The 12 Best Website Design Software Options for 2025

Selecting the right tools is the first, and arguably most crucial, step in creating a compelling online presence. The challenge isn't a lack of options, but rather navigating a crowded market to find the best website design software for your specific project. Whether you're a freelancer building a portfolio, a small business owner launching an e-commerce store, or a marketing professional needing to spin up landing pages quickly, the platform you choose fundamentally shapes your capabilities, workflow, and final product.

This guide is designed to cut through the noise. We provide a detailed, practical analysis of the top-tier software available today, from visual-first platforms like Figma and Webflow to all-in-one solutions such as Wix and Squarespace. Each review is structured for clarity, focusing on real-world use cases, honest limitations, and key features that truly matter. We've included screenshots for visual reference and direct links to help you explore each option further.

Our goal is to equip you with the insights needed to make a confident, informed decision without sifting through marketing jargon. We'll examine everything from pure design tools to complete website builders with integrated hosting, ensuring you find the perfect fit for your technical skill level, budget, and creative ambitions. Let's dive in and find the software that will bring your vision to life.

1. Wix: The Ultimate All-Rounder for UK Small Businesses

Wix has earned its top spot by offering a powerful yet user-friendly platform, making it some of the best website design software available for those without technical coding skills. Its drag-and-drop editor provides complete creative freedom, allowing you to place elements exactly where you want them on the page. This granular control is a significant advantage over more restrictive, template-based builders. For UK businesses, Wix offers integrated solutions like Wix Payments, which simplifies taking payments in GBP without needing a third-party gateway.

The platform's standout feature is its dual-editor system. You can start with the Wix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) to get a professional site running in minutes by answering a few questions, or dive straight into the Wix Editor for full customisation. This flexibility caters to both absolute beginners and more design-savvy users. While the platform's flexibility can sometimes feel overwhelming, its extensive help centre and UK-based customer support provide robust assistance.

Wix offers a free plan to get started, though it includes Wix branding. Paid plans are competitive, starting from around £9 per month for a personal site and scaling up for business and e-commerce needs.

Visit Wix: https://www.wix.com

2. Webflow: The Professional's Choice for No-Code Design

Webflow bridges the gap between simple website builders and complex hand-coding, establishing itself as some of the best website design software for designers, freelancers, and agencies who demand total creative control. Its visual canvas directly manipulates HTML and CSS without requiring you to write a single line of code, offering a level of precision that is unparalleled in the no-code space. This allows for the creation of sophisticated, custom animations, interactions, and completely responsive layouts. For UK-based professionals, its robust global CDN ensures fast loading times for a local and international audience.

The platform’s standout feature is its powerful integrated CMS (Content Management System), which allows clients to easily update content on a live site without touching the design. This makes it a fantastic tool for building client websites. While Webflow offers more power than template-based builders, this comes with a steeper learning curve, especially for absolute beginners. However, its comprehensive Webflow University provides some of the best free tutorials available. The plan structure, split between Site plans and Workspaces, can also be initially confusing for new users.

Webflow offers a free plan to build and learn, with paid plans starting at around £14 per month (billed annually) for a basic site, scaling up for CMS, e-commerce, and team collaboration needs.

Visit Webflow: https://webflow.com/

3. Wix (including Wix Studio)

Wix has cemented its reputation by offering a uniquely flexible and feature-rich platform, positioning it as some of the best website design software for users who prioritise creative control. Its renowned drag-and-drop editor allows for pixel-perfect placement of elements, a level of freedom not always found in stricter, grid-based builders. For UK businesses, integrated tools like Wix Bookings and robust e-commerce features provide a comprehensive solution for service providers and online retailers.

The platform’s key strength lies in its scalability. Beginners can use the ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) to generate a site quickly, while the addition of Wix Studio provides a sophisticated environment for agencies and freelancers who need advanced design capabilities and client management tools. While you cannot switch templates once your site is live, the vast App Market allows for extensive customisation. Understanding the secrets of savvy website design can help you maximise the platform's potential from the start.

Wix offers a free, ad-supported plan for testing its features. Paid plans are competitively priced, starting from around £9 per month for a basic ad-free site and increasing for business and e-commerce functionalities.

