With all the options, it’s hard to know if WordPress is the best website builder for small businesses. From Squarespace to Showit to Wix + beyond, there’s no shortage of tools asking for your business — and your cash. I may be biased, but I have reasons to nudge folks away from each of these platforms back to WordPress. Because it’s going to be the best choice for 90% of the entrepreneurs wondering what the heck to build a site with.
Squarespace vs WordPress
Honestly, if there were any contenders in this fight, it would be Squarespace. The site builder has come a long way + there are providers like Chantelle Davis Gray not only building incredibly designed sites but ones that perform too. If WordPress is not the right choice for you, odds are that Squarespace is the right fit.
I used to loathe this builder because of it’s poor SEO + clunky editor. I also see more SS sites looking identical than WordPress because of how limited their template customization can be.
Which is why I still don’t like Squarespace.
You must host with them, you are limited in what you can add to your own site + if you’re selling something on the site, you can only use one currency at a time. Talk about limitations.
Why I consider WordPress the best site builder for small businesses
With WordPress, the sky is really the limit. You can host your WordPress site with any company you like. Which means you can also take your content with you should you have reason to leave. If you want to leave Squarespace, you need to have the site converted to a new builder, which is added time + cost in an already less-than-fun project.
As a developer, I live in the custom areas of WordPress. I build new template files + themes, I adjust server settings, I create custom post types for sites with Podcasts or Portfolios.
Squarespace could never.
In fact, you can’t access site files on SS. The ones you “own” (by paying a recurring fee for them) are off limits. If you aren’t interested in that level of customization, it might not bother you. Then again, it might in the future as your site grows.
Showit vs WordPress
Disclaimer: I’ve only edited one Showit site in my life. It’s the site builder on this list that I’ve worked with the least. To be honest? Once was more than enough.
To me, Showit is like WordPress’s younger sister. Stealing your favorite hoodie but claiming it’s just being “borrowed” + always making things a little less fun. As a younger sister, I’m allowed to make this claim.
The only proof I needed to know that Showit wasn’t a good builder for small business is when a client came to me at her wits end. She had a Showit site + literally could not edit it the way she wanted. Before you question her skills, she runs an online business training other solopreneurs on various tech. She’s pretty good with online tools.
Aside from the recurring fees + limitations, Showit has the balls to incorporate WordPress into their platform because it’s such a great tool… but only for the blog area of any site built with their platform. Give me WordPress everywhere or give me death. I think that’s how the Patrick Henry quote goes.
Wix vs WordPress
There’s zero shame if you started with Wix. The platform is affordable + framed as a great option for beginners. I strongly disagree, yet I understand why some small businesses land here when getting started.
The low cost lure is such a moot point for 2 big reasons:
- You don’t save any money by having to recreate your entire website when you want a new template within Wix. Or…even more likely… when you’ve leveled up + need to move away from Wix because it cannot do any of the things you need your site to do.
- WordPress is not as expensive as people think it is. You can start with WordPress for less than $300 a year. The platform itself is free to install + low-cost hosting exists while you get started. Free themes are not in short supply + YouTube / the internet is riddled with tutorials for how to build with WordPress.
The free tier that Wix offers puts ads on your site, which is not the best way to start building trust with your audience. Budget a tiny % of what you want your business to make in it’s early months + get yourself set up with WordPress instead.
WordPress is still the best site builder for small businesses
I’ve been using WordPress for over 20 years, first for fun + then as the only tool I build websites with from 2008 on. Which is why I feel confident saying that WordPress is the best site builder for small businesses. You can spend almost as little or as much as you’d like getting a site up + running. And because the platform is so widely used, plugins + competent developers can make magic happen with the tool you might think is “just for bloggers.” It can be an ecommerce store for your books or a brochure site for your salon, you can sell your clothing brand with it or create an in-depth portfolio of your designs to share with the world.
Because with WordPress, the only thing that will get in your way of what’s possible is not knowing what it’s truly capable of.