Weebly and WordPress are two of the most popular web builders on the market. Weebly’s main selling point is its simplicity. Its drag-and-drop style makes it a perfect web builder for beginners. WordPress.org, on the other hand, offers more web design flexibility.
But which one looks better? Which one is cheaper? And which one is right for you? We’ve put them head to head in our comparison review to help answer all your questions.
Ease of use
Weebly has gained the reputation for being one of the simplest web builders in the industry. And on the surface, its drag-and-drop style is a lot less complicated than WordPress’ plugin format. But is this really the case? Let’s take a closer look.
Weebly

Thanks to Weebly’s simple drag-and-drop format, you can build a website in a matter of minutes. You don’t need any coding skills. All you need to do is pick a theme and you can begin building your website. So, if you are a beginner or need a website made quickly, Weebly is the best on the market.
WordPress
WordPress is not as easy to use as Weebly, but it is still reasonably straightforward. It doesn’t have a drag-and-drop format, but you can install a plugin that can replicate that website building style.
It’s also easy to add blogs to your site. However, it does take more time to set up and you will need to be able to code and understand technical language such as HTML and CSS to get the most out of your website.
Winner: Weebly
It is much easier to use than WordPress. While WordPress’ plugin format is relatively straightforward once you get used to it, Weebly makes sense instantly. Its drag-and-drop format is ideal for beginners and allows you to create a website in no time at all.
Design flexibility
WordPress has a lot more templates and themes than Weebly but Weebly costs less and is easier to use. But which is better overall? Let’s find out.
Weebly
Weebly offers users more than 55 free templates and themes. It is easy to switch between templates too, which is a bonus. You can search for themes by categories and you can customize the templates with a basic code editor. It’s definitely a lot easier to use than the WordPress alternative.

WordPress
WordPress has thousands of free and premium themes and templates on offer. Better still, the entire web builder is open-source, so you can edit anything on your site.

If you can’t find a template that completely suits your needs, you can use its open-source CMS and HTML/CSS editor to write new code to add elements like a button or banner and place it exactly where you want it.
Winner: WordPress
It offers more design flexibility. Weebly is a lot less complex and is better for beginners who can’t code. But, if you want to be able to fully customize your site, WordPress is better.
Design customization
Both web builders have loads of customization tools available, such as widgets and e-commerce features. WordPress gives you more control over what you can add and where, while Weebly makes it easier to customize your site. But which style is right for you?
Weebly
Weebly makes it easy to add images, change text and add tools to enhance your website. Most of the tools are only available if you sign up for a paid plan. However, you are constrained by your theme, so you can’t drop these elements wherever you want.
WordPress

