Cheapest Website Builders in 2026
Carrd is the cheapest way to get a custom domain on a real site, at $19 a year, under $2 a month. Framer and Tilda both enter at $10 a month billed annually, and Super follows at $12 a month for anyone turning a Notion doc into a site. Typedream and Webflow tie at $15 a month, Squarespace sits at $16, and Duda is the cheapest white-label option at $19. Shopify and Wix eCommerce anchor the list at $29 a month, the price of adding real online-store checkout to a website builder.
10 tools compared on price, features and fit, with prices checked on vendor pages in August 2026.
"Cheapest" only means something once you specify the plan, the billing cycle, and whether the price actually buys a custom domain. A website builder advertised as free is still a free trial or a branded subdomain the moment you try to point your own domain name at it. Of the 10,000+ tools Toolradar tracks, 50 in the Website Builders category have verified pricing, meaning we pulled the current number directly from the vendor's own pricing page rather than a cached figure that went stale months ago.
This guide ranks 10 website builders by their cheapest paid plan that supports a custom domain, priced per month, billed annually, since annual billing is almost always the lower number and the one vendors put first. For each pick we verified the entry price against the vendor's live pricing page as of August 2026, checked whether a free tier exists, and noted what that free tier caps out at. Tools that were really email marketing platforms, headless CMS products for developers, or visual editors aimed at engineers rather than end users were dropped from the pool, along with any tool with no public self-serve price.
Top Picks
Picked by editorial review, informed by G2 and Capterra review volume and rating and by media mentions, the signals behind our category rankings. How we rate
| Tool | Starting price | Rating | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carrd | From $9/mo | 4.5 62 reviews | One-page sites, portfolios, and landing pages that need a custom domain and nothing else |
| Framer | From $30/mo | 4.4 177 reviews | Designers and small teams who want AI-assisted page building with a custom domain from day one |
| Tilda | Free plan | 4.5 76 reviews | Solo creators building a single polished site with Tilda's block-based visual editor |
| Super | From $28/mo | 4.7 93 reviews | Notion users who want to publish existing pages as a fast, custom-domain website without rebuilding content |
| Typedream | Free plan | n/a | Solo founders who want a Notion-style editor plus a bundled starter domain in one low-cost plan |
| Webflow | From $33/mo | 4.5 265 reviews | Designers who want full visual control over HTML and CSS without hand-writing code |
| Squarespace | From $23/mo | 4.5 4,558 reviews | Small businesses and creatives who want a polished, template-driven site without a design background |
| Duda | From $19/mo | 4.5 856 reviews | Freelancers and agencies who plan to resell websites under their own brand |
| Shopify | From $29/mo | 4.5 11,858 reviews | Anyone building a website whose primary job is selling products online |
| Wix eCommerce | From $29/mo | 4.3 12,672 reviews | Small stores that want e-commerce bundled into the same builder as the rest of the site |
One-page sites, portfolios, and landing pages that need a custom domain and nothing else
- Pro: Pro Standard is $19 per year, roughly $1.58 a month, the lowest domain-capable price of any builder here
- Pro: Free plan allows up to 3 sites with no time limit, though sites stay on a carrd.co subdomain
- Pro: Pro Lite at $9 a year removes ads and adds premium URLs, one step below full custom domain support
- Con: Custom domain support does not start until Pro Standard; the cheaper $9/year Pro Lite tier still cannot connect a domain
- Con: Single-page layout only, so Carrd is not a fit for a multi-page business site or blog
Carrd's pricing is incredibly generous, especially for the entry-level Pro tiers.
Designers and small teams who want AI-assisted page building with a custom domain from day one
- Pro: Basic plan is $10 per month billed annually and includes a free custom domain as a core feature
- Pro: Free plan includes 1 GB of bandwidth and 500 credits to try AI features before paying
- Pro: AI site generation and full visual design control are available starting on the Basic tier
- Con: The free plan caps bandwidth at 1 GB and publishes only to a framer.website subdomain
- Con: Team collaboration seats and higher bandwidth require the pricier Pro plan
Framer's pricing is quite generous, especially with its robust Free tier and the accessible Basic tier at $10/month for custom domains.
