The Best Web Design Tool For Mac
Best Kitchen Design Software 2019 - Reviews for Mac and PC
- The Best Web Design School
- The Best Website Builder Software For Mac
- The Best Web Design Software For Mac
After more than 240 hours of testing the best kitchen design software, Virtual Architect Ultimate was our top pick. This is due to its easy usability, exhaustive object library and full array of designing tools. It allows you to drag and drop decor wherever you want in your design in both 2D and 3D modes. Unlike other programs we reviewed, this program’s floating objects feature worked flawlessly. It also has a very useful materials list and cost estimation tool that lets you know exactly what it will take to bring your design into the real world.
With Sketch Cloud you can share static or interactive prototypes with clients and colleagues, and get feedback, fast. Collaborate without confusion Whether you’re building a design system or working with the company style guide, Libraries let you create, update and share a single source of truth for all your design components. Home / Mac / Best free WYSIWYG HTML editors for Mac OS X. Best free WYSIWYG HTML editors for Mac OS X. Because it allows you to work directly on the website’s design as it will be displayed on the screen. Html or CSS knowledge or if you want an editor that allows you to create web pages quickly.Here are the best WYSIWYG web editors for.

Justinmind (Mac & WIn)| ($228/year). Justinmind is a flexible prototyping tool for web and mobile app prototypes and high-fidelity website wireframes. The rich gestures in Justinmind allow designers to better build gesture interaction mobile apps. WebFlow is a free web design software for Mac users who want to design but, want nothing to do with coding. It is online software. It is online software. It is a static site builder and is not tied with any content management system. This popular web design program for the Mac may not enjoy quite the extensive 3rd-party plug-in and theme support RapidWeaver does, but it is a very, very good Apple compatible web authoring program, with very slick and appealing themes and templates bundled in.
Best OverallVirtual Architect Ultimate Home Design
This program bested the rest because it’s very easy to learn and use, has a comprehensive object library, and offers useful tools such as a cost estimator and several furniture designs.
Best ValueTurboFloorPlan Instant Architect
This application costs about $60 less than our top pick. Nevertheless, it has almost every tool we look for. It takes a while to learn, but it’s worth your time.
Most CompatibleHome Designer Interiors
If you use the Sketchup or Trimble 3D Warehouse databases to design your kitchen, this is the program you want. It’s the only one we reviewed that can utilize both.
Product | Price | Overall Rating | Room Design | Planning & Construction | Help & Support | Standout Feature | Ease of Use | Object Library | Import Third-Party Objects | Drag & Drop | Moldings | Window Coverings | Window & Door Designer | Cabinet Designer | Fireplace Designer | Furniture | Textures | Color Blender | Import Photos | Sample Plans | Import Floor Plans | Trace Floor Plan | Curved Walls | Stair Generator | Material List | Cost Estimator | Metric Measurements | DXF or DWG Export Format | Telephone Support | Video Tutorials | Community Forums | FAQs | Live Chat | Windows 10 | Windows 8 | Windows 7 | Mac OS X |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Virtual Architect Ultimate Home Design 7.0 | View Deal | 5/5 | 10 | 9.8 | 9.5 | Over 7500 Objects | A+ | >7500 + | SketchUp | A | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | B+ | 11 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | $ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - |
Home Designer Interiors 2017 | View Deal | 5/5 | 9.4 | 10 | 10 | Trace Floor Plans | B- | >6500 + | SketchUp, Trimble 3D Warehouse | B | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | A+ | 30 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Punch Home & Landscape Design Premium v19 | View Deal | 5/5 | 9.5 | 10 | 8 | Compatible with CAD | B | >4700 + | SketchUp | B+ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | B | 45 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - |
TurboFloorPlan Home and Landscape Pro 2017 | View Deal | 5/5 | 9.8 | 10 | 6 | Automatic Cost Estimates | B+ | >4700 + | SketchUp | B | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | B | 45 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - |
TurboFloorPlan Instant Architect 2017 | View Deal | 4.5/5 | 9.5 | 9 | 6 | Compatible with SketchUp | B | >4700 + | SketchUp | B- | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | B | 45 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - |
Punch Home & Landscape Design Essentials v19 | View Deal | 4/5 | 9 | 7.8 | 8 | In Program Video Tutorials | C- | >4700 + | SketchUp | B- | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | B | 45 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Punch Interior Design Suite v19 | View Deal | 4/5 | 9.5 | 5.8 | 8 | Quick Start Wizard | B | >4700 + | SketchUp | B- | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | B | 45 | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Total 3D Home Design Premium v12 | View Deal | 4/5 | 7.5 | 8 | 6 | Name Brand Objects | C+ | >4600 + | Not Supported | C | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | C | 1015 | ✓ | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | - | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - |
Virtual Architect Instant Makeover 2.0 | View Deal | 4/5 | 5.8 | 9 | 9.5 | Photo Imports | B+ | 0 | Not Supported | Not Available | - | - | ✓ | - | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | A+ | 9 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | $ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - |
DreamPlan | View Deal | 4/5 | 9 | 6.5 | 5.5 | Grid Lines in 3D View | B | >65 | Not Supported | A | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | C+ | 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - | - | ✓ | - | $ | ✓ | - | ✓ | - | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | - |
Best Overall
Reasons to Buy

Reasons to Avoid
Our top pick blew the competition out of the water. It scored high marks in all the tests we put to it.
