Jimmy ParkerHaving an online presence is more vital than ever before. Whether you’re planning to launch a website for your business or simply to have a personal blog, you may have thought of using a free website builder.
A free website builder guarantees you don’t have to spend much (or any) money designing your website or signing up with an Australian web hosting provider. With the many builder options to choose from, deciding on the best builder might be a challenge. To help you get started, we’ve reviewed 8 of the best free website builders in Australia.
The website builders discussed here will look at the specific features you can use with these builders. One of the biggest challenges with “free” plans is that they are not always what they seem. In most cases, after you’ve invested all the work, you may realize that you need to pay for a premium plan to use other essential features.
So, we’ve taken the time to ensure that the builders included in this guide can offer you the flexibility of building a simple website with functional features for your business.
Best Free Website Builders Australia 2023
1. Wix
Wix has been in the market for quite some time now, and it continues to dominate the industry. The tool comes with some of the most important features other website builders don’t offer. It’s ranked among the best builders due to its flexibility.
Wix simplifies designing a website by giving you a simple-to-use interface. Its intuitive interface allows even armatures to create simple websites with powerful features.
The freemium plan has numerous features with a few exceptions, like e-commerce. You also don’t get a custom URL.
Most people using Wix don’t mind seeing a Wix advertisement on their platforms. These small trade-offs shouldn’t stop you from using this feature-filled website builder. Compared to other tools, Wix ranks higher as a builder with the most unique and beautiful templates you can use.
Plus, the builder allows you to add third-party widgets and apps at a small fee.
The wide variety of templates to choose from gives you the flexibility of editing and customizing your website as you please. Its highly intuitive interface makes this pretty easy. You simply need to drag and drop certain aspects of your website to get things into position. If you’re short on time, you can have your website up and running within an hour.
Other features you can include with the free version are online stores, media galleries, and blogs. It’s worth noting that all Wix templates you will be using are optimized for mobile viewing.
You don’t have to worry about hosting since Wix will be doing the hosting for you. Since there’s so much you get from the tool, it won’t cost you that much to find the right package for a domain name.
Pros
- Simple and easy to use
- Drag-and-drop feature
- 500+ customizable designs
- Tons of freedom
- 250+ apps to add
- Free SEO wizard
Cons
- Can’t change templates after publishing
- Ads on the free plan are very noticeable
- Limited SEO capabilities
- Pricing
2. Zyro
A good website builder offers a simple-to-use interface. Zyro fits this description. The builder comes with a drag-and-drop feature, making it easy to build a simple website from scratch. With the drag-and-drop feature, you have the freedom to play around with web elements and position them where you would like.
The good news is that dragging elements into position snaps to a grid, which helps to keep your website structured. But this can be an issue for some if you really want to fully customize your page.
What makes Zyro stand out is its AI features that help you design and optimize your page. You get a logo generator, an AI text generator, and a heatmap. The heatmap tells you where your visitors are more interested in your page. Such features help with customization to guarantee you design an effective website. Exciting key add-ons include Facebook Messenger and Google Analytics.
Zyro’s templates can be tested without spending a dime. However, none of these templates give you the freedom to change fonts or customize certain basic features.
Zyro free plan allows for integration with Unsplash, making it easy for you to add images to your website. You also benefit from the free SSL certification, a feature that isn’t available in other builders.
If you’re more interested in an e-commerce store, the Zyro website builder offers a good plan with customizable templates. You can have your store running in minutes. However, you may have to part with some money to use premium features like adding a CRM tool and other payment options.
Pros
- Quick updates
- Amazing apps and SEO tools
Cons
- Issues with domain handling
3. Squarespace
Squarespace is a stylish tool with solid selling capabilities. This is the right builder for you if you want to run an online store fast. Its free plan comes with an SSL certificate and other analytics tools.
You might be limited here in terms of free templates since you only get to select your ideal typeface and primary colour. The rest of the features are limited. You can’t customize the template, meaning you only have one template.
On the plus side, it’s simple and mobile-responsive. It’s also relatively fast. Some of the customizations you can make here is to choose from 15 typefaces for your website text.
The simplicity of Squarespace makes it quite good when designing an online store. While the builder might lack hyper-advanced features, developing an e-commerce store in minutes is easy.
The tool allows you to create a website to manage your items, sell digital products, track inventory, collect taxes, and offer sales. It’s worth mentioning that the free plan allows you to sell unlimited items for free. However, Squarespace charges you a small percentage for each transaction you make. But the charges apply to all plans, making the free plan useful and handy.
Third-party integrations give you the advantage of selling your items on popular social networks like Instagram and Facebook. You can even sell some using Google search results. Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel integration ensure you track your purchases and accurately determine what your customers like most.
