Cheapest Website Builder in 2026: What a Year on Your Own Domain Costs
By Ethan Halfhide · Updated October 5, 2026
Last verified 2026-10-05
The cheapest website builder plans for a full site with a domain included are Hostinger Premium ($47.88 for the first year) and WordPress.com Personal ($48), once you count the second year. IONOS Plus is cheaper in year one only: $12 on sale, then $20 a month. One-page sites cost less on Carrd ($19 a year) or Zoho Sites Lite ($12 a year), plus a domain. Prices are in US dollars from each maker's own pricing page or checkout, as of October 5, 2026.
TL;DR: Top pick
Hostinger Website Builder: Premium is $3.99 a month on a 12-month term, or $2.99 a month if you prepay 48 months, with a domain free for the first year and up to 3 websites. It renews at $10.99 a month and selling online is a paid add-on (October 2026).
What cheapest means on this page
Advertised monthly prices hide three things: the term you must prepay to get that rate, the renewal price, and whether a domain is included. So we ranked plans by one number, the total you pay in the first 12 months to run a site on your own domain, and put the renewal price next to it wherever the maker states one. Free plans are left out because they keep you on the vendor's address: Wix says a Premium plan is needed to connect your own domain, Webflow's free Starter plan publishes to a webflow.io domain, Framer's free plan uses a free Framer domain and Jimdo's uses a jimdosite.com subdomain. If a vendor subdomain is fine for you, see our list of free AI website builders instead. All prices are in US dollars as shown on each pricing page in October 2026.
Side-by-side comparison
| Plan | First 12 months | Renewal | Domain | What the cheapest plan lacks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IONOS Plus | $12 (sale price: $1/mo on a 1-year term) | $20/mo ($240/yr) | Free first year | The low price lasts one year |
| Zoho Sites Lite | $12 plus a domain ($1/site/mo billed annually) | Not stated | Connect your own | Limited to 1 page, 100 MB storage, 500 MB bandwidth/mo |
| Carrd Pro Standard | $19 plus a domain | $19/yr | Connect your own | One-page sites only |
| Hostinger Premium | $47.88 ($3.99/mo on a 12-month term) | $10.99/mo ($131.88/yr) | Free first year, then $19.99/yr for .com | Ecommerce is a paid add-on; $2.99/mo needs 48 months up front |
| WordPress.com Personal | $48 ($4/mo billed yearly) | $5/mo ($60/yr) on most page loads; $8 or $10/mo on others | Free first year | Payment buttons and video uploads start at Premium |
| Webnode Limited | $54 plus a domain ($4.50/mo, annual billing only) | Not stated | Not included | 500 MB storage, 1 GB bandwidth |
| IONOS Starter | $72 ($6/mo on a 1-year term) | $14/mo ($168/yr) | Free first year | AI tools, AI SEO and booking are on Plus |
| Webnode Mini | $102 (discounted price: $8.50/mo on annual billing, marked 22% off $10.90) | Not stated | Free first year | 3 GB storage, 3 GB bandwidth |
| Framer Basic | $120 ($10/mo with yearly billing) | Not stated | Complimentary on yearly billing | Capped at 30 pages and 2 CMS collections |
| Jimdo Start | $132 ($11/mo on a 12-month contract) | Not stated | Included | 10 website pages |
| Webflow Basic | $180 plus a domain ($15/mo billed yearly) | Not stated | Not listed as included | No CMS |
| Wix Light | $204 ($17/mo, yearly subscription) | Not stated | Free for 1 year | Accept payments starts at Core; 2 GB storage |
| Squarespace Basic | $228 ($19/mo paid annually) | Not stated | Free first year on annual plans | 2% online store transaction fee |
Cheapest for a full multi-page site: Hostinger Premium and WordPress.com Personal
Hostinger's pricing page advertises Premium at $2.99 a month, but that rate means paying $143.52 up front for 48 months. In Hostinger's checkout the same plan is $3.99 a month on a 12-month term ($47.88 in total), $3.49 a month for 24 months ($83.76) and $11.99 for a single month, as of October 2026. The 12, 24 and 48-month terms all renew at $10.99 a month, which is $131.88 a year. A domain is free for the first year on those terms (the one-month option does not include one), and Hostinger lists .com renewal at $19.99 a year. Premium covers up to 3 websites with 20 GB of storage. What it lacks: selling online is a separate add-on in the checkout, priced at $1 for the first 3 months and then $8.99 a month, the 2 mailboxes per site are free for one year only, and the 5 AI credits are a one-time gift. WordPress.com Personal costs almost the same in year one: $4 a month billed yearly ($48), with a free domain for the first year, 6 GB of storage, no WordPress.com ads for visitors and plugin installs. Its renewal is lower, but it is not one fixed number. On October 5, 2026 the WordPress.com pricing page showed different renewal prices on different page loads: most loads said the yearly plan auto-renews at $5 a month ($60 a year), and a few said $8 a month ($96 a year) or $10 a month ($120 a year). All three are below Hostinger's $131.88, so read the renewal line in your own checkout. Paying month to month is shown at $9, and three years up front works out to $2.75 a month. Payment buttons and video uploads are listed from the Premium plan, which is $8 a month billed yearly. So Hostinger is cheapest if you prepay several years, and WordPress.com is cheaper if you renew one year at a time. For more on the builder itself, see our Hostinger AI website builder review.
Lowest first-year price: IONOS Plus at $1 a month, then $20
IONOS has the lowest first-year price we found for a multi-page builder. Its Plus plan is listed at $1 a month with a 1-year term, a sale price marked as a 96% saving, so the first year costs $12. The same line says the price is then $20 a month, which is $240 a year. The Starter plan is $6 a month for the first year ($72) and then $14 a month ($168 a year). IONOS says all plans include a free custom domain for the first year and a professional email address. Starter comes with 10 GB of storage and a 2 GB mailbox. The AI text, image and website tools, AI search engine optimization, online booking tools and SiteAnalytics are listed under Plus, which has 50 GB of storage. IONOS Plus is the cheapest way to get through year one, but over two years it costs more than Hostinger Premium or WordPress.com Personal ($252 against roughly $180 for Hostinger and $108 to $168 for WordPress.com, depending on the renewal price it shows you, before domain renewal), so decide before the renewal date whether to stay.
Low-cost plans for a domain you already own: Carrd, Zoho Sites Lite and Webnode Limited
Three more low-cost plans expect you to supply the domain yourself. Carrd builds one-page sites. Its free plan allows up to three sites, and custom domains start with Pro Standard at $19 a year, which covers 10 sites and adds forms, widgets, embeds and analytics. The cheaper Pro Lite plan at $9 a year does not list custom domains. Zoho Sites Lite is US$1 per site a month billed annually ($12 a year) and its plan comparison marks a custom domain as available, but the plan is limited to 1 page, 100 MB of storage and 500 MB of bandwidth a month. Webnode's Limited plan is $4.50 a month and is sold on annual billing only ($54 a year). Webnode describes it as a basic plan for attaching your own domain, with 500 MB of storage and 1 GB of bandwidth, and says it does not include a free domain. None of the three lists a domain as part of the plan, so add the registration cost. As of October 2026, Porkbun lists .com at $11.08 a year and Cloudflare Registrar says it does not mark up domain prices. That puts a one-page Carrd site on your own .com at about $30 a year.
Mid-priced builders: Webnode Mini, Framer, Jimdo and Webflow
Above the budget tier, entry plans cluster between about $100 and $180 a year. Webnode Mini is $8.50 a month on annual billing ($102 a year), a discounted price that Webnode marks as 22% off $10.90 a month, with a free domain for the first year, 3 GB of storage and 3 GB of bandwidth. Framer Basic is $10 a month with yearly billing ($120 a year) or $15 month to month. It includes a complimentary domain on yearly billing and is capped at 30 pages, 2 CMS collections and 50 GB of bandwidth. Jimdo Start is $11 a month on a 12-month contract ($132 a year) with a domain included, no ads and 10 website pages. Webflow Basic is $15 a month billed yearly ($180 a year). It adds a custom domain, 300 static pages and 10 GB of bandwidth, and Webflow describes it as a plan for simple sites that do not need a CMS. Webflow's pricing page does not list a domain as included, so budget for one separately. If you are deciding between the two design tools, our Framer vs Webflow comparison goes deeper.