Chief among them was our ease-of-use test; we gave it an A+ grade because it’s the simplest program to pick up and go. It offers instructional videos and written guides that walk you through each feature step by step. It may take you a while to learn all the tools this software has to offer, but once you do, you will have a lot of design power at your fingertips.
The other main reason we chose this program as our top pick is its complete tool set. It has a library of more than 7,5000 objects to design your kitchen with, the most of any program we evaluated. It also comes equipped with a material list and cost estimator to let you know what you’ll need in order to bring your kitchen from the digital realm into real life. Its photo import tool isn’t perfect, but still useful. The floating object tools worked flawlessly. All the other tools work well, and you shouldn’t have any trouble finding what you need.
Best Value
Reasons to Buy

Reasons to Avoid
If all those extras don't appeal and you want to save a few bucks, this program may suit your needs. It costs a fraction of our top pick – Virtual Architect Ultimate Home Design – but still manages to pack in nearly every tool we look for in the best kitchen design software.
It’s not as easy to learn, but you’ll get the hang of it quickly enough. It has a library of 4,700 objects to work with; not nearly as many as some other applications, but more than enough to get the job done.
This software is relatively easy to learn and use – not as intuitive as our top pick, but you should get the hang of it without too many problems. There are 45 sample floor plans to use as starting templates and customize them until you get exactly what you want. After a little experimenting with the sample plans, you’ll be able to build a kitchen from the ground up. It also comes with design tools for cabinets, furniture, fireplaces and more. The SmartWand tool allows you to experiment with different colors and materials for every aspect of your kitchen.
Most Compatible
Reasons to Buy
Reasons to Avoid
SketchUp and Trimble 3D Warehouse are third-party databases of objects for kitchen design. Home Designer Interiors is the only program we reviewed that can draw from both.
Others can only use SketchUp, and some can’t use either. This drastically expands the program’s native object library from 6,500 to essentially unlimited.
Additionally, this program is available for Macintosh computers, something most of the other programs lack. It also has the best photo importer we encountered. You can scan pictures of existing rooms into your computer, then use them as the basis for your kitchen design. This is great if you plan to expand an existing kitchen, or simply want to copy or build on a kitchen that you like.
Unfortunately, the drag-and-drop tool leaves much to be desired. Compared to the other programs we reviewed, it’s buggy and slow. Additionally, it scored relatively low in our ease-of-use tests. You’ll still be able to learn it without too many headaches, but it will take you longer than most of the other programs. If you ever need help using a tool, you can consult the video tutorials on the software’s official website.
Best for CAD Users
Reasons to Buy
Reasons to Avoid
Professional designers and architects use a program called CAD to create their visions. But CAD programs are complicated and require years of training and practice to master.
Punch Home & Landscape Design Premium incorporates CAD elements into its interface and allows users to export their plans into a format they can take to a professional designer or contractor. And, in our experience, this program does that the best of all the kitchen design programs we compared.
As its name implies this product is not just for kitchens, but for your whole home. From bathrooms, studies and bedrooms to landscapes, gardens and more, this is an all-in-one solution. If you’re looking for a comprehensive program, this is the one to buy.
