Although not known as a global best web hosting provider FC2 is still a pretty popular blogging host from Japan (think of it as the Japanese version of GeoCities). The company is registered in the US but supposedly run by brothers (Rihiro and Takahashi Takahiro. While it is US based it's clear that this is made for Japanese (or people that can read Japanese) users as even when the language is set to English, Japanese characters still appear making usability somewhat difficult for users not proficient in Japanese.

In November 2024 Rihiro was arrested in Japan for allowing obscene content to be published on the site and together with user decline part of the blogging site was shut down. More information about the shutdown can be found on FC2's post. Websites and web pages without fc2web in the URL should still be operating as expected.

Controversy has followed FC2 through the years, primarily for allowing hosting without putting any restrictions on the content including pornography, piracy and defamation. Fortunately, from 2012 onwards stricter rules have been enforced and the changes in Japanese law regarding the foreign entities operating in Japan have helped the injured parties seek justice.  

• Interested in FC2? Check out the website here

For those growing up in the early 2000s, FC2’s main website may feel like a walk down the memory lane with its old-school style and somewhat puzzling user experience. Everything seems straightforward at the beginning, but soon enough you might feel like being lost in a maze, faced with dead ends and some pages popping up in Japanese just to confuse you even further.

Besides English and Japanese, FC2’s website is available in eleven additional languages, although the translation doesn’t appear to be total in some parts.  If you click on “Blog” (next to a cute rubber duck), you’ll proceed to FC2 BLOG’s website which is more modern, easier to use and available in all the same languages. 

The “About” section of FC2’s website provides a brief overview of FC2’s history that ends in 2013 and fails to mention anything about their servers or data center locations. 

• Also check out our roundup of the best blogging sites

Plans and pricing

Although there is truth in the words that you get what you pay for, since FC2 provides services that are completely free of charge, we’ll have to judge them by other means. With FC2 there aren't multiple web hosting plans to choose from, but rather one plan to rule them all for those looking for a way to create their dream blog without lightening their wallets.

As one would expect, this plan doesn’t provide much, but it does include up to 1GB of web space, one subdomain, unlimited bandwidth, a file manager and editor, support for Java and Flash file types as well for CGI, PHP and SSI. Besides shared hosting, FC2 provides its own website builder, which is (again) absolutely free.

Despite the fact that FC2’s services are free, you can make some pocket money by allowing ads on your blog, although (as of late) you can decide not to allow any advertisements on it.

Ease of use

FC2’s site may not be the most intuitive one we’ve seen, but with a little patience you’ll find everything you need to know before creating your website. To start this journey into the unknown, click on the “Free Website” key and proceed to “FC2ID registration” to create your account. Before this, you would probably want to check out the features, read terms of use, some of the beginner-friendly manuals or contact the team behind FC2. However, the latter can be done to make inquiries about three types of issues only: questions about payments, bug reports and special feature requests.

To sign up you’ll be required to enter your e-mail address, pass an image verification and agree to all terms of use. After this, to activate your FC2 account, you’ll have to do a verification via e-mail and (unless a part of your URL broke off, like ours did) you should have no trouble proceeding with the creation of your new account. The next step is to produce a password (by using letters and numbers only), pick out a gender (male or female), choose a security question to which you’ll provide an answer, add your birth date (or any birthday you’ll remember) and a zip code.

In a matter of minutes you’ll get another email form FC2 and proceed to their dashboard where you can add some of the free services they provide besides web hosting. These include FC2 Blog (where you’ll find a website builder), FC2 Video (video hosting), FC2 Live, FC2 Analyzer, FC2 Content Market and the list goes on. These and all other aspects of your website can be monitored and managed from your dashboard.

If you would rather use a website builder to create content for your new website, FC2 will provide you with one together with 5000 colorful templates, a photo album feature and an ability to create pay-to-view content. If you already have a blog, you can transfer it from a broad range of sites (WordPress included) to FC2.

If you are wondering about the ads, apart from “Powered by FC2”credited at the bottom end of each page, you won’t be seeing any, unless you chose to add them to make extra money along the way.

Speed and experience

Even though FC2 makes no promises when it comes to speed or performance, after testing their main website we were blown away by the results we received. The latest performance report by GTmetrix (which is our tool of choice) shows first-grade performance of an A (100%), with all of the vital metrics dramatically above the average values. The time it took to fully load the page amounted to 1.5 seconds which looks even better when compared with the average result of 8.2 seconds.

Since FC2 offers no uptime guarantee, we didn’t expect much when we decided to monitor the uptime of their main website via UptimeRobot. One month later we got a report indicating a spotless uptime of 100%. During this period we failed to record any downtime at all and response time, although not ideally fast, was fairly stable. All in all, it appears that neither speed nor uptime should be on your “worry list” when hosting with FC2.

Support

Having dedicated customer support is definitely not something FC2 can brag about which is understandable considering that their services come at no cost. Since direct channels of support (such as telephone number or live chat) are not an option, you’ll have to find your way using some of the self-help alternatives. The most obvious one is FC2’s “Website Manual” which contains several novice-friendly guides summarizing basic knowledge on how to create your first website. This section functions as the knowledgbase comprising of 26 articles at the time of writing.

A FAQ section is available as well and it features separate sections on various issues (such as registration, file manager, FTP, images, files and so forth) covering most of the essential questions and concerns. There is a comment section at the bottom of the page, however, since some comments have been pending an approval from 2017, we wouldn’t waste our time on that.

The competition

A good alternative to FC2 for those who are looking for free hosting is FreeHostingNoAds, an experienced host with a name that sums it all up.  For a free service, FreeHostingNoAds earns a credit for providing a decent range of features (free domain registration, auto-installs for WordPress, Joomla and the CMS Grav, and a simple website builder). However, the bandwidth is limited to 5GB (while with FC2 it’s unlimited), disc space to 1GB (same as with FC2) and the upload file limit is a mere 15MB (it’s 250 KB with FC2), so if you want anything more than a very simple website, look elsewhere.

