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Best for Content Creators
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Not designed for businesses that want to scale
Best for Beginners
Best for Dropshippers
Squarespace is the best web builder we tested, but Wix and Shopify are serious contenders. While Squarespace provided the most versatile interface for anything from dropshipping to service-based businesses, Wix's ease of use for beginners and Shopify's extensive dropshipping wholesaler integration also stood out.
If you're interested in starting your own online business in 2025, you'll want to learn about the good, the bad, and what will help you build your perfect ecommerce website.
 Best Overall |
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| Star rating | |||
| Starting price | Starts at $25.00/mo | Starts at Free | Starts at $29/mo |
| Free trial | Yes – 14 days | Yes – 3 days | |
| Money-back guarantee | Yes – 14 days | ||
| Number of collaborators | Up to unlimited | Up to 100 | Up to unlimited |
| Storage space | Unlimited GB and up to 30 minutes of video | Up to unlimited, depending on the plan | Unlimited |
| Custom domain | Yes, with paid plans | ||
| Site analytics | Yes, starting with Core plan | ||
| Ecommerce tools | Yes, starting with Core plan | ||
| AI tools | |||
| Learn more | Get Squarespace | Get Wix | Get Shopify |
We use our proprietary grading rubric in all of our testing, which considers ease-of-use, design, price, compatibility, and features (among other metrics).
Our testing process is designed to ensure that the product isn't too confusing, delivers on its claims, and offers you a lot for a reasonable price. We sign up for each option ourselves, just like you would. Our ratings reflect the real-world performance of the product, which allows us to give our best advice on whether or not it's worthwhile.
To learn more about how we test, check out our full testing methodology here.
Easy to use drag-and-drop platform like Wix
Offers ecommerce tools for sales, payment, and fulfillment
Plenty of businesses blend ecommerce and blogging into a successful brand. Squarespace is especially good for business with content because you have beautifully designed templates, plenty of space for blogging, and powerful ecommerce tools.
Features: When testing Squarespace, we found that the tools were easy enough for beginners but also robust enough to carry a business. The templates were all beautifully designed, and we could easily edit any of the elements. We also appreciated the more advanced blogging features, which support businesses that want to boost their SEO rankings and online presence with helpful content.
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Ecommerce tools: The ecommerce tools vary significantly based on your site's goals. Squarespace is a useful resource whether you're selling physical products, a service, or tickets for events. The ability to use Squarespace for anything made it stand out for us.
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Editing tools: Squarespace has no photo editing tools. You'll either need to import photos just as they are or edit them in another program before uploading them to the site. We were also surprised that we couldn't change the template once we chose one. Instead, we had to edit the individual elements on the page, which took much longer.
Free plan includes comprehensive AI and editing tools
Easy-to-use platform with intuitive design elements
If you're new to website building and running your own online business, we found Wix to be a powerful tool for beginners. The smart AI created a beautiful and professional website for us in under 5 minutes, and the upgraded tools were enough to allow us to start a business from the ground up.
AI tools: We're not AI enthusiasts in that we want it for everything, but we do appreciate the intuitive and valuable AI tools that come with Wix. The setup process is incredibly simple, and after answering about five questions, Wix built our site. We were so impressed with how easy it was to get started.
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Usability: Wix provides easy startup tools and an easy way to edit your site. It also offers apps, widgets, and integrations for business, as well as page and image editing, which is especially useful if your site includes blog posts and image galleries. Overall, Wix is incredibly user-friendly.
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Ecommerce tools: We're big fans of Wix, but we don't think it's advanced enough to take you into an enterprise-level online business. Wix has many valuable features that make it a smart choice for beginners, but people wanting to scale their business up might find Wix doesn't have enough for them.
Is designed for growing businesses and has automated ecommerce tools
Offers unlimited product listing with all subscription tiers
Shopify is ideal for anyone looking to build a dropshipping-exclusive website. Shopify is a little more technical and has fewer creative elements than other web builders. Even so, it delivers an aesthetically pleasing and professional website.
Ecommerce tools: Shopify has so many options and integrations with dropshipping, print-on-demand, and other wholesale opportunities We liked all the choices drop shippers have when choosing a wholesaler. We also liked that there were additional print-on-demand options for businesses, such as PDF sales, stickers, or custom merchandise.
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Features: While other web builders might make you buy a higher tier to add more products to your site, Shopify includes unlimited listings on all its plans. That means you can offer as much or as little as you want right out of the gate. Shopify is scalable and allows you to grow your business as large as you want.
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Usability: Shopify can be confusing and overwhelming if you aren't used to an ecommerce business or setup. It isn't the friendliest web builder if you don't have a lot of startup capital or are starting very small. Out of all the web builders we tested, Shopify was the only one where we had to watch YouTube tutorial videos before we could really get started.
In our testing, Squarespace was the #1 website builder available. The platform offers a balance of design, usability, and features at an affordable price.
Yes, Wix has a completely free tier. Wix Free is ideal for beginners learning how to build a site, but you'll have to upgrade to a paid tier to do any real business. The free plan lacks robust ecommerce tools and a custom domain.
Wix is the best free website builder that we've found. Its intuitive AI tools and helpful features gave us a beautiful, professional website in less than 5 minutes. It's the best for entrepreneurs testing out the online space.
If you want the best website builder for an online business, we suggest going with Shopify or Squarespace. They are both powerful and efficient with advanced ecommerce tools.
Squarespace is the best web builder due to its versatility and selling options. It's intuitive and works for both beginners and advanced users. Plus, it offers more robust ecommerce tools for small businesses than Wix but is way more user-friendly than Shopify.
Wix makes getting started easy, affordable, and low stress. You can stay on the free plan for as long as it takes to get you comfortable running a site. It's a solid way to start building your website, and beginners will love all the AI assistance.
Shopify may be more intense at first, but it provides dropshippers with a multitude of options for wholesalers as well as other outlets like print on demand. If your goal is to create a successful dropshipping business, Shopify has the tools and resources to help you grow as large as you want.
We've tested a lot of web builders and found these to be the best. All three have helpful AI tools, professional finishes, and resources for budding and established entrepreneurs.
| Starting price | Best for | Learn more | |
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Starts at $25.00/mo | Best for content creators | View plans |
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Starts at Free | Best for beginners | View plans |
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Starts at $29/mo | Best for dropshippers | View plans |
Flexible and affordable pricing
Pay-per-item option instead of monthly fees
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