Creating a website has become much easier in recent years, but it can still be a tedious process for most small business owners. Most websites consist of various elements like text, images, and a well-organized layout. Even with top-notch tools, it can take several hours to build something that looks professional.
But imagine what if you could put together a fully functional website in just a few minutes—that’s the promise of AI website builders. By leveraging AI website tools, you literally can simplify everything from designing your site and arranging content on appropriate pages to launching it online. While it’s an ambitious goal, some apps manage to deliver on this promise with varying levels of success.
What is the AI website builder?
An AI website builder is a tool that uses artificial intelligence to automate the process of creating websites. Unlike traditional website builders, which require manual input for layout, design, and content placement, AI website builders streamline these tasks by generating websites based on minimal user input. There are two main types of AI website builders:
Users typically provide basic information, such as their business type, preferred style, or content, and the AI takes over from there—designing the layout, selecting images, organizing content into appropriate sections, and even optimizing the site for SEO. But these generally are made by preset templates with limited creativity.
Another one is you could build a rough site from a typed prompt like "make a website for iWatch". This is usually far more creative than the first one, but won't be very good if the prompt needs to take times to craft.
What makes the best AI website generators?
Many AI website tools claim they can handle everything from design to functionality, but the reality often falls short. In many cases, these tools fail to meet expectations in areas like layout, design quality, loading speed, and SEO performance. Instead of saving time, users often find themselves spending hours manually tweaking or re-editing the generated websites to get them up to standard. Poorly optimized results can lead to slow site performance and ineffective SEO, ultimately costing you more time and effort than anticipated. When choosing an AI website builder, it's essential to find one that truly delivers on its promises without requiring extensive manual adjustments, and here are criteria you can refer to:
Here are four key factors that make AI website tools stand out:
Create a Professional-Looking Site: The best AI website tools enable you to design visually appealing and polished websites with minimal effort. They help craft modern, attractive layouts that elevate your online presence.
Easy to Use and Delivers Expected Results: A good AI website builder should make it simple to achieve the exact results you’re looking for, with intuitive features and minimal manual input required, saving you time and frustration.
Offers Flexible Editing Options: While AI can do much of the heavy lifting, the tool should also provide an easy-to-use editor, allowing you to fine-tune and perfect the AI-generated content so the final result aligns with your vision.
Optimized for Performance: Top AI website tools ensure your site is fast-loading, SEO-friendly, and optimized for mobile devices, delivering a seamless user experience and better search engine rankings.
The best AI website generators we recommended
Dora is for most people who want to build a website with cool 3D animation and ease.
Wix for most people, A balance of AI and a mature website builder
Framer allows users to design and prototype interactive experiences visually.
Webflow combines a visual web design interface with powerful CMS capabilities.
Jimdo utilizes AI tools for quick website building and content generation.
Dora
Dora is a cutting-edge, free AI website maker that allows users to create and publish interactive, 3D-animated websites without writing a single line of code. Whether you’re a small startup, a growing business, or a large established brand, Dora enables teams of any size to easily design stunning, engaging web experiences that stand out. Its intuitive, no-code editor makes it possible for anyone to build professional websites quickly and efficiently, helping businesses capture attention and drive results.
Pros:
No-Code, Easy to Use. Designed for users without technical expertise, making website creation accessible with its intuitive, drag-and-drop interface.
Near-perfect on the first try, save your time.
Always prompt-relevant. Dora’s AI accurately interprets prompts and delivers results that align with what you envision, ensuring high-quality output from the start, what you say is perfectly what you get.
3D Widgets and Dynamic Features: Support integrating 3D widgets and other interactive components, which can help businesses better showcase product quality and details with engaging experiences, and eventually, boost the conversion performance.
Responsive Design: Websites built with Dora are optimized for mobile and desktop, ensuring a seamless experience across devices.
Flexible, Unique, AI-generated. The world's first full AI creation model without preset templates.
Cons:
Limited Customization for Complex Needs: While the platform allows some degree of customization, users with more complex design or functionality requirements may find their options somewhat limited compared to more advanced website builders.