Infinity Free is considered to be one of the best providers of free hosting and for good reasons. It puts no restrictions on storage space and the number of monthly visits and subdomains. However, in terms of speed and uptime performance, FC2 wins the prize by a long shot. At any rate, since both services are entirely free, you have nothing to lose but your time.

Although HostGator doesn’t offer free hosting in itself, with their generous 45-days money-back guarantee you are free to try out what they have to offer without worrying about your budget. In addition to this, HostGator is very user-friendly (especially towards beginners), while FC2 users are primarily left to fend for themselves.

Another good beginner-friendly choice is Bluehost which (much like HostGator) doesn’t offer free hosting but still provides user-friendly experience with 24/7 customer support, a myriad of options and features, and a 30-day money-back guarantee. FC2, although quite suitable for those who are just learning how to build their online presence, won’t give your website much space to grow and prosper.  

Final verdict

As a rule, even the best free web hosting comes with a certain number of limitations. Such is the case with FC2, although they can supply everything that is essential for a personal blog, and a website builder with which you can build your website without much hassle. It is even possible to earn a bit of cash on the side, that is, if you don’t have an aversion to ads.

With all that said, if you are a first-timer who wants a helping hand, or a veteran webmaster wanting more than an absolute minimum, you’ll be better off choosing HostGator or Bluehost as your hosting provider. Their services don’t come free-of-charge, but will provide you with much more.

Moonfruit is a popular website builder service, whose options are a little more basic than some of the competition, with the company offering only a small number of responsive templates. Still, these can be customised by tweaking individual details or dragging and dropping full content blocks. Your pages can include image galleries, forms, maps, social feeds, embedded videos and more.

Moonfruit's Basic plan gets you a single site with 500MB of storage, unlimited pages, but no specific bandwidth limits. Even though it costs £6.38 ($9.59) a month, this still includes Moonfruit branding.

Moonfruit's Professional plan loses the ads, thankfully. It supports up to five sites, a maximum of 10GB storage, and gives you a free domain voucher. As we write, the Professional plan looks to be good value at £5.39 ($6.99) a month, but this is a "limited offer". Normally it's a more average £10.79 ($13.99). It must be noted however that this “limited offer” has been available for nearly three years as far as we can tell.

• Interested in Moonfruit? Check out the website here

Back in January 2018, two further plans, Ecommerce Lite and Ecommerce Pro, were listed as "coming soon". Neither of these are present since at least January 2020.

Moonfruit offers a free 14-day trial, and even if you sign up after that, the company says it will refund your money if you cancel within 14 days. This isn't automatic – you must ask the support team via live chat – and if you've registered a domain through the plan, that cost will be deducted. But overall, the Moonfruit policy is much like any other, and you should have no difficulty getting a refund, if you need one.

• Also check out our roundup of the best website builder software.

Getting started

Creating your Moonfruit account is easy, and works much like most other services: enter your email, a username and password, or sign up directly using your Facebook or Google accounts. Follow up by choosing your preferred Moonfruit subdomain (yourname.moonfruit.com) and once you’ve verified your email address, you're taken directly to the editor, which almost looks like a blank page.

There’s a section for the Header, one for the Footer, and a middle section to design your page. But where are all the elements you need to start building? If you're hoping for an instant site you can modify and use right away, there's a good chance you'll be disappointed.

There’s a sidebar to the left which reveals options to add more pages to your site, insert new sections to an existing page, and an upload feature to include files to your site.

In the Settings section, you can add a favicon (the small icon that represents your site in a browser tab), and images that would appear on Facebook when your site is shared there. There are also built-in options to connect your site with Google Analytics and Google Search Console, potentially giving you much more information about your website and its visibility on Google.

Editor

The closest to templates we could find were in the sidebar’s ‘Sections’. From there you’re offered a long list of thumbnails. Being tiny, they’re not that easy to see and don’t even zoom in when you click on one to offer you a better idea of what you’re choosing.

There are eye-catching Hero sections (an important element to highlight a key feature of the site), page bodies in various styles, navigation tools, and layout sections which organise your content in various column formats.

Drag one you like to the main section of your blank site. It’s then ready for you to customise.

Some website builders impress you immediately with their flashy visuals and depth of features. Moonfruit, well – not so much. We’ve already explored the left sidebar, but now that you’ve added a template to your page, clicking on any element reveals a contextual menu on the right, as well as a few buttons at the top of your selected element.

These buttons are there for quick edits and shortcuts: Copy, Duplicate, Delete, and a Help button which opens the support page for that object type. There are undo and redo buttons top right of the page, and you can save the project whenever you like.

The contextual menu on the right changes its options depending on what’s selected. Click on a text box for instance and you get Text, Position, Background, Links, Outline, and Animation. Select an image instead, and those are replaced by Link, Settings, Position and Animation.

Clicking on any of these menus reveals the parameters that can be changed. We particularly liked the Animation options as they give your page a bit of visual flair which can be fun.

Prior to adding a template to your page, the left Sidebar’s Elements section was greyed out. But now, you can select it and see all options available to you.

You’re able to drag new objects to your page via that menu: text, images, galleries, buttons, video (YouTube, Vimeo), music (Spotify, SoundCloud), Google services (Maps, Search, Calendar), social media elements (Facebook pages, comments and likes, Twitter feeds, Instagram, Pinterest and more), and a good range of form-related services that includes Wufoo, Google Forms and Moonfruit's own form objects.

Some basic edits are still very straightforward. Not happy with that button caption? Double-click it, type a new one, press Enter. You can edit the contents of text boxes in much the same way, including changing text styles and colours, inserting lists and adding links.

Moonfruit limits the customisations you can apply to many page objects. You can't manually resize, or drag-and-drop a button, for instance. The most you can do is set it to align to the left, right or centre of the page, and to size it automatically, or to set the width to a percentage of the page.

