Site123 is well known as a beginner-friendly website builder, with a number of readymade templates to use out the box, and for good reason. It enables rapid site creation, but also offers a range of e-commerce and other tools. Those wanting more advanced features may do better elsewhere, but if you want something fast and of decent quality, Site123 is excellent for those with minimal site creation experience.
For
Beginner-friendly site creation platform
Decent free forever plan
Excellent long-term subscription discounts
Against
Minimum three-month subscription
Very limited design flexibility and customisability
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All website builders are different, and our Site123 review takes a closer look at a beginner-friendly platform that’s designed for those with minimal skills who want to get online with a minimum amount of fuss. With the best website builders, creatives of all descriptions can display portfolios, market their work, and create personal websites to expand their client bases, and by analysing its prices, main features, customer service, and more, we deliver the information you need to make a smart decision.
Site123 review: plans and pricing
If you navigate to the Site123 pricing page, you will find one free forever plan and one Premium plan. However, this is very misleading, as Site123 actually offers five paid subscription options—but you can’t view these until you’ve created an account and begun your first website.
Subscription terms range from three to 120 months (10 years), with significant discounts available with long-term plans. Prices range from $19 to $47 per month with an initial three-month plan, decreasing to $5 to $13.50 per month if you pay 120 months in advance. Introductory discounts of up to 50% are available with some plans and terms.
This places Site123 as one of the more expensive website builders for short-term subscriptions but as a competitive choice for its long-term plans.
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Site 123 pricing plans:
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Free
Basic
Advanced
Professional
Gold
Platinum
Price per month (three-month term)
Free
$19
$28
$39
$47
$97.50
Price per month (12-month term)
Free
$12.80
$19.80
$28.80
$34.80
$75
Price per month (120-month term)
Free
$5
$8
$9.50
$13.50
$23.73
Free domain
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Storage
250MB
10GB
30GB
90GB
270GB
1000GB
Bandwidth
250MB
5GB
15GB
45GB
135GB
1000GB
E-commerce
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Site123 review: features
Site123 is far from the most advanced website builder we’ve used, but it still comes with a neat set of features. For example, all plans enable you to sell online, there’s a great plugin library that you can use to add functionality to your site, and there’s a load of excellent templates that you can get started with. We’ve expanded on a few of the main features below.
Plugin library
Site123 offers a range of one-click integrations and other extensions through its plugin library (Image credit: Site123)
One thing that stood out during our testing was Site123’s large plugin library. Here, you will find a wide range of extensions that you can use to add functionality to your website, including a selection of analytics, live chat, marketing, and webmaster tools.
For example, a quick look at the marketing plugins reveals one-click integrations with Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, Twitter Conversion Tracking, and others. There are also various integrations with third-party marketing platforms such as Hotjar, Zendesk, Drift, and Sumo.
One thing worth noting here is that you will need to upgrade to a premium plan before you can access the Site123 plugin library.
E-commerce tools
Site123 includes beginner-friendly e-commerce tools (Image credit: Site123)
Site123’s e-commerce tools certainly don’t compare to those of industry giants like Shopify or WooCommerce, but they aren’t bad for a basic website builder. You can create a simple online store to add to your website or as a stand-alone platform. The management dashboard is tidy and easy to navigate, and there are loads of tools to help you boost your success.
For example, the order management page enables you to view and categorise orders with the click of a button. You can filter by status, ensuring you don’t forget to fulfil orders at any time. Other noteworthy tools include the ability to create discount coupons, a decent stats tab, and the ability to accept and publish customer reviews.
Integrated email marketing
Site123 comes with built-in email marketing tools (Image credit: Site123)
Last, but not least, Site123 boasts integrated email marketing tools. You can collect subscribers through your website by adding a popup or sign-up field, or you can import an existing mailing list via a CSV file upload.
New email messages can be compiled directly within the Site123 dashboard. The customisation options are surprisingly good here. You can personalise your text, add calls to action such as buttons or clickable images, and include a variety of media types.
There’s even a separate section that provides insights into the success of your email marketing campaigns.
Site123 review: interface
Site123 uses a section-based editing interface (Image credit: Site123)
Getting started with Site123 is a very straightforward process. You can create an account with your email address and a password, or you can simply log in by linking your Facebook or Google account.
The website builder itself uses a section-based builder that comes with a load of pre-configured layout options. This makes it very easy to achieve an attractive design, but it does limit your design flexibility and customisation options.
Overall, Site123 presents as a beginner-friendly builder that’s quite easy to use, but it lacks editing power.
Site123 review: Support
Site123 offers 24/7 live chat support, but phone and email contact options are notably absent. The company aims to reply to all queries within five minutes. We tested this and were connected with a friendly agent just within the five-minute threshold. They were a little slow at replying at times during our conversation, but they were able to answer any questions we had in a clear, friendly manner.
There’s also a fully searchable support center containing numerous self-help resources. Here, you will find tutorials, short how-to articles and guides, and a wealth of other information to help you along on your website-building journey.
Site123: too simple or simply good?
All things considered, Site123’s simplicity and beginner-friendly nature are its main drawcards. It enables those with minimal technical know-how or time to dedicate to their project to create their own website with next to no fuss.
What’s more, Site123 is backed by a selection of neat features, including streamlined e-commerce tools that enable you to sell online. Its customer service is okay without being great, and the user interface is very intuitive and easy to navigate.
If you’re looking for a beginner-friendly website builder and can overlook Site123’s somewhat high prices, we’d suggest creating an account and giving it a go.
Site123 is well known as a beginner-friendly website builder, with a number of readymade templates to use out the box, and for good reason. It enables rapid site creation, but also offers a range of e-commerce and other tools. Those wanting more advanced features may do better elsewhere, but if you want something fast and of decent quality, Site123 is excellent for those with minimal site creation experience.
Daniel is a freelance copywriter with over six years' experience writing for publications such as TechRadar, Tom’s Guide, and Hosting Review. He specialises in tech and finance, with a particular focus on website building, web hosting and related fields. For Creative Bloq, he mainly reviews software, including website builders, cloud hosting and web hosting services.