What’s more, if you feel like your website needs a professional touch, Squarespace offers this service. You can work with a professional designer at a fraction of the cost to give your page an amazing look.
Pros
- User-friendly interface
- Drag-and-drop feature
- Stylish templates
Cons
- Limited template functionalities
- Lack of customization
4. Weebly
Weebly is a great website builder that’s ideal for small businesses. Like any other good website builder, Weebly comes with a drag-and-drop feature. This feature allows you to customize the look of your page effortlessly.
Combine this with its semi-professional domain, robust SEO tools, and lots of room for scaling your website, and the builder comes out as a recommended tool for small businesses.
However, Weebly falls short in terms of templates compared to Wix. There are fewer templates to choose from, and the editing tools are pretty basic. Its structured themes can also be frustrating.
Weebly is integrated with an e-commerce functionality tool powered by Square Online. So, if you want to sell your items online, Weebly offers tons of tools to make this possible.
Weebly’s free plan provides 500 MB of storage. If you don’t plan to upgrade to the premium plan, you will have to put up with Weebly ads on your website. But you can avoid this by spending a few extra dollars every month for unlimited storage and a custom domain.
Theme customization is limited with Weebly since you can only change the fonts of your site and nothing more. This can be an issue if you’re in for some flexibility in personalizing the look of your new website.
Overall, you will like Weebly for its beginner-friendly prompts. It’s easy to design a website without accidentally deleting anything. The prompts help to double-check your moves, which can be helpful for newbies.
Pros
- Scalable features
- Fast website setup
- Professional free domain
Cons
- Limited editing tools
- Limited support
- Pop-up ads are distracting
5. Webnode
Webnode is a great website builder for folks who don’t want to spend time editing a template. The builder has a friendly interface that makes it easy to use and build a website. But its limited customization features could hamper your creative skills if you wanted to personalize your website to suit your business needs.
The setup process is relatively easy with Webnode. You can finish building your website within five minutes. The simplicity of using the builder means that no learning curve is required here.
You can quickly find your way around editing templates and dragging website elements where they need to be.
In terms of templates, Webnode takes on a minimalist design. While you can choose from various templates, you can’t switch to a different template once you select one. Hence, you must preview the template to ensure you select the right template for your website.
Webnode’s editor is simple but offers limited flexibility compared to Wix or Weebly. It seems to have a drag-and-drop feature, but it doesn’t perform as expected. For instance, you can move specific elements of your website to a different section, but they will align with the predetermined design.
Storage is a big issue since Webnode offers limited storage space with the free plan. Getting 100 MB storage isn’t enough to support some of the images and other third-party apps you might think of integrating. Therefore, you may have to upgrade to a premium plan sooner than expected.
Pros
- Drag-and-drop feature
- Easy to use
Cons
- Limited flexibility
- Limited storage
- Few SEO capabilities
6. Webflow
If you’re good with customizations, Webflow is a great website builder for you. The ease of customization makes this builder a perfect tool for designers. Instead of the standard drag-and-drop feature that other web builders offer, Webflow uses padding and section block elements.
At first glance, Webflow’s editor might look like Photoshop. This scary look comes with the many design options at your disposal. Newbies might feel intimidated by the customization options since there’s so much to take in.
However, Webflow advises its users to think of the designing process as a box model. This is where you use text boxes, button boxes, and image boxes to design your website’s layout. The box model approach simplifies the design process and helps you visualize how your website should look.
Unlike other free website builders, Webflow doesn’t disappoint with its vast array of template designs. It has over 100 templates to pick from, and 40 of these templates are free. Using the filter tool, you can quickly find a template that suits your needs.
Webflow’s features are quite limited, and this is where the builder falls short compared to its rivals like Weebly, Squarespace, and Wix. For instance, social media integration can be frustrating since embedding live feeds is an issue. The only way to find your way around common challenges is by visiting Webflow University, the builder’s help center.
Pros
- Great design customization
- Wide range of templates
- Creative freedom
Cons
- Not suitable for beginners
- No live chat/phone support
- Expensive plans
7. Jimdo
Jimdo is all about simplicity, and you can have your site ready in minutes. It comes with a useful drag-and-drop feature and an automatic website creator if you don’t have the time to customize your site.
You don’t require any coding expertise to use Jimdo. It’s a great builder for personal blogging. You get some of the best features without spending a lot. Plus, its ADI platform can save you a lot of time you would have alternatively used in designing your website.
It’s also good with optimization since it lets you optimize several elements of your site. For instance, you can split posts into different categories, which allows readers to navigate your blog easily.
You can also sell your items online, thanks to Jimdo’s ecommerce features. You will have to pay a few extra dollars to get a professional domain and add payment methods to your platform.