But on the plus side, the editor does have many integrated ways to tweak each object. Even a simple button allows customising text style, size, colour, hover colour, button shape, border style, link type and destination (new or same window).

Whatever changes you make can be previewed at any time in desktop, tablet or mobile views. 

Media

Moonfruit's media handling abilities are much like the rest of the service – they cover the basics, but don't have quite the power or customisation options you're likely to want.

Add a single image, for instance, and you can't precisely resize or position it. Image editing features are restricted to settings for brightness, contrast and saturation. Even those are only available in limited 25% increments from 0% to 200%, 

An Image Gallery control supports filmstrip, gallery and slideshow views. There are a few tweaks – enable or disable autoplay, set various arrow styles – but nothing to set your design world alight.

Video support is limited to embedding single YouTube or Vimeo clips. There's no video wall or anything more complex, although we did find one interesting option in the menus: you can set the background of any element to a stock or YouTube video.

Audio support is a little more capable, with the ability to embed Spotify playlists or SoundCloud content.

Bonus options include the ability to embed Instagram and Pinterest content, as well as PhotoSnack slideshows, and an HTML Snippet option may allow you to use content from some other sites.

While this will cover simple websites, other builders give you much more. Moonfruit does provide a decent file manager for managing your content. Upload website images and you can organise them into folders, view them as grids or lists, and sort your media by name, size, or age (the newest first, or oldest). Files can then be added directly to images boxes or galleries without having to re-upload them every time.

Blogging and e-commerce

Moonfruit doesn’t offer any type of blogging features. There is an Element designed to integrate a WordPress.com blog though. Essentially, you must create and manage your blog on WordPress.com (which you can do for free), and the Moonfruit widget simply displays the URL of that blog in a box on your site.

This approach works in the most basic of ways, but it doesn't look great, and not being able to manage the blog and website together could make your life more complicated. Even something as basic as coordinating the images and colour schemes of both sites will take some time and thought.

Moonfruit also has no e-commerce solution. Not even a PayPal button.

Support

Moonfruit provides a web knowledgebase where you can search for details on any part of the service. It's always accessible from a Help icon within the editor, or you can browse it at any time from help.moonfruit.com.

We moved on to explore Moonfruit's knowledgebase, anyway. This has a reasonable number of articles, but they're generally short and lacking in detail.

Confusingly, the knowledgebase covers the same topics for both Moonfruit's old editor and the new one, so most keywords will return a lot of articles that won't help you. Worse still, the site doesn't clearly explain which is which, beginning some titles with 'V6', others with 'Responsive Editor', and hoping users will guess correctly.

('Responsive Editor' is the latest of the two, and yes, that would have been our first guess, too. But we shouldn't have to guess at all, and at the very least, all V6 articles should now have a top line explaining that they refer to the old editor, not the current one, making it clear to everyone what's going on.)

It can be confusing since the older ‘V6’ editor had blogging features, and even years after upgrading to ‘responsive’, those instructions are still there even though blogging is no longer supported. Talk about confusing your customers.

Final verdict

Moonfruit is a basic website builder which currently lags well behind the competition in terms of power, features, ease of use, support, visual appeal and just about everything else.

• We've featured the best small business website builder

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• Best website hosting

GoDaddy's website builder offers a clean interface, making it incredibly fast to build a website. It took me just 52 minutes to go from a blank canvas to a professional-looking website, making it perfect for small business owners who need a website, like yesterday.

However, its convenience comes at a cost. Its restrictions on creativity can be a blessing or a curse, depending on what you want — you get a polished website with zero fuss, but if you want pixel-perfect control, you'll be left frustrated.

We've spent hundreds of hours testing over 80 of the best website builder platforms on the market, giving us deep insight into what works for different users. For this GoDaddy Website Builder review, I created multiple test sites to evaluate its features, tools, ease of use, and value proposition.​

Below you will find everything you need to know to make an informed decision if GoDaddy is the right website builder for you.

GoDaddy website builder pricing and plans

Pricing feels competitive for what you get. For me, GoDaddy hits a sweet spot between budget and business-focused features. All paid plans include hosting and SSL certificates, which eliminates the hidden costs that could turn away new entrepreneurs.

Pricing last verified: 16/02/2026

GoDaddy website builder plans: Explained

Reviewer's experience: Getting started

Although most of the top website builders pride themselves on ease of use, GoDaddy is by far one of the easiest platforms to get going with.

Step 1: Signing up

You can sign up for GoDaddy using your email, Facebook, or Google account.

Step 2: Define your goals

After I had signed up I was immediately asked about my business type and goals. GoDaddy's AI then generated a partially completed website within minutes. This eliminated the intimidating blank canvas that usually stares you down with other builders.​

Onboarding felt refreshingly quick. No complex menus to navigate. GoDaddy presented me with a functional site structure based on my answers, complete with suggested layouts and placeholder content. It cut down on decision fatigue right from the start.

Step 3: Edit your site

Navigating the editor felt intuitive. I worked with the section-based system, which lets you add, remove, or reorder entire content blocks. It's easy, but restrictive. The controls were clearly labeled and I never felt lost, although I was quickly frustrated by the lack of an undo button.​

Customizing my test site involved choosing from pre-designed sections. I could toggle elements on or off, but couldn't break free from the preset structures.

Want to move a button somewhere specific? Too bad. This "guided freedom" approach works well for beginners but felt problematic when I wanted more control.​

GoDaddy website builder's business tools

GoDaddy's website builder offers the following business tools:

• Full ecommerce functionality
• Online appointment scheduling
• Payment processing with GoDaddy Payments
• Inventory management across channels
• AI-powered conversations inbox
• Client management tools

GoDaddy packs in practical features for running a business. I found the ecommerce and appointment booking particularly useful. Some tools felt basic, but they covered the essentials well enough.

