Skip to main content

Weebly vs WordPress? What’s the difference? Which is better? Which is right for me?

Choosing the right website builder is important, especially when you’re a small business or startup looking to create an elegant website for your brand.

When you’re building a website (especially your first website), you have to consider your time and budget, as well as the quality of design.

Weebly and WordPress both have their pros and cons. Each has its own unique design tools, pricing options, support community and user interface.

In a sentence, however, here is the difference between the two: Weebly is easy, cheap and a solid DIY solution; WordPress is advanced, powerful and right for building websites that create lasting impressions.

EASY TO LEARN, EASY TO USE

Without question, Weebly is easier to use for a novice DIYer or someone building their first website.

For a novice looking to build a website, WordPress is a much more daunting Content Management System (CMS).

 

Weebly

With a WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) drag-and-drop builder, creating a house for your written and visual content is almost as easy as building a house with Legos.

Weebly also comes with a number of elegant templates you can use as models to build your website. Simply choose the theme, add your own text and pictures and your off to the races.

The benefit of Weebly is that it allows you to build organized websites easily, at a low cost, and free from the hassle of worrying about other website related factors like hosting, domain name purchase, and theme updates.

WordPress

WordPress is only a piece of the website puzzle. WordPress is not an out-of-the-box solution; choosing WordPress is like choosing an auto body shop—you have hundreds of customizations and tools to help you build a hot rod, but you have to assemble them (or know someone who does).

Like Weebly, WordPress comes with thousands of free and premium (paid) themes to help template your website. While Weebly has some nice layouts, their is selection is limited. So, if you want a template that fits your industry and sets you apart from your competitors, you need to go with WordPress.

Many WordPress themes also feature drag-and-drop builders to help you add a ‘text’ box or ‘image’ box. And while it may take you just a little longer to learn how it all works, you will have a far greater range of customization at your disposal.

SUPPORT & COMMUNITY

 

Weebly

The support community behind Weebly is growing. In addition to their support team, Weebly also has a growing community working to answer questions related to Weebly.

Pros:

  • Weebly is also an all-in-one solution which means that you can actually contact Weebly itself to help you with any of your website, hosting, domain name or user needs.
  • Weebly is less customizable which means that most of your basic editing and design questions are already answered in their support forum.

Cons:

  • Weebly lacks the support of a huge community. Your basic website questions will be answered, but most other questions are probably not.
  • Not only does it lack answers to broader questions, Weebly lacks the software integration abilities welcome in WordPress.

WordPress

Over 40% of all existing websites are built using WordPress which points to the tremendous size of the WordPress community. If you have a WordPress related problem, you can count on a solution.

WordPress is also known for having one of the most helpful and generous communities. So if you have a unique question, you can ask it and someone will be along shortly to answer it out of the goodness of their heart.

Pros:

  • Largest open-source community in the world, which means you have a huge knowledge base to use.
  • Largest collection of free resources and software (called Plugins)

Cons:

  • Because it is bigger and open-sourced, you won’t have a “WordPress” team member answering all your questions like you do with Weebly.
  • Though much more extensive, the support of WordPress is much less organized that a CMS like Weebly.

COST

 

Weebly

Up Front: Website packages start at $8/mo and move up to $25/mo. The price jump is mainly the result of whether or not you sell things on your website.

Maintenance: After the first year, your price will raise slightly because you have to pay for domain name renewal. Outside of this slight price jump, there are no essential maintenance fees.

WordPress

Up Front: WordPress itself is free. After that, you need three things: a theme, hosting and a domain name.

Themes > $0 – $2,000 (one time)

Hosting > $45 – $250/year

Domain > Free (1 year) – $15/year

Maintenance: Like Weebly there are no essential maintenance costs; however, maintenance is still required. What is required? There are a couple of things you may have to update every couple of weeks or months, specifically: WordPress, theme, and plugins. These elements issue updates regularly to improve website performance and maintain compatibility with all types of software. Nearly all of these updates can be accomplished with the click of a button.

SO…WHICH IS BETTER?

At the end of the day, there is no absolute answer as to whether Weebly or WordPress is better. There is, however, an answer to whether Weebly or WordPress is better for you.

If you are just starting your business or are a younger small business with a tight budget, then Weebly (or some other DIY website builder) is the right choice for you.

If, on the other hand, you are a small business or startup with any financial cushion and the desire to grow, there is no question that WordPress is the way to go.

With powerful software integrations, the largest open-source community, and a greater range of customization, a WordPress-based website will serve as a strong base for your online marketing efforts and allow you to stand out from your competitors.

Leave a Reply

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.