Visit Wix: https://www.wix.com/

4. Squarespace: The Go-To for Design-Conscious Brands

Squarespace has carved out a niche as the best website design software for creatives, portfolios, and businesses where aesthetics are paramount. It is celebrated for its award-winning, mobile-responsive templates that provide a polished and professional look straight out of the box. Unlike more free-form builders, Squarespace uses a structured, section-based editor. This approach streamlines the design process, ensuring a high-quality, cohesive layout without needing a designer's eye, which is perfect for UK small businesses wanting to look premium.

The platform is a true all-in-one solution, bundling powerful built-in features for e-commerce, appointment scheduling, and email marketing directly into its plans. This integration means you avoid the hassle and cost of third-party plugins for core functionality. Its focus on strong visual storytelling makes it an excellent choice for photographers, artists, and boutique online shops. While it offers less creative freedom than Wix and is less extensible than WordPress, its simplicity and consistently high design quality are its greatest strengths.

Squarespace does not offer a free plan, only a 14-day free trial. Paid plans begin at £12 per month, with all plans including a free custom domain for the first year, unlimited bandwidth, and an SSL certificate for security.

Visit Squarespace: https://www.squarespace.com/

5. WordPress.com: The Content Creator's Powerhouse

WordPress.com offers a streamlined, hosted version of the world's most popular content management system, making it some of the best website design software for content-heavy sites. It removes the technical burden of self-hosting while providing the powerful blogging and site management tools WordPress is famous for. For UK businesses, it provides managed security, automatic backups, and local billing, creating a secure and convenient environment to build a digital presence.

The platform's key strength lies in its scalability. You can start with a simple blog and grow into a full-featured business site or even a powerful e-commerce store with WooCommerce on higher-tier plans. While access to the vast ecosystem of plugins and custom code is restricted to the Business plan and above, this curated approach simplifies the experience for beginners. For those who eventually need more power, understanding the platform's capabilities is crucial, much like learning how to choose a web design agency for larger projects.

WordPress.com has a free plan with basic features and branding. Paid plans offering custom domains and enhanced support start from just £3 per month, with Business and Commerce plans providing the plugin and e-commerce functionality that makes WordPress so versatile.

Visit WordPress.com: https://wordpress.com/

6. Framer: The Designer's Choice for High-Performance Sites

Framer is rapidly gaining traction as some of the best website design software for designers who crave a familiar, visual-first workflow. It feels more like a modern design tool (think Figma or Sketch) than a traditional website builder, offering pixel-perfect control, reusable components, and sophisticated animation capabilities. This makes it an exceptional choice for creating high-fidelity marketing websites and interactive landing pages that need to load incredibly fast, thanks to its built-in performance optimisations and global CDN.

The platform bridges the gap between design and development, allowing designers to publish directly without a complex handoff process. It includes a built-in CMS for dynamic content and powerful add-ons for localisation and A/B testing, making it a robust solution for data-driven marketing teams. While its ecosystem is still growing compared to giants like WordPress, its focus on performance and design fidelity is a significant advantage. For businesses using other platforms like Shopify, it's crucial to optimise every part of the customer journey. For those platforms, you can explore more with The Ultimate Guide to Cart Abandonment on Shopify to transform lost sales into revenue.

Framer offers a free plan for hobby projects. Paid plans start from £4 per month (billed annually) for a mini-site, with standard site plans beginning at £12 per month, making it accessible for freelancers and small businesses.

Visit Framer: https://www.framer.com/

7. Shopify (UK): The Unrivalled E-commerce Powerhouse

Shopify is less a website designer and more a complete commerce platform that happens to include excellent storefront design tools. It has cemented its place as the go-to solution for businesses in the UK looking to sell online, offering an integrated ecosystem that covers everything from product listings and inventory management to secure payments. Its drag-and-drop theme editor allows for significant customisation, but its real power lies in the vast App Store, which provides thousands of extensions to add virtually any functionality you can imagine.

The platform’s standout feature for UK merchants is Shopify Payments, which simplifies accepting all major cards in GBP at competitive rates without needing a separate payment gateway. While it's arguably the best website design software for retail, its blogging and content features are less flexible than a dedicated CMS like WordPress. The core platform is robust and scalable, but be mindful that the monthly costs for essential apps can add up quickly, making it a more significant investment.

