5 Cheaper Wix Alternatives in 2026 (Website Builders for Less)

Wix is one of the world's most popular website builders: a drag-and-drop editor, hundreds of templates, an AI site builder, and an app market for bookings, stores, events and memberships. Its free plan shows Wix ads and uses a wixsite.com address, so businesses need a premium plan. Light costs $17 a month billed yearly (about $24 month to month), Core $29 (about $36), Business $39 (about $46) and Business Elite $159 (about $172). Selling online requires at least Core, and many useful apps cost extra on top. A small business on Business pays $468 a year before apps, email and domain renewals.

As a web agency we build sites on many platforms. For a typical small business site — a few pages, a contact form, maybe a blog — there are cheaper and often faster options.

What Wix actually costs in 2026

Domains are free for the first year on annual plans, then renew at the normal rate. Professional email (Google Workspace) and many apps are extra. The current tiers are listed on Wix's official pricing page.

The 5 cheaper alternatives at a glance

How we picked these alternatives

We compared ease of use, templates, SEO and page speed, e-commerce, blogging, renewal pricing and the total cost of a small business site over two years. Prices checked 28 October 2026.

1. Hostinger Website Builder

Price: About $2.99–7.99 a month on a 48-month term (renews at $10.99–25.99); about $11.99 month to month; no transaction fees. See Hostinger Website Builder's official pricing page for current plans.

Hostinger's builder is the cheapest way to get a professional-looking small business site. It has a drag-and-drop editor, AI tools that generate a site from a short description, e-commerce with no transaction fees, and hosting, SSL, a free domain and email included. The interface is simpler than Wix's, which most small businesses consider an advantage.

Hostinger Website Builder pricing in detail

What you get

• Drag-and-drop editor and AI site generator.
• E-commerce with no transaction fees.
• Free domain, SSL and email.
• Built-in hosting with good performance.
• AI writing and image tools.

Where it falls short

• Best price requires a 48-month term.
• Fewer apps and advanced features than Wix.
• Design flexibility is more limited.

Good to know

Hostinger's AI builder can generate a starting site from a short business description, which you then edit with drag and drop. The builder includes basic SEO settings, Google Analytics integration and an online store with payment options. Pay attention to the renewal price at the end of your term and consider renewing early during promotions.

Who it's best for

Small businesses and first websites on a tight budget. Skip it if you need complex bookings, memberships or an app marketplace.

2. WordPress.com

Price: Free; Personal $4 a month billed yearly ($9 monthly); Premium $8 ($18); Business $25 ($40) with plugins; Commerce $45 ($70). See WordPress.com's official pricing page for current plans.

WordPress.com is the hosted version of WordPress, the software behind more than 40% of websites. It is excellent for blogs and content sites, with strong SEO foundations and thousands of themes. The Business plan unlocks plugins — including WooCommerce — so you can grow from a simple site to almost anything without changing platform.

WordPress.com pricing in detail

What you get

• The world's most popular CMS.
• Excellent blogging tools.
• Thousands of themes.
• Plugins on Business and above.
• Managed hosting, security and backups.

Where it falls short

• Plugins need the Business plan.
• The block editor has a learning curve.
• Design control is less visual than Wix.

Good to know

WordPress.com handles hosting, security, backups and updates, so you get WordPress without maintenance. If you later need complete control, you can export your site and move it to any WordPress host. For business sites that need plugins such as booking or forms, budget for the Business plan from the start.

Who it's best for

Blogs, publishers and content-led businesses. Skip it if you want a purely visual drag-and-drop editor.

3. Carrd

Price: Free; Pro Lite $9 a year (three sites); Pro Standard $19 a year (ten sites, custom domains); Pro Plus $49 a year (25 sites). See Carrd's official pricing page for current plans.

Carrd builds simple, responsive one-page websites — landing pages, personal profiles, link-in-bio pages, event pages and portfolios. It is incredibly fast to use and astonishingly cheap: Pro Standard costs $19 a year, less than a single month of Wix Light, and includes custom domains and forms.

Carrd pricing in detail

What you get

• Beautiful one-page sites in minutes.
• Custom domains on Pro Standard.
• Forms connected to email tools.
• Stripe and PayPal payments on Pro Plus.
• Fast, lightweight pages.

Where it falls short

• One page per site.
• No blog or full online store.
• Domain must be bought separately.

