Best website builder for small businesses
Best website builder for small businesses
Best website builder for beginners
Best website builder for beginners
| Strikingly standout features | |
| Mobile-responsive templates | 190+ |
| Online store | Available on all plans |
| Free domain | One free domain for the first year on paid plans |
| Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) | Free SSL certificate from LetsEncrypt.org |
| Multiple websites | All paid plans allow multiple websites (2, 3, or 5) |
| Mobile app | Build, publish, manage from any iOS or Android device with Strikingly app |
| Support | 24/7 support via live chat; priority and phone support for VIP plan subscribers |
What Are the Pros and Cons of Strikingly?
- Huge value for cost: Strikingly has a free plan and reasonable paid plans. There are more affordable website builders out there, but Strikingly packs a lot of features into each plan, and you can even create an online store on the free plan. To top it off, you can have multiple sites on every paid plan.
- No-code site building: Creating a website with Strikingly is so easy. The grid-based templates make it hard to mess up the look of a website. Strikingly makes the most sense if you want to build a website quickly but avoid learning or using code, and it delivers.
- Thoughtfully designed templates: There are 191 free mobile-responsive templates from which you can choose, and they’re designed with different industries in mind. Some of them look similar to each other, but there’s enough variety for everyone, and the simple-but-robust customization tools ensures your site can be as unique as your imagination allows
- 24/7 support: There’s a live chat option or a web forum that’s available 24/7. Strikingly also offers a robust help center with detailed instructions on doing almost anything with the website editor.
What fell flat
- Limited customization: Although you can choose from various layouts, the website builder is rigid. And the logic behind it is solid: you can’t mess up a design, so it’ll look great on PCs and mobile devices, alike.
- SEO is lacking: You can add a site title and description for each page (and each blog post) on your site, but there aren’t many other SEO features available from Strikingly.
- Expensive to remove branding: I could probably make do with the Limited plan for a small business, but to get rid of Strikingly branding, I’d have to upgrade to the Pro plan.
- Widgets are confusing: I was surprised to see any apps integrate with Strikingly because the app store is kind of buried. You have to add a new section, scroll down to Advanced, and then choose Embed an App to even get to the app store. There are 17 apps to add, or you can choose HTML and embed a third-party app’s code.
WhoIsHostingThis.com’s Editorial Review
Strikingly’s claim to fame has to be its ease of use — anyone can make a website quickly with the pre-designed templates, premade sections, and built-in image editor. If you want the most flexibility from a site builder, you may look elsewhere. Strikingly offers a bit of wiggle room for coding and third-party apps, but most of this added functionality requires a Pro-level account, and even then, these do-it-yourself features are somewhat buried.
Strikingly is simple to use for quickly designing a mobile-friendly website, offering various templates to choose from. It is recommended for small to medium online businesses, though it isn’t the most flexible option.
“When you consider Strikingly’s range of pricing plans, capabilities, and well-designed templates, they feel like the “Goldilocks” of website builders, striking that elusive balance of giving a high degree of user control and customizable solutions without the need for a large investment or technical expertise.” -Tony Moles, Web Design Consultant
Well-designed templates and layouts
Strikingly gives all of its free pre-designed templates to all customers, so even free plan subscribers can take advantage of the 190+ mobile-responsive templates.
In addition to templates, there are pre-built layouts and sections, so you can piece together a website in a modular way, much like SITE123.
Template Features:
- Easy to use: All the templates from Strikingly were simple to pop in and start editing. They’re designed for specific industries, so you’ll get most of the sections needed for your service-based business or an e-commerce website. With that said, you can easily add new sections or move those sections on each page.
- Quick website builds: Because Strikingly predicts what you’ll need on each website and page, every template is complete. You just need to add your content and then hit the publish button, creating websites at record speed.
- You can’t mess it up: I’m personally not a huge fan of the rigidity of Strikingly’s site editor, but using pre-built layouts means I can’t break the design or the mobile responsiveness of each site. It’s a great way to bring beginners into the world of website design — or even just business owners who need an online presence and don’t have time to learn how to create a website from scratch.
- Switch any pre-built section, layout, or template: Even if you finish designing your site and hate it, you can change it any time and not lose your content. It’s a huge timesaver to just swap out your site’s design or layout and not have to enter text or images all over again.
Strikingly offers you the option of a single- or multi-page website. The difference is a single-page site scrolls down the page as you click the navigational menu “pages” to show you all the sections (think old-school “anchor links”). The multi-page site option is more traditional with separate pages.
The section menu gives you a variety of popular types, such as:
- Commerce
- Blog
- Call to Action
- Pricing
- Contact & Forms
- Feature List
- Gallery
- Image & Video
- Text
As strict as the editing is within these sections and templates, Strikingly does offer a “make your own section” option, which allows you to add and remove elements you want. You just can’t edit premade sections.
Built-in image editor and gallery
Many website builders include a built-in image editor and gallery, but I particularly like the simplicity of Strikingly’s editor. Just click on “Image & Link” when you hover over an image and then choose “Upload Image.” You’ll have the option to upload your own image or search the free photos available from Unsplash.
