8 essential website programs to design your dream website

Key takeaways

• Depending on whether you want a blog, business site, portfolio, or online store, you’ll be able to select different website builders such as WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, and Shopify. Begin by outlining your objectives, budget, and technical comfort level so you pair the appropriate platform with your requirements.
  
  
• For full control and scalability, WordPress combined with Elementor-style drag-and-drop design tools gives you a powerful content management system and flexible design options. Expect to spend time learning themes, plugins, and fundamental maintenance to keep your site safe and quick.
  
  
• If you want the all-in-one, easy setup, Wix and Squarespace have drag and drop editors, hosting, and templates all in one place. You can launch fast by picking a template that is nearest your vision and only adjusting the most crucial design elements.
  
  
• For online stores, Shopify and Squarespace Commerce provide you with specific ecommerce functionality such as product management, secure payments, and integrated marketing tools. Increase sales by optimizing product pages, simplifying checkout, and tracking key metrics like conversion rate.
  
  
• Tools such as Webflow, Figma, and Adobe XD assist you in crafting higher-end, custom designs and prototypes prior to constructing your final site. Use them to prototype layouts, interactions, and user flows so you troubleshoot problems early and deliver developers or your team cleaner designs.
  
  
• Regardless of the platform you use, prioritize mobile-friendliness, simple SEO, and intuitive navigation. Consistently analyze, solicit feedback, and refresh your content to keep your website aligned with your goals over time.
  
  
• You get drag-and-drop editors, clean templates, and code options if you desire more control. Most of the tools operate in your browser and function nicely on phones, tablets, and laptops.

1. WordPress

WordPress provides you with such a cool, flexible option, to create a site that can remain simple now but grow tomorrow. You read it in the statistics. Over 60 million websites operate on WordPress, ranging from tiny personal blogs to major news outlets and e-commerce platforms. The core software is free and open source, so you can modify it, migrate it, and deploy it in virtually any way, with no lock-in.

To customize the appearance and functionality, you access the theme and plugin ecosystem. You select a theme for the design, then add plugins for additional functionality. For instance, you could begin with a minimalist blog theme, install a contact form plugin, a service-booking plugin, and a translation plugin. A tiny café might use one, with its online menu and table booking. A lone designer can select a portfolio theme, add a gallery plugin and a basic inquiry form.

That huge library means you can meet very specific needs without writing code, assuming you choose well-maintained options. Underneath, WordPress acts as a content management system. You can input and modify content via a dashboard, rather than code. You can manage blog, page, and product listings in one place.

For instance, a small shop can list each item with pictures, price, stock, and category, then publish it in a couple of clicks. A novice to websites can frequently do basic tasks in a day or two. A few folks coming to the platform do experience a bit of a learning curve, particularly when it comes to menus, widgets, or custom fields. You become quicker with experience, and there are tons of tutorials and guides to help fill gaps.

For reach and sales, WordPress pairs nicely with SEO and marketing tools. You can install SEO plugins that prompt you on title tags, meta descriptions, and internal links. E-commerce plugins like WooCommerce transform your site into a complete online shop, including carts, checkout, and payment gateways. Then you combine this with email tools or analytic plugins that monitor where your visitors come from and what they read or purchase.

Smart configuration here can increase search traffic and focus your marketing. Hosting and setup remain flexible. You could use shared hosting for a tiny blog, then migrate to a virtual private server when traffic increases. A lot of hosts now provide one-click WordPress installs, domain name registration, and managed plans with backups and updates.

Others encounter speed problems if they pile on too many bloated plugins or overlook caching and image size. On the security front, you have to update WordPress, themes, and plugins frequently, and employ strong passwords or two-factor login. Skipping these steps can leave security holes.

Fortunately, it’s a big open-source community, so people share patches, updates, and support in forums and documentation, and you almost never encounter a problem that someone else hasn’t experienced.

2. Wix

Wix provides you with a quick way to create a pro looking site with an easy drag and drop editor. You drag blocks, text, and images around the page with your mouse, and you watch the layout shift on screen in real time. Zero code is required. You begin with one of 2,000+ templates, then customize colors, fonts, and sections until it matches your style or brand. For instance, you could select a simple portfolio template, replace it with your own project photos, customize the menu, and wrap up a minimal site in a single afternoon.

