It is important to have an online presence in 2024. The vast majority of people who search for information and services today do so on the internet. A good, neat and tidy website will make you more visible to those you want to reach or sell to.
In the past, it has been difficult to develop even simple websites. Most website creation solutions have required a degree of technical expertise. In 2024, this is true to a small extent longer. There are still a bunch of technical tools, yes. But there is also a large amount website builders which allows you to create web pages easily and completely without any technical skills.
In this article, we take a closer look at 6 website builders that are popular and relevant if you are going to acquire a website in 2024. You will learn about which website builder is the best fit for you depending on your budget and experience level.
Getting Started
What do I need to create a website?
The very first thing you need is a goal and a plan. Why should you have a website? What is the goal of your website? Is it a purely informative website? Are you going to accept customers there? Are you going to sell products?
These are the first questions we ask those we talk to who are going to have a website. A good plan makes it easier for you both to choose the right tool for the job, and to design your website according to your goals.
After you have a plan, you need to choose a website builder. The list of website builders below can be used as a good guide to choosing the tool that works best for you.
After you have chosen the platform and you have started setting up your website, you should start collecting the text, images and other content that you want to include on the website. You may want to create a media bank of photos and videos on the website builder itself. A good media bank makes it easier for you to quickly create new subpages on your website, as you can quickly pick out graphics and other elements you need on the page.
After you have created the structure of the website you will need to write a lot of text. We always recommend that you write your content in a tool other than the actual website builder you work in. For example, most website builders do not have built-in spell checker or other functionality to help you write correctly. On the other hand, it has Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Thus, we recommend that you make a list of everything you are going to write, and then use an ordinary word processing tool to write the content.
Our preferred tool for this is Notion.
Finally, it is important that you are prepared to invest a good amount of time in both learning the tool of your choice and in customizing the website.
How much does it cost to create a website?
You can create a website completely free of cost. Both Wix, Wordpress and Webnode have options for creating a free website. It depends on the fact that you have a domain, or is content to let your website live on a subdomain, e.g. <dinside>Wix's subdomain:.wixsite.com. All website builders charge a fee if you want to hook up your own domain.
If you want to buy a domain, we recommend domain.shop or https://www.webhuset.no/.
Website builders often take off hosting and operating for you, as part of the subscription you purchase from them. At the same time, there are a few things you should keep in mind to minimize ongoing costs:
- Expensive plugins: Make sure you don't install or buy premium plugins or packages that carry extra costs.
- Expensive hosting: For example, if you have created a website in Wordpress, there are many places where you can host it. Some of these places are substantially more expensive than others. At Webhuset you get Wordpress from as little as 15 kron/month. More expensive solutions designed for websites that need high performance can quickly cost $1,000 a month or more.
- Reduce consulting services: If you have someone who helps you with development or operation, make sure that you set specific budget frameworks for them. Hours can quickly run wild if consultants are given free rein to nail your website.
- Data Security: There is nothing more expensive than having your website hacked. Always use unique passwords on your login, feel free to use a password manager like 1Password, and preferably two-factor authentication on everything.
- Disaster Salvage and Downtime: Downtime is expensive. Whether your website is being used to generate leads or sales for your business, it is important that your website is up at all times. Use a reputable partner for hosting the website. You may also want to ask if they offer a SLA with an uptime guarantee, preferably free of charge.
Wix — Best for Beginners
Wix is one of the most popular website building platforms, known for its ease of use and extensive features.
Price
Free to premium options. The recommended starting level is at $17/month.
You can create a free website in Wix, but the free tier forces you to use one wixsites.com subdomain, which may not be desirable. The free version will also cause Wix advertising to appear on your website.
Advantages
- Ease of use with drag-and-drop functionality
- Over 800 customizable templates
- Powerful ecommerce capabilities.
- Round-the-clock customer support and high security
Disadvantages
- Limited flexibility for advanced users
Description of functionality
Wix is known for its simple drag-and-drop functionality, making it ideal for beginners who want to create a website without any technical knowledge. With over 800 customizable templates, you can easily find a design that suits your style and needs. It is easy to customize the templates to your own preferences. They also have a large library of plugins (apps) that can be used in a few taps. An example of such an app is the display of a TrustPilot widget.
Another great advantage of Wix is its powerful built-in e-commerce capabilities, which make it easy to set up an online store. Wix offers 24/7 customer support and high security, including SSL certificate and threat prevention measures, for added peace of mind.
On the other hand, Wix may be somewhat limited for advanced users who want more flexibility and customization.
Wix has recently introduced some AI functionality (AI). This functionality makes it even easier to get custom design and content for your website just by writing a few prompts.
Wix is a tool that is easy to use, but at the same time has everything you need to get started.