Good to know

Carrd works well for landing pages that collect emails: connect forms to Mailchimp, ConvertKit, Google Sheets or webhooks. You buy the domain from a registrar and point it to Carrd, which keeps costs low. Many businesses use Carrd for campaign pages alongside a main website elsewhere.

Who it's best for

Landing pages, personal sites and small businesses that only need one page. Skip it if you need many pages or a store.

4. Framer

Price: Free (framer.website domain); Basic about $10 a month; Pro $30 a month (150 pages, 2,500 CMS items, 100 GB bandwidth); extra editors $20, content editors $10. See Framer's official pricing page for current plans.

Framer is a design-first website builder popular with startups and designers. It produces fast, modern, animated sites with a CMS, built-in localisation and SEO controls, and its canvas feels like a design tool rather than a template editor. For a polished marketing site, its Basic plan is cheaper than Wix Light.

Framer pricing in detail

What you get

• Design-tool canvas with animations and interactions.
• CMS for blogs and case studies.
• Fast hosting on a global CDN.
• Localisation and SEO controls.
• AI site generation and templates.

Where it falls short

• Not built for online stores.
• Extra editors cost more.
• Learning curve for non-designers.

Good to know

Framer's CMS makes it easy to publish blog posts, case studies and job listings, and its built-in localisation can translate your site into other languages. Sites are hosted on a fast global CDN, which helps Core Web Vitals. Templates from the Framer marketplace give designers a quick start.

Who it's best for

Startups and designers who want a modern, fast marketing site. Skip it if you sell products online.

5. Strikingly

Price: Free (5% transaction fee); Limited about $8–12 a month; Pro $16 a month billed yearly ($20 monthly); VIP $49 ($59). See Strikingly's official pricing page for current plans.

Strikingly specialises in simple, mobile-friendly one-page and multi-page sites with a very easy editor. It includes a simple store, blog and contact forms, and it is a good fit for freelancers, consultants and small businesses that want a clean site online in an afternoon.

Strikingly pricing in detail

What you get

• Very easy editor.
• One-page and multi-page sites.
• Simple store and blog.
• Contact forms and newsletters.
• Mobile-friendly templates.

Where it falls short

• Fewer apps and design options than Wix.
• Limited SEO controls.
• Store is basic.

Good to know

Strikingly sites are mobile-friendly by default, and its one-page format suits portfolios, events and small service businesses. Built-in analytics show traffic without extra tools. If your site grows into many pages or a complex store, consider moving to WordPress or Shopify later.

Who it's best for

Freelancers and small businesses who want a simple site quickly. Skip it if you need complex functionality.

What a small business site costs over two years

How to switch without losing your work

1. List every page, form and app your Wix site uses.
2. Export blog posts (Wix offers RSS/XML export) and download images and documents.
3. Rebuild the site on the new platform — Wix does not export templates.
4. Set up 301 redirects from old URLs to new ones to keep your Google rankings.
5. Transfer your domain away from Wix or point its DNS to the new host.

Which one should you choose?

• You want the cheapest professional business site: Hostinger Website Builder.
• Your site is content- or blog-led: WordPress.com.
• You only need one page: Carrd.
• You want a modern, design-led marketing site: Framer.
• You want simplicity for a small business: Strikingly.

Hidden costs and gotchas

• Apps. Many Wix apps (bookings, reviews, forms) have their own monthly fees.
• Email. Wix does not include professional email; Google Workspace costs extra.
• Domain renewal. The free domain is only free for the first year.
• Renewal pricing. Hostinger's lowest prices are for long first terms.
• SEO migration. Missing redirects after a move can cost rankings.

Our verdict

Hostinger Website Builder is the best Wix alternative for most small businesses — similar results for a fraction of the price. WordPress.com is best for content sites, Carrd for one-page sites, Framer for design-led marketing sites, and Strikingly for simple sites built quickly.

More cheaper alternatives: see our breakdowns of the cheaper options to Squarespace, Webflow and WP Engine.

Related reading: Is Wix Good for SEO? and How Much Does a Custom Website Cost in 2026?.

Planning a switch, or not sure which tool fits the way your team works? Book a free call and we will look at your stack with you.

Prices are US list prices in USD unless marked, checked on 27 October 2026. "Annual" means the per-month price when billed yearly. Vendors change pricing often, so confirm on the vendor's site before buying. Product names and logos are trademarks of their respective owners and are used here for identification only.

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