Webflow has been generating a lot of buzz in the web design community in the past few years. Founded in 2013, it has since acquired over 2 million users and secured $215 million in funding (source). As of January 2021, Webflow is valued at a whopping $2.1 billion (source). Needless to say, Webflow has earned its place among other website builder giants, like Wix and Squarespace.

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Why use a Webflow alternative?

Webflow's primary selling point is that it enables anyone to build a custom, professional website without coding. Their web design interface is completely visual; many users liken it to the experience of using Photoshop and other design software. In addition to the visual interface, Webflow also offers fast and reliable hosting, as well as a plethora of flexible integrations.

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So why should you look for a Webfllow alternative? Although Webflow is a flexible and powerful platform that can create any type of website, there are a few reasons you may prefer to go with an alternative website builder.

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Pricing

Overall, Webflow pricing is pretty comparable to its competitors, although it really depends on which plan you get. However, it's certainly not the cheapest option available. If budget is a major concern for you, you can definitely find a more affordable Webflow alternative. In addition, Webflow's pricing structure is confusing, which can make it difficult to calculate how much your website will actually cost you in the long run.

Click here for a detailed breakdown on Webflow's plans and pricing.

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Ease of use

Although building websites without coding is a huge draw for Webflow, it doesn’t mean that the process will be easy for everyone. Webflow is very flexible and has a lot of customization options, which is great; but the drawback of this is that it comes with a steep learning curve. If you don't have the time or willpower to learn how to use all of Webflow's amazing features, you may benefit from finding a Webflow alternative that's easier to use.

That said, there are a lot of resources available to you that will help you learn how to use Webflow better and faster. A great place to start learning about Webflow for free is the Flux YouTube channel, where you'll find tons of valuable content on Webflow, web design, and freelancing.

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What's the best Webflow alternative?

If you're intrigued by Webflow but not sure if it's the best fit for you, we've got you covered. Below, we'll look at the top 7 website builder alternatives that are competing with Webflow in 2021. We'll review the pros and cons of each, so that you can come away with a better understanding of which platform is the best fit for you at this time.

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1. Wix

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Wix is pretty much a household name these days, thanks to extensive advertising and collaborations with notable celebrities like Karlie Kloss. Wix's name of the game is making the process of building a website as quick and easy as possible for non-designers. The easiest way is through their unique ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) software, which instantly builds personalized websites based on a questionnaire.

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Pros

• Ease of use: Of all the website builders on this list, including Webflow, Wix is the easiest to use thanks to their drag-and-drop editor.
• All-in-one solution: On Wix you can register a domain, design your website, host it, and even create a logo, all in one place.
• Templates, apps, and integrations: Wix comes with a lot of helpful tools and features, both free and paid, to help you customize your website to suit your needs.

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Cons

• Non-transferable: If you ever decide to migrate from Wix to another platform, you'll have to manually transfer your content over, piece by piece.
• Stuck with one template: If you want to switch to a different template on Wix, you'll have to re-upload all of your content into the new template.
• Growth is costly: As your website grows and you add on more features, the costs can add up really quickly. Wix is best suited for small, simple websites.

Click here for a detailed comparison between Wix and Webflow.

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2. Squarespace

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Squarespace is a template-based website builder popular among DIYers and professional web designers alike. Its biggest strengths are its beautiful pre-made templates and intuitive editor. Similar to Wix, Squarespace offers an all-in-one solution that includes domain registration, website hosting, a logo maker, and email marketing.

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Pros

• Beautiful, responsive templates: You don't need to do much design customization to create a stunning website for your business using one of Squarespace's templates.
• Great customer support: If you run into issues, you can always contact Squarespace's 24/7 customer support team.
• Easy to learn: Squarespace's back-end has a simple and intuitive UI that most non-designers can easily pick up.

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Cons

• Limited built-in customization: While it's possible to create custom, unique websites on Squarespace, it requires a lot of custom coding.
• Not scalable: Large, complex websites are difficult to manage on Squarespace.
• Rigid layouts: If you want to do something funky with your layouts, i.e. break the grid, you'll have a hard time pulling it off effectively with Squarespace's drag-and-drop elements. And never mind making it look good on mobile.

Click here for a detailed comparison between Squarespace and Webflow.

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3. WordPress.org

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WordPress.org is an open-source CMS that powers almost 40% of the Internet. The beauty of WordPress is that the possibilities of what you can do with it are virtually limitless. This is due in part to the thousands of third-party themes and plugins available.

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Pros

• Best blogging platform: Since WordPress is a CMS (content management system), every website built with it includes blogging capabilities. This is where WordPress really shines among its competitors.
• Unlimited integrations: Almost any type of integration you could possibly need can be found among the over 50,000 plugins built for WordPress.
• Budget-friendly: The WordPress software itself is free. At minimum, you'll only have to pay for your domain and hosting, which can be much more affordable than some of the fees for the other website builders on this list.

