feature exists according to the vendor's own documentation, not according to their marketing page.
The catch column
Every builder has one. Ours is that you cannot export the built site, and it is in the table alongside everyone else's.
No affiliate money
None of these links pay us anything. The ranking would look different if they did, and you would have no way of knowing.
Head to heads.
Six comparisons between builders we do not sell, which is the only reason they are worth reading.
Wix vs Squarespace →
A comparison from someone with no affiliate deal on either. Real pricing, where each one wins, and the thing both of them get wrong for small businesses.
Wix vs WordPress →
One you can use this afternoon, one you will still be configuring next month. Which suits a small business, and what each really costs to run for a year.
Squarespace vs WordPress →
Squarespace looks right out of the box. WordPress does anything, eventually. A comparison for people who want a working site, not a new hobby.
Wix vs Shopify →
Shopify is a shop with a website attached. Wix is a website with a shop attached. Which way round you need, and what each costs once the fees land.
Shopify vs Squarespace →
For a small shop the difference is transaction fees and how much of your day the admin takes. Real 2026 pricing on both, with the fees included.
Wix vs GoDaddy →
Both sell you a domain and a builder in the same checkout. What you actually get for the money, and where the renewal price lands in year two.
And us, against them.
Where we do have a stake, we say so at the top of the page rather than at the bottom.
Avago vs Wix →
The veteran drag-and-drop builder, compared with us feature by feature.
Avago vs GoDaddy Airo →
The registrar's AI builder, bundled with hosting and a domain.
Working out a budget rather than a platform? What a website costs in the UK has the agency, freelancer and DIY numbers side by side.