To customize the site experience, you manipulate a broad collection of built-in elements. Add image or video galleries to showcase work, contact forms to collect leads, or booking forms so people can book appointments. Social buttons and feeds allow you to connect to services you already use. A restaurant, for example, could add a menu, a booking form, and an Instagram feed so visitors see delicious meals and can reserve a table with a few clicks. All of this remains within the same visual editor, so you’re not leaping across tools.

Then, for the tech side, Wix takes care of hosting, domain, and security in one place. Within your Wix dashboard, you can register a domain and connect it to your site with no additional configuration. All sites include HTTPS and SSL out of the box, and the Builder comes with round-the-clock security checks in the background. The templates are responsive, so your pages adapt to phones, tablets, and large screens. A product grid, text block, or contact form changes size and layout to remain readable on a tiny mobile screen with no additional effort from you.

If you want to push things further, use the Wix AI website builder to craft a full site in minutes. You respond to a series of questions around your objectives, select a style, and the system configures a draft site with pages, segments, and starter copy. In addition, Wix provides you with tools for marketing campaigns and analytics. You can send email campaigns, follow up with basic automations, and monitor what pages people visit and where they drop off, all while using a powerful suite of features.

If you sell online, the integrated eCommerce tools allow you to list items, accept payments, provide subscriptions, and manage campaigns. Wix’s App Market adds hundreds of extra apps, both Wix-made and third-party, so you can plug in chat tools, booking systems, or review widgets. With 15,000 sites launched on Wix every day, you enter a mature ecosystem that many small and mid-size sites already embrace.

3. Squarespace

After that, Squarespace provides you a neat, all-in-one solution to creating a stylish site without having to manage a bunch of different tools. The key appeal is its robust design framework and a streamlined workflow that keeps you focused on the look and function of your site, rather than technical configuration. With tools like Google Web Designer, you can enhance your creative process even further.

You begin with a handpicked group of templates instead of a haphazard AI design. Every template hits a specific use, such as a photographer’s portfolio, small café site, or full ecommerce shop with product grids and checkout pages. That shortlist counts. It eliminates bad designs and guides you toward templates that already observe good design principles, including clear spacing, bold type, and mobile-optimized structure.

You can then tweak colors, type, and spacing to match your brand, such as a bold, high-contrast look for a tech brand or softer tones for a wellness coach. The editor itself has a frosted glass effect and dark gradient background, which maintain the spotlight on your blocks and sections. If you want to create animations, Google Web Designer offers a variety of animation modes to choose from, allowing you to bring your designs to life.

You work with a section catalog that contains pre-built layouts for hero banners, pricing tables, contact blocks and testimonials. You can drop a pre-built pricing section on your page and edit the text and price points in a few clicks, rather than building columns and buttons from scratch. Each change updates in real time, so you view your edits as your visitors do, be it moving a gallery layout or experimenting with a new call-to-action button.

Squarespace is responsible for the entire build process, hosting, domains, and even store checkout all live within Squarespace. You can purchase and connect a domain from the same dashboard, integrate payment providers, and operate an easy checkout process for digital or physical goods. A tiny online shop can launch with product pages, tax settings, and order tracking all in one place, which is great if you don’t want to mess around with separate hosting or plugins.

Brand tools are built in as well. You can do basic email campaigns from within Squarespace, hook up your social channels so posts and products flow out, and fine-tune things like fonts and color palettes. Support for custom CSS and JavaScript provides increased control if you have front‑end chops or collaborate with a developer.

Google Workspace integration assists you in maintaining email and site on the same platform, such as contact forms directing into a shared inbox within your custom domain, for instance. Squarespace’s newer AI side, named Blueprint AI Builder, perches atop that design system. It doesn’t auto-build a site from whole cloth.

Instead, it proposes copy, images, and layout tweaks that honor the template you selected. You can pre-populate pages with brand-specific text and high-quality stock-style images that match your niche, like fitness coaching or interior design. From there, you change wording, swap out images, and tweak sections until the site feels like your voice.

Built-in analytics track traffic, top pages, and sales so you can adjust layouts, calls to action, and content based on real visitor behavior over time. It’s tiered pricing. Lite, which begins at around $20 per month billed annually, is suitable for simple sites or small portfolios.

Advanced commerce features, such as more powerful selling tools, begin at roughly $99 per month. Offering a 14-day free trial when you create an account gives youthe ability to build a complete draft site before paying.