Solo creators building a single polished site with Tilda's block-based visual editor
- Pro: Personal plan is $10 per month billed annually, covering full access to Tilda's design blocks and a custom domain
- Pro: Free plan lets you build a real site with the core block library before paying anything
- Pro: Zero Block export lets Personal-plan users take their HTML with them, unusual among hosted builders
- Con: The free plan is capped at 1 website and cannot connect a custom domain
- Con: Personal plan covers only 1 website; running more than one site requires the pricier Business plan
Tilda's pricing is quite fair, especially for individuals and small businesses.
Watch out
Storage limits could be restrictive for media-heavy sites.
Notion users who want to publish existing pages as a fast, custom-domain website without rebuilding content
- Pro: Personal plan is $144 per year, about $12 a month, and includes custom domain connection
- Pro: Free plan is permanent, not a trial, with unlimited pages on a super.site subdomain
- Pro: Notion-native workflow means no separate CMS to learn; edit content in Notion and it publishes automatically
- Con: The free plan carries a visible 'Made with Super' badge that only paid plans remove
- Con: Site is fundamentally a Notion wrapper, so layout flexibility is narrower than a full visual builder
Super's pricing is fair, offering a clear progression from free to paid.
Watch out
Custom domain registration not included
Solo founders who want a Notion-style editor plus a bundled starter domain in one low-cost plan
- Pro: Launch plan is $15 per month billed annually, versus $20 per month on monthly billing
- Pro: Includes a complimentary one-year .xyz domain registration alongside custom domain support
- Pro: SEO settings and code injection ship on the entry Launch tier, not reserved for a higher plan
- Con: The free plan is capped at exactly 1 published page and keeps a Typedream branding badge
- Con: Free tier is limited to a single seat, so even solo collaboration requires upgrading
Typedream's pricing is fair, offering a generous free tier for basic needs.
Designers who want full visual control over HTML and CSS without hand-writing code
- Pro: Basic plan is $15 per month billed annually, versus $25 per month on monthly billing, and includes a custom domain
- Pro: Supports up to 300 static pages and unlimited form submissions on the entry tier
- Pro: 10 GB of bandwidth included on Basic, enough for a small marketing site or portfolio
- Con: The free plan publishes only to a webflow.io subdomain and cannot connect a custom domain
- Con: Basic has no CMS, so a blog or any dynamic content requires the pricier CMS plan
Webflow charges separately for Workspace plans (per-seat, for team collaboration) and Site plans (per-site, for hosting).
Watch out
The Starter (free) site plan limits you to 2 pages, 50 CMS items, and a webflow.io subdomain. It is a sandbox, not a production environment.
Small businesses and creatives who want a polished, template-driven site without a design background
- Pro: Basic plan is $16 per month billed annually, versus $25 per month on monthly billing, a savings of up to 36 percent
- Pro: A free custom domain for the first year is included with any annual plan purchase
- Pro: Unlimited bandwidth is included at every paid tier, with no bandwidth-based upsell
- Con: Squarespace has no permanent free plan, only the 14-day trial, unlike Framer, Tilda, or Super
- Con: E-commerce checkout and abandoned-cart recovery require the pricier Core plan and above
It's best for individuals and small businesses looking for an all-in-one, aesthetically pleasing website solution.
Watch out
2% transaction fee on Basic plan
Freelancers and agencies who plan to resell websites under their own brand
- Pro: Basic plan is $19 per month billed annually, versus $25 per month on monthly billing, and supports a custom domain
- Pro: Client management and white-label site delivery are available starting on the Basic tier
- Pro: 14-day free trial includes every feature from Duda's top White Label plan, not a stripped-down preview
- Con: No permanent free plan; only the 14-day trial exists below the paid tiers
- Con: E-commerce store features and advanced SEO tools require the pricier Team or higher plans
Duda's pricing is fair for agencies, especially considering the specialized features.