Best for Quick Projects
Reasons to Buy
Reasons to Avoid
If you’re looking to see what your dream kitchen or home may look like, but don’t want to spend a lot of cash on the best design software or spend several hours learning the ins and outs, then Virtual Architect Instant Makeover is definitely worth considering.
This program only costs about $24 and can completely reimagine any room in your home in just three steps. It’s very easy to use and offers a great jumping-off point for more involved endeavors.
Of course, it doesn’t come with some tools such as object libraries and designers for cabinets and fireplaces. But for the price you pay, it delivers a lot.
Why Trust Us?
During our testing phase, we obtained 15 kitchen design programs. We either bought them or had the manufacturers send us testing copies. We simulated the hands-on experience of a typical consumer. Manufacturers had no input on our testing methodology, and our results were not released to them ahead of publication.
We spent more than 240 hours designing dozens of kitchens. Our reviewer team noted how easy each program was to learn and use. They also compared common tools found in each program. When testing was complete, our reviewers weighed the hard data they collected against their subjective experiences to determine which programs are the best and why.
We also spoke with professional designers about what people should know before making their own kitchen plans. Trevor Broughton is the lead designer at Mountain West Architecture in Ogden, Utah. He told us that novice users probably lack the skill necessary to design a buildable plan. “My biggest concern with anything brought to me is that it is scalable and accurate,” Broughton said, adding that the most common problem people have is grasping spacial flow. “Most people do not speak that language,” said Broughton.
He went on to say that kitchen design software made for non-professionals could help. “Consumer grade software could allow someone to really grasp how much space is absorbed by each architectural element,” Boughton said. “It lets them work through some of the issues before they come to us so we can get a more concise interpretation on our end.”
We also spoke with Gregg Hodson of Salt Lake City, Utah. He is the owner of an independent design firm and has been designing commercial, health care, retail and residential interiors for 27 years.
We asked him about the most critical aspects of interior design. Hodson said, “I don’t do anything without a space plan. I want everything to the inch. That’s what makes the difference in a well-designed space. Every inch counts: the arm height of the sofa, the table, the height of the side table, you’ve got to make all those work so in the end it all comes together flawlessly.”
We asked him about his experiences being given home made designs by potential clients. He pointed out that most people don’t have the knowledge or experience to understand how to create a proper plan. Hodson indicated the programs we reviewed could be helpful. “I think [they] could be very useful to a lay-person,' he said, 'because that’s where they need to start.”
How We Tested
Our expert reviewers gathered 15 separate kitchen design programs and used them to make several test plans. They evaluated how easy each program was to learn for someone who has no previous knowledge of design software. They also graded several features, such as the drag-and-drop tool and photo importer. They took meticulous notes about their personal experiences, what they liked and didn’t like about each program. They also evaluated each program’s custom design tools that allow you to create objects such as cabinets, fireplaces, windows, doors and furniture.
Each program was used to create a test kitchen. This test design was duplicated across all the programs we reviewed. Our reviewers noted how long it took to create the design, what tools were required, and how easy it was to put together. They exported each design and compared the resulting plans with what was in the computer, noting any differences or deficiencies. They also meticulously combed through each product, evaluating every tool they found; nothing was left unused during our evaluation phase.
We also reached out to the manufacturers’ customer help and support services. We asked them common questions, and posed issues regarding their software. We noted how informed and friendly the support staff was, and how easy it was to find information on the companies’ websites.
If you don’t have much experience with kitchen design software, pick a sample plan to customize as a jumping-off point.
Key Features to Look for When Buying Kitchen Design Software
Create Quickly
When we used each of the kitchen design programs, we took note of how easy each one was to use. Each program has unique features to make them accessible to typical users. Home Designer Interiors has a tool that allows you to import images of existing plans for kitchens and other rooms. This lets you build on existing kitchen designs, which is great if you’re remodeling. Some programs also have a quick-start wizard that shows construction requirements for things like walls, windows and doors. This feature is helpful for those new to kitchen design.