4. Shopify

Shopify turns you into a ready-to-sell online storefront that you can mold quickly without coding. You begin with an ecommerce infrastructure that already encompasses inventory tools, product catalog pages, and integrated payment processing, so your key task is to insert what you sell and how you wish to sell it. For example, you can upload anything from a small 10-product catalog to a full line of 1,000 items, group them into distinct collections, and monitor stock levels in real time.

It connects products, stock, and checkout in one place, which minimizes manual updates and eliminates mistakes as orders begin to scale. Shopify’s drag-and-drop theme editor feels straightforward even if you’ve never built a site before. You move blocks, change colors, and flip layouts with clicks, not code. Users frequently jump from rough draft to live store in a day, rather than weeks of custom development.

Themes span various styles including clean layouts for tech gear or more image-heavy for fashion or beauty. From there, you drop in apps and extensions from a selection of 130+ types, including review widgets, live chat or loyalty programs. Your site can evolve from a simple shop to something more sophisticated as your requirements evolve.

To keep your brand consistent, the editor allows you to adjust fonts, logos, and colors with a few clicks, so the store fits your logo, social media, and offline materials. You get support for site translation and local currencies, so you can serve buyers in different regions without a separate build. A buyer in France can browse your content in French and pay in euro.

A buyer in Japan can see prices in yen, all from one store configuration. On the shopper side, Shopify concentrates on a frictionless experience from product view to payment. The cart page design is simple and clean with obvious calls to action and support for all of the main payment options.

Set flexible shipping rules, like free shipping over a certain order value or flat-rate shipping by region. Built-in marketing tools let you run discount codes, basic email campaigns, and abandoned cart reminders so people come back if they dipped out before checkout. Sites are optimized for mobile screens by default, so product pages, menus, and buttons remain legible and easy to tap on phones, which is where so many buyers browse and pay.

On the back end, you get a dashboard designed for daily use by sellers, not just analysts. Order, refund, and return tracking is in one place, with key data like conversion rate, average order value, and top products. Those numbers assist you in trying minor design or layout modifications, such as a new product photograph style or a shorter checkout, and observe if sales surge.

Plans vary from free trials to monthly and yearly subscriptions, so you pick based on your present position and upgrade as orders increase.

5. Webflow

Webflow provides a visual-first approach to designing, building, and launching responsive sites without struggling with code from the start while still maintaining complete control under the hood when necessary. In addition to the usual drag-and-drop interface common to many tools, you receive an actual visual development environment that integrates design, prototyping, and CMS all in one location.

Start from a blank canvas or choose from hundreds of templates in the Webflow Templates marketplace, then customize layouts, colors, and content to fit your brand. Each modification refreshes across desktop, tablet, and mobile layouts, so your design remains responsive rather than fracturing on compact viewports.

To keep things consistent, Webflow relies on reusable classes, variables, and components. You can define classes for typography or buttons, use variables for colors and spacing, and save shared pieces like headers and footers as components.

Change a brand color once and it updates over the entire site. For instance, if your main button color changes from blue to green, you adjust one variable instead of each page. You can even create a complete design system within Webflow, ensuring your team adheres to consistent patterns and guidelines, reducing rework and misunderstandings down the line.

For motion and interaction, Webflow allows you to define custom animations and trigger-based effects with no JavaScript. Build subtle hover states, scroll-based reveals, or more complex page transitions with a visual timeline.

For instance, a basic image gallery using cards that fade and move as you scroll. You specify the timing and easing with sliders and inputs, and Webflow emits the required code in the background. When you want to go deeper, you still have direct control over CSS Grid, flexbox, and other advanced layout tools.

On the build side, you select whether to export clean HTML, CSS, and JavaScript or to host directly on Webflow’s own infrastructure. Exported code is fantastic if you want to pass it on to a dev team, and Webflow hosting helps if you want faster deployment with less setup.

You can even import designs from tools like Figma to help accelerate the transition from design to build. Teams can collaborate in real time, leave comments, manage client feedback, and track changes all in the same project.

For performance and growth, Webflow integrates SEO settings and supports audits with tools such as Ahrefs or Semrush in addition to heatmap tools that reveal user friction points. This enables you to test and adapt your site according to actual user interactions.

6. Elementor

Elementor provides you a quick, visual means to mold your WordPress site without code. You edit in a drag and drop editor that displays live previews, so whatever you do is immediately displayed on screen. You can drop in rows, columns, and 90+ widgets, then adjust spacing, colors, and layout in a single panel.

A basic example would be dropping in a testimonials widget to display actual customer quotes in a nice slider with stars and pictures, rather than a boring text box.