Anyone building a website whose primary job is selling products online
- Pro: Basic plan is $29 per month billed annually, versus $39 per month on monthly billing, and includes a custom domain
- Pro: Full checkout, inventory management, and payment processing are included at the entry tier
- Pro: 3-day free trial requires no credit card, and new stores get a heavily discounted first-3-months rate
- Con: No permanent free plan; the trial converts to a paid subscription to keep the store live
- Con: Basic charges higher card processing rates than Shopify's pricier plans, which cuts into margin on every sale
The biggest cost driver is transaction fees: using any payment provider other than Shopify Payments triggers a 2% surcharge ON TOP of the processor's fees, effectively forcing you into Shopify Payments.
Small stores that want e-commerce bundled into the same builder as the rest of the site
- Pro: Core plan is $29 per month billed annually, versus $36 per month on monthly billing, and includes a custom domain
- Pro: Online store checkout, product catalog, and basic shipping tools are included starting on Core
- Pro: A free domain voucher for the first year ships with eligible annual purchases
- Con: The free plan cannot sell products and publishes only to a wixsite.com subdomain with Wix branding
- Con: Automated sales tax and advanced shipping rules require the pricier Business plan at $39 a month
Wix eCommerce starts at Core, $29/mo billed annually on wix.com/pricing (September 2026).
Watch out
App Market reviews, upsell, and email tools are extra monthly bills
What 'Cheapest Website Builder' Actually Means
A website builder's real cost comes down to three numbers vendors like to blur: the monthly-billed price, the annual-billed price (often 20 to 40 percent lower), and the price of the specific plan where a custom domain stops being blocked. This guide compares only the cheapest tier that clears that last bar, the plan you would actually buy to put a real domain name on a live site.
That is not the same as "free." A free plan that only works on a vendor subdomain, such as yoursite.carrd.co or yoursite.wixsite.com, is a sandbox for testing the editor, not a substitute for a paid plan once you want to point your own domain at it. Every entry below states the price, whether a custom domain is included, and exactly what the free plan caps at if one exists.
Why the Custom-Domain Plan Is the Real Price
Most website builder roundups rank tools by template count or editor polish, then quote the "starting at" price from a plan that will not let you connect a domain. That number is misleading for anyone building a real site, since a custom domain is table stakes, not a premium feature, for a business, portfolio, or landing page meant to be shared.
Billing cycle is the second trap. A vendor's homepage number is almost always the annual-billed price; switch to monthly and the same plan can cost 40 to 60 percent more. Squarespace's Basic plan, for example, runs $16 a month annual but $25 a month if you pay monthly, a gap most comparison pages do not spell out. Knowing the annual, domain-capable number up front lets you compare builders on the price you will actually pay to launch, not the price a landing page wants you to see first.
Key Features to Look For
Verified custom-domain price (Essential)
The number that matters is the cheapest plan where a custom domain is unlocked, not a flat 'starting at' figure pulled from a domain-locked free tier.
Annual vs. monthly billing gap (Essential)
The discount for paying annually ranges from roughly 25 percent (Wix) to over 35 percent (Squarespace, Shopify), so the billing cycle changes the real 'cheapest' answer.
What the free tier caps at (Essential)
Free plans routinely block custom domains entirely and cap page count, bandwidth, or site count, which forces an upgrade the moment you need your own domain.
Branding removal (Important)
Several free and entry tiers keep a 'Made with X' badge on the published site; removing it often requires a specific tier, not just any paid plan.
Commerce vs. content pricing split (Important)
Builders that sell products (Shopify, Wix eCommerce) price their cheapest tier well above content-only builders like Tilda or Carrd, since checkout and inventory cost more to run.
Upgrade path cost (Nice to have)
A cheap entry tier is a poor deal if the next plan up, the one with a blog, e-commerce, or unlimited pages, is a 3x price jump.
