Website Builders Ninja Comparison

Our Ninja Ranking is the result of a long and thorough review conducted by our ninja experts for each and every brand. That review resulted in a score out of 10 that helps you to evaluate how good (or not so good) the associated brand is. It’s an average of all of the Ninja Ranking criteria that you will find listed in the drop down section of every comparison page. This includes a score for beginner friendliness, design capabilities, variety of features and value for money.

User Rankings

Our User Rankings are scored out of 5 and are decided by you. You can cast your vote by visiting the website builder’s full review page and hovering over the stars next to each brand to reveal a sliding scale. Simply move your cursor left to right and click on a star to cast your vote.

No of Users

The number of active users reported by the platform.

We tested each platform and interviewed people who have never used it before. We measured how long it took them to get the hang of adding text, images, and making other simple design changes.

Drag & Drop

Drag & Drop features allow you to drag widgets and other design elements onto a page to create a website rather than having to know how to code. It makes building a website accessible for beginners.

Tutorials & Onboarding

We checked for onboarding videos, tutorials and beginner guides that help users to learn how to use the platform.

We rigorously tested the design capabilities of each brand and asked users to report back on their feelings about the design options. Our aim was to find out if you could really make an industry-leading website design with each brand.

The Editor

The editor is the space where you can build and make changes to your website. We judged each brand on how well it has been designed for beginners (ease-of-use) and if it’s scalable for the more advanced user or business as well.

Templates

A website template is a predesigned website structure and layout, complete with display features to help make your content look appealing and professional. This figure is the number of web templates available on the platform.

Responsiveness

Responsive web design automatically scales and adjusts content to fit any screen size. It stops images and text from running off the screen and makes the user experience better for mobile and tablet users.

A website is more than just a design, it also needs to have functionality appropriate to your target audience. In this section, we looked at all of the features and tools available that could help your website and business run smoothly. We also asked existing customers of the platform if it had everything they needed or was there something missing?

Marketplace Apps

The number of apps and third-party widgets available to install onto your website.

Image Editor

Image editors allow you to resize images, crop images, optimize how they look, and add style elements. Having an image editor built into a website builder can save you time because you don’t have to make the edits somewhere else and then re-upload them.

Undo

An undo feature allows you to reverse an edit or change you made within the website editor. It can be a real lifesaver that allows you to feel comfortable enough to make the changes you want, without having to worry about ruining the original version. We all make mistakes sometimes, but an undo button takes the pressure off.

Backup & Restore

Website builders with a backup & restore function create and store copies of your website data in an alternate location that can be restored at a later date if website data is lost or something corrupts the data. Some builders backup data automatically whereas others require you to do it manually.

Open Code Support

Some platforms allow you to add your own code (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) which enables you to add to the functionality and capabilities of your website. This means that you won’t have to rely on the built-in functions and capabilities. If code editing is fully supported, everything can be changed and anything can be added to your website, regardless of the constraints of the website builder itself.

Login & User Permissions

With logins & user permissions your customers or colleagues will be able to create an account and you will be able to control what they gain access to on the website. For example, colleague A can make an account and you can allow them to post to the blog but remain excluded from analytics data.

We assessed how well each website builder platform enables you to promote and sell your products and services. We also checked reviews and asked users first hand about their experiences of the marketing capabilities of each brand.

SEO tools

We evaluated how well each platform is set up for Search Engine Optimization with an independent SEO audit completed by our expert ninjas. This comparison list has 5 of the most important criteria. If you want a better idea of how well you can rank with each website builder, head over to the SEO section of our in-depth reviews.

Google Analytics Support

Marks if the platform supports any kind of integration with Google Analytics, without coding.

Newsletters & Emailing

Marks if the platform supports the creation of newsletter sign up forms, the ability to store an email database, and the capacity to send out emails directly from the platform. Having this option will save you the cost, pain, and time involved with using another separate platform for your newsletters and emailing.

Social Media Integration

Linking social media accounts to your website can help users to share your content more easily with built in buttons for multiple social networks. It can also enable you to share your website content to your social media pages at the click of a button. Some platforms even support integrations of components like Facebook comments and reviews.

We got under the skin of each brand’s eCommerce and sales features so you can understand if the platform could help you generate lots of sales. We checked users reviews to find any common problems and asked users directly how good the eCommerce features worked for real businesses.

Stores & Shopify Integration

We found out if the website builder lets you sell products through a store and connect to other eCommerce platforms like Shopify.

Booking & Reservations

The ability to add booking and reservation functionality to your website with an in-house or third-party widget.

Payment Options

Payment options will vary depending on which platform you choose. However, common options include PayPal, Square, Stripe & authourize.net.

Coupons & Sales support

Marks whether or not the platform supports discount codes and different sales offers, labeling and pricings.

Shipping & handling

Does the platform offer built-in functionality or the ability to add in third-party widgets that automate shipping & handling fees and processes.

We looked into the starting prices, free trial offers and the support functions of each brand to help you understand if the platform you’re thinking of choosing is worth the money. We scoured reviews from real customers to check for any hidden costs too.

Free trial

Does the website builder platform offer a free trial so you can try before you buy?

Price per period

Section Info will be updated soon

Support

It’s important to know what help is available when you need it, so we scoured the website to find out exactly what was on offer.