To accelerate your build, you’re provided with an extensive library of pre-designed templates and complete theme kits. Select a full site kit - portfolio, shop, consulting, and replace it with your own copy and photos.

For example, you could begin with a ‘Fitness Coach’ kit, maintain the design, but switch out the brand colors and images for your own service. Design Systems and Site Settings allow you to establish global rules. You set default colors, fonts, and button styles once and those apply across every page, which reduces manual tinkering.

For brand control, Elementor allows you to customize typography site-wide. You can set global fonts for headings and body text, as well as load custom fonts if your brand is using a specific typeface. Your blog posts, landing pages, and popups all have the same look.

Cloud Templates come in handy here, especially if you’re working on more than one site. You can store headers, footers, or full page layouts in the cloud, then pull them into other projects, which is useful if you build sites for clients in the same niche.

On the performance front, Elementor facilitates mobile-first design. Construct the mobile layout first, then modify tablet and desktop views with distinct font size, padding, and column order controls. That makes pages stay light and clean on smaller screens.

Built-in tools and add-ons assist with SEO and speed, including clean HTML structure, control over heading tags, and ways to collaborate with third-party caching and image tools.

Both new users and experienced designers benefit from the no-code system. New users can count on templates and the visual editor. Pros can explore the Theme Builder, Popup Builder, and more advanced workflows while still skipping custom code for most tasks.

Pricing remains flexible, with a free plan to try the essentials and paid plans that bring pro widgets, full theme tools, support, and more site activations.

7. Figma

Figma lets you design, prototype, and share web layouts in a single space, with no cumbersome setup or harsh learning curve. You open a file, insert a frame for desktop or mobile from the included device templates, and you’re free to craft an entire page - wireframe to high-fidelity mockup. Frames, layers, and widgets live in a transparent panel, so you can view all buttons, cards, and text blocks sequentially.

For a simple landing page, you could first sketch out a crude wireframe with grey boxes, and then replace the boxes with actual images, color styles, and copy once the general layout feels good.

To collaborate with a team, Figma operates in real time. You and your teammates can hang out in the same file and tweak a navbar, footer, or sign-up form as a group. Each individual appears as a named cursor, and you observe changes in real time.

For example, a UX designer might create the flow, a copywriter edits the copy, and a product manager leaves comments on the places that need to be changed. No version mix-ups occur as everyone remains in a single shared source of truth.

For bigger web projects, you can set up a complete design system on a separate canvas. You design components, reusable pieces of elements like buttons, form fields, and cards. Then you apply shared styles for color, grids, and text.

When you change a primary button in the system, every linked button in your pages can follow suit. This makes it easy to keep a multi-page site consistent, from home page to blog to account area.

Figma supports rich visual work so your pages don’t feel flat. Use brushes and textures to construct custom backgrounds or subtle section patterns. Text on a path is useful when you need curved captions or badges.

Pre‑built widgets accelerate work on things like charts or basic UI kits. All of this sits inside the same file where your wireframes and layouts live, so you keep creative tweaks under control.

To test flows, you make your screens clickable prototypes. You link frames, throw in easy transitions, then send one link to users, clients, or teammates. Viewers click through the mock site in their browser and post comments pinned to locations on the page.

For instance, a tester could call out that the “Add to cart” button is too low on mobile, directly on the layout. As you can collect that feedback before any code is written, you save time and rework.

For handoff to developers, Dev Mode provides a transparent bridge from design to code. When a developer opens Dev Mode, they are presented with specs like spacing, colors, and font sizes in a hierarchical view. Developers can copy CSS fragments, variables, and layout values straight from design.

This works well with integrations to tools you might already be using, like code repos, project boards, or design review apps. You link your Figma files to those tools so changes flow across your process without much manual copy and paste.

To take care of content, you receive a specialized view that keeps text and key values organized in a single location. You could change all button labels, menu links, or error messages from that one view instead of searching through every frame.

Figma supports designing desktop and mobile in the same project with pre-set device sizes, so you can keep breakpoints side by side and see how pieces shift across screens.

8. Adobe XD

Adobe XD provides a quick means to blueprint, design, and prototype complete web experiences prior to writing any code. You operate in a tidy layout editor something like a hybrid between a drawing application and a slideshow editor, with far more control over links, flows, and states. For a simple site, you might wireframe a home page, product page, and contact page, then click through them like a real site to test that the layout and flow make sense.