Objects & Décor
Kitchen designs are more than just floor plans. You’ll want to include everything that belongs in your new kitchen, such as appliances, cabinets, plants and tables. Each program comes with a library of preprogrammed objects that you can place in your design. The best programs are also compatible with third-party object databases such as SketchUp and Trimble 3D Warehouse. The more objects available, the more versatile the software.
Customize
Once you have your designs in place, you can customize them until you get exactly what you want. The best kitchen design software not only allows you to add furniture and other objects, but also change their color, texture, materials and more. Some have specialty design tools such as cabinet designers that let you fine-tune small details like paint finishes and wood grains.
Construction Tools
Planning a kitchen that is functional as well as beautiful involves determining what goes inside as well as outside of the walls. If your kitchen remodel is a complete overhaul, look for software that lets you plan HVAC, plumbing and electrical configurations. This way you know where to put outlets, light fixtures, heating and air vents. Without planning for these essentials first, you will not know if your ideal plan is even feasible.
It's always a good idea to enlist the help of licensed contractors for tasks involving electrical and plumbing work. Whether you are an expert at construction or need professional help, consider using kitchen design software either way. The best software lets you save your finalized plans to a PDF file, so that you can share them with a contractor via email for quotes and feedback.
How Much Does Kitchen Design Software Cost?
Expect to pay anywhere from $25 to $100 for kitchen design software. But before you buy, you should consider what you need and what you don’t. For instance, Virtual Architect Instant Maker only costs $24, but lacks many features compared to the $100 Punch Home & Landscape Design Premium.
More Home Design Guides:
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Building a Website Has Never Been Easier
Getting your message out these days requires good helpings of Facebook and Twitter, with maybe a dash of Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Tumblr. But that's not enough: if you want an internet presence that truly represents you or your organization, you also need a website that sets you apart from the crowd. A real website, as opposed to a social media page, gives you complete control over design and content. This lends credibility to your business, organization, or personal brand. Facebook pages all look alike in terms of design, but on your own website, you can realize a brand image, offer products for sale, and integrate third-party web services.
It's never been easier to set up a professional-looking, design-forward website. Well-known DIY site building services such as Squarespace and Wix are constantly improving and adding new capabilities. Newer competitors, such as Simvoly, Strikingly, Ucraft, and uKit, are popping up all the time with their own clever twists on the process.
You Need a Website
First, let's discuss why you even need a webpage in this day of social media domination of the web. On a personal level, you wouldn't want to send prospective employers to your Facebook page, so a personal website makes more sense as an online, customized resume. Another reason worth considering, for both personal and business purposes, is that building your own site gives you endless design choices. You have total control over products and services you may sell and how they're delivered, too.
Further, having a real, dedicated site makes a business seem more authoritative and trustworthy than a Facebook or Tumblr presence can on its own (though you should certainly also consider those services as elements of your online presence). It's as much an opening ante in the business world as having a business card for your company.
Getting your own website used to require a lot of tech wizardry, including knowledge of servers, HTML, FTP, site registrars, and web hosting services. Thankfully, we now live in the age of easy online site builders. The services included here let you make a well-designed, mobile-friendly site with minimal technical knowledge. They can even take a small or sole-proprietor business to profitability with buy links, online stores, and other money-making options.
Larger businesses spend many thousands of dollars to get their custom-designed and programmed sites, but there's no need for smaller organizations and individuals to go to that kind of expense. For about $10 per month (or around $25 if you're selling products) and a few hours of your time, the services included here can help you create a unique, attractive website.
With all these services, you build everything yourself, starting with a template you choose from a (hopefully) wide, well-categorized selection. Most use simple drag-and-drop interfaces that let you include items such as social share buttons, photo galleries, blogs, and media players. Some even let you restrict viewing with a password and let you have people join up as members of your site (see the table).
Free Website Builders
Several of the services included here offer free options, too. If you choose that path, however, your site will include branding from the provider, which necessarily makes your site less impressive to savvy surfers—and shoppers. Free offerings vary greatly in the storage, bandwidth, and site options they allow, so read the small print to find out how much you get with each provider. Strikingly, Weebly, Wix, and WordPress.com are among the most generous with their free offerings, if that's the way you want to go.
