Best Web Design Software

What can Web Design Software Accomplish?

Web design software is a tool that allows you to create, design, and develop webpages and entire websites without needing to write code manually. This software provides an intuitive drag-and-drop interface and a wide range of templates, elements, animations, and customization options to build professional-looking websites.

Web design software empowers anyone to easily build and publish their own website, regardless of technical skills. They are extremely helpful for small businesses, bloggers, artists, students, and individuals looking to establish an online presence. You can quickly turn your ideas into an attractive, fully functional website with the right web design software.

What are the different types of web design software?

There are several types of web design software available, each catering to different needs:

• WYSIWYG Editors: These “what you see is what you get” editors like Wix and Squarespace provide drag-and-drop simplicity. Great for beginners looking for a code-free web building experience.
• Wireframing Tools: Wireframing tools like Figma, Adobe XD and Sketch allow you to map out website structure and layouts. Helpful for planning and prototyping sites.
• CMS Platforms: Content Management Systems like WordPress and Webflow integrate powerful features for building advanced websites. Offer more design flexibility.
• Mockup Generators: Tools like Adobe Photoshop and Canva help quickly create website mockups and visual prototypes. Useful for early planning stages.

What are the benefits of web design software?

Using a web design software offers many benefits:

• Time saving: Building a site is significantly faster compared to coding it all manually. Drag-and-drop editors speed up the design process.
• Simplified design process: Intuitive interfaces and pre-made templates in web design software make website creation easy for non-coders.
• Cost effective: Paying for a quality web design software is cheaper than hiring web developers in most cases. Great value for money.
• No coding skills required: These tools allow you to build great-looking websites without needing any technical knowledge. Extremely beginner-friendly.
• Mobile responsiveness: Many web design platforms automatically optimize sites for mobile devices. Critical for modern web design.
• Built-in SEO: Several platforms provide SEO-focused tools for metadata, site structure, speed, and security. It helps improve search ranking.
• Active community: Documentation, tutorials, discussion forums and an active user base provide helpful support. Encourages continuous learning.

How much does Web design software cost?

Web design software pricing can range from free for basic tools to $50-$100 per month for advanced platforms. Exact costs depend on several factors:

• Scope of features: More sophisticated software with extra tools and capabilities cost more.
• Target audience: Tools meant for pro designers are pricier than beginner options.
• Ecommerce features: Platforms optimized for online stores cost extra for inventory management, payment processing etc.
• Number of sites/traffic: Upper pricing tiers allow more sites and higher traffic limits.
• Premium support: Some charge extra for priority email/chat support and expert coaching.

Many web design software provide free versions with limited features. Paid plans unlock more advanced capabilities, storage space, unique templates, faster support, and remove branding.

How to choose the best web design software?

With so many options to choose from, picking the right web design software for your needs requires a bit of research. Here are some important factors to consider:

• Features and functionality: Carefully assess if the tool provides the site building capabilities you require. Compare web design, SEO, ecommerce, blogging features etc.
• Design flexibility: Ensure the software allows customization of design, layouts, colors etc to match your brand identity.
• Learning curve: Opt for an intuitive platform if you are a beginner looking for ease of use. Advanced software work better for experienced users.
• Scalability: Pick a platform that can smoothly handle increased traffic and bandwidth needs as your site grows.
• Customer support: Look for responsive technical support via self-help, documentation, email, chat etc. An active user community also helps.
• Budget: Weigh the cost against the value you get. Avoid overpaying for unnecessary advanced features you may not use.
• Reviews: User testimonials, expert roundups and comparison reviews reveal real-world software performance.

Prioritize must-have features and choose the simplest software that fulfills your core website-building needs.

Best Web Design Software

With the sheer number of options, picking the right web design software is no easy task. To make your decision easier, we have researched and reviewed the top 10 web design platforms based on features, capabilities, ease of use, flexibility, community support, and value for money.

Here is our handpicked list of the absolute Best Web Design Software solutions available today:

Best Web Design Software – At a glance

Best Web Design Software – Let’s dive deeper

Here are more detailed reviews of the top 10 web design platforms:

1. Wix

Wix is a beginner-friendly drag-and-drop website builder with hundreds of designer-made templates and intuitive editing tools.

