Quick answer
- Most flexible for service businesses: Wix. A free plan to try it, bookings and payments on paid plans and a 14-day money-back guarantee.
- Best for design-led brands: Squarespace. Polished templates and a 14-day free trial, but no free plan.
- Best for selling products: Shopify. UK pricing in pounds, card rates from 2% + 25p on Basic, and a strong checkout.
- Cheapest to start: Hostinger Website Builder. From £2.39 a month on a 48-month term, with hosting and a domain for year one.
Comparison at a glance
| Builder | Free plan or trial | Entry price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wix | Free plan (Wix branding, wixsite.com address); 14-day money-back on premium plans | Prices vary by location; see Wix plans page | Service businesses, bookings, all-rounders |
| Squarespace | 14-day free trial; no free plan | See Squarespace pricing page for UK prices | Portfolios, design-led brands, simple shops |
| Shopify | 3-day free trial, then £1 a month for 3 months on most plans | Basic £19 a month paid yearly, or £25 paid monthly | Online shops and product businesses |
| Hostinger Website Builder | 14-day free trial | £2.39 a month on a 48-month term (£114.72 upfront), renews at £10.99 a month | Tight budgets and simple sites |
What to look for in a website builder
- Your main job: taking bookings, selling products, showing a portfolio or simply being findable. Each builder leans towards one of these.
- Ongoing cost: compare the plan you will need in year two, not the cheapest plan, and include transaction fees if you sell online.
- Custom domain and branding: free plans use the builder's address and branding. For a business, budget for a paid plan.
- Getting your content out: moving away from a builder usually means rebuilding the site. That is fine, but it is worth knowing before you invest time.
- SEO basics: editable page titles and descriptions, clean URLs, mobile-friendly templates and fast pages. All four cover the basics.
The builders in detail
Top pick
1 Wix: most flexible all-rounder
Wix lets you build a site for free and upgrade when you are ready. Premium plans remove Wix branding and let you connect your own domain, and most yearly plans include a one-year domain voucher. The Light plan covers the basics; Core adds online payments, basic ecommerce and scheduling, which makes it a natural fit for trades, therapists, coaches and other service businesses taking bookings. There is a large template library and an AI site creator if you want a head start.
Good points
- Free plan to try the editor properly
- Bookings and payments from the Core plan
- 14-day money-back guarantee on premium plans
- Large template library and app market
Watch out for
- Free plan shows Wix branding and a wixsite.com address
- Prices vary by location and exclude tax until checkout
- Moving to another platform later means rebuilding
2 Squarespace: best for design-led brands
Squarespace is known for polished templates that look good with little effort. There is no free plan, but every site starts with a 14-day free trial with no card needed. Annual plans include a free custom domain for the first year. Its pricing page lists a 2% transaction fee on online store sales on the Basic plan and 0% on Core and above, so sellers should look past the entry plan.
Good points
- Consistently polished templates
- 14-day free trial, no card needed
- Free domain for the first year on annual plans
- Invoicing included on all plans
Watch out for
- No free plan
- Basic plan charges a transaction fee on store sales
- Fewer third-party add-ons than Wix or Shopify
3 Shopify: best for selling products
Shopify is built for selling. Its UK pricing is in pounds: Basic is £19 a month paid yearly or £25 a month paid monthly, Grow is £49 or £65 and Advanced £259 or £344. With Shopify Payments, Basic plan online card rates start at 2% + 25p and in-person rates at 1.7%. If you use a third-party payment provider instead, Shopify adds a transaction fee (2% on Basic). Hosting, SSL and unlimited products are included.
Price checked 1 November 2026: Basic £19 a month paid yearly or £25 monthly; Grow £49 or £65; Advanced £259 or £344. New stores could start with a 3-day free trial, then £1 a month for 3 months.
Good points
- Purpose-built for online and in-person selling
- Clear UK pricing in pounds
- Sell on social channels and marketplaces from one place
- 24/7 live chat support
Watch out for
- More than a simple brochure site needs
- Third-party payment providers attract an extra fee
- Apps for extra features can add monthly costs
4 Hostinger Website Builder: cheapest to start
Hostinger's builder comes bundled with its hosting plans. The Premium plan lets you create up to three websites, with a custom domain free for a year and two mailboxes per site free for a year. It includes a drag-and-drop editor, hundreds of templates and AI tools for writing copy and generating images, and Hostinger says it charges 0% transaction fees on sales through its ecommerce tools.
Price checked 1 November 2026: Premium £2.39 a month on a 48-month term (£114.72 upfront), renewing at £10.99 a month; Unlimited £3.29 a month (£157.92 upfront), renewing at £13.99 a month. A 14-day free trial is available.
Good points
- Lowest upfront price of the four
- Hosting, domain and email bundled
- 14-day free trial plus 30-day money-back guarantee
- No transaction fees on its own ecommerce tools
Watch out for
- Headline price needs a 48-month upfront payment
- Renewal is several times the introductory price
- Smaller template and app ecosystem than Wix or Shopify
Which builder should you choose
- A service business that takes bookings: WixAd on a plan with scheduling. Also see our guide for tradespeople.
- A creative business or a brand where looks matter most: SquarespaceAd.
- You sell physical or digital products: ShopifyAd.
- You need something simple and cheap: Hostinger Website BuilderAd.
- You want full control and the option to move hosts: WordPress on hosting. See the best WordPress hosting in the UK.
How we compared these builders
We compared plans, trial terms, transaction fees and included features from each builder's official pricing pages on 1 November 2026. We have not built test sites for this comparison. Use the free plans and trials to try the editors yourself before committing. See how we review.
Sources we checked
All checked on 1 November 2026. Prices and features change, so confirm on the provider's site before you buy.