Ecommerce functionality

I set up a test store on the Commerce plan in about 15 minutes. You can list up to 5,000 products, which is more than most small businesses need. The platform lets you sell physical products, digital goods, and services all from one dashboard.​

Payment processing with GoDaddy Payments

GoDaddy Payments is integrated directly into the platform. The transaction fee is 2.7% + 30¢ per transaction, which beats many of the best ecommerce platforms. Payouts arrive as soon as the next business day, and all transactions appear in one unified dashboard.​

I found the setup process quite simple. You can also choose alternative processors like Square, Stripe, or PayPal if you prefer. However, other users have warned about poor support experiences with GoDaddy Payments.

Inventory management

The inventory syncing impressed me. When you sell a product on your website, the stock levels automatically update on Amazon, eBay, and Etsy. This prevents overselling, a common nightmare for multi-channel sellers.​

Managing everything from one dashboard saved considerable time during testing. The system tracks online orders and inventory levels in real time. But I noticed the marketplace integrations are only available in select regions, so verify availability for your market.​

Online appointment scheduling

Clients can schedule appointments 24/7 directly through your site, while the system sends automatic reminders via email and text.

I tested the calendar syncing feature, which keeps your business calendar aligned with your website calendar in real time.​ You can also accept deposits when customers book services.

AI conversations inbox

Conversations act as your all-in-one business inbox. It includes an optional second phone line, so customers can call without using your personal number. AI chatbots handle initial customer inquiries automatically, giving quick responses that stay on-brand.​

I tested the unified inbox feature. It consolidates messages from multiple channels into one app. You'll never miss a potential sale because calls go to voicemail with your custom greeting. The AI reply suggestions work well for common questions, though you'll need to intervene for complex inquiries.​

Client management tools

The built-in CRM stores contact information, appointment history, and payment records. This makes customer interactions smoother and more personalized. I used it to upload test clients and found the interface straightforward.​

You can view customer purchase patterns and use that data for targeted email promotions. But the CRM functionality is quite basic, don't expect advanced features like sales pipeline management or detailed reporting.

GoDaddy website builder's marketing tools

GoDaddy offers the following marketing tools:

• SEO optimization wizard
• Email marketing campaigns
• Social media scheduling and management
• GoDaddy Studio content creator
• Digital ads on Meta and Google
• Social commerce integrations
• Website analytics
• Marketing planner with AI

GoDaddy's marketing suite is quite expansive for a basic website builder. It bundles email, social media, paid ads, and SEO tools into one dashboard. Again, some features felt limited compared to standalone marketing platforms, but the integrations usually made up for it.

SEO optimization wizard

The SEO Wizard walks you through optimizing each page step-by-step. It suggests relevant keywords and helps you write meta descriptions, headings, or alt text.

I didn't need to waste any time figuring out what to optimize.​ You can even connect Google Analytics and Search Console for deeper tracking.​ However, the SEO tools are only available on Premium and Commerce plans.

Email marketing

Email marketing is included in all paid plans, with different subscriber limits. Basic lets you email 100 contacts monthly, Premium bumps that to 25,000, and Commerce allows 100,000. GoDaddy's AI uses your website design to create branded email templates automatically.​

Creating a test campaign took about 10 minutes from start to send. One limitation: you can't create advanced automation sequences like abandoned cart emails or behavior-triggered campaigns. The email builder also felt restrictive, I found that I couldn't customize layouts beyond the preset templates.

Social media management

You can schedule and publish posts to publish on multiple social networks from the dashboard. GoDaddy supports Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), and more.

I tested scheduling content across three platforms simultaneously, which worked without issue.​

GoDaddy Studio content creator

Studio provides professional templates for creating branded visuals. I used it to design some basic social media graphics and promo images. Their customizable templates saved time — without compromising brand authenticity.​

You can create content for your website, social media channels, and advertising campaigns all in one place. I really liked how it suggested image layouts based on the content type.​

However, serious graphic designers will find the customization options limiting. Think Canva Lite rather than Photoshop.​

Ads on Meta and Google

Premium and Commerce plans let you create, schedule, and manage unlimited digital ads. The interface simplifies the typically complex process of running paid campaigns. You can set up a test Facebook ad in under five minutes.​

Social commerce integrations

GoDaddy connects your online store to Facebook Marketplace, Instagram Creator, Amazon, eBay, and Etsy. Inventory syncs happen automatically. When someone buys on Amazon, your website stock updates instantly.​

You can also list products for free on Google Shopping. But keep in mind that marketplace integrations are only available in select regions. Check whether your location has access before planning a multi-channel strategy. My setup process varied by marketplace, some connected instantly, others required additional verification steps.​

Web analytics

GoDaddy InSight Score gives you performance benchmarks against similar businesses.

The analytics dashboard shows SEO performance, website traffic, and campaign results all in one place. I found the consolidated view well-designed for quick decision-making.​

AI marketing planner

The AI-powered marketing planner creates custom action plans. It analyzes your business and suggests what to work on next. It's helpful for beginners when deciding where to focus efforts.​

The planner draws from data across millions of GoDaddy customers to make industry-specific recommendations. You get step-by-step guidance rather than vague suggestions.​ However, the recommendations still felt generic. Advanced marketers will likely ignore most suggestions.

Reviewer's experience: Support

GoDaddy offers 24/7 support through live chat and phone, plus a comprehensive help center. On paper, the coverage looks solid. You can reach a human agent anytime, which beats many competitors.​

I tested the live chat with a technical question about domain mapping. The initial bot interaction lasted about a minute before connecting me to an agent. The representative was friendly but couldn't fully answer my question without escalating to someone else. The back-and-forth messaging took longer than expected, I waited several minutes between responses.​

User sentiment varies significantly across review platforms. GoDaddy maintains a 4.5/5 rating on Trustpilot, with customers praising phone support and quick onboarding. However, G2 and Reddit paint a slightly different picture. Common complaints include contradictory answers, aggressive upselling, and poor technical support for complex issues. Reddit threads specifically warn against using GoDaddy Payments due to unresolved support problems.