Register Your Domain
Before you can start building your home on the web, you need an address for it. Most of the site builders here can register a unique domain for you, and all can give you a web address using the provider's domain, for example, yourname.sitebuilder.com. Some include a custom domain name with their plans, usually requiring a year's commitment. The services also let you use a domain you've acquired from a third-party registrar such as pairNIC, but you often must pay the site builder for that privilege.
Website Design Tools
All of the web services listed here have you start by choosing from a selection of templates for your site. The better ones, such as Duda, Gator, Squarespace, and Wix, use templates that automatically reformat your site for viewing on mobile devices. They also offer specifically targeted templates based on your site's purpose, such as for promoting a bakery's sales, getting gigs for a musician, or keeping wedding guests informed.
Once you've chosen a template for your site, you need to make it your own. Most site builders let you tweak the color scheme, fonts, and page layouts, as well as add new pages. A good site builder offers sub-templates for the most commonly used page types: About, Contact, Products, Galleries, FAQ, Blog, and so on.
Of course, you'll also want to add custom content to those pages. You do this by adding text areas, photos (see Photos and Galleries section below), buttons, and other widgets. The better site builders, such as Wix and Duda, offer a marketplace of third-party widgets, for things like forms, chat, reservations, and social feeds.
The Best Web Design School
Some site builders, such as Squarespace, Strikingly, Virb, and uKit, restrict you to placing page objects in spots that won't make your site look garish, which can be an advantage if design isn't your forte. Other builders offer more freedom; if that's what you're looking for, check out Gator or Wix. Gator in particular strikes a good balance between design freedom and reponsive restrictions.
Instant Sites
Starting with Wix's ADI (artificial design intelligence) tool, some of the site builders now offer a tool that lets you enter social accounts and other personal or business info, and presto bingo, they get you a no-work website. Jimdo and Simvoly now offer similar if somewhat less ambitious tools. Wix's ADI even impressed a professional designer acquaintance of ours with results we saw in testing, mostly using images and information it scraped from her LinkedIn account.
Mobile Site Design
Any site builder that wants to call itself modern these days must be capable of producing sites that play well on mobile, and all of those listed here can do so to some extent. Some, such as Squarespace and Weebly, use strictly responsive-design approaches to create a mobile site from what you've built for the web.
Responsive design is a popular web design strategy used by some of these site builders. This approach reformats the same webpage content to fit different screens. But in terms of SEO (search engine optimization), the search engines only care about whether a site displays suitably on mobile screen sizes. Both Bing and Google have pages where you can enter your URL to see if your site plays on mobile acceptably.
The strict responsive approach of Simvoly, uKit, and Weeby means you get no control over the mobile-only view. Gator, Ucraft, and Wix, by contrast, offer a mobile site preview and let you make customizations that only apply to mobile viewing. For example, you may want a splash page to welcome mobile viewers, or you may want to leave out an element that doesn't work well on the smaller screens.
Photos and Galleries
Let's face it, one of the things we like best about the web is looking at pictures. The site builders here all offer some degree of photo and gallery display. Some, like Gator, Squarespace, and Wix, also offer loads of stock photography for you to use. Some let you touch up images with editing tools such as cropping, brightness, and in some cases even Instagram-like filters. Others, such as Gator, Simvoly, Ucraft, and uKit offer no photo editing at all, aside from resizing and positioning.
Photo gallery options also vary widely. For example, Weebly offers a good selection of styles for your online galleries, while others like Duda and GoDaddy are more limited in visual options.
Making Money From Your Website
Of course, if you want to go all out for sales, you need to move up to a dedicated web shopping cart service like Shopify, but that's a step you might not be ready to take. Most of the services here offer some ability to sell items from your site, if only in the form of a PayPal button, but some don't offer that in free accounts.
More-advanced options found in some builders let you process credit card payments and add your own cart and checkout pages. The more-powerful site builders include product promotions, email marketing, and inventory and shipping tools. Some let you sell digital downloads, while others don't; see the table above to find out which do. Only a couple of these builders let you put ads on your site, though most of them allow some degree of custom HTML code insertion.
Social and Site Stats
All of the site builders included here let you put Facebook Like and Twitter Follow buttons on your pages, and some even let you display feeds from the social networks. Some give you help building a Facebook Page and tying it into your site design and updates. Many products offer some sort of SEO tool, but too often this is just a form on which you can enter meta tags. You're mostly left to wrestle with that black magic known as SEO for yourself. It's very important to submit and verify your site to the search engines, unless you don't want anyone to find it!
