How to make a website for free in 2026

Decide whether "free" is for testing or for running

Be honest about the purpose before picking a tool. If the goal is to learn, to test an idea, or to put a personal page online, free is the right answer and this guide ends at step 3. If the goal is to get customers, the free plan is a drafting table: build on it, see the result, then connect a real domain before sharing the link anywhere. Building on free and sharing a platform subdomain in ads, business cards and Google Business Profile is the one mistake this guide is trying to prevent.

Route A: use a builder's free plan

Every mainstream builder has a free tier, and they differ mainly in what they hold back. As of October 2026:

• Neweb Free ($0, no card): describe the business, let the AI draft the full site and explore the dashboard, with the site previewable before publishing. Publishing to a real domain with managed WordPress hosting needs Starter (from $9/month billed yearly ($19 month-to-month)).
• Wix Free: publish on username.wixsite.com with Wix ads on the page, about 500 MB storage, no custom domain. Paid plans from about $17 a month.
• Weebly Free: weebly.com subdomain, Square branding, 500 MB; paid from about $10 a month.
• WordPress.com Free: wordpress.com subdomain, WordPress.com ads, 1 GB, no plugins; paid plans start around $4 a month on annual billing for the domain tier.
• Google Sites: free with a Google account, sites.google.com/view/name, no ads, very plain templates, no e-commerce. Fine for an internal page or a club.
• Carrd Free: three one-page sites on carrd.co; Pro from about $19 a year, one of the cheapest custom-domain routes anywhere.

Pick based on the eventual upgrade, because content does not move between builders. If the business will likely pay later, start on the platform it will pay for.

Route B: free static hosting with your own domain

For anyone comfortable with files and a little HTML, or using an AI assistant to write them, GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages and Netlify host static websites free with generous limits, free SSL and support for a custom domain. The only cost is the domain itself, about $10 to $12 a year at an at-cost registrar such as Cloudflare or Porkbun, so a real-domain website for about $1 a month.

The trade-offs: there is no visual editor, no contact-form backend without a third-party service, no blog CMS without a static-site generator, and updates mean editing files and pushing them. It suits developers, designers with a portfolio, and technical founders with a launch page. It does not suit a salon owner who wants to change the price list on a phone.

Route C: a free subdomain on a paid-platform trial

Squarespace (14-day trial), Shopify (3-day trial then $1-a-month promotions that change frequently), Webflow (free Starter plan on a webflow.io subdomain) and similar platforms let you build the whole site free and only charge when you connect a domain or publish. This is the best route for someone who has already decided to pay and wants to see the result first. It is a poor route for staying free, because trials end and the site goes dark.

Know exactly what free takes away

The limits are consistent across platforms, because they are the things that make a site look like a business.

• No custom domain. The URL contains the platform's name, which costs trust and makes word-of-mouth impossible.
• Platform branding or ads. A banner that says "Made with X" or, on some free tiers, third-party ads.
• No business email. Email on your own domain needs a domain; Gmail or Outlook on a free address signals a hobby.
• Storage and bandwidth caps. 500 MB fills quickly with photos; a popular page can be throttled.
• No export. Wix, Squarespace and Weebly content cannot be exported as a working site; leaving means rebuilding. WordPress (including managed WordPress at Neweb) exports fully.
• Limited SEO controls and no structured data on several free tiers, which matters for appearing in Google and AI search.
• Support by forum only.

Upgrade at the right moment, not the wrong one

The right moment to pay is the first time the site will be seen by a stranger who could become a customer: the first ad, the first business card, the first Google Business Profile link. At that point, compare the honest totals. A free builder plan plus a separately bought domain is usually impossible (free tiers do not allow custom domains), so the real comparison is between entry paid plans: Carrd Pro at about $19 a year for a one-pager, WordPress.com's domain tier at about $48 a year, Neweb Starter at $108 a year with the domain, SSL, managed WordPress hosting and AI SEO included, Weebly or GoDaddy at about $120 a year, Wix or Squarespace at about $190 to $210 a year plus the domain after year one.

Do the arithmetic for three years, include the domain renewal, and check whether the platform lets the site be exported. The website cost guide has the full comparison, and the free domain guide explains which plans bundle one.