You don't need to be a developer to make your own website anymore. With these free website creators, you can build anything from a personal portfolio to a full-scale online portal.
At this point, it's impossible to be a business without a website. Everyone needs one, and thankfully, it's easier than ever to create one. This is all thanks to the growing movement of no-code tools to build apps and sites. You don't need to know HTML or CSS to build a professional-looking website or a personal online portfolio page.
1. Aspect (Web): The Best Free Website Builder and Creator for Beginners
How can Aspect be free? It's a question you'll find vexing you as you use the app and realize there hasn't been a better free website builder. For most people, it's actually as good as professional paid software like Wix.
Aspect is a web-based builder that works in your browser. The first step is to choose a layout from its wide range of templates. Spend some time here and pick one that works for your purposes. It's going to make your job tremendously easier.
The app itself is streamlined and easy. The left column is where you build pages and look at the elements (and their code, only if you desire). The right column contains elements like a navigation bar, container, image, button, text, and dropdown buttons. Check the Components section for more readymade elements like a three-column text section, a pricing table, and headers and footers.
You can edit every element and component to granular details. It's one of the few apps that offer things like how much you want the corners of a button to be rounded. At any point, you can check how your website looks on a desktop, tablet, or phone.
Once you're registered, you can publish your Aspect website by creating a custom Aspect page or on your own domain too. Aspect has simple instructions on how to redirect your current domain to the website you just created.
And the final kicker? You can download the whole website in one click, at no charge. Shockingly, this is a free app. It might just put professional website creators out of business.
2. mmm.page (Web): Simplest Drag-and-Drop Personal Website Creator
If this is your first time building a website, start with mmm.page. It's the easiest, simplest website creator for absolute beginners who need to do nothing more than drag and drop elements.
Sign up for a free account to get your own URL and start building the site. The builder interface has a set of tools on the left, which you can click to add to the page: text, stickers, buttons (for links to social media or other pages), images, YouTube links, and shapes. Each of these is customizable like you were running a basic Paint program.
It's literally a blank canvas, and you can go wild with how you want it to look. You aren't bound by the restrictions of wire frameworks and layouts that other website builders impose on you.
When you increase the size of an element or move it around, mmm.page warns you about the visible area on a phone versus a desktop. It's a nice way to build mobile-friendly web pages without worrying about what fits and doesn't.
You can add multiple pages, build a full-fledged website with sections like About and Categories, or stick to a single-page website. mmm.page is spectacularly simple.
3. HexoPress (Web): Turn Google Docs Into Blog Posts and a Website
For those who are accustomed to writing in Google Docs or Microsoft Word, the complexities of creating a blog can be overwhelming. HexoPress turns Google Docs into a website, wherein you publish posts by simply moving documents to a folder.
Here's how it works. First, create an account on HexoPress and set up information like the website's name, a tagline, an About section, and your author name. This process creates a HexoPress folder in your Google Drive, which means free website hosting on your cloud drive. Any Google Docs file that you copy-paste into that folder becomes a new post on the website when you refresh the HexoPress settings.
It's effortless and retains most of the formatting in the document, including images, videos, header links, tables, and so on. Whenever some formatting looks off, you can easily change it by editing the document within the folder.
The blog posts will be chronologically based on when you pasted a file into the folder. Also, HexoPress doesn't allow you to change how the site looks, so you're going to have to live with the simple theme shown in the picture above. But hey, given how easy the app makes it to publish a blog, that's worth it.
4. Znaplink (Web): Personal Portfolio of Links, With Detailed Analytics
If you have a diverse set of online spaces you're active on, then Znaplink is great for creating a personal online portfolio. You won't be hosting anything on this page itself but instead linking to your other spaces in a beautiful, efficient way. The best part? Znaplink promises it'll always be free, unlike several other such services to make a page of links like Campsite and Linktree.
Register to get your unique Znaplink URL, which can be changed later too. Add a picture, your bio details, and links to your Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and other pages you want to promote.
The app's easy interface puts the portfolio linking system next to a live preview of what the final page will look like on a phone. The base thought is to create folders for any series of links. For example, if you wanted to link to your best articles, create a folder for "Featured Articles" and add multiple links to it. Each folder's links scroll horizontally on the final page, while the main page scrolls vertically.
Znaplink wants to help you understand your readers too, and provides detailed analytics for your page. It also integrates with Google Analytics and Facebook Pixels, and offers basic SEO tweaks. Best of all, it looks modern and classy, making it a perfect place to create an online portfolio for free.
5. 8b (Web): Easy Builder With Range of Templates for Common Websites
8b is yet another no-code tool to build websites and doesn't have hugely different features. But it does the little things right and is a wonderful option for those who want to start with a free website, and maybe upgrade to a paid account.
The free account has all the premium 250+ sections and templates for common websites like a wedding site, a company page, a restaurant portal, etc. It's a super-simple, drag-and-drop website builder that anyone can edit without coding knowledge.
These are all progressive web apps and mobile-friendly, come with an HTTPS SSL certificate, and support Google AMP and Analytics. You also get unlimited storage and bandwidth, which is quite cool for a free site.
What are the restrictions? You'll have to stick to a custom 8b.io subdomain and only make single-page websites. You also will see a few ads on your website. All of these can be removed for $2.42 per month.
Should You Make Your Own Site or Pay a Professional?
All these free apps to make your own website without coding will tempt you to make your own site. They actually are simple enough for self-employed professionals, some types of small businesses, startups and app-makers, and other basic uses for websites. If nothing else, try them out before you look for a professional option.
However, if you're a decently sized business, you might still want to consider hiring a professional. If you expect high traffic on your site, it helps to have a developer handling the server hosting, SEO management, and other technical sides of running a website.