To design pages and flows, you drag frames for each screen on the canvas, drop in text, images, and shapes, then link buttons and menu items to other frames. A simplified instance might be a top nav bar with each label linking to a different artboard. You can configure hover states for buttons, tap targets for cards, or an incremental checkout flow. No coding is required. You simply draw, link, and test.

For an entire user flow, you can designate a start screen and trace each click through to form complete or checkout, identifying dead ends or perplexing steps ahead of time.

For brand consistency, XD ties in with Adobe Creative Cloud. You can drag in a logo from Illustrator, hero photos from Photoshop, and reuse them across pages. Components let you keep shared pieces in sync. When you edit a button style or a nav bar in one place, it can change everywhere on all the other pages linked to it.

If your brand color changes from blue to green, you edit one color style instead of searching through screens. That ensures expansive sites, like a blog with multiple layouts or a store with countless product pages, stay on-brand.

To demonstrate how the site will feel, utilize XD’s high-fidelity prototyping tools. You include micro animations for page transitions, modal easing, and overlays for dropdown menus. For instance, you can have a slide-in side menu glide in from the left when a menu icon is tapped.

You can even set time-based transitions and voice triggers, which are handy if your site integrates with a voice assistant or needs accessibility testing.

Sharing and handoff remain simple. Export static images or PDFs for a fast glance, or publish a live prototype link that stakeholders can open in a browser. Product managers can click through flows and leave comments on particular screens.

Developers can toggle to Design Specs view and extract layout values, colors, and assets straight away, which reduces the back-and-forth. Prior to writing any code, your team can align on layout, flow, and critical interactions. Templates and plugins accelerate work as well, from grid systems and icon sets to tools that integrate with design systems.

Adobe XD is on a subscription with multiple plans available, so you choose what works for your budget and team. For some, the interface is straightforward and simple. For others, there’s a slight learning curve, particularly if you’re new to design tools.

Still, you receive a complete UX design and prototyping environment that supports both web and mobile.

Conclusion

You have some serious weapons on the table now. WordPress provides you fine control. Wix and Squarespace tidy things up and simplify the process. Shopify helps you sell quicker. Webflow gives you more detail if you enjoy tinkering. Elementor allows you to create on WordPress with less hassle. Figma and Adobe XD can help you map out the appearance prior to launch.

You don’t need the “perfect” option. You just need the right fit for your time, skills, and budget. Start small. Try one tool, create one clear page, and experience the buzz. Your own site will grow as you learn.

Want a web design program that truly designs and launches a website? Pick a CMS from the 8 listed above, or click the link below for even more. 

Frequently asked questions

Which website builder is best if you are a complete beginner?

If you’re new to websites, tools like Google Web Designer, Wix, and Squarespace are the simplest options. They rely on drag-and-drop editors and basic templates, allowing you to create sleek designs quickly, with no techie skills required.

When should you choose WordPress instead of Wix or Squarespace?

Opt for WordPress if you want maximum control and scale. It is better for blogs, complicated sites, or custom elements. It boasts thousands of themes and plugins. It requires more configuration, but it provides you with more flexibility down the road.

Is Shopify only for online stores?

Shopify is created almost exclusively for eCommerce. Use it when selling stuff is your primary objective. It takes care of payments, inventory, shipping, and taxes. You can still do pages and a blog, but its real power is selling online.

What is the difference between Webflow and WordPress?

Webflow is a visual web design tool with beautiful, clean, built-in hosting. It is awesome if you want design freedom without much coding. WordPress requires hosting and plugins. It has more ecosystem options and support available from the community.

Do you still need Figma or Adobe XD if you use a website builder?

Yeah, if you want to plan and test designs first, tools like Google Web Designer and Figma allow you to create design mockups and prototypes. You can iterate on design, user flow, and branding before building with WordPress, Webflow, Wix, etc.

What is Elementor and how does it fit with WordPress?

Elementor, similar to a google web designer, is a drag-and-drop WordPress page builder plugin. Think of it as Photoshop for your blog, allowing you to design custom layouts and landing pages with unique designs while harnessing the power and flexibility of WordPress.

Which tool should you choose if you want full design control?

Webflow, Figma, and Adobe XD are good choices if you want deep design control. Use Figma or Adobe XD to design and prototype. Then, with Google Web Designer, you can create pixel-perfect, custom websites that mirror your design by coding with Webflow or WordPress and Elementor.