Rating
- Price: 4/5
- Design: 3/5
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Functionality: 3/5
Squarespace — Best for simple design quality
Squarespace is the exclusive little brother of Wix. Squarespace is somewhat more expensive, but makes up for it with gorgeous design and very good user experience.
Price
Starts at 179 kr/month (paid annually up-front, 249 kr/month with monthly payment).
Starts at 529 kr/month for e-commerce (paid annually up-front, 709 kr/month with monthly payment).
Advantages
- Very good templates.
- Good usability on the editor.
- Premium feel on the web pages that are created.
- Powerful functionality such as e-commerce, blog, and more, is readily available.
Disadvantages
- More expensive than other similar platforms.
- No options for free website.
- The possibilities for deep tailoring both design-wise and technically are not as present as on certain other platforms.
Description of functionality
Squarespace is a platform that excels with its focus on design and aesthetics, making it an ideal choice for creative users looking to create a visually appealing website. With Squarespace, you can easily create your own website using their modern and professionally designed templates. The platform offers easy-to-use customization tools that easily allow you to adjust the design to your own preferences, without the need for technical knowledge.
One of the biggest advantages of Squarespace is the high quality of design and functionality. The platform gives you everything you need to create a stylish and professional website, including integrations with social media and e-commerce capabilities. This makes Squarespace a popular choice among those who want a website with a modern and professional look.
While Squarespace can be costly compared to other platforms, it is certainly worth the investment for those who value design and want to present their content in an aesthetically pleasing way. With Squarespace, you get a website that not only looks great, but also works seamlessly on both desktop and mobile devices.
Squarespace isn't as beginner-friendly as Wix, but it's still easy to get started with.
Rating
- Price: 3/5
- Ontwerp: 5/5
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Functionality: 4/5
WordPress — Best for Flexibility
WordPress is the world's largest website builder and CMSsystem and runs over 1/3 of all the world's web pages. Very many of the people we come in contact with want to either create a website with Wordpress or have one already.
WordPress is basically free and open source software. WordPress.org and the WordPress Foundation are created to manage this software. One of the authors of WordPress has also created Automattic and WordPress.com, which is a paid service for hosting WordPress pages.
Price
From free and up. A sea of different suppliers with different pricing models.
WordPress.com has a version that gives you free website. This has the same limitations as Wix's free tier: Your website will be on a subdomain, such as yourside.wordpress.com, and WordPress.com advertising will be hosted on your website.
In Norway, we have dedicated web hosting services from providers such as webhuset.no, starting at 15 kr/month.
Advantages
- The world's most used website builder (by a wide margin).
- Great flexibility on operation and hosting. There are literally thousands of services where you can host your website.
- Offered by many dedicated players in Norway.
- Tremendous flexibility. Huge library of plugins that can do almost anything you want.
- Easy to connect on e-commerce functionality via WooCommerce.
- Possibility of complete tailoring in terms of design and engineering.
- Features a robust and feature-rich built-in CMS.
Disadvantages
- Can quickly require technical knowledge to tailor.
- Too many choices in terms of vendors, technical solutions, templates and plugins. Easy to become paralyzed.
- WordPress's popularity also makes it an active target for hackers.
Description of functionality
WordPress is undoubtedly one of the most flexible platforms available, giving users the freedom to build and manage different types of websites. With thousands of free and premium themes, one can customize their website according to their own needs and preferences. If you have technical skills (can program in PHP, HTML, Javascript, CSS).
To get started, we recommend starting with a provider like WordPress.com, where you can easily set up a website.
If you want a page builder with user-friendly functionality, you can easily install a plugin that gives you this. For example, The Elementor a very popular choice.
Due to WordPress's popularity, it is a tool that is easy to obtain professional assistance for (including from us).
At the same time, WordPress is a tool where it is easy to make a lot of mistakes. Many themes can be difficult to develop, and if you are really unlucky, you can install plugins that open your website up to vulnerabilities and make it easier to hack. Many themes are also not at the top of the scale in terms of appearance and usability.
If you are an avid developer and want to create a new website in WordPress from scratch, we recommend using Local.
Rating
- Price: 4/5
- Design: 3/5
- Ease of use: 3/5
- Functionality: 5/5
Webnode — Best for Small Businesses
Webnode is one of the best platforms for small businesses, known for its ease of use and affordable prices. It is a tool that gets you started very quickly, and there is little that prevents you from starting up and launching a new website in a matter of minutes.
Price
Webnode has a free version. This one has the same limitations as Wix's free version. If you want to use your own domain, you must purchase a paid version.
Premium subscriptions start at 45 kronor a month. The most expensive subscription costs 219 kronor a month.
E-commerce opportunities start with their “Standard” plan that costs NOK 129 a month.
Advantages
- It's cheap.
- Very easy to get started.
- Cheapest ecommerce solution apart from WooCommerce.
Disadvantages
- Simple system.
