No-Code Website Builders Compared: From Landing Pages to Ecommerce

I'm a big believer that everyone should have their own little corner of the internet — a home base that reflects you, not just whatever social media platform is popular this year. Your website can be your landing page, your blog, your portfolio, or even just a single page that says, "Hey, here I am."

Websites are important, but not everyone wants to learn to code. Maybe you don't have the time. Maybe you just don't want to tinker with HTML and CSS for something simple. That's totally fine. Luckily, there are plenty of tools that let you build a site without writing a single line of code.

I asked develoeprs in my network which website builders they recommend to non-developers and tried my hand at a few. In this post, I'll cover the features you want to think about for various no-code website builders, some suggested options based on your needs, and some caveats to keep in mind.

Before we dive in, let's cover the importance of owning your own domain...

Why your own domain name matters #

Even if you're using a simple website builder, owning your own domain name (like sia.codes) is one of the most important steps you can take. Think of it as your permanent street address on the internet.

If you only use the free subdomain a builder provides you (like yourname.carrd.co), you're tied to that platform. If the company shuts down, changes direction, or you decide you want to move your site elsewhere, you'll have to start fresh with a new URL. That means broken links, lost SEO history, and confusion for people trying to find you.

With your own domain name, you stay in control. You can point it to a new provider or hosting service at any time while keeping your audience, links, and search rankings intact. It also makes you look more professional and memorable. People are far more likely to trust yourname.com than a long, platform-branded address.

How do I get my own domain name? #

Usually domains are purchased separately from your provider, though sometimes it's included like on Squarespace. Basic endings (called a "TLD" for top-level domain) like ".com" are usually pretty cheap around $12-$15 per year. Others like ".studio" can cost a lot more.

I used to use Google Domains for purchasing new domains, but they stopped offering that service and migrated us all to Squarespace Domains which seems to work fine. Check to see if whatever builder you decide on has the ability to also buy your domain directly through it as that will make your set up simpler. However, double check the pricing with Squarespace Domains because sometimes they charge different amounts.

If you move to a different builder/hosting service in the future, you would go to your domain settings and point it to that new service. You can also move the management of your domain to a different service which may be easier in some cases.

What to Look For in a Website Builder #

Website builders may look similar at first glance, but the details matter. Here are some features I suggest paying attention to and some key questions for each:

• Price - What is the price? How does it vary based on monthly vs yearly billing? If I sign up using a promo, will the price change in the future?
• Custom domains - I only suggest providers and plans here that allow for using custom domains because it's important to maintain portability for your address on the web no matter which provider you use.
• Contact form support - If you don't want to share your email address on your website, then you'll want to make sure you can set up a contact form instead.
• Style and template options - Designing is hard. Templates are a huge help. Is there a general style vibe? What templates are available? How customizable are the styles and templates?
• Blogging support - Is blogging possible? Are there limits to the number of posts? What features are available (e.g., tagging topics)? How is the writing experience?
• Newsletter/email features - How many subscribers are included? Does it function like a newsletter blog (full posts are emailed), or is it primarily marketing email (you manually create each email and it's separate from any blog posts you may have)? For paid subscribers, how much money does the service take out of your income?
• Payments and Ecommerce - If you want to either accept payments or do full ecommerce with product listings and inventories, check for these. Look into not only your plan price but the transaction fees.

Before we get to the full comparison table, here's a rundown of the tools my network recommended (plus a few extras)...

The Website Builders #

Which website builder is best for you is going to depend on:

1. The primary goal for your website
2. The features you need

Here, I've split out my recommendations by three types:

• Landing pages - You only want a place on the internet where you can say who you are, have a basic portfolio, link out to social media and other sites, and tell people how to contact you.
• Blogs and newsletters - You want a place on the internet where you can write and share your thoughts periodically. You may or may not want the ability to email people those thoughts.
• Ecommerce - You want a place on the internet where you can sell stuff, digital and/or physical. These sites also typically also have the ability for all the above plus more.

Note that the boundaries on the above are blurry. Be sure to check out the feature table and your favorite options' websites for details.

Also, you can cobble together multiple services, especially emails. For example, you can have a basic landing page on a cheap service, then use the free tier for emails on Beehiiv or Buttondown if you have a low subscriber count, and use Stripe for accepting occasional payments with transaction fees but no subscription cost.

Don't forget - once you own your own domain, you can always change your provider. You don't need to pay for the bigger option now because you think you might need, for example, ecommerce in the future. You can migrate when you finally have that need.