The big names cost more: Wix Light and Squarespace Basic
Wix and Squarespace have the most expensive entry plans in this comparison. Wix Light is shown at $17 a month for a yearly subscription paid in full ($204 a year), with a free domain for 1 year and 2 GB of storage. Wix lists Accept payments from the Core plan at $29 a month, not on Light, and notes that prices and currency vary by location. Squarespace Basic is $19 a month paid annually ($228 a year) or $25 month to month. Annual plans include one year of free domain registration, and Basic can sell products with a 2% online store transaction fee and up to 2 contributors. Our Wix vs Squarespace comparison covers how the two differ.
What the cheapest plans leave out
Selling online is the most common gap: it is a paid add-on on Hostinger Premium, payment buttons start at WordPress.com Premium, and Wix lists Accept payments from Core. Size limits are tight at the bottom: 1 page on Zoho Sites Lite, one-page sites on Carrd, 10 pages on Jimdo Start, 500 MB of storage on Webnode Limited and 2 GB on Wix Light. The domain is usually free for the first year only. After that Hostinger charges $19.99 a year for a .com, and Squarespace says its free domain renews at its standard rate. The renewal price can be several times the first-year price: Hostinger Premium goes from $3.99 to $10.99 a month on a 12-month term, IONOS Plus from $1 to $20, and IONOS Starter from $6 to $14. If you plan to sell products from day one, compare the builders in our best AI website builder for ecommerce list instead of picking the cheapest plan.
How to choose
Want a full site for the least money in year one, and do not mind switching or paying more later? IONOS Plus at $12. Want the lowest cost over several years? Prepay Hostinger Premium for 48 months ($143.52, about $36 a year) or take WordPress.com Personal and renew yearly (shown as $60 to $120 a year, depending on the page load). Only need a single page, a link in bio or a landing page? Carrd Pro Standard at $19 a year or Zoho Sites Lite at $12 a year, plus a domain. Care more about design than price? Framer Basic or Webflow Basic. Want everything in one well-known package and are willing to pay for it? Wix Light or Squarespace Basic. Running a local business and comparing AI builders rather than price alone? See our best AI website builder for small business list. Whichever you pick, read the renewal price and the billing term in the checkout before you pay, not just the monthly figure on the pricing page.
What we could not verify
GoDaddy's plans page advertises its Website Builder as low as $9.99 a month with an annual term and a free domain on annual plans, but we could not load the full plan table or a renewal price, so it is not ranked. Canva says its websites are free to publish on a my.canva.site address and that linking an existing domain needs Canva Pro. We did not confirm a current Pro price today, so Canva is not in the table; our Canva website builder guide covers how it works. Google's help page confirms that a site published on Google Sites can use a custom domain, but we found no price for Sites on the pages we loaded. Renewal prices are marked as not stated where the pricing page gives only one price: that is the case for Framer, Jimdo, Webflow, Webnode, Zoho Sites, Wix and Squarespace. WordPress.com does not state a domain renewal price on its pricing page, and because it showed us three different plan renewal prices on the same day ($5, $8 and $10 a month for Personal billed yearly), we cannot say which one you will be offered. Wix shows US dollar prices for reference only, so your checkout price may differ by location. Figures are as displayed on each pricing page; most say taxes are extra, and Jimdo's page says its prices include VAT.
How this page was put together
We loaded each maker's own pricing page, and for Hostinger the checkout as well, on October 5, 2026 from a US connection, then worked out the 12-month cost from the listed monthly price and term. We did not build sites with these tools for this page, and nothing here is a judgment of performance or design quality. Sale prices are labelled as such. Plans and promotions change often, so check the linked pricing page before you commit, and tell us if something has moved.