- Not as rich ecosystem for plugins and extensions as most other services on this list.
Description of functionality
Webnode is known for being very easy to get started with, making it a popular choice for small and medium-sized businesses. Webnode is specially adapted for web pages that need to be published in several languages. It is thus a good option for those who have a multilingual audience.
Webnode has over 150 templates. This is a good amount, and the needs of many in the start-up phase are probably covered by one of these. At the same time, this is a smaller template library than many of the other services in this list.
The website builder is perceived as lightweight and easy to work with. There is little excess and it is difficult to get lost.
Webnode is recommended for those who want to spend as little time as possible from startup to launch of your website. Or to those who need a cheap, paid, and easy service.
Rating:
- Price: 4/5
- Design: 3/5
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Functionality: 3/5
Webflow — Designers' Choice
Webflow is the service that makes it easy for designers, who like to know some HTML, to build websites quickly and efficiently. Webflow offers an interface where you can easily drag out and drop elements on your page, and then tailor them in any way HTML itself allows.
Price
Webflow has a free tier. Here you can only create a web page with 2 subpages, and you need to use a webflow domain, e.g. yourside.webflow.com.
Paid subscriptions start at $14 per month (paid annually, or $18 paid monthly). E-commerce starts at $29 monthly (paid annually, or $42 paid monthly).
Advantages
- Very powerful. Most things that can be built in pure HTML and CSS can be built in Webflow.
- Easy to use for designers.
- Easy to connect to both Webflow's CMS and e-commerce functionality.
Disadvantages
- Something expensive if you need simple CMS or e-commerce functionality.
- Steep learning curve.
- Need some technical expertise to hook up against third party services.
Description of functionality
Webflow gives designers and developers the freedom to create complex and responsive websites without writing code. The platform combines the power of a professional design tool with the flexibility of a CMS, giving users complete control over design and content. Webflow is especially popular with designers who want to create unique and visually appealing web pages without having to compromise on functionality.
Webflow's CMS allows you to manage dynamic content, while their e-commerce solution allows you to build online stores with advanced features. While Webflow can be challenging for beginners, its extensive documentation and training resources provide users with the support they need to master the platform. This makes Webflow a favorite among designers who want complete creative freedom to create professional websites.
Webflow also has a large library of templates (over 6000). But more of them cost money. There is also a large library of “apps” that allow you to easily plug in additional functionality.
Rating
- Price: 3/5
- Ontwerp: 5/5
- Ease of use: 2/5
- Functionality: 4/5
Framer Sites — The Contender
Framer Sites can be seen as the challenger to Webflow. They brand themselves as a service where it is easy to create beautiful web pages. Framer is also a solution that appeals specifically to designers and people with some technical expertise.
Price
One can create a free website in Framer with their free tier for “hobby websites”. They have the same limitations as Wix's free tier: You must use a subdomain of Framer and they will display Framer advertising on the page you create.
Paid websites then start at NOK 55 per month (paid annually, NOK 110 per month paid monthly). CMSet cost
Advantages
- User-friendly editor.
- Good setup for reusing components.
- Modern and neat UI.
- A lot of really good templates. Some paid, some free.
- Some plugins.
- Can import designs from Figma as a starting point.
Disadvantages
- Steep learning curve.
- Lack of opportunities for e-commerce.
Description of functionality
Framer Sites is a modern platform that challenges established website builders like Webflow. It is specially designed for designers and tech-savvy users who want to create visually stunning websites with minimal effort. Framer offers an intuitive editor that makes it easy to drag and drop elements, as well as customize them as needed.
One of the great advantages of Framer is its user-friendly interface and the ability to reuse components, which saves time and allows for a more efficient design process. The platform also has a modern and stylish user interface that appeals to designers.
Framer Sites offers a variety of templates, both free and paid, that provide users with a good starting point for creating unique web pages. Although the platform lacks e-commerce functionality, it compensates with a number of plugins that can extend its functionality. Among other things, functionality that allows you to easily set up links to all your social media.
Framer also has support for direct imports from Figma, which is a strong selling point for designers.
Framer is ideal for those who want a modern and easy-to-use platform with great design capabilities, but who do not necessarily need advanced features such as e-commerce.
Rating
- Price: 3/5
- Ontwerp: 5/5
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Functionality: 3/5
Other notable platforms
There's a lot more to the world of website building than what we've gone through so far. There are hundreds of tools to choose from. Here are some more that may be relevant for you who are going to create a website.
Weebly
Weebly is a website builder with a focus on online stores/e-commerce.
Web.com
Web.com is a hybrid agency and website builder. You can either create website yourself with their tools, or have them create it for you.
Jimdo
Jimdo is a simple website builder with e-commerce capabilities.
Duda
Duda is a website builder with particularly good functionality in terms of analysis and optimization, within both CRO and SEO.
