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Our research identified Wix as the winner of the best website builders, due to its huge array of features and flexible design tools.
But what are the best website builders for Canadian businesses today? With the sheer mass of website builders available, it’s easy to feel lost in the wilderness without a map.
Instead of wasting hours trudging through a forest of confusing marketing materials, why not take a look at our handy guide for direction? Whether you’re running a large enterprise, a consulting business, a charitable organization or another professional service, you need a website that’s robust yet adaptable.
We asked test users their opinions on dozens of web builders’ functionality, features, ease of use, value for money and customer support. Using their responses along with our 15+ years of experience, we gave each web builder a score out of five. We’ve also looked at the best portfolio website builders and the best website builders for SEO.
Though they both scored a near-perfect 4.8/5, Wix came just ahead of Squarespace owing to its improved features score – up 18% compared to the previous research round.
The Best Web Builders, Rated Out of 5:
- Wix (4.8)
- Squarespace (4.8)
- Godaddy (4.2)
- Weebly (3.9)
Here’s a helpful comparison chart so you can compare the best website builders at a glance. For in-depth comparisons, simply keep reading.
| Wix | Squarespace | GoDaddy | Weebly |
 |  |  |  |
| Score 4.7 | Score 4.7 | Score 4.4 | Score 3.6 |
| Best For Best all-rounder | Best For Design-focused businesses | Best For Speedy website launch | Best For Beginners |
| Lowest Price CAD$7.50/month | Lowest Price
| Lowest Price CAD$11.99/month (first year) CAD$14.99/month (afterwards) | Lowest Price CAD$0/month |
| Free Plan | Free Plan | Free Plan | Free Plan |
| Free trial | Free trial | Free trial | Free trial |
| Try Wix | Try Squarespace | Try GoDaddy | Try Weebly |
Wix 4.8/5
Would suit your business if you are not a tech expert
Wix
We found that Wix has the most features to get a decent website up and running no matter your skill level. Although it’s a little pricier than other platforms, there is huge scope for creative design. On top of this, as we covered in our Wix review, the provider has a particularly useful preview function, which allows you to check out your website from a user’s point of view.
For those who are new to website creation, Wix offers the best customer support of any platform. If you run into problems while building, you can reach out to Wix customer support either via the onsite editor, social media, live chat or the knowledge centre. There is also a phone support option, which Squarespace does not currently provide.
Better yet, Wix ADI (artificial design intelligence) can generate a brand new website for you in minutes, after you’ve answered a few questions about the type of site you want.
On the downside, Wix does not allow you to switch templates once you publish your website, which can be quite restrictive.
Pros
- Huge choice of design templates
- Best help and support
- Wix ADI builds a website in minutes
Cons
- Cannot switch templates after publishing
- Adding apps can increase costs
Wix Pricing
Wix has four plans for building websites. Connect Domain is not a full premium plan – instead it simply allows you to add a custom domain name to your website. For Wix’s premium features, you’ll need to sign up to at least the Combo plan at CAD$15per month.
Wix also has a free plan, but it comes with Wix adverts on every page, plus a ‘.wix.com’ subdomain – which can make your site look unprofessional. For that reason, we’d recommend the premium plans for building your business website:
 | | | |
| Price (Paying Monthly) Connect Domain | Price (Paying Monthly) Combo | Price (Paying Monthly) Unlimited | Price (Paying Monthly) VIP |
| Price (Paying Annually)
| Price (Paying Annually)
| Price (Paying Annually)
| Price (Paying Annually)
|
| Key Features
| Key Features
| Key Features
| Key Features
|
| Key Features | Key Features
| Key Features
| Key Features
|
Wix is our top choice for businesses looking to expand customer markets.
If you’re looking to build out your customer base in other countries, Wix is the way forward. A big reason Wix scored higher in our research this time around is the improvements made to blogging and internationalization. Wix translates sites into 100 languages, far more than any other platform we know of. Blogs are a great way to raise brand awareness and Wix supports blog analytics, social sharing and blog-specific SEO.
Be sure to look into our Wix pricing feature so you can compare the plans in detail.
Squarespace 4.8/5
Would suit your business if you want a beautiful website
Squarespace
As the best website builder for design, Squarespace is the closest you’ll get to professional web designer quality. It offers the best templates on the market, and powerful design tools.