Builders for landing pages #

The clear favorite from my network in this category was Carrd. It's significantly cheaper than many option at only $19 per year for the level that allows a custom domain. It's main limitation is that it is only for one-page sites. I was impressed with the available templates and the user experience of customizing the content on a template. It has a free tier so you can play with the template before deciding.

Universe and mmm.page were the next step up in price at $12 per month but they allow more pages. I personally didn't like the amount of customization required for mmm.page, but I still included it because some of the examples given are very creative, and I have a lot of artist and creative friends.

Wix has a Light plan that fits in here, but I didn't think it made financial sense as Squarespace Basic is $1 cheaper and includes ecommerce as well, which I'll cover in the ecommerce section.

Builders for blogging and/or newsletters #

Basic blog-first services have proliferated, and the favorites in this category were Pika.page and Pagecord. Both offer unlimited blog posts and the ability to email. They allow for some customization and a few extra pages, but not a lot. They are truly more about the blog than the website.

If you're looking for a Substack-like website and newsletter experience, then I recommend Ghost(Pro). If writing and growing an email list is your main goal, this is a strong contender, and you can accept paid subscriptions. Other newsletter services are better tied with a website, but Ghost(Pro) lets you customize the website and add more pages all in one with the blog/newsletter service. If your newsletter really takes off, you can switch to self-hosted Ghost and keep a higher share of your income.

While Wix has the ability to blog, a 100-page limit for the whole site would reduce your max blog posts.

Builders for Ecommerce #

If you only need payments sometimes, then some of the other services mention above can add on basic payments. You can also cobble together payments through Stripe, Paypal, Venmo, and the like.

However, if you plan to sell a lot of products, especially online, then you might want to jump into a full ecommerce solution. Squarespace and Shopify are the leaders here.

Squarespace Basic is the cheaper option. It has polished templates, blogging, and good ecommerce tools. It does not allow for much customization or advanced features, but is good for a lot of folks starting out. Note that email marketing seems to be separate so research pricing on that.

Shopify Basic is the entry point to Shopify, which is a full ecommerce solution. Both free and paid templates are available with endless customization in the user interface or through code. Basic email marketing is included.

Wix Core would be the analogous plan level for ecommerce, but I did not include it in the table because both Squarespace and Shopify offer significantly more pages and some more features at either the same or cheaper plan costs.

The Comparison Table #

This list of website builders is not exhaustive, and many, many other cool tools exist out there.

All plans at these levels and above allow for custom domains (required minimum per my advice above). They also all allow for uploading of your own images, though some have lower total image size limits than others.

On smaller screens, scroll back and forth to see the full table. Noticed that some of this data changed? Contact me with the updates so I can change it!

Caveats & Gaps / Things to Double-Check #

• ALL DETAILS ARE AS OF PUBLISHING DATE AND WILL LIKELY CHANGE. Do not rely on this blog post for your final decision - find the options you like best then go to their websites, start playing with their tools, and make sure it fulfills all your needs before locking in a subscription.
• Most pricing above is based on annual billing. If you switch to monthly, the prices are higher.
• Most ecommerce platforms also charge for card payments, e.g., 3% of the transaction plus $0.30 per transaction. Often, these transaction rates will be lower on higher plan levels.
• If you're in tech and building a blog, you should probably also have the ability to enable an RSS feed.
• To stay within total image size limits, I'd resize your images below 1-2MB before uploading. I did not check all of these builders, but most should automatically optimize your images for you so that your pages will load fast.

What do you use for sia.codes? #

I am a developer who loves tinkering with websites. This is the opposite of a no-code website, though 11ty is comparatively easier as a starting point for code solutions. But, if you're still curious about the details:

• I use 11ty to build all my pages and blog posts as well as my RSS feed.
• I host on Cloudflare Pages within the free tier. I use both Cloudflare and Netlify for hosting static websites.
• I use Cloudinary for hosting and optimizing my images as well as social share image generation, within the free tier.
• I use Buttondown for sending emails but I host the archive directly in my website (using 11ty) for better SEO. I pay for a higher price tier to host several newsletters within the same account.
• I have a separate artist site at sia.studio which I might eventually move to Shopify if I start selling original art and/or prints online. Full disclosure: I used to work there and have a staff store I can still use for free.

Final Thoughts #

You don't need to code to have your own space online. What matters most is choosing a tool that meets your needs and making sure your site lives at your own domain. Platforms will come and go, but your domain is forever.

So whether you want something playful like mmm.page, professional like Squarespace, or content-focused like Ghost, the important part is: you get to own your corner of the web.

Cover photo by Breno Assis on Unsplash

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