Establishing a robust online presence is essential for businesses to succeed and reach global users.
A well-chosen website builder helps in creating this presence, allowing organizations to develop professional websites without requiring extensive coding knowledge.
While HubSpot is widely recognized for its comprehensive marketing and CRM capabilities, its "all-in-one" approach for website building may not always align perfectly with every business's unique needs or budget.
This article will explore a diverse range of powerful alternatives to HubSpot CMS that can offer a more tailored and efficient solution for various online objectives.
HubSpot CMS Limitations
HubSpot's website builder, part of its broader CMS Hub, presents several considerations that prompt businesses to seek alternative platforms.
Understanding these limitations is essential for making an informed decision about a digital foundation.
The platform's pricing structure can become prohibitively expensive very quickly. While HubSpot CMS offers a drag-and-drop editor and a library of templates, its overall flexibility can be less extensive.
HubSpot CMS does not provide a comprehensive, out-of-the-box solution for fully-featured online stores, especially for businesses with extensive product catalogs, promotions, or advanced e-commerce needs.
The platform is not designed to support interactive, multi-way discussions or the creation of external user profiles, which are essential for building thriving online communities.
Businesses face a notable risk of vendor lock-in with HubSpot, as migrating out of its CMS can be a time-consuming and complex process.
Top HubSpot CMS Alternatives
1. Pixpa: Best for Creatives and Small Businesses Needing Integrated Portfolios, Client Galleries, and E-commerce
Pixpa is a comprehensive, all-in-one platform carefully designed for creatives and small businesses. It helps users to build stunning professional websites, integrated online stores, secure client galleries, and engaging blogs, all from a single dashboard.
Pricing: Pixpa offers highly affordable, all-inclusive pricing plans, making it a cost-effective alternative. It provides a generous 15-day free trial that requires no credit card to get started, along with a 30-day money-back guarantee for peace of mind.
When billed annually, plans include: Basic ($3.60/month), Creator ($6.75/month), Professional ($9.00/month), and Advanced ($11.25/month).
The Advanced plan is often highlighted as offering the best value, providing unlimited products and a substantial 100GB of storage.
A key advantage is that e-commerce functionality, including selling products, services, and digital downloads, is seamlessly integrated into all plans with zero commissions on sales.
This affordability and lack of commissions directly counter the escalating costs and add-on fees observed with some other platforms.
Pros:
- Uniquely combines portfolio website, blog, client galleries, and e-commerce capabilities into a single, integrated solution, eliminating the need for multiple third-party plugins.
- Features an intuitive builder with modern, responsive website templates that are exceptionally easy for beginners to navigate and customize, ensuring a professional look.
- Offers cost-effective pricing plans that include robust features, critically, with no transaction fees on sales, maximizing profit for businesses.
- Consistently lauded by users for its responsive, real-person live chat support, it provides quick and efficient assistance.
Cons:
- No free plan available, but a 15-day free trial offers all the premium features of the paid plan to try out all the features before committing to a paid plan of choice.
2. Wix: Best for Extensive Templates
Wix is known for its remarkably intuitive drag-and-drop interface, which helps users, even those without any coding experience, to easily create and design professional websites.
It boasts an expansive library of over 800 customizable templates, catering to a vast array of business types and personal projects, allowing for rapid site setup and launch.
Wix is particularly popular among independent bloggers, artists, and small business owners who prioritize getting their online presence up and running quickly and efficiently.
Pricing: Wix offers a free plan, which includes Wix branding and a subdomain, suitable for basic testing and personal use.
For more professional needs, paid plans start from $16 per month (Combo plan) for basic websites and $27 per month for e-commerce functionalities (Business Basic plan), when billed monthly.
Higher-tier plans provide increased storage (up to 100GB), more video hours, and advanced features like ad vouchers and analytics apps.
Enterprise-level solutions are also available, starting at $500 per month. A 14-day free trial is available for its premium plans.
Pros:
- Features a highly intuitive drag-and-drop interface, making website creation simple and accessible for users of all skill levels.
- Provides access to hundreds of diverse, customizable, and modern templates, offering a wide variety of design options for any niche.
- Offers strong e-commerce features on its business plans, including unlimited products, abandoned cart recovery, and integrated social media selling tools.
- Includes dedicated tools and features for optimizing website appearance and functionality across various mobile devices.
Cons:
- A significant limitation is the inability to switch to a different template once a site is live, meaning major design overhauls require rebuilding the site from scratch.
- Most Wix plans impose storage limits, which may necessitate upgrading to a more expensive plan as the website and its content grow over time.
- The free plan includes Wix advertisements and branding, and does not allow for a custom domain name or the ability to accept online payments.
3. Squarespace: Best for Designers Prioritizing Aesthetic Appeal
Squarespace is known for its collection of beautiful, elegant, and professional templates, making it a premier choice for creatives, artists, and service-based businesses where strong visual presentation and aesthetic quality are paramount.