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Cons

• Bloated code: Depending on the quality of the themes and plugins used, your WordPress site risks getting bogged down by inefficient code.
• Difficult to customize: On WordPress, you have to install a theme for the front-end of your site. Customizing these themes can be tricky and non-intuitive. However, there are visual builders like Divi that allow you to create truly custom sites on WordPress without code.
• Frequent updates: Developers frequently release updated versions of their themes, plugins, and the WordPress software itself. Sometimes, these updates can break your site and require frustrating troubleshooting.

Click here for a detailed comparison between WordPress and Webflow.

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4. Adobe Dreamweaver

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Dreamweaver is Adobe's solution to building custom, responsive websites quickly. Unlike most of the other website builders on this list, Dreamweaver is an offline software. It's intended for professional web designers and developers, and therefore isn't a great Webflow alternative for the DIY crowd.

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Pros

• Creative Cloud integration: If you use other Adobe products, you can easily integrate assets from your Libraries to design websites in Dreamweaver.
• Feature-rich: There's no shortage of features available to help you build beautiful, custom websites.
• Live preview: Preview how your site will look in the browser as you're building it.

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Cons

• No built-in CMS or ecommerce: If you need to integrate a blog or shopping cart on your website, you'll need to integrate your site with a third-party solution. Webflow offers both of these integrations.
• Requires coding: This isn't necessarily a con; but if you're looking for a code-free solution, Dreamweaver probably isn't for you.
• Expensive: Dreamweaver starts at $21/month. That doesn't include hosting and domain registration, which you'll need to purchase separately.

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5. Bootstrap Studio

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Bootstrap Studio is a desktop app for designing and prototyping websites. It's built on the Bootstrap framework for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The website editor is drag-and-drop and comes with a number of pre-built components to work with. You can also create your own custom components and edit the code itself.

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Pros

• Clean code: The Bootstrap framework is enormously popular, in part because of its clean, efficient code.
• Export code in one click: When you're done editing your site, you can easily export the code to host it wherever you'd like.
• One-time fee: Pay once, and own the software forever. Most other website builders have monthly fees.

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Cons

• Not entirely code-free: To truly customize your site, it's helpful to know your way around HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
• No free trial period: Many website builders, including Webflow, offer the ability to try the platform for free; Bootstrap Studio is not one of them.
• Only available in English: If English isn't your native language, you may struggle to use this platform.

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6. Weebly

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Weebly is a simple website builder for small businesses that shares a lot of similarities to Squarespace and Wix. With a drag-and-drop editor and a number of beautiful templates to choose from, Weebly offers an easy solution to creating a business website or online store.

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Pros

• Competitive pricing: Weebly, like Wix and Webflow, offers a free plan. In addition, the pricing for Weebly's premium plans is lower than its competitors, starting at just $8/month.
• Custom code option: If you need to, you can customize HTML, CSS, and JavaScript on your Weebly site.
• Ecommerce integration: Weebly is owned by Square, which has its perks in terms of ecommerce. Even on Weebly's free plan, you can add a shopping cart and unlimited products to your online store. On platforms like Webflow, Wix, and Squarespace, you'll pay extra for ecommerce integration.

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Cons

• Non-transferable: There's no easy way to export your content on Weebly, which would make it difficult to switch to a different platform.
• Limited design options: Weebly doesn't have as many templates as other platforms, and they're not as customizable.
• Limited plugins: There are fewer plugins available on Weebly compared to its competitors.

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7. Showit

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Showit is a relatively new drag-and-drop website builder that was originally created for photographers. Although it's still marketed towards photographers, it's becoming more and more popular among other types of creative professionals. It has an intuitive visual interface that designers frequently compare to Adobe Illustrator.

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Pros

• WordPress integration: Adding a blog to your Showit website comes with all the advantages of WordPress' powerful blogging capabilities.
• Fully customizable: Although there are many beautiful templates to choose from, you also have the freedom of creating a completely custom website from scratch with Showit.
• Mobile customization: With Showit, you can design a completely custom mobile website experience.

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Cons

• Not fully responsive: Showit website designs are not fluid, which can result in a poor experience for some users.
• Not ecommerce-friendly: While there are a couple ways to integrate ecommerce on a Showit website, they're a bit clunky and not ideal for online stores.
• Pricey: A basic Showit website with a blog starts at $24/month. If you want to install custom WordPress plugins, including e-commerce plugins, pricing starts at $34/month. This is higher than the comparable plans offered by Squarespace and Webflow.

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Learn how to use Webflow to build pixel-perfect websites like a pro

So how does Webflow stand up to all the alternatives listed above? None of them offer quite the same level of freedom and customization that you can get with Webflow. The only catch is that Webflow may have a steeper learning curve than most of the other platforms mentioned. However, if you're a web designer who wants to make beautiful, custom, and fast websites for clients that demand high prices, don't let the intimidation of learning a new platform stop you.

You don't have to learn Webflow on your own; Webflow actually offers free training via Webflow University that can get you started. And when you're ready to level up your process and learn how to create high-value websites for clients, consider enrolling in The Webflow Masterclass. This comprehensive course, taught by Flux founder Ran Segall, teaches designers how to develop highly customized websites using Webflow, from start to finish.

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