Test results: GoDaddy website builder

Competitor comparison

Below we show you how GoDaddy stacks up against two of its closest competitors:

How we tested the GoDaddy website builder

At TechRadar Pro, we rigorously test website builders over several days. I spent considerable time with GoDaddy Website Builder for this review, creating test sites to evaluate each feature and performance metric.

Everything gets scrutinized, from the first login experience to advanced features like ecommerce and SEO.

You can read our full guide to how we test website builders to learn more.

GoDaddy website builder review: FAQs

Elementor has become a go-to website builder for many WordPress users. It offers a drag-and-drop interface that lets you build WordPress sites visually. It powers over 16 million websites worldwide, from small blogs to enterprise ecommerce stores.​

We’ve tested all of the best WordPress website builders and Elementor consistently comes out on or near the top. This Elementor review draws from our reviewers' years of WordPress experience to help you make an informed decision.​

Elementor pricing and plans

I found Elementor's pricing competitive but potentially confusing.

The free plugin offers basic functionality, but you'll need Pro for serious WordPress design work. Elementor Pro comes in four variants, with prices ranging from $4.99 to $16.99 a month when billed yearly. They also offer WordPress hosting, ecommerce bundles, and custom rates for enterprises.

Elementor plans: Explained

Getting started with Elementor: Reviewer's experience

Step 1: Installation

I installed Elementor from the WordPress plugin directory.

Once I activated the Elementor plugin, I found a setup wizard with helpful tooltips guiding me through initial configuration. I created an Elementor account and installed the default “Hello Biz” theme as part of the setup process.

After activating the plugin, I also had the option to purchase the Pro version and upload the Pro zip file through the WordPress admin panel.​

Step 2: Choosing a template

Next, I wanted to switch up my starting template.

I navigated to Templates > Website Templates in the WordPress admin. Elementor presented me with 100+ pre-made design kits. I could filter by category or search specific designs. A preview function also let me see layouts before importing.​

I selected a simple business template by clicking the Apply button. I had the option to import either the entire template with all placeholder content, or only certain parts of it. It loaded instantly into my editor.

Step 3: Customizing a page

To customize my landing page, I navigated to the Pages tab in my WordPress dashboard and clicked on the “Edit with Elementor” option under the page I wanted to customize. This opened the page builder.

For each page, I could add sections and columns to create layouts. The drag-and-drop system felt seamless, with every change appearing instantly on screen.​

Step 4: Adding widgets

Elementor's widget panel was nested on my left.

I could drag a widget onto the page and drop it exactly where I wanted it.​ Clicking the widget opened customization options. Three tabs — Content, Style, and Advanced — organized all settings.

Elementor’s contextual settings adapted to whatever element I clicked. I adjusted fonts, colors, and spacing without touching any code.

Step 5: Publishing the site

I clicked "Publish" when satisfied with my design. My site went live immediately. Elementor's revision history was a nice addition, since it could revert to earlier designs anytime if something felt off.​

A built-in caching system optimized my pages automatically. My test site loaded quickly, especially without installing many other plugins.​

Elementor business tools

Elementor gives users access to the following business tools:

• Flexible landing page editor
• WooCommerce store builder
• Advanced form builder with integrations​
• Roll-based access manager

Elementor delivers solid business functionality for ecommerce and lead generation. I liked the deep WooCommerce integration in particular. However, the CRM features felt underdeveloped compared to dedicated platforms.​

Landing page editor

Building landing pages with Elementor felt straightforward. The template library provided conversion-focused designs ready for customization. I modified headlines, images, and call-to-action buttons within minutes.​

The landing page templates integrated seamlessly with form widgets. I connected forms to email marketing platforms for automatic list building. Each template prioritized mobile responsiveness, which saved design time.​

WooCommerce integration

Elementor's premium WooCommerce integration lets you customize every aspect of your store, from product pages to checkout flows. Its visual editor made styling product grids and single product layouts effortless.​

I could add WooCommerce-specific widgets like product meta, add-to-cart buttons, and customer ratings. It also integrates with popular payment gateways like Stripe and PayPal for direct purchases.

Form builder

Creating forms felt easy with Elementor's form widget. I built contact, lead capture, and multi-step forms without any additional plugins. The form builder offered unlimited fields with full styling control.​

I could also connect forms directly to Mailchimp, HubSpot, and ActiveCampaign. And the HoneyPot spam protection added security without any extra setup.​

Role-based access settings

Elementor lets you control who accesses the editor and what they can modify. You navigate to Elementor > Role Manager in WordPress and configure permissions for each user role.​

There are three main permission levels. "No access to editor" completely blocks users from opening Elementor. "Access to edit content only" allows users to modify existing content without adding or removing elements. Full access grants unlimited editing capabilities.

Version 3.19 has also added Element Manager integration, letting me customize which widgets appear for specific roles.​​

Elementor marketing tools

You can promote your business and website with Elementor’s marketing tools:

• Popup design with triggers​
• CRM integrations for HubSpot, ActiveCampaign​, etc.
• Email marketing integrations
• Call-to-action widgets

Elementor's marketing toolkit covers essential lead generation and conversion optimization. The popup builder and landing page features stood out during testing. Email marketing felt limited without third-party integrations, though.​

Popups and notifications

I could create several popup types using Elementor's Popup Builder. It supports email capture popups, notification bars, and two-step opt-ins. I enjoyed the visual editing experience, which matches the main page builder.​

With display conditions, Elementor lets you have impressive targeting flexibility. I could design popups to trigger based on scroll depth, exit intent, inactivity, and specific page elements. I also tested a two-step opt-in popup combining a yes/no prompt with a follow-up form. It worked exactly as described.

CRM automation

I was able to set up connections to HubSpot and ActiveCampaign. Elementor's form submissions triggered automated workflows in both these platforms.

