Hosting · 7 alternatives to Wix and Squarespace
7 Wix and Squarespace alternatives (2026): cheaper builders and what you give up
WordPress.com, Webflow, Framer, Hostinger Website Builder, Carrd, Strikingly and Durable compared on real prices, free plans, renewal costs and the features each cheap plan leaves out.
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Wix and Squarespace are the default website builders, and both are easy. The question is price and what you get for it. Wix’s Light plan shows as $17 a month billed yearly (Wix notes that prices vary by location), and payments and a store start on Core at $29. Squarespace has no free plan, just a 14-day trial, and prices its plans per country, so check its site for yours.
Meanwhile, cheaper builders have caught up on design, and some include things Wix and Squarespace charge extra for: plugins, a CMS, a booking system, or hosting and email in the same bill.
So we compared seven alternatives on what you actually pay (including renewals and long prepaid terms), what each free plan gives you, and what the cheapest paid plan leaves out. Every price comes from each builder’s own pricing page, checked on October 17, 2026.
At a glance
| # | Tool | Paid from | Free | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WordPress.comOur pick | $4/month billed yearly (Personal), renews at $5/month; $9 monthly | Free plan on a WordPress.com address, with ads and no plugins | Blogs and small business sites that may grow |
| 2 | Webflow | $15/month billed yearly (Basic site plan); $25 monthly | Free Starter plan on a webflow.io address, 2 pages | Designers who want full visual control |
| 3 | Framer | $10/month billed yearly (Basic) | Free plan on a Framer address, with 500 AI credits to try | Polished portfolio and startup sites with a small CMS |
| 4 | Hostinger Website Builder | $2.99/month on a 48-month term ($143.52 upfront), renews at $10.99/month | 14-day free trial; 30-day money-back guarantee | A site with hosting, a domain and email in one bill |
| 5 | Carrd | $19/year with your own domain (Pro Standard); $9/year without (Pro Lite) | Free for up to 3 one-page sites, with Carrd branding | One-page sites: a portfolio, a launch page or link-in-bio |
| 6 | Strikingly | $16/month billed yearly (Pro); $20 monthly | Free plan on a Strikingly address, 500 MB per site | Simple sites with a small store or memberships |
| 7 | Durable | $22/month billed yearly (Launch); $25 monthly | Free plan on a durable.site address, 300 AI credits in total | Service businesses that want a site, CRM and bookings together |
Prices are the cheapest paid plan in US dollars as each tool shows it, checked Oct 17, 2026.
1 WordPress.comOur pick
- Paid from
- $4/month billed yearly (Personal), renews at $5/month; $9 monthly
- Free
- Free plan on a WordPress.com address, with ads and no plugins
- Best for
- Blogs and small business sites that may grow
WordPress.com is hosted WordPress from Automattic, so you get the world's most used site software without managing a server. The Personal plan is the sweet spot: $4 a month for the first year on yearly billing, then $5.
What makes it stand out against Wix's entry plan is flexibility: Personal can already install any of 60,000+ plugins and every premium theme, and your content is portable WordPress if you ever move host.
What's good
- Personal includes 6 GB storage and unlimited pages, posts, users and visitors, with no ads
- Personal can install any of 60,000+ plugins and all premium themes
- Free domain for the first year on yearly billing; $2.75/month on a 3-year plan
Watch out for
- Renews at $5/month after the first year; monthly billing is $9 and has no free domain
- Payment buttons and premium stats start on Premium ($8/month billed yearly)
Checked Oct 17, 2026 on wordpress.com, wordpress.com
2 Webflow
- Paid from
- $15/month billed yearly (Basic site plan); $25 monthly
- Free
- Free Starter plan on a webflow.io address, 2 pages
- Best for
- Designers who want full visual control
Webflow is a visual design tool that also hosts the site, priced per site. You get far more control over layout than Wix or Squarespace, closer to designing in code without writing it.
Read the plans carefully: the $15 Basic plan is "for simple sites that don't need a CMS", so if you want a blog or other dynamic content, you need Premium at $25 a month on yearly billing.
What's good
- Basic adds your own domain, 300 pages, 10 GB bandwidth and unlimited form submissions
- Webflow AI and app hosting (Webflow Cloud) are listed on Starter and Basic
- Premium ($25/month yearly) adds the CMS, site search and 50 GB+ bandwidth
Watch out for
- Basic has no CMS; blogs and dynamic content need Premium
- Priced per site, plus taxes; localisation and analytics are paid add-ons
Checked Oct 17, 2026 on webflow.com
3 Framer
- Paid from
- $10/month billed yearly (Basic)
- Free
- Free plan on a Framer address, with 500 AI credits to try
- Best for
- Polished portfolio and startup sites with a small CMS
Framer is a design-first site builder with AI built in. At $10 a month on yearly billing, Basic already includes your own domain (with a complimentary one on yearly billing), 30 pages and a CMS with up to 1,000 items.
It's the quickest route here to a site that looks custom-designed. The limits are fixed, though: past 30 pages or two CMS collections you're on Pro at $30, and extra editors cost $20 a month each.