3D Elements Can sometimes affect performance: Depending on how the 3D widgets are implemented, they may slow down loading times if not optimized properly, potentially impacting the user experience and SEO.
Starter for free with 120 credits at signup, with full capability of experiencing Dora editor. Get started right away.
$14/month for websites with official use purposes, 2000 credits, faster generation speed, more keyframes and 3D models.
$25/month for visually enhanced or high-traffic websites, everything included in starter, basic plans.
Check the real sites built by Dora's users.
Highly suggest those failed to highlight the product's quality and details which led to poor conversion to give it a try!
AirPods (use this template)
DJI Mini3 (use this template)
Nike shoes (use this template)
Wix
Pros:
User-Friendly Interface: Wix offers a drag-and-drop editor, making it easy for beginners to create websites without technical skills.
Template Variety: Users can choose from hundreds of customizable templates tailored for various industries.
App Market: A wide range of apps and integrations are available to enhance website functionality.
Built-In SEO Tools: Wix provides SEO-friendly features, including customizable meta tags, alt text for images, and site maps.
Flexible Pricing Plans: Offers a range of pricing options, including a free plan, making it accessible for different budgets.
Cons:
Limited Customization for Advanced Users: While it's user-friendly, experienced developers may find the customization options restrictive.
Wix Branding on Free Plan: The free version includes Wix ads and branding, which may not be suitable for professional websites.
Loading Speed: Some users report slower loading times compared to competitors, potentially impacting SEO performance.
Difficulty in Switching Templates: Once a template is chosen, changing it later can lead to design issues and require extensive adjustments.
E-commerce Limitations: While Wix supports e-commerce, its features are not as robust as dedicated e-commerce platforms.
Price:
Free Plan: Basic features with Wix branding and domain.
Premium Plans: Ranging from approximately $14 to $49 per month, depending on the features, such as additional storage, removing ads, and e-commerce capabilities.
Business & eCommerce Plans: Starting around $23 per month for basic e-commerce features, with higher-tier plans offering advanced functionalities.
Framer
Framer is a versatile ai website design and development platform that combines design and coding capabilities, enabling users to create visually stunning, responsive websites. Initially known for its prototyping tools, Framer has evolved into a full-fledged website builder, offering a seamless blend of visual editing and code integration. It caters to designers and developers alike, allowing for high levels of customization and interactivity.
Pros:
Intuitive Design Experience: Framer features a user-friendly interface with a visual editor, making it easy for designers to create interactive websites without extensive coding knowledge.
Highly Customizable: Users can customize every aspect of their site, from animations to layouts, providing a level of flexibility that appeals to both novice and advanced designers.
Responsive Design: Framer automatically adjusts layouts for different screen sizes, ensuring that websites look great on any device.
Built-In Code Support: Advanced users can enhance their projects with custom code, allowing for deeper functionality and personalization.
SEO Optimization Tools: Framer includes built-in SEO features, such as customizable meta tags and optimized URLs, making it easier to improve search engine visibility.
Cons:
Learning Curve for Beginners: While the design capabilities are robust, new users may find the initial learning curve steep compared to simpler platforms.
Limited Template Options: Framer has fewer pre-designed templates than some competitors, which may require users to start from scratch more often.
Pricing Structure: The cost of premium plans can be relatively high, which may deter budget-conscious users or small businesses.
E-commerce Features: While Framer supports e-commerce, its offerings may not be as comprehensive as those provided by dedicated e-commerce platforms.
Performance Issues: Some users report that complex designs can lead to slower loading times, potentially affecting user experience and SEO.
Price:
Free with Framer branding for hobby projects; from $10/month/site for the Mini plan, with 2 pages and 1,000 visitors per month.
Webflow
Webflow is a powerful web design and development platform that enables users to create responsive websites visually without needing to write code. It combines the ease of a drag-and-drop editor with the capabilities of a fully customizable content management system (CMS). Webflow is particularly popular among designers, freelancers, and agencies for its flexibility, allowing them to build high-quality, interactive websites that are optimized for performance and SEO.