Builders in our directory, ranked by first-year cost on your own domain
- 1HHostinger Website Builder
AI website builder with a 14-day free trial; Premium from $2.99/mo on a 48-month term (Sept 2026)
Premium is $3.99 a month on a 12-month term, or $2.99 a month if you prepay 48 months, with a domain free for the first year and up to 3 websites. It renews at $10.99 a month and selling online is a paid add-on (October 2026).
- Best for:
- Lowest cost for a full site if you prepay
- Pricing:
- $47.88 for 12 months or $143.52 for 48 months; renews $10.99/mo
- 2WWordPress
Open-source CMS with AI page-builder plugins
WordPress is open source software, so the cost is hosting. The hosted WordPress.com Personal plan is $4 a month billed yearly with a free first-year domain. Its pricing page showed the yearly renewal as $5 a month on most of our page loads and $8 or $10 a month on others (October 2026), and Hostinger Premium lists WordPress as a build option at the same plan price.
- Best for:
- Renewing one year at a time
- Pricing:
- WordPress.com Personal: $48 first year; renewal shown as $5 to $10/mo
- 3Framer
Design and publish sites at the speed of thought
Basic includes a complimentary domain on yearly billing, 30 pages, 2 CMS collections and 50 GB of bandwidth. The free plan stays on a Framer domain.
- Best for:
- Designed portfolio and landing pages
- Pricing:
- Basic $120/yr ($10/mo with yearly billing); $15 month to month
- 4JJimdo AI
AI that interviews you, then builds your entire small business website automatically
Start includes a domain, no ads and 10 website pages. The free plan stays on a jimdosite.com subdomain.
- Best for:
- A small personal site with the domain bundled
- Pricing:
- Start $132/yr ($11/mo on a 12-month contract)
- 5Webflow
Build production websites without writing code
Basic adds a custom domain, 300 static pages and 10 GB of bandwidth, with no CMS. The pricing page does not list a domain as included.
- Best for:
- Simple static sites with room to grow
- Pricing:
- Basic $180/yr ($15/mo billed yearly)
- 6SSquarespace
The most polished AI website builder for creatives and brand-conscious businesses
Basic includes one year of free domain registration on annual plans and can sell products with a 2% online store transaction fee.
- Best for:
- Selling from the entry plan
- Pricing:
- Basic $228/yr ($19/mo paid annually); $25 month to month
Verdict
For a full site on your own domain, Hostinger Premium ($47.88 for 12 months, or $143.52 for 48) and WordPress.com Personal ($48 for the first year) are the cheapest plans with a first-year domain included once you count the second year. Pick Hostinger if you will prepay several years and WordPress.com if you renew yearly: its pricing page showed the yearly renewal as $60 a year on most of our page loads and $96 or $120 on others, all below Hostinger's $131.88. IONOS Plus is cheaper for year one only ($12, then $240 a year). For one page, Carrd Pro Standard ($19 a year) or Zoho Sites Lite ($12 a year) plus a domain costs the least once the IONOS first-year sale price ends. Wix Light ($204 a year) and Squarespace Basic ($228 a year) cost four to five times as much as the cheapest full-site plans. Prices as of October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Hostinger website builder plans and checkout
- Hostinger pricing
- Hostinger .com domain pricing
- WordPress.com pricing
- WordPress.org: About WordPress
- IONOS website builder plans
- Carrd Pro plans
- Carrd
- Zoho Sites pricing
- Webnode pricing
- Framer pricing
- Jimdo website pricing
- Webflow pricing
- Wix Premium plans
- Squarespace pricing
- Porkbun .com domain pricing
- Cloudflare Registrar
- GoDaddy website builder plans
- Canva website builder
- Google Sites Help: Use a custom domain for your site
Keep reading
- Best free AI website builders →
- Hostinger AI website builder review →
- Best AI website builder for small business →
- Best AI website builder for ecommerce →
- Wix vs Squarespace →
- Squarespace vs WordPress →
- Wix vs WordPress →
- Framer vs Webflow →
- Canva website builder →
- Best no code website builder →
- WordPress AI website builders →
About the author
Ethan Halfhide
Ethan Halfhide is an AI technologist and founder who has helped more than a thousand people build websites and products with AI tools. He compares AI website builders on pricing, features and what each one actually produces from a prompt.