Most of the products here can tell you about your site traffic, though the amount of detail varies greatly among them, and it's often tied to premium account levels. For example, Weebly can not only show you page views and unique visitors for each day of the month, but also search terms used to get to the site, referring sites, and top-visited pages. Wix and uKit, at the other end, have nothing in the way of built-in site stats, instead requiring you to create your own Google Analytics account, and even that requires a paid account. Another drawback of that approach is that you can only see traffic from the preceding day and earlier; it's not up-to-the-minute, or even the hour.
The WordPress Question
WordPress is a big name when it comes to creating websites. But you should know that WordPress.com is not what most people are talking about when they mention WordPress. What most internet-savvy people mean by the term WordPress is the free, open-source blogging platform that comes from WordPress.org. Using this requires you to find your own website hosting service. The WordPress.org software is such a popular site-building platform that many web hosting services even offer managed WordPress hosting plans. WordPress.com, on the other hand, is a service that deploys and hosts that software for you, so you don't have to go out and find your own hosting service.
WordPress (either version) is a blog-focused content management system that accepts plug-ins and themes that extend its capabilities to what most of what the other products here offer, including commerce. In fact, WordPress.com uses plug-ins such as JetPack to provide many of its features. As a whole, WordPress (either .com or .org) is not as easy to use as the other options in this roundup, but if blogging and site transferability are of key importance and you don't mind digging into its weeds a bit, you should consider the platform—especially WordPress.org. Furthermore, the ability to use WordPress is a valuable skill, as some estimates say that WordPress powers 30 percent of the internet.
The Best Website Builder Software For Mac
Note that we reviewed WordPress.com as a website builder, but its rating of three stars doesn't quite qualify it for inclusion in this roundup.
Moving to Another Site Builder
One downside of most of these services is that, should you someday want to move to another web host, you'll likely be out of luck because of the custom code they use to display your site. Only a few of the services here let you take your site to another web hosting service: The most complete example of this is Weebly, which lets you download the standard site server folders. Squarespace offers some transferability by letting you output your site in standard WordPress format. As you might expect, the same transferability holds for WordPress.com.
Website Building Support Options
Support among the services varies widely, from free WordPress.com account's only offering community support, to Jimdo's email-only service, to Wix's telephone-callback service—even for free accounts! Many of the site builders offer rich online support knowledge bases and FAQs, so there's a good chance you won't even need to contact the company. I test each service's support as part of the review process by asking about some less-common site-building procedures.
The Best Web Design Software For Mac
So Many Site Building Choices!
As you can see, there are quite a few factors to consider when choosing an easy online website builder. And you have a slew of provider choices—there are at least 20 more vendors than those included in this list. Hardly a week goes by when we don't get a pitch from a new one we've never heard of before. We've reviewed many of those, but they didn't make the cut, either because of outdated site designs, lack of site-building options, or inadequate ease-of-use. Some recent examples include 1&1 Ionos MyWebsite, PageCloud,Ucraft, and Yahoo Small Business Websites.
The selection below should be plenty to get you started. Read the blurbs and then click through to the linked reviews to find the one that best suits your needs. And don't hesitate to chime in below in the comments section to report your experience with a site builder or praise one that's not included. For more advice and alternatives to DIY website building, check out our primer, How to Create a Website.
Best Website Builders Featured in This Roundup:
Wix Review
MSRP: $4.08
Pros: Extremely intuitive site-building interface. Loads of site gadgets. Free site option. Hundreds of templates for specific businesses and other uses. Good mobile-site-building tools. Rich web-store features. Excellent Support.
Cons: No built-in statistics feature. Sites don't use responsive design in the strict sense.
Bottom Line: Wix is the easiest and fullest-featured website builder around, and you can use it to create your own highly customized site for free.
Read ReviewDuda Review
MSRP: $14.25
Pros: Clear interface. Strong mobile site building. Free site option. Social media integration. Powerful site-traffic analysis. Capable web store tools. Even free accounts can sell products online.
Cons: No third-party widget store. No email newsletter integration. No ability to port site to another host.