On the downside, Jimdo has limited SEO tools. You can’t use alt tags, which limits the context you offer your readers. Its less-than-friendly interface is also an issue for newbies.
The free plan offers 500 MB storage and two GB bandwidth. Getting an upgrade might be necessary if you want to get rid of Jimdo’s ads on every page of your site. The upgrade will also ensure you gain from the builder’s unlimited e-commerce and customization features.
Pros
- Easy to use
- Time efficient
- Mobile optimization
Cons
- Lacks creative control
- Limited SEO capabilities
8. Shopify
With Shopify website builder, you don’t need to be a coding expert to create your site. In fact, you also don’t need to break the bank to get the best features the builder has to offer. Unlike other tools like Webflow, you don’t need to hire an expert to help you with customizations.
As long as you have an idea to sell something online, Shopify is the right tool that will bring your ideas into reality. One thing you will like about Shopify is its professionally designed and responsive themes. But you can only use 10 free themes when using the freemium platform. Other themes might be costly since you need to spend hundreds of dollars.
Shopify is most recommended for individuals with a large inventory and those looking for an all-in-one e-commerce solution. If you’re ready to take your online store to the next level, Shopify has all the best features a website builder can offer.
The only challenge comes when you have to pay extra to integrate third-party apps to enhance the functionality of your online store.
When you need support, Shopify offers 24/7 assistance. The platform offers different ways to reach the customer service team, including social media support, 24/7 phone support, a community forum, a help centre, and email support. So, you can be confident that you won’t get lost when using the Shopify website builder.
Pros
- Suitable for larger stores
- Multi-platform selling
- Flexibility
Cons
- Not user-friendly
- Overly reliant on apps
How to Choose a Free Website Builder in Australia?
With so many website builders to choose from, starting a website is easier than ever before. You only need to select the right builder that meets your specifications, and you’re good to go.
You’ve noticed that some builders don’t even require any coding expertise for you to get started. You can build a site from scratch with little knowledge about web design.
However, the wide variety of website builders doesn’t mean you should choose any that comes your way. There are essential factors you need to consider to ensure you settle for the best tool. Here’s a list of the key decision-making factors to mull over.
Consider the Builder’s Features
- Your ideal tool will offer you all the features that are most important to you.
- For example, Squarespace and Wix are recommended choices if you’re looking for simplicity.
- The website builder’s features will determine whether it’s the right solution for your needs.
Ease of Use
- The whole reason behind using a website builder is to simplify the building process.
- Therefore, using a tool with a steep learning curve doesn’t make sense.
- When choosing a good builder, ensure you choose one with an intuitive interface and other design features that make it easy to build a site.
- For example, reliable software should have a drag-and-drop functionality. This feature allows you to move your website elements and customize your website without deleting anything accidentally.
Templates
- The array of templates you can use is another vital consideration.
- A template is what gives your website its initial structure. Partly, it also makes the design process simpler.
- Choose a builder with many templates that you can customize from the get-go.
Customization Options
- Using a free template is one thing, but if the templates can’t be customized, then you’re limited from personalizing your website.
- The best website builder is one with many customization options.
- After all, you want a tool that helps you optimize your site to align with your core business needs.
SEO Features
- Besides building your website to look appealing, it won’t be of any use if your audience can’t see it.
- Therefore, you should consider the SEO features that a builder offers.
- Choose a builder with handy SEO features to increase your site’s visibility on search engines like Google and Bing.
Social Share
- Social media networks are a great way to promote your online business. For that reason, you should establish whether the builder has social share features.
- These features allow you to share content on popular networks like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
To Pay or Not to Pay
- Should you pay for your website builder or stick to the free plan?
- Free website builders are never really free. Usually, these tools offer limited features, meaning you must pay to enjoy the best features offered.
- For instance, top-rated website builders like Wix, and Zyro don’t provide a free domain name. The ads on free plans are also frustrating, and they might hamper the success of your website.
- You will also have limited storage and bandwidth, which is another reason why it’s worth paying for a website builder.
- So, to get the most from a website builder, it’s worth looking for the best offers among the listed tools.
Free Website Builder Questions
If you’re ready to pick the best free website builder but you still aren’t sure which is the best for you, these questions might help you out!
What is the best completely free website builder in Australia?
The best free website builder is one that fits your business needs. Some of the recommended builder tools include Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace.
How much does it cost to make a website in Australia?
For small businesses in Australia, you should be ready to pay about $2000-$12000 to build a site. It can be more or less depending on the website’s complexity.
Is Wix better than WordPress?
Wix might be easier to use when building a website, but WordPress is open-source. It offers many customization options for anyone looking to build a website. Plus, it’s better than Wix because of its power and scalability.
Now you have all the resources you need to find the perfect free website solution for you!