Shopify offers a free trial to build your store. Paid plans start from £19 per month (billed annually), with more advanced features for growing and established businesses on higher-tier plans.

Visit Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/uk/pricing

8. Elementor: The Visual Builder Powering WordPress

Elementor bridges the gap between the raw power of self-hosted WordPress and the ease of a visual drag-and-drop editor, making it some of the best website design software for those who want ultimate control without writing code. It operates as a plugin, transforming the standard WordPress interface into a live, front-end design canvas. This approach allows you to build sophisticated layouts and see your changes in real-time, a significant advantage over the traditional WordPress backend editor.

The platform’s strength lies in its vast ecosystem. With the Pro version, you gain access to a powerful Theme Builder, advanced form widgets, and seamless WooCommerce integration, perfect for UK-based online stores. For those wanting an all-in-one solution, Elementor now offers its own hosting, bundling the plugin with optimised infrastructure. While performance is heavily dependent on your hosting and theme choices, the huge community and countless third-party add-ons provide endless customisation possibilities.

Elementor has a free version with core features, but the Pro plans, which unlock its full potential, start from around £49 per year for a single website licence.

Visit Elementor: https://elementor.com/

9. Adobe Creative Cloud (incl. Dreamweaver)

For creative professionals who need an integrated ecosystem for asset creation and web development, Adobe Creative Cloud remains an industry staple. While Dreamweaver provides a powerful, code-centric editor for building sites from the ground up, the suite's true strength lies in its collection of 20+ apps. You can design stunning graphics in Photoshop, create scalable vector icons in Illustrator, and then bring them all together in Dreamweaver, making it a comprehensive toolkit for bespoke projects. The inclusion of Adobe Fonts and cloud storage streamlines the entire workflow.

This suite is less a website builder and more a professional creative powerhouse that includes some of the best website design software for designers who code. The learning curve is steep, and Dreamweaver itself feels less modern than dedicated builders, but the creative potential is unmatched. Recent additions like the generative AI tool, Adobe Firefly, further enhance asset creation capabilities. While the subscription cost is high, the deep integration and professional-grade tools offer immense value for agencies and design-led businesses that demand full creative control over every pixel.

Adobe Creative Cloud subscriptions vary, with the full suite of apps for individuals starting at £56.98 per month. Plans are also available for students, teams, and enterprises.

Visit Adobe Creative Cloud: https://www.adobe.com/uk/creativecloud.html

10. Sketch (macOS): The Designer's Choice for Native App Performance

Sketch has long been a stalwart in the design community, cementing its place as some of the best website design software for professionals who prefer a native macOS application. Its lightweight, vector-based interface is incredibly responsive, providing a focused, desktop-first workflow that many designers find faster than browser-based alternatives. The platform excels at creating high-fidelity user interfaces, complete with powerful prototyping tools and shared libraries to ensure brand consistency across large projects.

While the editor is Mac-only, Sketch has evolved to include a robust web platform for real-time collaboration, developer handoff, and feedback. A standout feature is the ability to invite unlimited "Viewers" for free, allowing stakeholders to inspect designs and provide comments without needing a paid licence. This hybrid approach offers the speed of a native app with the collaborative benefits of the cloud, although full team features are tied to a subscription.

Sketch offers a flexible licensing model. You can purchase a perpetual licence for the Mac app with one year of updates, or subscribe for around £10 per user/month to get continuous updates and full access to the collaborative web workspace.

Visit Sketch: https://www.sketch.com/

11. Pinegrow: The Professional’s Visual Editor for Code

Pinegrow carves a unique niche as one of the best website design software options for professionals who want visual control without sacrificing code quality. It's a desktop application (for Mac, Windows, and Linux) that acts as a powerful visual editor for popular frameworks like Bootstrap and Tailwind CSS, as well as for building custom WordPress themes. Unlike purely online builders, Pinegrow generates clean, production-ready code that you can host anywhere, giving you complete ownership and control.

The platform’s standout feature is its hybrid visual-and-code workflow. You can visually manipulate components and see live changes, while simultaneously editing the HTML and CSS in a split-screen view. This makes it ideal for designers who are comfortable with code and developers who want to speed up their workflow. While there is a steeper learning curve than with template-based services, Pinegrow empowers users to build truly custom, high-performance websites without platform lock-in.