Bottom Line: Duda offers everything you need to easily build and host a rich, mobile-friendly, full-featured website, complete with commerce.
Read ReviewGator Website Builder Review
MSRP: $4.99
Pros: Well-designed, clear interface. Attractive, modern site templates. Yearly plans include domain name and SSL certificate. Easy store setup with digital download selling. Good included site stats.
Cons: No free plan. Lacks email marketing. No photo editing. Cannot schedule blog posts. Limited app store.
Bottom Line: Gator, a new offering in the DIY website building space from established name HostGator, hits all the right notes and it won't break the bank.
Read ReviewSquarespace Review
MSRP: $12.00
Pros: Beautiful, responsive designs that accommodate mobile screens. Deep selling capabilities, including digital downloads. Free SSL certificate. Good help and analytics tools.
Cons: Less straightforward than competing site builders. Fewer and more restrictive templates than the competition. No free level. Lacks third-party widget marketplace. Little customization for mobile sites.
Bottom Line: Squarespace lets you build a modern, beautiful, responsive website for desktop and mobile viewing, and it also offers the potential for full-scale commerce.
Read ReviewGoDaddy GoCentral Review
MSRP: $5.99
Pros: Generous storage and bandwidth. Easy, clear interface. Good-looking sites for both desktop and mobile viewing.
Cons: Limited layout and design customization. No photo editing. No built-in traffic reporting. Online store requires upgrade.
Bottom Line: GoDaddy's new website builder is easy to use and delivers good-looking responsive-design sites, but it doesn't allow lots of tinkering with page design.
Read ReviewWeebly Review
MSRP: $8.00
Pros: Intuitive interface. Attractive responsive-design themes. Full commerce options. Site stats included. Lets you download your site code as standard HTML/CSS. iPad site-editing app.
Cons: Lacks reusable photo storage. Mobile sites not customizable. No interface-wide undo feature.
Bottom Line: Weebly is an easy-to-use site builder with a free option. It lets you create and publish attractive, responsive-design sites, blogs, and online stores.
Read ReviewStrikingly Review
MSRP: $8.00
Pros: Makes site-building simple. Preview full sample sites built in template. Good looking responsive designs for mobile and desktop.
Cons: Fewer template choices and less customization than some competitors. Many standard features require premium paid account.
Bottom Line: Strikingly lets you create a well-designed site with extreme ease, but it offers limited options for customization.
Read ReviewuCoz uKit Review
MSRP: $4.00
Pros: Slick interface. Saves uploaded images for reuse. Good, easy blogging tool. Gamification features. Low monthly price.
Cons: Restrictive site element positioning. Lacks mobile site customization. Zero image editing. No included site statistics.
Bottom Line: This good-looking website builder from Russia offers most everything you could want to get a mobile-friendly, commerce-capable site online. Look elsewhere for built-in statistics and image editing, however.
Read ReviewSimvoly Review
MSRP: $5.00
Pros: Clear, friendly drag-and-drop interface. Attractive, customizable, responsive-design site templates. Store functionality with digital download sales. Site stats included on dashboard.
Cons: No photo editing tools. Cannot customize mobile sites. Lacks widget marketplace. No shipping service integrations.
Bottom Line: Website builder Simvoly offers easy-to-use tools for creating good-looking, responsive-design sites with a respectable level of customizability.
Read ReviewPageCloud Review
MSRP: $20.00
Pros: True drag-and-drop, WYWIWYG interface. Freedom in placement and sizing of site elements. Good mobile customization. Scheduled posting.
Cons: Expensive. Sparse e-commerce tools. No image editing. No included stats or analytics. Blog tool lacks many standard options.
Bottom Line: PageCloud is a website builder with a modern drag-and-drop, WYSIWYG interface that gives you lots of leeway in page design and solid mobile customization, but it lacks standard e-commerce, blogging, and analytics features.
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Best Website Builders Featured in This Roundup:
Wix Review
MSRP: $4.08Pros: Extremely intuitive site-building interface. Loads of site gadgets. Free site option. Hundreds of templates for specific businesses and other uses. Good mobile-site-building tools. Rich web-store features. Excellent Support.
Cons: No built-in statistics feature. Sites don't use responsive design in the strict sense.