That said, setting up automation required technical knowledge. I had to look up their API documentation and learn Elementor’s webhook configurations. This might challenge non-technical users.​

Email marketing

Elementor doesn't include built-in email marketing functionality.

Instead, it integrates with popular platforms like Mailchimp, SEND, and ActiveCampaign. I connected Mailchimp through the form widget settings.​

Integration required API keys from Mailchimp. Once configured, captured leads automatically synced to my email lists. I also used Elementor's design tools to create branded signup forms matching my email campaigns.

CTA widgets

Elementor offered dedicated CTA widgets for marketing campaigns. I customized button styles, added icons, and set hover effects. The widgets supported internal links, external URLs, and popup triggers.​

The pixel-perfect placement flexibility helps with conversion optimization. But if you want A/B testing, you'll need a third-party plugin for that.

Elementor support

Elementor Pro users access official support through ticket submission and live chat. Free version users rely on community forums and documentation. Support operates Monday through Friday with varying response times based on plan tier.​

I submitted a test support ticket during my review. The response came within 24 hours with a detailed troubleshooting guide. But the AI chatbot could answer basic questions instantly before escalating complex issues.​

However, user sentiment reveals mixed experiences.

Reddit threads show frustration with renewal price increases and slow support responses. One user reported opening six tickets with minimal resolution. G2 reviews praise ease of use but note the learning curve. Capterra users appreciate constant updates but mention WooCommerce plugin compatibility issues.​

Test results: Elementor

Competitor comparison: Elementor

Below we show you how Elementor stacks up against Divi and Beaver Builder:

How we tested the Elementor website builder

Every website builder review on Techradar is based on hands-on testing. I installed Elementor on multiple WordPress sites, built test pages across different niches, and measured performance metrics. Each feature was scrutinized through practical application, not just documentation review.​

We've been reviewing business software since 2012 at TechRadar Pro. For complete details on our evaluation process, read about how we test website builders.

Elementor review: FAQs

One in twelve people online visit a website hosted on WP Engine daily. They host over one and a half million sites across 150 countries and still maintain a customer satisfaction rate of 96%. That is reliable hosting.

WP Engine uses its own caching system and content delivery system (CDN) and your get your choice of data centers in North America, Europe, or Asia. Plus, your websites are hosted on the fast Google Cloud Platform. This all means your customers should have a better user experience because of faster loading times and reliability.

WP Engine manages your WordPress site for you making the day-to-day running of your site easier allowing you to focus on your business. In addition, WP Engine provides features like automatic plugin updates, malware detection, and automated backups. Although managed hosting comes at a higher cost than unmanaged, it's not until a vulnerability is discovered at 2am on a Saturday that the value of having someone look over the security and updates of your server becomes really noticeable.

If you run a digital or marketing agency, WP Engine also offers a hosting solution to support managing multiple clients. Whether you have 5 or 50+ clients on your books, shared and container-based servers are available, complete with the same managed WordPress experience and updates to PHP, MySQL, and of course, WordPress itself.

The startup spec for these hosting plans is 25GB of storage, supporting 50,000 visits per month, two sandbox sites and five live sites. Various configurations can be selected, designed to enable easy scaling as your client base expands and your business evolves. Specific agency hosting features are included, such as bulk site management, Git integration and other developer tools, and as the plans increase in price, things like WooCommerce optimizations, Stripe Connect checkouts, data insights, and a dedicated WP Engine API.

WP Engine Plans and pricing

WP Engine have three main types of hosting: WordPress Hosting, WooCommerce Hosting, and Headless.

WordPress hosting has five plans which are all on a shared infrastructure. The most basic plan is Startup which provides hosting for one site, 25,000 monthly visits (with a 50GB bandwidth cap which is enough for the average website), and 10GB local storage.

With this plan you get chat only support, security patching, plugin risk scans, daily backups, EverCache, and global CDN. This plan is $20/mo and refreshingly there are no confusing renewal prices.

From there onwards, the plans support 3, 10, and 30 sites and the bandwidth, storage space, and monthly visits increase as you would expect. There is also the option to completely customize your plan starting from $600/mo.

For WooCommerce, the plans are similar in their specs and what they support but they come with lots of features as standard such as elastic search capabilities, support for unlimited products, Live Cart, and more. These plans are slightly more expensive than the WordPress hosting plans and the custom plan costs a minimum of $800/mo.

Features

The core reasons to choose WP Engine over cheaper WordPress hosting are increased reliability, performance, support, and management, but these are hard to quantify. Some features stand out when you browse the interface, however, that can give you some insight into the service offered.

WP Engine Page Performance is a neat tool designed to help you speed up your WordPress site by offering meaningful metrics on performance.

Running a test returns you a page-performance report that details how quickly your page rendered, how long it took to load in its entirety, and the total size of the page. It even includes historical data on your site’s performance over the past six months and recommendations on how you can reduce page load.

Avoid embarrassing mistakes on your site by making changes to a copy of your website before it goes live. This is called Staging, and it allows your developers to make extensive changes to your site without affecting your customers.

In a relatively unusual move, WP Engine restricts the WordPress plugins you can install. Those typically restricted are plugins that have been noted to cause performance issues and security holes. For important features such as caching, backups, and search engine optimization tools, WP Engine has made alternatives available that don’t put a high load on the server.

Interface and in use

WP Engine’s interface is professional and well laid out, but the powerful features might mean a steep learning curve for inexperienced users. If you have an understanding of terms like Git, CNAME, and redirect rules, you’ll be right at home here, but otherwise you’ll need to spend some time on the support site.

Creating a site in WP Engine is made simple, thanks to a straightforward process. Whether you’re hosting on a domain, or building a staging site, the process is automated, so you don’t need to do anything. Once the name of the site has been set, and you’ve decided on adding WordPress on its own, or Word Press with WooCommerce, it will self-install while you make a coffee.