After you’ve chosen an image you like, you can edit it as needed. The built-in image editor allows you to:
- Resize
- Crop
- Filter (brightness, saturation, contrast, threshold, and distance)
- Rotate
- Text and draw on images
Additionally, Strikingly saves all iterations of an image you’ve uploaded or chosen and edited. You don’t have to re-upload or find the image again in the gallery — just choose from Uploaded Images.
Multiple websites on plans make Strikingly great for agencies
One of the unique features of Strikingly’s website builder is that it allows you to create and host multiple websites per plan. This makes it a great choice for digital agencies that create websites for clients or for companies that have multiple businesses. And there’s no added cost for extra websites.
Here’s what each plan offers:
- Free plan: Unlimited free websites (all subdomains)
- Limited plan: Two sites
- Pro plan: Three sites
- VIP plan: Five sites
The benefit of choosing Strikingly for multiple websites is obvious savings, but there are still limitations per site. For example, the most popular plan is Pro, which gives you up to three websites per account, but per site, you’re limited to 20GB of storage and 100 pages.
Online store for every subscriber (even free users)
Strikingly’s e-commerce functionality was a lock to make our top five features because it’s one of the few website builders that lets you sell even on a free account. It’s very limiting (and punitive) for the free and lowest-tier plans, but it’s still available when many others won’t allow you to sell without a high-priced e-commerce plan.
If you’re just testing out a product, or you’re a hobbyist who wants to sell one or a handful of products, then the Free or Limited plan could work for you. However, you’re going to pay a pricey transaction fee on top of what PayPal, Stripe, or Square charge. The Pro plan drops the added percentage to 2%, but serious sellers may want to opt for the VIP plan for no added fees.
Limitations and fees aside, Strikingly makes it easy to start a simple online store on your website. I had no problem adding a product, description, an image, and pricing information.
A mobile-first mentality
A lot of website builders offer mobile-responsive templates that automatically resize to look good on mobile devices. Strikingly does that, too. But it goes beyond just making sure your sites appear properly on phones and tablets.
Mobile-responsive templates
Part of the reason why Strikingly works so well for all devices is because of its site builder. You can’t customize as much as with other site builders, but this ensures your sections always look perfect on devices of all sizes.
Mobile app
Strikingly also offers a mobile app for iOS and Android that lets you build, manage, and blog on your sites on the go. It isn’t a perfect solution — it took me multiple clicks to get to some features. But it’s super convenient when you spot a change you need to make on your site and you’re nowhere near your laptop or desktop.
Mobile action buttons
If you subscribe to the Pro or VIP plan, you can make use of mobile action buttons, which are like shortcuts for your mobile viewers. Strikingly lets you add buttons to make it easy for your mobile readers to call you, find directions to your physical location, or email you.
Compare Alternatives
Like almost any website builder, Strikingly offers free web hosting, and for paid plans, a no-cost domain for the first year and a free SSL certificate for security. The main reason to choose Strikingly is for its unique features including mobile action buttons and multiple websites for paid plans as well as its simple-to-use site editor.
With all that said, it still may not be for you. It’s possible that you’d rather go with the classic WordPress.org option with one of the best web hosting providers to make your website from scratch. If you want something in between no-code and all-code solutions, consider some of the alternatives to Strikingly:
| Website builder | Starting price | Basic plan features |
| Strikingly Overall rating | Free |
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| Hostinger Overall rating Read our full Hostinger review. Consider Hostinger for: Innovative free tools to help you build your brand and website. | $2.99 per month |
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| Squarespace Overall rating Read our full Squarespace review. Consider Squarespace for: Modern templates; easy template switching. | $16 per month |
|
| Wix Overall rating Read our full Wix review. Consider Wix if: You need more design template options. Wix offers far more (and better) predesigned templates to get you started. | $16 per month |
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Frequently Asked Questions About Strikingly
Is Strikingly a good website builder?
Is Strikingly really free?
Which is better: Wix or Strikingly?
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How does Strikingly make money?
How We Reviewed Strikingly
At WhoIsHostingThis.com, we know how important it is to test products thoroughly and compare how they measure against the industry leaders. I spent hours familiarizing myself with Strikingly’s dashboard, setup process, website builder, and all of its features. While my definition of “easy to use” may differ from others, I approached this as though I was new to website builders and compared it to my experience with some of the top site builders we’ve also reviewed.
This comprehensive overview of Strikingly can quickly answer whether it’s the right website builder for you. We also drilled down to specific features, so you can have a more detailed look at features or services. I gave more weight to some parameters, including features, security, support, pricing, ease of use, and how Strikingly has improved since our last review.
I test website builders based on the following factors:
- Customization options: Can you change the look and feel of a template or add your own code?
- Ease of use: Is the navigation intuitive with built-in tools, such as an in-app photo editor?
- Value: Can you get a free plan or trial to give the builder a test drive? Are there extensive features on paid plans that justify the cost?
- Security: What does the website builder do to keep your site and your customers’ data safe?
- Templates: Are the templates attractive, updated, and generally high quality? Can you find many to choose from?
- Support: Can you get help when needed, whether it’s from a human or support center articles?
- Recent improvements: Has the builder done anything lately to step up its offerings?
Learn more about our review methodology.
