Weebly vs WordPress – Which Is Best for Your Site?

Weebly vs WordPress

Weebly vs WordPress, which platform should I use to build my website? If these questions sound like those on your mind, then you are not alone. Many folks, especially newbies, wonder which website building platform is the best.

Web building platforms enable you to create functional websites even when you know nothing about coding. WordPress and Weebly are just two of the many website building platforms available on the market. They are both great options for beginners and experts alike. Your choice should depend on your budget, goals, technical expertise, and related factors.

So if you are wondering which platform is cheaper, better, and richer, please read on. We’ll begin by explaining each of the platforms and then we’ll go ahead to compare both. At the end of this article, you will know which is best for you or your business.

Content

What is WordPress?

WordPress is an online, open-source website creation platform. It is the most popular Content Management System (CMS) powering about 75 million websites on the internet. It’s a system used for creating any kind of website: from a simple blog to a feature-rich business website. Installation and usage of WordPress is also quite simple. See our article on how to install WordPress in three easy steps.

Note: When we say ‘WordPress’, we are referring to the self hosted version of WordPress (WordPress.org). Learn the differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.

What is Weebly?

Weebly site - Weebly vs WordPress

Weebly is also an online service that lets you create your website through a simple drag and drop editor. It’s a very popular platform packed with features for creating blogs, portfolios, business websites and eCommerce sites. The platform provides every component a website needs to function – the themes, add-ons, web hosting, etc.

Weebly currently has about 12 million registered users. Did you say you have never written a line of code? Don’t worry, that’s not a problem with Weebly. It is pretty easy to use. If you need a Weebly website, simply sign up for a free or paid account on the official website and start building.

Comparing Weebly vs WordPress

We will compare Weebly vs WordPress platforms under five categories: Ease of use, customization, eCommerce, pricing, and SEO.

  • Ease of Use: Which one is easier to use?

In the past, building a fully featured website required an in-depth knowledge of web development. It was a job strictly for the geeks. But in recent times, website building platforms and CMSs have simplified the entire process.

Weebly and WordPress make website development very easy. But let’s find out which one makes the process easier.

Weebly

The first step in building a Weebly website is to visit the official site and sign up. After signing up, you will be prompted to choose which type of website you want – a Weebly eCommerce site or regular one. Secondly, you will select a theme, which determines how your website will look. There are dozens of themes suitable for event websites, blogs, personal websites, portfolios, and business websites.

The moment you pick a theme, you’ll have access to the Weebly editor. You can make changes by dragging and dropping elements on your page as you wish. The Weebly interface also lets you delete and add elements until you are satisfied with what you see.

Generally speaking, Weebly has one of the easiest-to-use editors among other web building platforms.

WordPress

Building a WordPress site requires you to get a domain name and pay for hosting. Secondly, you have to install WordPress on your web host. Some web hosting companies simplify this process by letting you Install WordPress in one click. After installation, you’ll have access to the WordPress admin dashboard.

WordPress site

From here you can install themes, add features using plugins, etc.

You can also add a new blog post or customize your page from the admin dashboard.

Unlike Weebly, WordPress doesn’t use a drag and drop editor (unless you decide to install a plugin for this purpose). It has a steeper learning curve. You may spend more time learning how to add media, change fonts, or add table of contents to your post. But once you get familiar with the WordPress interface, working with it becomes easy.

Quick Note: There are also themes found in WordPress theme directory that offer the drag-and-drop functionality. Just install them and enjoy the feature it offers.

Verdict: WordPress is easy to use but Weebly is much easier. If all you need is a website builder that won’t give you any technical headache, Weebly is the way to go.

  • Weebly vs WordPress Customization: which one is more flexible?

There are more than 1.5 billion websites in the world. Despite how huge that number is, we all want our websites to stand out. This is where customization comes in. Website builders can let you beef up the functionality of your website to your satisfaction. Now, let’s compare Weebly vs WordPress in terms of customization.

WordPress

WordPress is an open source software. This means you can add, remove or modify any element in WordPress. If you have a background in coding, you can make changes to WordPress’s HTML, CSS, and PHP. With this level of access, you can convert a basic WordPress site to a Directory, an online store, online academy etc.

However, this doesn’t mean you can’t get the best out of your WordPress site if you can’t code. On the contrary, you can get the best out of your site with the aid of WordPress plugins. Presently, there are 54,945 plugins on the WordPress plugin directory. This number excludes thousands of plugins designed by third party developers.