It offers an intuitive interface, particularly with its Fluid Engine, which allows users to drag, drop, and resize elements directly on the site, providing precise design control while ensuring an aesthetically pleasing outcome.
Pricing: Squarespace does not offer a permanent free plan, but it provides a 14-day free trial to explore its features before committing.
When billed annually, plans start at $16 per month for the Basic plan, increasing to $25 per month if paid monthly.
Higher-tier plans, including Core ($23/month), Plus ($39/month), and Advanced ($99/month) (annual billing), offer progressively more features, such as enhanced e-commerce capabilities, unlimited contributors, and advanced analytics.
All annual plans include one year of free domain registration and an SSL certificate.
Pros:
- Offers a curated selection of modern, responsive, and visually striking designs that are ideal for portfolios, galleries, and brand showcases.
- Considered one of the easiest website builders to use, especially with the intuitive Fluid Engine, simplifying the design process for beginners and experienced users alike.
- Provides strong blogging tools for content creation and seamlessly integrates with Acuity for efficient scheduling and appointment management.
- Offers solid sales features, including mobile analytics and stock tracking, with zero transaction fees on higher-tier commerce plans.
Cons:
- Lacks a long-term free tier, offering only a limited 14-day free trial, which may not be enough for extensive testing.
- Some research indicates that Squarespace sites may experience slower loading speeds compared to certain competitors, which can impact user experience and SEO.
- Does not offer phone-based customer support, relying primarily on email and live chat for assistance.
4. Shopify: Best for Large Businesses Focused Primarily on Online Sales and Scaling E-commerce Operations
Shopify is a commerce platform purpose-built for online selling, offering a comprehensive suite of tools for businesses of all sizes. It provides integrated payment gateways, robust inventory management, and scalable templates designed to facilitate rapid online store launches.
Shopify is the go-to choice for solo entrepreneurs to large-scale merchants who prioritize getting a fully functional online store up and running quickly and efficiently, without extensive technical concerns. Its extensive app marketplace allows for significant feature expansion and customization.
Pricing: Shopify offers a brief 3-day free trial, with a promotional offer allowing the first three months for just $1 per month.
Its core paid plans, when billed annually, include: Basic ($29/month), Shopify Grow ($79/month), and Advanced ($299/month).
For very large enterprises, Shopify Plus starts at $2,300/month. It is important to note that transaction fees apply if businesses choose not to use Shopify Payments, which can add to the overall cost.
Pros:
- Provides the most comprehensive and robust tools for product management, inventory, shipping, payment processing, and sales, including abandoned cart recovery.
- Specifically designed to support businesses from small startups to high-volume enterprises, offering a reliable and robust infrastructure that grows with your sales.
- Features a massive third-party app marketplace, allowing businesses to extend functionality and integrate with a wide range of marketing, sales, and operational tools.
- Known for its reliable uptime and fast load speeds, which are crucial for e-commerce conversion rates and user experience.
Cons:
- Imposes transaction fees if businesses opt not to use Shopify Payments, which can accumulate and impact profit margins, especially for high-volume sales.
- The section-based editor, while straightforward, can be restrictive, limiting advanced design customization beyond the provided templates.
- While the app store is a strength, many advanced or niche features often require purchasing additional paid apps, leading to increased monthly costs beyond the base plan.
5. WordPress.org: Best for Users Seeking Maximum Control, Customization, and Scalability
WordPress.org is a free, open-source content management system, offering unparalleled flexibility, extensibility, and customization options.
Unlike WordPress.com, it requires users to self-host their website, granting them complete ownership and granular control over every aspect of their site.
It is highly favored by developers, large enterprises, and anyone needing a truly custom website with virtually limitless functionality, supported by its vast ecosystem of over 60,000 plugins and 10,000+ themes.
WordPress.org's open-source nature and unparalleled customization capabilities stand in direct contrast to more proprietary, restrictive environments, particularly regarding server-side code access and limited plugin availability.
Pricing: The WordPress.org software itself is entirely free to download and use. However, users are responsible for associated costs, primarily web hosting (typically ranging from $3 to $30+ per month, with some basic options as low as $1.99/month) and a custom domain name (around $10-$15 per year).
While the initial setup might involve more steps and potentially higher upfront costs than simple drag-and-drop builders, it generally offers superior long-term value and scalability for complex or growing projects.
Premium themes or plugins may also incur additional costs. The "free" aspect of WordPress.org can be misleading if users do not account for these associated hosting costs, premium extensions, and the time or skill required for maintenance.
Pros:
- Offers complete ownership and the freedom to edit core code, install any theme or plugin, and customize virtually every element of the website.
- Provides access to tens of thousands of free and paid plugins and themes, enabling almost any desired functionality, from e-commerce to advanced SEO.
- Capable of supporting a wide range of websites, from simple personal blogs to complex e-commerce stores, large corporate sites, and enterprise-level applications.
