There’s been an explosion of website-building tools and software over the past couple of years.
Businesses, nonprofits, or individuals are no longer restricted to using the old standard-bearers like HubSpot or WordPress.
We should know. As one of the latest website-building solutions to hit the market, we at Pineapple Builder know exactly how competitive this space has become.
Webflow, one of the more popular no-code website builders, has acquired some impressive clients recently, but others are looking for an alternative to the SaaS model, which many find increasingly restrictive and expensive.
Today we’ll be taking a look at some of the best.
What is Webflow?
Webflow is a SaaS (software as a service) company that is generally regarded as one of the best no-code website builders around. All website development done on Webflow is browser-based, so there’s absolutely no need for any coding knowledge, meaning that even total newbies can build a really good website using simple visual editing tools. It also gives you the option to benefit from three different coding languages (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) without requiring you to know anything about them.
Why No-code Website Builder Tools are Important
There’s a reason why no-code websites have become all the rage in recent years. Let’s take a look at a few reasons:
Decrease in Development Time
Most no-code website building platforms provide a simple drag-and-drop interface using templates. You can customize many elements, like page layout, images, text, and more, easily. And as you don’t have to write a line of code, you can create websites incredibly quickly.
Reduce Development Costs
For the uninitiated, website building can be expensive. If you were to create a website from scratch, you’d more than likely need a team of designers and coders on hand, which gets costly fast. That isn’t even including the extra costs involved in testing and monitoring the site for errors. No-code eliminates these costs, as most of the busy-work is done for you.
Get You to Market Earlier
Building a website with a no-code platform means you can deploy the website much earlier than you would with a full-build. Building a website from scratch generally requires a development time between 1-6 months. With a no-code platform, this time is drastically reduced. Depending on the complexity of your website, you can usually get it to a live stage within a few hours to a week!
Criteria to Consider When Choosing a Webflow Alternative
SEO tools: You can create one of the most beautiful websites on the internet. It won’t be worth a thing if it’s not properly SEO optimized. You should choose a tool that provides SEO assistance, and a good variety of analytics. Pineapple builder is a good choice in this regard, thanks to the AI assistant and analytics suite.
Easy-to-use: Webflow can be difficult to use, especially if you’re not technically minded. So, make sure the alternative you pick offers plenty no-code options and assistance. Both Pineapple Builder and Siter.io are good choices here.
Provides plenty of customization options: If you’re opting for a no-code builder, ensure that they offer plenty of templates and customization, so that you can create a website personalized specifically for your business. While all of the tools we mention has a fair level of personalization, we especially enjoy Framer’s effects feature, which allows you to create animations for your webpages.
Best Webflow Alternative
Key takeaways
Pineapple Builder - Best Overall Website Builder
Dorik - Best Website Builder for Established Online Businesses
Siter.io - Best Website Builder for Professional Development Teams
Framer - Best Website Builder for Blogs and Personal Pages
Unstack - Best Website Builder for Marketers and Online Stores
1. Pineapple Builder
Pineapple Builder is a powerful no-code website builder that incorporates the latest in AI technology.
It’s an intuitive, easy-to-use tool that massively accelerates the development process and enables the construction of different types of websites with absolutely no prior experience required.
Pineapple Builder Key Features
Pineapple AI Assistant
Pineapple Builder uses the latest AI tech to assist you in numerous tasks from your design and layout to your marketing communications and content creation. You can even use it to optimize SEO on your site.
Pineapple Analytics
Pineapple Analytics lets you see your top sources and create simple links with UTM parameters to track your link engagement. You can also set goals, and receive a range of reports and detailed information on campaigns and conversions.
Pineapple Membership
Pineapple Membership lets you run contests, create newsletters and blog posts, share ebooks, etc. Everything you need to build a loyal customer community.
You can capture leads you’d never have seen before, all managed in a single, easy-to-use dashboard, and what’s more, Pineapple let you have an unlimited amount of members!
Pricing
STARTER (Free) - 3x live pages, Pineapple subdomain, Free SSL and CDN and 24/7 support | AI Copywriter (GPT-3.5).
BASIC - Includes everything in STARTER + additional tools and widgets at $15/mo ($12/mo with an annual subscription).
GROW - Includes everything in BASIC + AI Copywriter (Blog), Membership, and additional tools and pages $29/mo ($24/mo with an annual subscription).
2. Dorik
Dorik is a multi-award winning no-code website builder that allows anyone to create complete websites in minutes using drag-and-drop templates and UI blocks.
Relevant Features
Website Builder
Dorik’s website builder is incredibly intuitive and offers a broad range of design options, templates, and over 250 UI blocks, giving you all the functionality you need for any kind of site.