• Key Features: ADI Artificial Design Intelligence, customizable templates, mobile optimization, built-in SEO
• Price: Free plan available. Paid plans from $4.50 – $49 per month.
• Reviews & Ratings: 4.6/5 on Capterra, 4.4/5 on TrustRadius
• Pros: Very easy to use, great library of templates, extensive App Market add-ons
• Cons: Design limitations compared to coding, SEO and performance could be better

With Wix, absolutely anyone can build a fully functioning website in a couple of hours – zero coding required. It offers an incredibly intuitive drag-and-drop editor powered by ADI, Wix’s artificial intelligence design features. Pick a template, customize it, and add your own media and text. Wix handles all the technical stuff for you behind the scenes.

While advanced users may feel limited by the lack of coding access, the sheer ease of use makes Wix a top choice for complete beginners. It is arguably the easiest way for non-technical folks to get online fast.

Wix shines with its vast template library covering everything from portfolios to e-commerce. All templates are mobile-optimized. You also get hundreds of useful apps to extend site functionality, from forms and live chat to reviews and maps.

Wix’s new Editor X provides more design flexibility for those seeking more customization control. Overall, Wix is a user-friendly option for launching a personal site, blog, or online store quickly and affordably.

Key Features

• 500+ designer-made templates
• Drag and drop site builder
• Built-in SEO tools
• Free basic plan available
• Rich App Market addon library

Why You Should Consider

 Ideal for non-technical users who want a quick, frustration-free web-building experience.

2. Figma

Figma is a leading web and UI design platform for interface prototyping, mockup design, and team collaboration.

• Key Features: Vector design tools, real-time team collaboration, interactive prototyping
• Price: Free plan, paid plans from $12 – $45 per editor/month
• Reviews & Ratings: 4.9/5 on Capterra, 4.7/5 on G2
• Pros: Excellent prototyping capabilities, multi-platform, intuitive UI
• Cons: Only for design stage, lacks publishing features

As a UI and UX design tool, Figma truly shines. It combines full-fledged graphic design capabilities like Sketch with interactive prototyping functionality – all in an elegant browser-based interface. Design mockups, wireframes, and prototypes directly in Figma. You can even preview designs on mobile to test responsiveness.

Figma’s multiplayer abilities take team collaboration to the next level. Multiple designers can simultaneously work on the same project in real time while chatting without version control headaches.

However, Figma currently lacks any real website or code export functionality. So you won’t be able to use it alone to build a production-ready site, design, and prototype it. Integrations with platforms like Webflow do help bridge this gap.

Figma is a must-try for designers and agencies who value cutting-edge prototyping tools. The learning curve may be steeper than other options, but the professional-grade design environment is unmatched.

Key Features

• Multiplayer design collaboration
• Interactive prototyping
• Vector design and illustration tools
• Real-time previews on mobile
• Available across platforms

Why You Should Consider

Perfect for teams that need advanced design prototyping and wireframing capabilities.

3. Webflow

Webflow is a robust web design tool for building responsive CSS/HTML5 websites visually without coding.

• Key Features: Animation tools, CMS capabilities, custom interactivity
• Price: Free trial, paid plans from $12.50 – $42/month
• Reviews & Ratings: 4.8/5 on Capterra, 4.8/5 on G2
• Pros: Design flexibility, custom CSS/JS, seamless performance
• Cons: Steeper learning curve, smaller template library

Think of Webflow as advanced website building blocks for designers. Using a robust content management system, it bridges the gap between visual site builders and hand coding.

While Webflow isn’t as beginner-friendly as Wix, its flexibility and capabilities are unmatched in the no-code web design space. Animations, transitions, hover states, scroll effects – it easily handles complex interactions through smart CSS manipulation. You get granular control over site structure and styling without touching code.

Webflow also integrates CMS features like dynamic content, collections, and forms seamlessly into the visual editor. Webflow sites load blazing fast and are optimized for SEO out of the box. For those who outgrow simplistic builders, Webflow is a versatile design workflow. You can even export production-ready HTML/CSS.

Key Features

• Granular design and styling control
• Built-in CMS capabilities
• Animation and interaction tools
• Lightning fast performance
• Free hosting for 2 sites

Why You Should Consider

Ideal for designers and agencies who need flexibility without coding entire sites from scratch.

4. WordPress

WordPress is the world’s most popular CMS platform and publishing system that powers over 40% of the web.

• Key Features: Open source CMS, global community, thousands of plugins
• Price: Free open source version. Managed hosting from $5 – $45/month.
• Reviews & Ratings: 4.7/5 on Capterra, 4.5/5 on G2
• Pros: Extensive plugin ecosystem, great for blogging
• Cons: Steep learning curve, more hands-on maintenance required

When it comes to managing content at scale, nothing beats WordPress. The open-source CMS now powers over 60 million websites – for good reason. The platform is extremely extensible thanks to its thousands of plugins and global community of developers.