- Users have complete control over how they monetize their site, with no restrictions on advertising, selling products, or offering memberships.
Cons:
- Users are responsible for managing updates, backups, security, and general site maintenance, which can be time-consuming and requires a certain level of technical proficiency.
- The process involves selecting a hosting provider, manually installing WordPress, and configuring various settings, making it less of a "plug-and-play" solution than all-in-one builders.
- While the core software is free, the cumulative costs for quality hosting, essential premium themes/plugins, and potential developer assistance can add up, making the overall investment higher than initially perceived.
6. Webflow: Best for Precise Visual Control and Clean Code Output
Webflow bridges the gap between traditional drag-and-drop builders and manual coding, offering an exceptional degree of creative freedom without requiring extensive hand-coding.
It is particularly appealing to professional designers, web agencies, and businesses that demand pixel-perfect control over their website's appearance and functionality, as it generates clean, production-ready HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
The platform continually evolves, with recent updates adding AI-powered tools and enhanced CMS capabilities.
Pricing: Webflow offers a free Starter plan, which is excellent for testing the platform's capabilities. Site plans, when billed annually, include: Basic ($14/month), CMS ($23/month), and Business ($39/month).
E-commerce plans start at Standard ($29/month), which includes a 2% transaction fee, while the Plus plan ($74/month) eliminates transaction fees.
Webflow also provides specialized Workspace plans for teams and agencies, starting from $16/month for Freelancer accounts, offering features like unlimited staging sites and collaboration tools.
Pros:
- Offers pixel-perfect design capabilities and an exceptional degree of creative freedom, allowing designers to build highly custom and unique websites without writing code.
- Automatically generates clean, semantic, and production-ready HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, which is highly beneficial for SEO performance and seamless developer handoff.
- Includes a robust Content Management System and comprehensive e-commerce features, complete with inventory management and flexible shipping/payment options.
- Provides fast and secure web hosting as an integrated part of its service, ensuring optimal site performance.
Cons:
- More complex than typical drag-and-drop builders, requiring a significant time investment to master its advanced features and interface.
- Can be more expensive than basic website builders, especially for advanced features, higher traffic volumes, or robust e-commerce functionalities.
- While incredibly powerful for front-end design and content management, its backend capabilities might be less extensive compared to full-stack development frameworks or highly specialized platforms.
How We Evaluated Website Builders
First, we checked for ease of use and design flexibility. This meant seeing how simple the editor was to use, especially for beginners, and how much you could customize its look to match your brand.
Next, we looked at core features and integrations. We checked for essential tools like blogging, strong SEO, website analytics, and social media links.
For businesses selling online, e-commerce capabilities were key. We looked at how well they handled product lists, inventory, payments, and advanced selling tools like abandoned cart recovery.
We carefully reviewed pricing and value, going beyond just monthly costs. This included looking at free plans or trials, hidden fees, and transaction charges, aiming for platforms that offered good value without surprising price hikes.
We assessed whether a platform could grow with your business, handling more data, users, and transactions without forcing you to completely switch systems later.
Finally, we considered customer support and hosting. We checked the quality of support channels (like live chat and email) and whether they offered helpful resources.
We also noted whether web hosting, a free custom domain, and an SSL certificate were included, as these are crucial for a professional and secure website.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which businesses should consider alternatives to HubSpot?
Small businesses and startups are often ideal candidates, especially those seeking more affordable, flexible, and user-friendly tools.
This also applies to businesses with highly unique sales processes, those that rely heavily on outbound marketing campaigns, or those requiring robust e-commerce capabilities that HubSpot does not offer natively.
Is it difficult to migrate data from HubSpot to a new platform?
Migrating customer data from HubSpot to a new system can be straightforward if the alternative CRM or website builder offers easy import tools and seamless integration capabilities.
However, the complexity can vary significantly depending on the volume of data being transferred and the level of customization required for the new platform.
It is worth noting that HubSpot's CMS is often considered less flexible than some alternatives, and the process of migrating out can indeed be time-consuming and complex.
What are the main benefits of switching from HubSpot to an alternative?
Key benefits often include significantly lower overall costs, access to functionality that is more specifically suited for the needs of startups and medium-sized businesses, and a more intuitive and user-friendly experience.
Alternatives can also offer more specialized features for particular needs, such as advanced e-commerce functionalities or dedicated community-building tools, which HubSpot might lack.
Do all website builders offer a free plan or free trial?
While not all, many popular website builders do offer either a permanent free plan (e.g., WordPress.org) or a free trial period (e.g., Pixpa).
These options allow users to test the platform's features and interface before committing to a paid subscription. However, free plans typically come with limitations such as platform branding/ads or restricted features like custom domains.
How important is SEO when choosing a website builder?
SEO is critically important for ensuring your website is visible and ranks well in search engine results, driving organic traffic.