WordPress gives you complete freedom to build each page exactly the way you want it. It isn’t as fast or easy as Weebly and you need to be able to do some basic coding to get the best results. Because it relies on third-party apps, there are more than 54,000 plugins. This gives you many tools to make the website exactly the way you want it.
Winner: WordPress is definitely better for customizing your website.
As long as you have some basic coding skills, you have complete control over your website’s look. Even if you don’t have expert knowledge of coding, the sheer number of plugins makes WordPress the better choice.
SEO
SEO is vital to the success of your website. And both Weebly and WordPress offer a range of solutions to help you optimize your search.
Weebly
Weebly has lots of SEO features, to help boost your website’s search rankings, such as page titles and descriptions. Unlike WordPress, Weebly has built these tools into the site, so you don’t have to use third-party plugins.
You can also add Google Analytics, Google Search Console and custom URLs. However, you don’t get complete control over your headings, as you’re limited to H1 and H2 tags.
WordPress
WordPress’ SEO is almost flawless because of the sheer number of plugins that help maximise your SEO potential.
Our favorite SEO plugin WordPress has to offer is Yoast SEO. Yoast scans for potential SEO issues, helps you craft page titles and even picks keywords that will rank well on Google.
Winner: WordPress
It gives you a lot more functionality, and Yoast is one of the best SEO tools we’ve tested. Weebly is fine for SEO but WordPress’ open-source model gives you far more options.
Other Weebly vs WordPress features compared
Let’s take a look at how Weebly’s features stack up against those offered by WordPress to see which one has more to offer.
Feature | Weebly | WordPress |
---|---|---|
Blogging | Yes | Yes |
Free domain name | Yes | No |
Hosting | Yes | No only via third party site |
SSL | Yes | Yes via plugin |
E-commerce | Yes | Yes |
Email marketing | Yes | Yes via plugin |
Website backup | Yes | Yes via plugin |
Mobile app | Yes | Yes |
Custom HTML | Yes | Yes |
Custom email address | Yes | Yes via plugin |
Widgets and plugins | 350+ | 58,000+ |
Winner: WordPress offers a lot more additional features than Weebly
The blogging feature is better, and its open-source app store gives you a seemingly endless selection of features. Weebly, meanwhile, is very functional and has a decent suite of basic tools. But it’s nowhere near as good as those offered by WordPress.
Pricing and ongoing costs
Both WordPress.org and Weebly are excellent web builders. But which one offers better value for money? Here, we’ll look at the pricing plans and additional costs to help you decide which one is best for your budget.
Weebly
Weebly has a clear pricing structure. There are a four plans available:
- The Free plan comes with a limited selection of themes and a Weebly-branded domain name.
- The Personal plan costs $8.24 a month or $65.94 a year. This plan gives you access to premium themes and the option to add your own custom domain.
- The Professional plan costs $19.23 a month or $148.35 a year. This is an ad-free version with password-protected pages.
- The Performance plan costs $43.96 a month or $461.55 a year. It comes with Weebly’s Pro e-commerce membership features.
WordPress
WordPress.org has a more complex pricing structure than Weebly. It is a content management system (CMS) that is technically free to download and use. But there are lots of additional costs that can make it a very pricey option.
While the software is free, you won’t be able to publish a live site without additional cost.
The following costs are some of the charges that you would need to consider to build a site on WordPress.org:
- Domain name will cost $12 per year
- Hosting costs start at $2.95 per month
- Plugins range from $0 to $999
- Pre-built templates and themes can cost a lot, depending on which one you choose
- Security costs start at $50 and can cost more than $600
- Developer fee if you need to hire help to code your website
So if you use WordPress, it could cost you a minimal amount or it could cost you thousands. For the majority, it’ll cost somewhere in the middle, but it can add up to a lot more than you originally budgeted for.
Winner: Weebly
Weebly has a far simpler pricing structure than WordPress. You don’t need to pay an additional hosting fee, or pay extra for plugins and premium themes. So it’s much easier to budget if you use Weebly.
Customer Support
When you’re building a website, it can be helpful to have access to customer support. Let’s take a look at Weebly and WordPress to see which one offers better support if you run into problems.
Weebly

Weebly has a comprehensive Help section on its website, with an FAQ section, video tutorials and guides. And if you can’t find an easy answer to your query, Pro and Performance customers can access live chat, email support and a dedicated phone line.
WordPress

WordPress doesn’t offer phone, live chat or email support. Instead, you’ll have access to a community forum that will hopefully solve your problem.
Winner: Weebly offers comprehensive customer support, while WordPress lets its community forum answer your questions.
Weebly vs WordPress – Our Verdict
In this head-to-head comparison, WordPress definitely comes out on top in more categories than Weebly. But then, considering that WordPress is supporting 39% of the world’s websites, it’s not really surprising that it comes out higher than Weebly, which only supports 0.5% of sites across the globe.
Weebly’s simple drag-and-drop format is ideal for beginners. Overall, it’s probably the easiest web builder we’ve tested. It also provides access to good customer support and has a clear pricing structure, which is incredibly reassuring if you’re just starting out.
WordPress, on the other hand, is a great option if you have mastered the basics of web building and feel ready for the next step. It gives you the total and unlimited freedom to build your website in exactly the way you want.
The main difference between the two is that Weebly is simpler but has more constraints, while WordPress has no limits. It takes more time to get to grips with, and you need a basic understanding of coding. But if you’re willing to put in the work, the rewards with WordPress are limitless.
FAQs
Weebly is better for beginners. But, if you have coding expertise, WordPress has a lot more features to help you build and customize your dream website.
WordPress offers a lot more SEO features. Weebly will do a good job, but WordPress gives you access to better resources to help your site rank well on Google.
No, WordPress almost always works out to be more expensive. Weebly has a simple pricing structure, so you know how much you’re spending, while WordPress.org has a lot of additional costs.
Yes, you can use the navigation settings on both your Weebly and WordPress accounts to link them together.
The post Weebly vs WordPress – main features compared appeared first on CyberNews.
*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from CyberNews authored by Catherine Hiley. Read the original post at: https://cybernews.com/best-website-builders/weebly-vs-wordpress/