Weave
Vev is a Norwegian website builder with a main focus on visual storytelling.
Simvoly
Simvoly is a website builder focused on those who are going to sell something on the internet.
Webador
Webador is a Norwegian service that allows you to easily set up websites using KI.
Bubble
Bubble is a great No-Code platform that allows you to build interactive websites without code.
Canva
Canva is essentially a design tool for quickly creating simple digital graphics, but can also be used to publish simple web pages.
Notion
Notion documents can also be published as very simple web pages. This is perfect if you just want to publish some simple information and share it on the internet.
Summary
Creating a website in 2024 is easier than ever thanks to a variety of available website builders to suit different needs and skill levels. Wix is ideal for beginners with its easy-to-use drag-and-drop functionality and rich selection of templates. WordPress offers flexibility and scalability, making it a perfect choice for those who want full control over their website. Squarespace stands out for its focus on design, with professionally designed templates that appeal to creative users.
For small businesses, Webnode provides affordable prices and a quick starting point. Whatever your goals, it's important to choose a website builder that meets your specific needs, whether it's usability, customization options, price, or customer support. With the right tools, you can build an effective and attractive website that helps you achieve your goals.
With the different platforms we have reviewed in this article, you have many good options to choose from. At the same time, you can save a lot of time choosing the right one, so think carefully about which platform you are going for.
Are you going to build a website?
Create your own website for free
It is quite possible to create a website absolutely free of charge by using a website builder that offers free plans. These plans may be limited in functionality and design, but they can be a good way to get started. For example, Wix offers a free plan that allows you to create a simple website at no cost. You can also use WordPress and choose a free theme or template to create your website. It is important to remember that even if you are not paying for the website itself, it can still cost something to buy a domain name and web hosting. This is necessary in order to publish your website and make it available on the internet. With these tools you can create your own website completely free of charge and start building your online presence.
Get help creating your own website
If you find it challenging to create a website on your own, there are many resources and services available to help you get started. You might consider hiring a professional web developer or agency that can take care of the entire process for you. This can be a good investment if you want a bespoke design or have specific functionalities you want to include.
There are also many online courses and tutorials that can give you a better understanding of how to build a website. These resources can be especially useful if you want to learn more about web design and development on your own.
For those who want a more personalized approach, you may want to attend workshops or seminars on website building. Here you can get direct guidance and tips from experts, as well as the ability to ask questions and get answers in real time.
Whichever route you choose, it's important to remember that there are many ways to get help when creating a website. With the right support, you can create a website that meets your needs and goals.
Clock Solutions
At Ur Solutions, we have many years of experience in creating websites. Everything from small landing pages to large online stores. We are experts at taking a website from idea phase all the way to launch. We can help you with design, development, drifting, SEO, CRO and more.
Our specialty is building websites that actually give you the results you need and that your customers love.
Get in touch for a non-binding offer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I need a separate website?
A separate website hosted on a separate domain name is the way the vast majority of businesses today meet their customers digitally. An appealing website is an effective way for your customers and possibly new customers to easily get information about you and your company.
It is also a nice place to publish contact information such as your company phone number and email so that others can easily get in touch with you.
What is the best website builder for beginners?
Wix is the best website builder for beginners, thanks to its easy-to-use drag-and-drop functionality and a wide variety of customizable templates. This makes it easy for anyone to create a professional website.
Which website builder offers the most flexibility?
WordPress provides the most flexibility with its extensive range of themes and plugins, which makes it possible to customize web pages according to specific needs. It is the best option for those seeking personalization.
Which Website Builder is Best for Small Businesses?
Webnode is the best choice for small businesses thanks to its affordable prices and simplicity of use.
Which website builder should I choose if I value design?
Squarespace is the best choice for those who value design, with its modern and professionally designed templates. It provides outstanding aesthetics and ease of use.
Whether you are a designer and can design yourself we recommend either Framer Sites or Webflow.
Is it possible to create a website without technical knowledge?
Yes, it is certainly possible to create a website without any technical knowledge using platforms such as Wix and Squarespace, which offer simple drag-and-drop features.
What website builders can I use if I don't have technical skills?
Wix, Squarespace and Webnode.
Which website builder is most modern in 2024?
Webflow and Framer Sites are the most modern builders in 2024, but they are also among the more complex. Both Wix and Squarespace are holding up well in 2024.
When should I get my website developed technically instead of using a website builder?
The following points can be good reasons why you should have your website developed by technically professional developers:
- Your website is very large or is going to earn a lot of traffic, while at the same time you need a lot of control over exactly how your website works.
- You need many and tailor-made integrations, e.g. with Stripe or Vipps.
- When you are very busy a CRO, SEO and other technical aspects.
Technical development of websites has become significantly cheaper over the years, and you can now get tailor-made websites developed at a very low cost. The right technical providers can make a big difference.