Note that WP Engine doesn’t offer any AI-guided site generation tools here. Anything you create will have to be done manually through the current WordPress theme management environment.

One of the main attractions for many customers is promised easy migration. Intended to make it simple to move a WordPress site from one host to another, WP Engine offers a dedicated plugin specifically for this purpose. Using it is simple enough – you install the downloadable plugin on the source (old) web host, create a secure key when prompted, then paste this into the plugin on your WP Engine hosting. In testing, the migration of a site around 500MB in size was pretty slick, completing in just a few minutes.

Support

A managed WordPress service should offer extra value through its support, and WP Engine delivers. The support site includes videos and articles of a quality you’d expect from a paid training course, with help on deeper WordPress functionality that many WordPress hosts don’t go into.

There’s 24/7 live chat support and a ticket system, too. In our testing, the response was quick and the agent knowledgeable. For all plans except for single-site plans, there’s telephone support, too.

While WP Engine has a strong collection of support resources, we found that its sales team were not as well-informed as they could be. Specifically on the topic of agency hosting plans, they seemed to be unaware as to some of the intricacies. We have been separately informed by WP Engine contacts that the agency hosting plans rely on shared hosting for the Agency Essential plans, scaling up to container-based hosting for Agency Plus and Agency Pro. However, two conversations via the online chat tool revealed that the sales team were under the impression that all agency plans use container hosting.

If you’re planning to use WP Engine for agency hosting, and as it isn’t easy to find the answer within the support resources, you might consider requesting a call or email conversation with their tech support to establish whether they suit your requirements.

Testing

Testing the performance of WP Engine – specifically, the Essential Startup – I was intrigued to find that while reasonably slick, it seemed slower than other hosts. Now, I’ll preface this with the knowledge that WP Engine specifically aims for efficient WordPress hosting. It is known to block some plugins that can affect performance; it opts for its own caching plugin, for example. So, gauging performance with benchmarking tools on WP Engine is a little different to other hosts.

However, the tests delivered results around 30% slower than other hosts. Given that the comparisons were with plans for a similar budget and server specification, I was surprised at how poorly WP Engine scored.

The competition

If it’s the higher level of customer support you value in a managed WordPress host, Liquid Web often tops customer satisfaction polls. It has a focus on high-end products like virtual private servers (VPS) and dedicated servers, so if your needs extend beyond a high-performance WordPress site into other software solutions, we recommend checking it out.

TsoHost is another managed web hosting provider we recommend. The price can ramp up, with even the most basic VPS options starting at $52 per month, but you get a level of on-hands customer support that’s virtually unrivaled.

If managed WordPress hosting is your primary motivation, however, one of WP Engine’s key competitors is Kinsta. Both offer a managed hosting environment specifically geared towards WordPress, along with a similar price point. However, Kinsta doesn’t allow manually migrated data, so if you prefer to be more hands-on, WP Engine is the better option.

You might opt for Kinsta in another scenario, however. While WP Engine has a solid set of agency hosting plans, we found that while it omits smaller scale agency plans, Kinsta bundles in more features and boasts superior performance.

Final verdict

WP Engine is not the cheapest hosting around and it doesn't seem to be the fastest either. It's also not the first WordPress host we’d recommend to newcomers, as the breadth of tools can be intimidating.

WP Engine used to be the champion of WordPress hosting but I think that's starting to change with hosts like SiteGround and Kinsta taking over.

Strikingly is an unusual competitor when it comes to the best website builder platforms. Unlike most, Strikingly targets those who are looking for a powerful single-page website builder. This means the tools on offer are specialized to these types of websites. 

However, within the realms of single page websites, Strikingly provides a surprising broad range of features and tools such as image galleries, blogs, custom forms, even a simple web store (with no transaction fees). There are many useful supporting features, too: responsive templates, video backgrounds, password protection, social media feed integration, and more.

Plans are competitively priced and the platform even offers one of the best free website builder plans on the market. 

Our experts have taken the time to test the features, tools, and ease of use of Strikingly. Now we have created this guide, highlighting our findings and giving you all the information you need to decide whether Strikingly is the right website builder for you. 

Strikingly plans and pricing

Strikingly has three main plans on their website. Because of the organized interface, it’s really easy to find prices. Each plan is cheaper if you sign up for the annual plan. Strikingly does offer a free plan so you can test out the website builder before pulling out your credit card. Here’s a summary of the paid plans: 

The Limited plan includes your own domain name, 50 GB of bandwidth, and 1 GB of storage per website (up to 2). This plan is great for entrepreneurs or small business owners who want to get their ideas or products online. 

The Pro plan includes up to three pro sites and unlimited bandwidth. You’ll also have 20 GB of storage and access to all the pro features like pop-ups, HTML, and JavaScript. 

The VIP plan includes everything in the Pro version except a lot more storage - up to 100 GB. You can include multiple members with this plan to help manage your site. 

If you want a custom email address for your website (e.g. example@yourwebsite.com) you will need to pay an extra $25/year on top of plan options. 

Strikingly interface

The interface is very easy to navigate. There are also a few apps to integrate your site with other services. These don't offer anything like the range of services seen in Wix and Weebly, but they cover many of the basics: Google Maps, SoundCloud, Google Calendar, PayPal, Wufoo forms, Ecwid stores, Facebook and Disqus comments, and a general Embed box for adding tweets, Giphys, and more.

The settings dialog reveals some interesting advanced tweaks. Pro account holders can define custom actions which might be visible to users on a mobile device (calling, texting, finding directions). You're able to use a custom Favicon (the icon for your site in a browser tab), and set the icon used when your site is shared on social media. A collaboration feature allows inviting colleagues or friends to help develop the site. Everyone gets their own login, which means there's no need to share your password with others.

Strikingly features

The Strikingly editor groups most of its controls and options in a well-designed sidebar. A navigation map shows you the content sections in the current page. You can reorder them, delete them, and add new elements. You can adjust site-level details including fonts, colors and animations.

