Website builders compared for professionals in 2026: Wix, Squarespace, WordPress and more

How we compared them

We looked at each tool the way a professional who is not a web designer would: Can I be live this week? What do I get for free, and what do I have to pay for? Do I own my web address? Can I set my own page title and description, which decide how I appear in Google? Who looks after updates and security? We have not tested every feature of every tool, and tools change, so treat this as a map and confirm details on the builder’s own site before you pay. For how to add up the real cost of each, see how much a professional website costs.

We make BeVisible, which is in the table, so weigh that. We have described the others as fairly as we can, and for many people one of them is the right answer.

The comparison at a glance

The tools one by one

Wix

Wix is a hosted builder: you design in your browser and Wix runs the site. Its free plan gives you a Wix address and shows Wix ads on every page, which suits a test but not a professional practice. Paid plans let you connect your own web address and remove the ads. It has a large range of apps for bookings, forms and shops, which is useful if you expect to grow into them. The cost is complexity: with so many choices, it is easy to end up with a page that is slow, crowded or missing the basics. Keep it simple and check your page title and description in its SEO settings.

Squarespace

Squarespace is also hosted and is known for good-looking templates that need little tweaking, which makes it popular with photographers, designers and consultants. There is no free plan; every site starts with a free trial, and annual plans include a free custom web address for the first year (it renews at the normal price after that). If a polished look matters more to you than flexibility, it is a good fit. If you want to do something its templates do not allow, you will hit its limits sooner than with WordPress.

WordPress (self-hosted)

WordPress.org is the free, open-source software that powers a very large share of the web. You install it on a hosting account you buy, pick a theme, and add plugins for features. That gives you the most flexibility: you can build almost anything and move it between hosts. It also gives you the most to look after: updates, backups, security and speed are your responsibility, or your developer’s. A site that is not maintained can become slow and a target for attackers. It is the right choice for large, content-heavy sites or if you already have technical help, and usually more than a solo professional needs.

WordPress.com

WordPress.com is a hosted service that runs WordPress for you. It removes the hosting and security work, but its cheaper plans limit what you can install, and the plans that allow your own plugins cost noticeably more. It sits between a simple builder and self-hosted WordPress, and is worth considering if you want WordPress’s editor and blogging strength without managing a server.

Framer

Framer started as a design tool and now publishes websites with one click. It has a genuine free plan: you can publish a working site on a framer.website address with a small Framer badge, and a custom address is a paid feature. It suits designers, studios and portfolios that care about layout and motion. For a professional who just needs a clear page with services and a contact button, it is more tool than is needed.

Carrd

Carrd builds one-page sites only, which is its strength: it is quick, inexpensive and hard to over-complicate. Its free plan is limited. It gives you a Carrd address and Carrd branding, and reviews report that your own web address, forms and custom meta tags need a paid plan. Check that your plan lets you set your own page title and description, because those matter for search. It suits a personal or profile page; it does not add structured data or the search and AI set-up for you.

Google Sites

Google Sites is free and very simple, and it can use your own web address. Reviews report that its search tools are basic and that it does not support structured data, so it is a weak choice if being found is the goal. Do not confuse it with the free websites that used to be made from a Google Business Profile (on addresses ending business.site). Google shut those down in 2024, redirecting visitors to the Business Profile until June of that year, and then showing a “page not found” error. It is a useful reminder that a free site on someone else’s address can disappear.

BeVisible

BeVisible is our product: a one-page builder for independent professionals and small practices. It starts from a photo of your business card or a few typed details, and sets up the page title, structured data (Person, LocalBusiness and FAQ markup) and a plain-text summary for AI assistants for you. You can publish free for 7 days with no card needed; after that one yearly plan keeps a website online, and one plan covers one website. There are two trade-offs. It is one page, in a set of themes, so it is not for large sites or online shops. And your page lives at bevisible.site/yourname: using your own domain name is not available yet, so if owning your own address matters to you today, one of the other tools is the better fit.

A free plan is a trial, not a website

Free tiers are a fair way to try a tool, but for a professional they usually fall short in the same ways: the address belongs to the company (yourname.wixsite.com, yourname.framer.website, yourname.carrd.co), the company’s branding or ads appear on your page, and your own web address, the thing that makes you look established, is held back for paid plans. Before you give a free address to clients, remember you will change it later, and every link and listing that points to the old one will have to change with it. If you will be paying anyway, start with your own address.

Ten questions to ask any builder before you commit

1. Can I use my own web address, and is it registered in my name?
2. What is the full cost per year, including the address, hosting, email and any add-ons I need?
3. Can I edit each page’s title and description?
4. Does it support structured data, or will I have to add it by hand?
5. Does it let search crawlers and AI crawlers read the site, and can I see or edit the robots.txt file?
6. How fast does a typical site on it load on a phone?
7. Is the editor usable from my phone, so I can fix a phone number in two minutes?
8. Can I export my text, photos and data if I leave?
9. What happens to my site if I stop paying, or if the company changes its plans?
10. How do I get help, and in which language and hours?

Can you move later?

Many hosted builders do not let you take a working copy of your site to another host; what you can take is your text, photos and, most importantly, your web address, as long as it is registered in your name. So keep your words and images in a document or folder of your own, keep the address under your control, and switching builders later is an afternoon’s work rather than a rebuild. If a builder holds your address, that is the one thing to fix before anything else.

Which should you choose?

• You are one person or a small practice and want to be live and found this week: a one-page builder made for professionals, or a simple hosted builder such as Wix or Squarespace.
• You care most about how it looks and have an eye for design: Squarespace or Framer.
• You need a very simple profile page for next to nothing: Carrd, with your own address on a paid plan.
• You need many pages, a blog or custom features, and have technical help: WordPress.
• You want WordPress without running it: WordPress.com.
• You need a custom brand, bookings or payments built in, several languages or a shop: talk to a freelancer or agency. Our guide to the best way to build a professional website has five questions to ask them.