For bloggers and online publishers, WordPress is a must-try. It makes content creation, management, and distribution a breeze with built-in features, SEO capabilities, and a thriving plugin directory. Tap into the WordPress.org community for myriad themes, add-ons, and support.

WordPress offers impressive content flexibility but demands more hands-on management than beginner-centric tools. You’ll need self-hosted WordPress hosting, occasional updates, and performance optimization. Security is also a common concern. But overall, it remains the CMS for serious publishing at scale.

Key Features

• Open source CMS
• Thousands of free themes and plugins
• Built-in SEO and blogging features
• Huge global community
• Scales to handle high traffic sites

Why You Should Consider

Ideal for bloggers, publishers, and sites with lots of content updating needs.

5. Squarespace

Squarespace is an all-in-one web publishing platform and online store builder known for beautiful templates.

• Key Features: Stylish templates, built-in ecommerce, integrated marketing tools
• Price: Free trial, paid plans from $12 – $40/month
• Reviews & Ratings: 4.7/5 on Capterra, 4.5/5 on G2
• Pros: Classy designs, easy ecommerce integration, excellent support
• Cons: Limited design customization, not the cheapest

With Squarespace, you get award-winning templates crafted by world-class designers – resulting in sites that look downright classy across the board. Instead of starting from a blank canvas, choose from hundreds of mobile-friendly designs for blogs, portfolios, online stores, restaurants, and more.

While third-party design options are limited compared to developers-focused tools, the elegant out-of-the-box templates and intuitive editor make site building frustration-free. Squarespace also neatly folds powerful e-commerce and marketing features into its all-in-one platform. Sell products, accept payments, manage inventory, send email campaigns, and monitor analytics from one dashboard.

Squarespace strikes an impressive balance between usability and flexibility for those seeking a refined online presence without technical hassle. Its superb design-forward templates and integrated tools provide serious bang for the buck.

Key Features

• Designer-made templates
• All-in-one ecommerce tools
• Integrated email marketing
• Built-in analytics
• Accepts Payments via Stripe

Why You Should Consider

Perfect for small businesses, creatives, and bloggers who value elegant design over extensive customization capabilities.

6. Weebly

Weebly is an easy-to-use website builder ideal for beginners looking to create their first website quickly and affordably.

• Key Features: Drag and drop editor, free site hosting, built in ecommerce
• Price: Free plan available. Paid plans from $6 – $25 per month.
• Reviews & Ratings: 4.7/5 on Capterra, 4.6/5 on G2
• Pros: Extremely easy to use, affordable pricing, very customizable
• Cons: Some slow loading times reported, more limited features than advanced platforms

Weebly is a top choice for getting online fast and painlessly among pure beginner-friendly builders. Like Wix or Squarespace, it lets anyone create a great-looking, mobile-ready site by simply dragging, dropping, and customizing elements visually. But Weebly’s prices and features make it an even more compelling option for personal sites.

For starters, Weebly offers a free forever plan to build a site with basic features and even host it on Weebly’s servers. This makes it entirely risk-free to try out.

Paid Weebly plans unlock more advanced capabilities like video backgrounds, site search, password-protected pages, and site stats. All Weebly sites are optimized for mobile right out of the box. You also get hundreds of professional templates and themes spanning categories like business, portfolio, blog, resume, etc.

While not as feature-packed as Webflow or Wix, Weebly more than gets the job done for simple sites. Its affordable pricing, free hosting offer, and intuitive editor make Weebly a top contender.

Key Features

• Drag and drop builder
• Mobile optimized themes
• Built-in ecommerce capabilities
• SEO tools
• Free site hosting

Why You Should Consider

One of the easiest and most affordable ways for beginners to build their first website.

7. Adobe Dreamweaver

Adobe Dreamweaver is a professional web design and development software suited for coding experts.

• Key Features: Text editor, FTP client, code hinting and corrections
• Price: Subscription only – $20.99 per month
• Reviews & Ratings: 4.5/5 on Capterra, 4.4/5 on G2
• Pros: Great for coders, integration with rest of Creative Cloud
• Cons: Overkill for simple sites, steep learning curve

Dreamweaver is tailored specifically for web developers and programmers comfortable working directly with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code. Unlike visual builders, it provides an advanced code editor with helpful tools for writing, managing, and transferring code.