The right-hand side of the screen is reserved for a view of the current page. The editor overlays some buttons on this, allowing you to change layouts, provide a new background (including video support), and more. But otherwise the page looks much as it will in your browser, and a few elements work in the same way (clicking the menu buttons will scroll to their page sections).

Editing in Strikingly is more about working with prebuilt components than going your own way. For example, one section in our template contained two images, the first with text to the right, and the other underneath with text to the left. The editor allowed us to replace and edit the images, enter and reformat text, customize the layout (alignment, whether we preferred columns or rows, should the media be on the left or right) and more. But we couldn't add a new element which didn't fit the section format, like a button, or tweak existing elements by resizing or dragging them.

Strikingly alternatives

There are many website builders out there - Wix, Squarespace, and Jimdo are just a few. What makes Strikingly different is how it automatically saves your work. Whatever you add or tweak, Strikingly does a good job of protecting you from accidents and mistakes. This ensures that whatever happens, you'll never lose too much if something goes wrong. And even after saving, you can keep tapping Undo to reverse all your recent changes.

Site previews are another highlight. Buttons to preview your work in desktop, phone and tablet views enable you to check that your pages work across all devices. Another option allows viewing the live site, which means if you've noticed a problem and gone back to the editor to change something, you can view the results immediately. It's a thoughtful touch which will save you time and hassle when tuning your website.

Strikingly review: Summary

The Strikingly website builder isn't as powerful or customizable as the top competition, but it's very user-friendly. You might even say it notices the things you need to add to your website. With Strikingly, you can easily build a good-looking site that’s complete with a blog. You can set everything up within a few minutes. If simplicity is key, add Strikingly to your shortlist.

Strikingly is an unusual competitor when it comes to the best website builder platforms. Unlike most, Strikingly targets those who are looking for a powerful single-page website builder. This means the tools on offer are specialized to these types of websites. 

However, within the realms of single page websites, Strikingly provides a surprising broad range of features and tools such as image galleries, blogs, custom forms, even a simple web store (with no transaction fees). There are many useful supporting features, too: responsive templates, video backgrounds, password protection, social media feed integration, and more.

Plans are competitively priced and the platform even offers one of the best free website builder plans on the market. 

Our experts have taken the time to test the features, tools, and ease of use of Strikingly. Now we have created this guide, highlighting our findings and giving you all the information you need to decide whether Strikingly is the right website builder for you. 

Strikingly plans and pricing

Strikingly has three main plans on their website. Because of the organized interface, it’s really easy to find prices. Each plan is cheaper if you sign up for the annual plan. Strikingly does offer a free plan so you can test out the website builder before pulling out your credit card. Here’s a summary of the paid plans: 

The Limited plan includes your own domain name, 50 GB of bandwidth, and 1 GB of storage per website (up to 2). This plan is great for entrepreneurs or small business owners who want to get their ideas or products online. 

The Pro plan includes up to three pro sites and unlimited bandwidth. You’ll also have 20 GB of storage and access to all the pro features like pop-ups, HTML, and JavaScript. 

The VIP plan includes everything in the Pro version except a lot more storage - up to 100 GB. You can include multiple members with this plan to help manage your site. 

If you want a custom email address for your website (e.g. example@yourwebsite.com) you will need to pay an extra $25/year on top of plan options. 

Strikingly interface

The interface is very easy to navigate. There are also a few apps to integrate your site with other services. These don't offer anything like the range of services seen in Wix and Weebly, but they cover many of the basics: Google Maps, SoundCloud, Google Calendar, PayPal, Wufoo forms, Ecwid stores, Facebook and Disqus comments, and a general Embed box for adding tweets, Giphys, and more.

The settings dialog reveals some interesting advanced tweaks. Pro account holders can define custom actions which might be visible to users on a mobile device (calling, texting, finding directions). You're able to use a custom Favicon (the icon for your site in a browser tab), and set the icon used when your site is shared on social media. A collaboration feature allows inviting colleagues or friends to help develop the site. Everyone gets their own login, which means there's no need to share your password with others.

Strikingly features

The Strikingly editor groups most of its controls and options in a well-designed sidebar. A navigation map shows you the content sections in the current page. You can reorder them, delete them, and add new elements. You can adjust site-level details including fonts, colors and animations.

The right-hand side of the screen is reserved for a view of the current page. The editor overlays some buttons on this, allowing you to change layouts, provide a new background (including video support), and more. But otherwise the page looks much as it will in your browser, and a few elements work in the same way (clicking the menu buttons will scroll to their page sections).

Editing in Strikingly is more about working with prebuilt components than going your own way. For example, one section in our template contained two images, the first with text to the right, and the other underneath with text to the left. The editor allowed us to replace and edit the images, enter and reformat text, customize the layout (alignment, whether we preferred columns or rows, should the media be on the left or right) and more. But we couldn't add a new element which didn't fit the section format, like a button, or tweak existing elements by resizing or dragging them.

Strikingly alternatives

There are many website builders out there - Wix, Squarespace, and Jimdo are just a few. What makes Strikingly different is how it automatically saves your work. Whatever you add or tweak, Strikingly does a good job of protecting you from accidents and mistakes. This ensures that whatever happens, you'll never lose too much if something goes wrong. And even after saving, you can keep tapping Undo to reverse all your recent changes.

Site previews are another highlight. Buttons to preview your work in desktop, phone and tablet views enable you to check that your pages work across all devices. Another option allows viewing the live site, which means if you've noticed a problem and gone back to the editor to change something, you can view the results immediately. It's a thoughtful touch which will save you time and hassle when tuning your website.

Strikingly review: Summary

The Strikingly website builder isn't as powerful or customizable as the top competition, but it's very user-friendly. You might even say it notices the things you need to add to your website. With Strikingly, you can easily build a good-looking site that’s complete with a blog. You can set everything up within a few minutes. If simplicity is key, add Strikingly to your shortlist.