What's good
- Basic includes your own domain, 30 pages and 50 GB bandwidth
- 2 CMS collections with 1,000 items, and 1,000 AI credits a month
- Viewers are free, and so is the workspace owner seat
Watch out for
- Fixed limits on Basic; more pages or collections need Pro ($30/month)
- Extra editors cost $20/month each, and each translation language is a $20 add-on
Checked Oct 17, 2026 on framer.com
4 Hostinger Website Builder
- Paid from
- $2.99/month on a 48-month term ($143.52 upfront), renews at $10.99/month
- Free
- 14-day free trial; 30-day money-back guarantee
- Best for
- A site with hosting, a domain and email in one bill
Hostinger's builder (now combined with its AI app builder) bundles the things Wix and Squarespace charge for separately: hosting, a domain free for the first year and two mailboxes per site, also free for a year.
The headline price is very low, but it needs a four-year prepay and renews at $10.99 a month, and selling online starts on the Unlimited plan. It's the right choice if you'll keep the site for years and want one bill.
What's good
- Premium covers up to 3 websites, a free domain for a year and 2 mailboxes per site
- 400+ templates and 250 one-time AI credits
- Hosting is included
Watch out for
- The $2.99 price needs a 48-month prepay and renews at $10.99 a month
- Ecommerce is listed only from Unlimited; the domain and mailboxes are free for the first year only
Checked Oct 17, 2026 on hostinger.com
5 Carrd
- Paid from
- $19/year with your own domain (Pro Standard); $9/year without (Pro Lite)
- Free
- Free for up to 3 one-page sites, with Carrd branding
- Best for
- One-page sites: a portfolio, a launch page or link-in-bio
Carrd builds simple one-page sites, and it's by far the cheapest way to get a real site on your own domain: $19 a year. That's less than one month of most builders here.
Mind the plan names: the $9-a-year Pro Lite plan removes branding but doesn't include your own domain or forms. And it really is one page per site, so it isn't a fit if you need a blog or a shop.
What's good
- Pro Standard ($19/year) adds your own domain, forms, embeds and analytics for 10 sites
- Every Pro plan removes the 'Made with Carrd' branding
- Pay by PayPal or card, yearly
Watch out for
- Pro Lite ($9/year) doesn't include your own domain or forms
- One-page sites only
6 Strikingly
- Paid from
- $16/month billed yearly (Pro); $20 monthly
- Free
- Free plan on a Strikingly address, 500 MB per site
- Best for
- Simple sites with a small store or memberships
Strikingly is a straightforward hosted builder with a usable free plan and a Pro plan that covers three sites, your own domain (free for a year on yearly billing), memberships and a store of up to 300 products.
Its store fees are where the comparison with Wix gets interesting: 2% per sale on Pro, and 0% only on the $49 VIP plan. Note also that you can't switch from yearly to monthly billing.
What's good
- Pro covers 3 sites, your own domain with free SSL and 20 GB storage per site
- Unlimited bandwidth, up to 100 pages per site and 300 products
- Removes branding and adds forms, memberships and custom code
Watch out for
- Store transaction fee: 5% on Free and 2% on Pro
- You can't switch from yearly to monthly billing
Checked Oct 17, 2026 on strikingly.com
7 Durable
- Paid from
- $22/month billed yearly (Launch); $25 monthly
- Free
- Free plan on a durable.site address, 300 AI credits in total
- Best for
- Service businesses that want a site, CRM and bookings together
Durable is an AI website builder aimed at small service businesses: it builds the site from a prompt and adds a CRM, online booking synced to your calendar, and AI tools for blog posts and review replies.
If you run bookings through your site, that bundle can replace two or three separate tools. It isn't built for online shops, though, and HTML editing is limited.
What's good
- Launch includes your own domain (or a free one, up to $20 value) and advanced SEO
- Built-in CRM and unlimited bookings synced to your calendar
- 1,000 AI credits a month for blog posts, social posts and review replies
Watch out for
- Not designed for ecommerce, and HTML editing is limited
- Moving your domain out takes a couple of weeks and has a minimum subscription time
Checked Oct 17, 2026 on durable.com
Our pick
WordPress.com
For most small sites, WordPress.com is the best value: $4 a month on yearly billing (renewing at $5) gets you no ads, a free domain for the first year and, unusually for an entry plan, the full plugin library.
If design matters most, Framer gives you a polished site with a CMS from $10 a month. If you only need one page, Carrd with your own domain is $19 a year.
Questions
What is the cheapest alternative to Wix?
For a full site, WordPress.com Personal at $4 a month on yearly billing (renewing at $5). For a single page on your own domain, Carrd at $19 a year. Hostinger's builder is $2.99 a month, but only on a four-year prepay, and it renews at $10.99.
Which Squarespace alternative has a free plan?
WordPress.com, Webflow, Framer, Carrd, Strikingly and Durable all have free plans, each on their own subdomain and with branding or limits. Squarespace itself has a 14-day trial, not a free plan.
Which builder is best for a blog?
WordPress.com, since blogging is what WordPress was built for and the Personal plan includes plugins. On Webflow, a blog needs the CMS, which starts on Premium.
How we compare: we read each tool's own pricing and documentation and note the date. We haven't run these tools hands-on for this article, so we don't score them. See our editorial policy.
Free in Hosting
61 free plans, credits and trials, each checked on the provider's site.
- Hosting and cloudFree plans, always-free servers and signup credits.18
- DatabasesFree databases for apps, agents and vector search.4
- Website buildersBuild a site free, usually on a subdomain with the builder’s branding.15
- DomainsFree subdomains, and domains free for the first year with a paid plan.15
- EmailFree inboxes, forwarding for your own domain, and trials.9