For just about every functionality you need on your WordPress site, there is a plugin. Just search for it, install and activate.

Also, there are tons of themes you use to modify the appearance of your blog/website. Truthfully speaking, no drag-and-drop website builder can give you this level of freedom.

Weebly

Unlike WordPress, Weebly is not an open source platform. There is a limit to what you can customize on Weebly. You can’t go beyond what Weebly permits. Virtually everything you need on your website is built into Weebly. You can accept payments, add contact forms, and share posts on social media with Weebly’s built-in features. Also, Weebly has an app center where you can get additional features. It only becomes difficult when you need a feature that isn’t embedded in the platform and isn’t available in Weebly’s app center.

Having said that, if you have a little knowledge of HTML/CSS, you may modify Weebly’s HTML and CSS files only. Also, Weebly cannot boast of a huge library of templates. Currently, there are less than 100 templates offered by Weebly.

Verdict: WordPress wins. You can enjoy a higher degree of flexibility and customization on WordPress than on Weebly.

  • eCommerce: Which one is better for creating Commerce site?

The stats show that 95% of all purchases are expected to be made via eCommerce sites by the end of 2040. Many folks have foreseen this development and brought their businesses online. According to Digital commerce360’s report, the number of eCommerce sites in the world today have risen to somewhere between 12 – 24 million. Considering how important eCommerce sites are, let’s look at which website builder is a better eCommerce platform.

Weebly

With Weebly, you can have a functional online store. Most eCommerce features you need are already embedded in the platform. However, you may not have the freedom to customize it to your taste. Also, Weebly charges 3% transaction fee. This excludes the fee charged by PayPal, Stripe and other payment processors. Nevertheless, you can skip the transaction fee if you upgrade to the business plan at $25 per month.

WordPress

WordPress allows you to build an ecommerce website through the use of an eCommerce plugin. You also have loads of plugins to choose from with WordPress. Some eCommerce plugins include Woocommerce, WP commerce, BigCommerce WordPress plugin, etc. With these plugins, you can customize receipts, send emails, add coupons etc. You don’t need to pay transaction fees on WordPress.

Verdict: WordPress wins.

  • Weebly vs WordPress Pricing: Which one is cheaper?

Before choosing between Weebly or WordPress, it makes sense to find out each of their pricing plans. So, let’s get into it: WordPress pricing vs Weebly’s pricing.

WordPress

On its own, WordPress is free, but you can’t run it without a good hosting account. WordPress hosting companies charge you about $60 a year for an account. You will even incur more expenses when you purchase domain names, premium plugins, and a premium theme.

Weebly

With Weebly, you can sign up for free or paid plans. However, the free plans are limited. To enjoy more features, you should sign up for a paid plan. The paid plans are in three categories; Starter ($8/month), Pro plan ($12/month) and Business ($25/month). The higher the plan, the more features you have access to. However, regardless of the plan you sign up for, you can access Weebly’s drag & drop editor, design templates, hosting services and support team.

Verdict: Weebly wins! WordPress may cost a bit more, considering the fact that you have to pay a web hosting provider and purchase plugins and themes.

  • SEO: Which platform will help my site rank better?

Out of the billions of websites on the internet today, you definitely need your websites to stand out on search engines. We will compare Weebly vs WordPress to know which one is more helpful in search engine optimization.

Weebly

Weebly allows users to edit titles, descriptions and baseline meta tags. You are also free to write image SEO Alt texts and edit URLs. This doesn’t sound like a lot but it may help you achieve higher search engine ranks. Unlike WordPress, you may not use plugins to further enhance your Search Engine ranking.

WordPress

WordPress is a better option for SEO. There are also several SEO plugins you can use to create optimized content. SEO plugins include Yoast SEO, SEM rush, all in one SEO pack etc. The fact remains that WordPress stands out in terms of search engine optimization. Learn more about SEO on our WordPress SEO guide.

Verdict: WordPress wins!

Conclusion

In this guide, we have compared Weebly and WordPress under five categories: Ease of usage, Customization, eCommerce, pricing, and SEO. If you need an affordable and easy-to-use website builder, Weebly is the way to go.

On the other hand, WordPress is a great platform if you want more functionality. Also, it’s great if you don’t mind setting aside some time to learn. WordPress also has a community forum where you can get help.

Now, over to you. Go on to make an informed decision about the platform to use.

If you also have questions relating to Weebly and WordPress, you can ask them in the comments below. We’ll be glad to help.