For non-coders, Dreamweaver’s learning curve may be prohibitively steep. But for developers who live in code, it improves productivity. Features like code completion, live previews, and GIT integration streamline workflow. Tie-ins with Photoshop and Illustrator enable smooth collaboration between design and dev teams.

Overall, Dreamweaver remains a robust web coding IDE. However, it offers limited advantages for non-technical users just looking to build simple sites. Stick to easier WYSIWYG options unless you must work directly in code.

Key Features

• Text editor with coding tools
• Live code previews
• FTP client for web publishing
• Tight integration with Adobe CC apps
• Browser compatibility testing

Why You Should Consider

Perfect for web developers and coders who work extensively with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

8. Web.com

Web.com is an easy-to-use small business website provider with built-in marketing tools.

• Key Features: Business site templates, email marketing, social media integration
• Price: Plans from $6 – $25 per month
• Reviews & Ratings: 4.1/5 on Capterra, 3.9/5 on G2
• Pros: Affordable, integrated online marketing capabilities
• Cons: Template customization limitations, lack of transaction fees clarity

Web.com aims to provide an all-in-one website and marketing solution tailored for small business owners, not designers and developers. Using their proprietary Wiz online builder, you can easily create a professional-looking site in under an hour from ready-made templates – no coding needed.

Where Web.com shines is its built-in tools for engaging customers beyond your website. It natively integrates email marketing, social media management, appointment scheduling, SEO, and more. So you can attract and retain visitors without needing multiple services.

Remember that Web.com’s template customization features lag behind other builders. You are largely limited to their existing templates and color schemes. But for the cost, Web.com delivers a solid bundled solution for small business websites, emails, and online marketing.

Key Features

• Drag and drop website builder
• Email marketing integration
• Social media management
• SEO tools
• eCommerce capabilities

Why You Should Consider

The all-in-one option combines a website builder with integrated marketing tools for small businesses at a reasonable price.

9. Sketch

Sketch is a lightweight graphic design and website mockup tool built for Mac.

• Key Features: Vector design tools, infinite canvas, artboards
• Price: Paid license – $99 one time fee or $9.99/month subscription
• Reviews & Ratings: 4.7/5 on Capterra, 4.5/5 on G2
• Pros: Lightweight, intuitive, infinite canvas capability
• Cons: Mac only, no prototyping features, limited integrations

Sketch is a nimble and intuitive graphic design tool purpose-built for Mac. Design logos, website mockups, icons, and more using its vector drawing tools, shape libraries, and type options that outshine Photoshop in ease of use.

Artboards, symbols, and shared libraries turbocharge workflow by removing repetitive steps. Sketch’s implementation of infinite scrolling instead of static pages truly helps you get in the flow during design. Focus on creating instead of navigating pages.

On the flip side, Sketch prioritizes graphic design over interactive prototyping. You will still need to use another tool like InVision if you want to preview and test responsive behavior. And its Mac-only availability shuts out Windows users. But taken as a lightweight UI/UX design tool, Sketch excels in flexibility and performance.

Key Features

• Vector drawing and text tools
• Symbols and shared libraries
• Artboards with infinite canvas
• Lightweight and speedy
• Third party integrations

Why You Should Consider

 Perfect for UX/UI designers who need a nimble graphic design tool tailored for Mac.

FAQs

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about web design software:

Do I need to know coding to design a website?

No, you can easily build great-looking websites without coding knowledge using the intuitive drag-and-drop builders provided by web design software platforms like Wix, Squarespace, etc. Advanced customization does require some HTML/CSS skills, though.

Is website design software secure?

Reputable paid web design tools offer robust security provisions like forced SSL connections, data encryption, permissions management, etc. However, security largely depends on your hosting environment and practices. Self-hosted open-source platforms carry slightly higher inherent risks and require more hands-on security management from your end. But overall, paid web design software is reasonably secure for most use cases.

Conclusion

The best web design software solution for your needs depends on your budget, skill levels, design needs, and website’s purpose. We hope our detailed review of 10 top platforms helps you find the ideal website builder to launch your online presence. Wix, Squarespace, and Weebly are great for beginners starting out. Webflow and WordPress offer more advanced capabilities. While tools like Figma, Sketch, and Dreamweaver cater specifically to professional designers and coders.

Do you have any experience using web design software? We’d love to hear your feedback! Let us know which platform worked best for your website project and why. Your insights can help other small business owners identify the right tool to get their website running.