Blog / Free website builders that are actually free (2026)

Free website builders that are actually free (2026)

By The bizhq team · Published September 22, 2026 · 4 min read

Short answer: Wix, Canva, Carrd, Durable and bizhq all have a free plan. On every one, your address carries the builder's name and your own .com is not part of the free plan. Squarespace has no free plan, only a 14-day trial. bizhq is one of the five, so read our limits too.

Almost every website builder says "free." For a salon, a cleaning business or a notary, the word can mean very different things. Some free plans give you a real site that stays online. Others give you a trial, or a site with so many limits that you will pay within a month.

This post lists what each builder says about its free plan, on its own pages. We are one of them, so we say where we fall short too. You can also read each full comparison on our compare page.

What to look for

Four things decide whether a free plan works for a small business:

  1. Do you need a credit card to start? A card up front usually means a trial, not a free plan.
  2. What is the web address? Free plans put your name inside the builder's address, like yourname.wixsite.com.
  3. Whose name is on your site? Many free sites carry a small banner or footer link for the builder.
  4. Can you use your own .com? On most free plans, you can't.

The builders, side by side

Builder Free plan? Address on the free plan Branding on free sites Your own .com
bizhq Yes, no credit card yourname.bizhq.page Small "Free website by bizhq" footer link Not on the free plan
Wix Yes, no credit card siteprefix.wixsite.com/siteaddress Wix branding shown Paid plan, from $17 a month billed yearly
Canva Yes, up to five live sites A .canva.site address "Designed with Canva" footer, can't be removed on Free Canva Pro, listed at US$144 a year
Carrd Yes, up to three sites A .carrd.co address "Made with Carrd" branding Pro Standard, $19 a year (you buy the domain)
Durable Yes A durable.site address Durable branding Launch plan, $22 a month on monthly billing
GoDaddy Starts free with 50 AI credits, no credit card A GoDaddy subdomain or your own domain Not stated on the pages we read A free domain comes with any paid plan
Google Sites Google lists no price for Sites itself You choose an address when you publish Not stated on the pages we read You can connect a domain you already own
Squarespace No free plan, 14-day trial Not applicable Not applicable Plans start at $19 a month billed annually

Prices are as shown on each company's pages on September 19, 2026, and can change.

A few details the table can't show

Wix (full comparison, or read what Wix's free plan gives you) shows its plan prices for yearly plans paid up front, before taxes. It says using your own domain and removing Wix branding both need a paid plan. It also lists a free domain for the first year on paid plans.

Canva (comparison) is a design tool first. Its free sites work well if you already make flyers or posts in Canva. Connecting your own domain is not available on Canva Free.

Carrd (comparison) builds one-page sites, so there are no separate Services, Gallery or About pages. It is very cheap, but forms and custom domains are Pro features.

Durable (comparison) builds a site from a description of your business. The free plan has monthly limits: 5 image generations, 10 AI chat messages and up to 10 customers in its contact list. Booking needs a paid plan.

GoDaddy (comparison) now calls its builder Airo AI Builder. Changes made through the AI use up credits, and credits do not roll over. We could not see plan prices on the pages we read, so we don't quote any.

Google Sites (comparison) is a real free tool, but Google describes it as a tool for team, project and event sites. You start from general templates and decide the pages yourself.

Squarespace (comparison) is not free. After the 14-day trial you have to subscribe to keep the site live.

Where bizhq is the weaker choice

Be honest with yourself about what you need. A free bizhq site has three to five fixed pages and no blog. It has no online store and no booking calendar on the site itself (a Book button can open the booking app you already use). It does have a contact form, and call and text buttons. You get one site per account. And your address is yourname.bizhq.page, not your own .com.

If you need to sell products online or take bookings on your site, a paid plan at Wix, Squarespace or Durable will fit better than any free plan, ours included.

If what you mainly want is your own .com and business email, we also offer both, set up for you, as an optional extra. See what it includes.

So which free plan should you pick?

  • You want to be online today, from your phone, with as little work as possible: a builder that starts the site for you, like bizhq or Durable.
  • You already design in Canva: Canva's free site keeps everything in one place.
  • You want a one-page site and your own .com for the lowest price: Carrd.
  • You want full control and may add a store later: Wix.

Whatever you pick, put your phone number, hours and service area on the first screen, and add the site's address to your Google listing and your Facebook page. Not sure the free address will look professional enough? Read does a free web address hurt trust?

Prices and limits in this post were checked on September 19, 2026. They can change, so check the company's own page before you decide.

See it on a sample site

These are made-up businesses built on the free plan, so you can see how a finished site looks and reads on your phone.

Want a free website for your business?

bizhq builds one for you to edit from your phone. No credit card, no hosting fee.

Build my free site

Sources

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