Pros:
Visual Design Interface: Webflow provides a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, allowing designers to create complex layouts visually without extensive coding knowledge.
Responsive Design Tools: The platform ensures that websites are automatically responsive, with tools to customize designs for different screen sizes seamlessly.
Custom CMS: Webflow’s built-in content management system allows users to create and manage dynamic content easily, making it ideal for blogs and portfolio sites.
SEO-Friendly: Webflow includes built-in SEO features, such as customizable meta tags, alt text for images, and clean code output, which can enhance search engine visibility.
Cons:
Steeper Learning Curve: While the visual interface is intuitive, beginners may find the range of features overwhelming at first, especially if they have no prior design experience.
Limited Templates: Although Webflow offers some templates, the selection is not as extensive as that of other website builders, which may require more design work.
Pricing: Webflow's premium plans can be relatively expensive, particularly for small businesses or individual users who may be on a tight budget.
Performance Variability: Some users report that websites built on Webflow can experience performance issues, particularly if they are complex or contain numerous animations.
Export Limitations: While users can export code, the functionality is limited compared to traditional web development environments, making it challenging to migrate projects.
Price:
Free for those getting started with Webflow
$14/month for building simple and static sites
Jimdo
Jimdo is an intuitive website builder designed for individuals and small businesses looking to create an online presence quickly and easily. With its AI-driven design assistance and user-friendly interface, Jimdo allows users to build responsive websites without needing extensive technical skills. The platform offers various templates and customization options, along with features for e-commerce and SEO, making it a versatile choice for users with diverse needs.
Pros:
AI-Powered Website Creation: Jimdo’s AI website design generator, Jimdo Creator, helps users create websites by automatically generating designs based on their content and preferences, streamlining the setup process.
User-Friendly Interface: The platform features a straightforward drag-and-drop editor, making it easy for beginners to create and customize their websites.
Responsive Design: Jimdo ensures that all websites are mobile-friendly and automatically adapt to different screen sizes, providing a seamless user experience across devices.
E-commerce Capabilities: Jimdo offers integrated e-commerce features, allowing users to create and manage online stores with payment processing and inventory management.
Cons:
Limited Customization for Advanced Users: While Jimdo is easy to use, more experienced developers may find the customization options somewhat restrictive compared to other website builders.
Fewer Templates Available: Jimdo has a smaller selection of templates compared to some competitors, which may limit design choices for users.
Basic SEO Features: The SEO tools available in Jimdo may not be as comprehensive as those offered by more advanced platforms, potentially impacting search engine visibility.
Performance Issues: Some users have reported slower loading times for websites built with Jimdo, which can affect user experience and SEO rankings.
Limited Third-Party Integrations: Jimdo offers fewer integrations with third-party apps and services, which may limit functionality for users seeking to expand their site’s capabilities.
Price:
Free with Jimdo branding and domain; from $11/month for the Start plan that includes a custom domain.
Other AI website builders (other options may refer to)
Many of the new AI website builders introduced since the advent of GPT are hard to recommend. Some seem more like experimental tech showcases, while others struggle to perform effectively. Currently, Framer, honestly stands out as the closest contender to a comprehensive solution, although its AI capabilities are still in the early stages of development, and cannot compare with Dora.
Relume offers a promising AI web design tool, but you'll need to export your creation to Webflow if you want it to become a fully functional website.
Wegic, with a seamless user journey to guide you build up your website with AI, is also recommended though it sacrifices its customization for controllable generated results with preset templates.
Big names in the website building industry, like Shopify and Squarespace, are also rolling out various AI-enhanced functionalities. However, these tools may not significantly assist in the actual website design process at this time, although that could change in the future.
If you were hoping to find an exceptional all-in-one AI website builder that rivals the effectiveness of ChatGPT or Midjourney, I regret to inform you that such a solution doesn’t exist yet. While AI elements have been integrated into website builders for nearly a decade, no application has managed to create a complete package. Most AI website builders prioritize the traditional website-building experience first and introduce AI features as an added benefit. Nevertheless, they remain a valuable tool for launching new websites efficiently.
If you're interested in more tips, check out our blog for additional insights.