Mistakes to Avoid
- ×
Comparing a vendor's monthly-billed price to a competitor's annual-billed price. The gap between the two can exceed 55 percent, as with Squarespace's $16 annual versus $25 monthly Basic plan.
- ×
- ×
Picking a content-only builder for a store, or the reverse. Shopify and Wix eCommerce price in real online-store infrastructure at $29 a month; a content builder like Tilda at $10 a month cannot replace that checkout stack.
- ×
Ignoring branding removal. Super and Typedream keep a visible badge on the published site even after you add a custom domain on some tiers, so check whether the badge disappears at the price point you are paying.
- ×
Locking into an annual plan before confirming the editor fits the workflow. The discount is real, up to 36 percent on Squarespace, but a bad annual commitment costs more than the monthly premium would have.
Expert Tips
- →
Always toggle to annual billing before comparing prices across vendors; most pricing pages default to the higher monthly rate to look competitive at first glance.
- →
Test whether the free plan blocks custom domains before you build anything real on it. Carrd, Tilda, and Wix all require a specific paid tier before a domain can be connected.
- →
If the site exists to sell products, price Shopify and Wix eCommerce against each other directly rather than against content-only builders like Framer or Tilda, since the comparison groups are not interchangeable.
- →
Check what the next tier up costs before committing to the cheapest one. A $10 entry plan is a poor deal if the jump to add a blog, CMS, or e-commerce triples the price within a year.
- →
For a single-page site with no blog and no store, Carrd at $19 a year beats every full website builder on this list; save the $10 to $30 a month builders for sites that actually need multiple pages.
The Bottom Line
The cheapest usable website builder in 2026 depends on what the site needs to do. Carrd wins outright for a single page at $19 a year, and Framer and Tilda both clear $10 a month with a real custom domain included. Super follows at $12 for Notion-based publishing, Typedream and Webflow tie at $15, and Squarespace and Duda sit at $16 and $19 for more template-driven or agency-focused builds. Shopify and Wix eCommerce both land at $29 a month, the going rate once the site needs to actually sell something. Of the 10,000+ tools Toolradar tracks, 50 in the Website Builders category have verified pricing, and every price above was checked against the vendor's live pricing page in August 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cheapest website builder in 2026?
Do free website builder plans let you connect a custom domain?
Usually not. Carrd, Tilda, Webflow, and Wix all publish free-plan sites to a branded subdomain (such as yoursite.webflow.io) and require a paid plan before a custom domain can be connected. Super is an exception in that its free plan is permanent, though it keeps a visible branding badge until you upgrade.
Does billing annually instead of monthly actually save money on a website builder?
Yes, and the gap is larger than most buyers expect. Squarespace's Basic plan is $16 a month billed annually versus $25 a month on monthly billing, a 36 percent difference. Wix's discount is smaller at roughly 25 to 30 percent. Always compare annual-to-annual or monthly-to-monthly, never mix the two.
Is Shopify or Wix eCommerce cheaper for a small online store?
Both land at the same $29 a month on annual billing for their entry e-commerce tier, Shopify's Basic plan and Wix's Core plan. The real cost difference shows up in card processing rates and app costs rather than the base subscription, so compare those before choosing between them.
Which website builders have a permanent free plan with no time limit?
Super and Carrd both offer free plans with no expiration date, unlike Squarespace, Shopify, and Duda, which only offer time-limited trials. The tradeoff is that Super's free plan carries a branding badge and Carrd's free plan cannot connect a custom domain, so neither substitutes for a paid plan on a real launch.
Cite this page: Toolradar, "Cheapest Website Builders in 2026", updated August 2026, https://toolradar.com/guides/cheapest-website-builders
Sources
Prices and plan details on this page come from each vendor's own pricing page, re-checked by the Toolradar pricing tracker:
- Carrd pricing, checked
- Framer pricing, checked
- Tilda pricing, checked
- Typedream pricing, checked
- Webflow pricing, checked
- Squarespace pricing, checked
- Duda pricing, checked
- Shopify pricing, checked
- Wix eCommerce pricing, checked
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