Bottom Line: Wix is the easiest and fullest-featured website builder around, and you can use it to create your own highly customized site for free.
Read ReviewDuda Review
MSRP: $14.25Pros: Clear interface. Strong mobile site building. Free site option. Social media integration. Powerful site-traffic analysis. Capable web store tools. Even free accounts can sell products online.
Cons: No third-party widget store. No email newsletter integration. No ability to port site to another host.
Bottom Line: Duda offers everything you need to easily build and host a rich, mobile-friendly, full-featured website, complete with commerce.
Read ReviewGator Website Builder Review
MSRP: $4.99Pros: Well-designed, clear interface. Attractive, modern site templates. Yearly plans include domain name and SSL certificate. Easy store setup with digital download selling. Good included site stats.
Cons: No free plan. Lacks email marketing. No photo editing. Cannot schedule blog posts. Limited app store.
Bottom Line: Gator, a new offering in the DIY website building space from established name HostGator, hits all the right notes and it won't break the bank.
Read ReviewSquarespace Review
MSRP: $12.00Pros: Beautiful, responsive designs that accommodate mobile screens. Deep selling capabilities, including digital downloads. Free SSL certificate. Good help and analytics tools.
Cons: Less straightforward than competing site builders. Fewer and more restrictive templates than the competition. No free level. Lacks third-party widget marketplace. Little customization for mobile sites.
Bottom Line: Squarespace lets you build a modern, beautiful, responsive website for desktop and mobile viewing, and it also offers the potential for full-scale commerce.
Read ReviewGoDaddy GoCentral Review
MSRP: $5.99Pros: Generous storage and bandwidth. Easy, clear interface. Good-looking sites for both desktop and mobile viewing.
Cons: Limited layout and design customization. No photo editing. No built-in traffic reporting. Online store requires upgrade.
Bottom Line: GoDaddy's new website builder is easy to use and delivers good-looking responsive-design sites, but it doesn't allow lots of tinkering with page design.
Read ReviewWeebly Review
MSRP: $8.00Pros: Intuitive interface. Attractive responsive-design themes. Full commerce options. Site stats included. Lets you download your site code as standard HTML/CSS. iPad site-editing app.
Cons: Lacks reusable photo storage. Mobile sites not customizable. No interface-wide undo feature.
Bottom Line: Weebly is an easy-to-use site builder with a free option. It lets you create and publish attractive, responsive-design sites, blogs, and online stores.
Read ReviewStrikingly Review
MSRP: $8.00Pros: Makes site-building simple. Preview full sample sites built in template. Good looking responsive designs for mobile and desktop.
Cons: Fewer template choices and less customization than some competitors. Many standard features require premium paid account.
Bottom Line: Strikingly lets you create a well-designed site with extreme ease, but it offers limited options for customization.
Read ReviewuCoz uKit Review
MSRP: $4.00Pros: Slick interface. Saves uploaded images for reuse. Good, easy blogging tool. Gamification features. Low monthly price.
Cons: Restrictive site element positioning. Lacks mobile site customization. Zero image editing. No included site statistics.
Bottom Line: This good-looking website builder from Russia offers most everything you could want to get a mobile-friendly, commerce-capable site online. Look elsewhere for built-in statistics and image editing, however.
Read ReviewSimvoly Review
MSRP: $5.00Pros: Clear, friendly drag-and-drop interface. Attractive, customizable, responsive-design site templates. Store functionality with digital download sales. Site stats included on dashboard.
Cons: No photo editing tools. Cannot customize mobile sites. Lacks widget marketplace. No shipping service integrations.
Bottom Line: Website builder Simvoly offers easy-to-use tools for creating good-looking, responsive-design sites with a respectable level of customizability.
Read ReviewPageCloud Review
MSRP: $20.00Pros: True drag-and-drop, WYWIWYG interface. Freedom in placement and sizing of site elements. Good mobile customization. Scheduled posting.
Cons: Expensive. Sparse e-commerce tools. No image editing. No included stats or analytics. Blog tool lacks many standard options.
Bottom Line: PageCloud is a website builder with a modern drag-and-drop, WYSIWYG interface that gives you lots of leeway in page design and solid mobile customization, but it lacks standard e-commerce, blogging, and analytics features.
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