White-Label CMS
Dorik provides its users with a complete white-label content management system which comes with a built-in blogging platform and client billing system.
Membership
Dorik also comes with a membership suite allowing you to monetize your website by using paywalls on your content.
Pricing
Dorik comes with 3 different pricing options
Personal - 1 customer domain, up to 3000 members, 200 blog posts for $3.29/mo
Business - 3-10 customer domains, up to 10,000 members, 10 collaborators, unlimited blog posts + more at $8.29/mo
Agency 25-250 customer domains + unlimited pages, collaborators, blog posts, storage + all features at $29.12/mo
Pros and Cons
Pros
Easy to use
Fast-loading and responsive pages
Intuitive interface
Cons
Lacks features present in other no-code builders
No backups
Limited customization options
3. Siter.io
Siter is another no-code website builder that allows you to create websites directly in the cloud.
It is capable of building a broad range of different sites, from simple blogs to multi-page e-commerce stores and unlike many of its competitors, Siter allows you to design your website freehand.
Relevant Features
Freehand Editor
Siter’s freehand editor lets you focus your workflow and design and deploy quickly with multiple features, including groups, layers, and multiple handy shortcuts.
Collaboration
Siter is a great tool for teamwork and collaborative development efforts. Its core functionality has been created for designers and development teams to really optimize their output and end results.
Figma Plugin
With Siter you can import Figma designs directly. Designers love this feature for how much time it saves them.
Pricing
Siter has three different pricing options.
Personal - 1 teammate, 1 project/website at $14/mo
Professional - up to 5 teammates, 5 projects/websites coming in at $22/mo
Agency - unlimited 5 teammates, 20 projects/websites for $45/mo
Pros and Cons
Pros
Strong collaboration
Figma plugin
Freehand editor
Cons
Lack of integrations
No free version
Limited number of templates
4. Framer
Framer is the second AI-powered website builder on our list.
From Design to Prototyping, Reviewing, Publishing to code, Framer does it all, massively reducing the time it takes from ideation to launch.
Relevant Features
Effects
Framer Effects takes website design and user experience to the next level. With options including Appear Effects, Scroll Animations, Scroll Speed, Components, and Varients, you can really bring your site to life.
Navigation
Framer Navigation lets you link to another page, scroll to a specific section, or open a modal; their visual navigation tools, including scroll sections and redirects, make directing users through your site a piece of cake.
AI-Driven
Framer AI will take care of everything from the design and layout to all the written content and animations. You simply give it the prompt and refine the results.
Pricing
Framer has a free version for hobby projects that includes the Design Editor.
It has three paid versions:
Mini - Home + 404 page, Custom Domain, up to 1000 visitors/mo at $10/mo
Basic - Unlimited pages, 1 CMS collection, 10,000 visitors/mo for $20/mo
Pro - Everything in Basic + analytics, staging, redirects 10 CMS collections and 100,000 visitors per month with a cost of $30/mo
Pros and Cons
Pros
Can massively reduce development time
Code-based prototypes that behave like the real thing
AI is easy to get to grips with
Cons
Vector graphic tool isn’t great
Too many constraints
Limited third-party integrations
5. Unstack
Unstack is a no-code website builder with a strong focus on building e-commerce websites and Shopify stores, which works well for both developers and marketers alike.
Relevant Features
Integrations
One of Unstack’s best features is its wide range of integrations with existing tools and platforms. Its simple one-click integrations make integrating both tools and data a total breeze.
Tracking & Analytics
As a website builder geared towards marketing and online selling, Unstack comes with a wide range of Turn-key marketing analytics that provide valuable insights into performance and customer behavior.
Content Management
The Unstack CMS gives marketing teams and other stakeholders the ability to fully control your business’s digital presence. You can manage your website, build a landing page, blog, and dynamically generated content in a single platform built for marketers.
Pricing
Unstack has three different pricing options.
Starter - 100 pages, 2.500 tracked profiles, limited data sync for $49/mo
Professional - 500 pages, 5000 tracked profiles, priority data sync for $99/mo
Business - 1000+ pages, 20,000 tracked profiles, dynamic content generation for $299/mo
Pros and Cons
Pros
Great third-party integrations
Good for Shopify stores
Responsive and helpful support
Cons
Difficult to navigate
Limited template options
Limited customizations
Conclusion
We are currently experiencing a quantum leap in website-building tools.
Even great tools like Webflow are coming under pressure from a number of new kids on the block that enable the creation of professional websites that rank and integrate with all major tools and platforms.
Pineapple Builder is one such tool, which uses the latest in AI technology to massively simplify and accelerate the website building process.
Literally, anyone can now build websites that look amazing and work perfectly with incredible UX using Pineapple Builder.
Check out our pricing and be amazed at how much you can do for such a small cost.