Due to this creative complexity, Squarespace is harder to use than Wix. If you struggle with tech or have little interest in spending hours – or days – designing your website, then you should try Wix or Weebly instead.
That said, you’ll end up with a beautiful website if you stick it out with Squarespace. Also, as we mentioned in our Squarespace review, the company has the best design tools to help your website shine online.
Pros
- Best templates
- Powerful design tools
- Mobile app to create on the go
Cons
- Steeper learning curve than Wix
- No auto-save feature
Squarespace Pricing
Squarespace offers a 14-day free trial, and has two website builder plans to choose from. Remember that Expert Market readers can save 10% on Squarespace by using code EM10 at checkout.
 | |
| Price (Paying Monthly) $30/month | Price (Paying Monthly) $45/month |
| Price (Paying Annually) $21/month | Price (Paying Annually) $32/month |
| Key Features
| Key Features
|
Ask the Expert
We sat down with Lucy Carney, deputy editor at Website Builder Expert, who’s been testing and writing about website builders for over six years.
What’s the biggest trend you’re seeing in the website builder space?
“AI is definitely a big trend at the moment! Mostly, we’re seeing this being implemented by builders during the setup process, to take the brunt of the setup work off the user’s plate and give them an already customized starting point to edit and publish. This is something I’m really pleased to see since it breaks down the entry barriers and makes it faster and easier for anyone to get online – but some are much better than others!
“What I’m intrigued to see more of is the AI support once setup is complete – of course, we’re already seeing builders offering AI logo, image, and text generators, but we’re also seeing the development of AI assistants – for example, Shopify Sidekick could be set to change the game for merchants running online stores, acting as an advisor and assistant for Shopify sellers. This is in early access currently so it’ll be interesting to see what impact it has as it rolls out.”
GoDaddy 4.2/5
Would suit your business if you want to get online quickly
GoDaddy
GoDaddy is a solid all-round choice for businesses. It’s user-friendly thanks to its ADI feature, and has recently improved its design functionality by offering sleeker templates and greater customization. It also offers the quickest and most efficient website building experience.
However, as we pointed out in our GoDaddy review, the ADI feature sacrifices originality for time – your store will get built in a few minutes, but it may look generic because these sites are carbon copies of each other.
We were also impressed by GoDaddy’s SEO Wiz, which helps you optimize your website in order to appear higher in the search engine results pages. All in all, GoDaddy is a safe pair of hands.
GoDaddy is the quickest and most efficient route to building a website.
Pros
- Quickest and most efficient way to build a website
- Excellent SEO features to increase your site's visibility on search engines
- Generous free trial period of 30 days
Cons
- Your site risks looking generic due to the ADI function
- Restrictive design interface
| | | | Build a web store |
| Price (Paying Monthly) $16.99/month | Price (Paying Monthly) Standard | Price (Paying Monthly) $26.99/month | Price (Paying Monthly) $29.99/month |
| Price (Paying Annually) CAD$11.99/month (Renews at $14.99/month after first year) | Price (Paying Annually) CAD$15.99/month (Renews at $19.99/month after first year) | Price (Paying Annually) CAD$22.99/month (Renews at $27.99/month after first year) | Price (Paying Annually) CAD$27.99/month (Renews at $39.99/month after first year) |
| Best For Getting started with a website, marketing and payments | Best For A small business website | Best For Taking online appointments and boosting your marketing | Best For A small store |
| Key Features
| Key Features
| Key Features
| Key Features
|
Weebly 3.9/5
Would suit your business if you want value for money
Weebly
Weebly is another popular drag-and-drop website builder, meaning you can place elements wherever you like on each page.
It offers affordable price plans and plenty of apps to help you grow your business, as well as strong SEO features to help your website appear higher up on the search engine results pages, making Weebly great value for money.
That said, Weebly can’t match Wix for creative freedom, and it does not have an ADI option. Its templates are also less impressive than Squarespace’s, but Weebly is still a good option for small business owners who lack technical skill.
Weebly offers superb value for money and can help your business grow online.