Pinegrow is offered through one-time payments for perpetual licenses or annual subscriptions. Add-ons for features like WordPress theme building and interactive animations are available as separate purchases, allowing you to tailor the tool to your specific needs.

Visit Pinegrow: https://pinegrow.com/

12. Bootstrap Studio: Professional Static Site Generation

Bootstrap Studio takes a different approach, positioning itself as a powerful desktop application for crafting responsive websites using the popular Bootstrap framework. It's some of the best website design software for developers and technically-minded designers who want to build clean, fast-loading static sites. The interface combines a drag-and-drop builder with a powerful code editor, offering a streamlined workflow for creating anything from landing pages to complex multi-page brochure sites.

The standout feature is its one-time purchase model. Unlike subscription-based services, you buy a lifetime license, making it a cost-effective choice for freelancers and agencies delivering static projects to clients. You get clean, exportable HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files that can be hosted on any server without platform lock-in. While it lacks the dynamic content management of a traditional CMS, its focus on the Bootstrap framework ensures mobile-first design and exceptional performance.

Bootstrap Studio is available as a one-off purchase, with the Standard licence priced at around £50, which includes one year of free updates.

Visit Bootstrap Studio: https://bootstrapstudio.io/

Top 12 Website Design Software Comparison

Bringing Your Vision to Life: From Software to a Stunning Website

Navigating the expansive landscape of website design software can feel overwhelming, but as we've explored, the perfect tool is rarely a one-size-fits-all solution. The key to success lies not in finding a single "best" platform, but in identifying the software that aligns perfectly with your specific project goals, technical skills, and long-term ambitions. Your choice will fundamentally shape your creative process and the final digital experience you deliver.

This guide has showcased a diverse array of options, from the collaborative design powerhouse of Figma to the no-code development magic of Webflow and Framer. We've seen how platforms like Wix and Squarespace offer streamlined, user-friendly experiences ideal for small businesses and personal portfolios, while the unparalleled flexibility of WordPress combined with Elementor remains a dominant force for customisation. For e-commerce ventures, the dedicated, robust infrastructure of Shopify provides a clear path to online sales success.

Key Takeaways for Making Your Decision

The journey from concept to a live website is a significant undertaking. To ensure you make the right choice from the start, reflect on these core principles before committing to a platform:

• Skill Level vs. Ambition: Be realistic about your current technical abilities. If you're a beginner, a drag-and-drop builder like Wix or Squarespace offers a gentle learning curve. If you have design experience but want to avoid traditional coding, Webflow or Framer provides a powerful middle ground.

• Scalability is Crucial: Consider where your project will be in one, three, or five years. A simple portfolio site today might need to evolve into a full-fledged e-commerce store tomorrow. Platforms like WordPress and Webflow are built with this kind of growth in mind.

• Design Freedom vs. Ease of Use: The more creative control you have, the steeper the learning curve. Tools like Figma and Sketch offer near-limitless design possibilities but require a dedicated design phase before development. Template-based systems are faster but more creatively restrictive.

• Budget Beyond the Subscription: Remember to factor in all potential costs, including hosting, domain names, premium plugins or apps, and transaction fees for e-commerce. A low monthly fee might hide more significant long-term expenses.

Your Actionable Next Steps

With this knowledge, you're now equipped to move forward. Start by shortlisting two or three tools from our list that seem like the best fit. Most platforms offer a free trial or a limited free plan, which is the perfect, risk-free way to test their interface and workflow. See which one feels most intuitive and best supports your creative vision.

As you build your site and establish your brand's digital presence, remember that a professional image extends beyond your website's design. Creating a cohesive identity often involves other crucial elements. To that end, once your site is ready, it's a great idea to learn how to set up your own custom email domain to reinforce your brand's credibility with every message you send.

Ultimately, the best website design software is the one that empowers you to transform your ideas into a functional, beautiful, and effective online presence. Choose wisely, invest time in learning your chosen tool, and you'll be well on your way to creating a website that not only looks stunning but also achieves your goals.

Feeling overwhelmed or need expert guidance to bring your vision to life without the learning curve? The team at Baslon Digital specialises in using industry-leading tools to create bespoke, high-performance websites for businesses. Partner with us to ensure your website is not just built, but professionally crafted for success. Contact us today for a free consultation and let's discuss how we can elevate your online presence.