Pros
- Really useful SEO guides and tips
- Large app market to help you bolster your site
- Best value for money website builder
Cons
- Lacks the creative freedom found on Wix
- No ADI feature
- No personal restore option (the support team will have to restore your site for you)
Weebly Pricing
Weebly has three website builder plans to choose from. Like Wix, it has a free plan, but it comes with Weebly adverts on each page, which can make your site look amateurish. We recommend signing up to one of these price plans instead:
 | | |
| Price (Paying Monthly) Personal | Price (Paying Monthly) Professional | Price (Paying Monthly) Performance |
| Price (Paying Annually) CAD$7 per month | Price (Paying Annually) CAD$15 per month | Price (Paying Annually) CAD$30 per month |
| Key Features Free SSL security | Key Features Unlimited storage | Key Features Unlimited storage |
The Best Free Website Builder for Canadian Businesses
Wix is the best free website builder because it offers the most features and free apps.
That said, free website builders aren’t the best option for a business that wants to be taken seriously. Our test users felt that free options offered extremely limited functionality, and they disliked the ubiquitous branding. By contrast, paid tools offer the chance to craft your own domain name and present a more professional image.
Price-conscious companies would be best off opting for a cheap premium option – for example, it’s well worth looking out for half price Wix premium offers that periodically crop up. These put the Wix Unlimited plan at CAD$10 per month and Wix VIP at CAD$22per month.
The Best Website Builder for SEO
When it comes to attracting new customers online, SEO is your best friend. Certain web builders have better SEO-specific features than others. If you want your business website to appear higher on SERP (search-engine results pages) it’s best to choose a web builder with this in mind from the outset.
We found the best website builders for SEO are:
- Wix
- Squarespace
- WordPress
Wix offers a full suite of SEO tools, including best practice prompts – which Squarespace and WordPress do not include. Nevertheless, all three are very strong in SEO capabilities, according to our test users. Squarespace is the only one of the three to actually provide keyword support.
The Best Portfolio Website Builders
A digital portfolio is now a must-have for any artist today. In order to showcase your talents to their fullest, it’s critical to select a reliable portfolio website builder. Fortunately for you, we’ve included portfolio-specific analysis in our research.
The best portfolio website builders are:
- Squarespace
- Wix
- GoDaddy
Our researchers graded portfolio builders according to their affordability, ease of use, design and SEO functions. We selected these criteria given their paramount importance to creative professionals who need to showcase their work clearly and carefully.
Squarespace achieved a staggering 97% overall in our tests, mainly thanks to its wide range of design templates and top notch customer support.
Expert verdict
The best website builders are Wix and Squarespace, both scoring an impressive 4.8/5. While they achieved the same points score, Wix is aimed at beginner website builders, whereas Squarespace would suit someone looking to flex their creative skills.
For those looking for an efficient and effective website, Wix is the solid choice. You can get a Wix project up and running within hours! However, if you’re set on creating a stunning web space, Squarespace certainly offers a more advanced creative toolkit.
Remember, if you’re looking to sell products online you’ll need a dedicated ecommerce platform. Our recommended ecommerce provider Shopify’s price plans spread across five tiers so you’re highly likely to find a plan that suits your budget.
How We Test Website Builders
We've tested and researched 16 market-leading website builders, evaluating their functionality, usability, integrations and customer support so we can make the most useful recommendations to Canadian businesses.
Our rigorous testing process means these products have been scored and rated in six main categories of investigation and 33 subcategories. We then gave each category score a ‘relevance weighting' to ensure the product's final score perfectly reflects the needs and requirements of Expert Market readers.
Our main testing categories for website builders are:
- Website features: The capabilities and functionalities offered by a website builder, e.g. blog functionality, SEO capability, marketing capacity, and AI tools.
- Design functionality: The aesthetic appeal and visual layout of a website created using a website builder. It encompasses aspects such as page templates, customisable themes, and content display tools (accordions, tabs, etc.)
- Ease of use: How user-friendly and intuitive a website builder is for people with varying levels of technical expertise.
- Value for money: The balance between the cost of a website builder and the benefits it provides. It considers factors such as pricing plans, subscription models, and available features.
- Reputation: External customer opinion; the feedback and ratings given by customers who have used a particular website builder – the market position and reputation a website builder holds.
- Help and support: The assistance and resources available to users when they encounter issues or need guidance while using a website builder. This can include tutorials, knowledge bases, and email or chat support.
FAQ
It’s a user-friendly program with a design-assisted format and really simple layout. Plus, GoDaddy has recently improved its design functionality by introducing better templates and customization options.
