Top 5 no-code AI website builders

Making a website used to suck. Big time. Now? Not so much. You've got words, pics, and a need to herd them into something that doesn't look like a hot mess. With AI website builders, your jumbled ideas can turn into a sleek site in minutes. Sounds cool, but does it work? Kinda. Some tools are smart enough to make it happen, others are still figuring it out.

With our experience, we’ve seen it all. The stone-age method of straight-up HTML, WordPress, flirted with every website builder out there. It's gotten way easier to get a site off the ground. What used to eat up a whole weekend now can be knocked out in an afternoon with the right tools. No-code tools, especially AI-powered, are the way to go. Spoiler alert, while this is not a promotional piece of any sort, we’ll have to give our own precious selves some spotlight. 

Let’s go!

How to pick the best AI website builder?

Again, we're not getting paid to play favorites. No cash for spots in our articles or for clicks to someone's website. What you read is what we really think, because keeping it 100 with you is our top priority.

AI is everywhere in marketing right now, but it's a mess. Everyone's throwing around the term "AI" for tools that couldn't be more different from each other. Some apps made us answer a bunch of questions, thinking that's AI, while others actually tried to craft a site based on a simple request, like whipping up a website for a fictional photographer who's all about those early morning ocean shots. If you could just get a one-size-fits-all template, then it was just riding the AI hype train without a ticket.

We wanted AI website builders that didn't just talk the talk but also walked the walk. 

Here's what matters:

• Your site needs to look good. With all the fancy themes out there, there's zero excuse for a site to scream "I'm stuck in 2005!" Sadly, some AI tools tried hard but ended up creating visual disasters.
• It's got to be easy. Choosing a WordPress theme is a no-brainer. If you’re wrestling with prompts or spending forever tweaking a bland site, that's a hard pass. The tool needs to get you where you want to go without the hassle.
• Customization is key. Some tools think they're slick by recycling a generic theme, where changing your input barely does anything to the site's bones. That's not innovation; it's laziness. Featured apps here need to offer real, customizable sites that don't just feel like an AI slapped them together.
• The experience should be smooth. AI's supposed to make life easier. If you’re fighting with a clunky interface or confusing features, why bother? And yeah, having solid help docs is a must for those "uh-oh" moments.

Here’s what doesn’t matter:

• Just adding AI for content. This roundup's about tools that build websites, not just ones that can auto-generate some text.
• AI for design mockups. Cool, but we're here for the builders that go from concept to live site, not just pretty designs that don't translate to a working webpage.

How much do you actually need an AI website builder?

Website builders are a dime a dozen these days, with enough templates to make your head spin. Honestly, you'll find something that fits your vibe without breaking a sweat.

You shouldn’t be sold on the whole AI hype for building top-notch websites. The idea that you can spit out a decent site from a quick prompt feels more like a gimmick than a game-changer.

No way are most people going to roll out a site without tweaking it to their liking. That's why our advice is to go for an AI website builder that's piggybacking on a tried-and-true traditional platform. You get the novelty of AI with the reliability of classic web design tools.

Best average AI website builder: Wix

Wix is pretty much the Swiss Army knife of website builders. It's got everything: an AI designer that doesn't make you want to pull your hair out and a solid platform that's been around the block.

The AI isn't going to blow your mind with futuristic vibes, but who cares? Wix nails it in the "actually useful" department. It's everywhere—top of the charts for free site builders, blogs, and e-commerce platforms.

Using Wix's AI is easy. Pick the type of site, features, a little about yourself, choose a mood, and bam—it throws up three homepage options and suggests pages to add. Sure, you've got to put your own content in, but the heavy lifting is done. 

Wix might not be the AI heavyweight, but for most, it's the smart pick. It's fast, and then you've got a proper site builder for the finer details. Speed of AI meets Wix's beefy features.

iI you're serious about launching anything—a blog, e-store, booking site—Wix is your go-to. It's practical, and that beats flashy AI tricks any day.

Pricing: Free if you're cool with Wix ads and a Wix domain. Want to go ad-free with your own domain—starts at $16/month for the Combo plan.

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Best free AI website builder: Jimdo

Jimdo is the underdog of website builders that packs a punch. It's got a solid free plan and doesn't hit your wallet hard for the extras.

The AI part is mostly just for kicking things off. Jimdo threw its hat into the AI ring back in 2017 with Jimdo Dolphin, but these days, it's not about the fancy name.

Pick a theme or let Jimdo's AI do its thing. You tell it what your site's for, maybe link your socials or Google Business for some extra flair, and it pitches a style, colors, and page lineup. Give it the thumbs up, and you'll get a couple of starting points. Pick one, and boom, you've got a site foundation.

Then, like Wix, you dive into the editor to bring your site to life with your content and tweaks. Jimdo feels a bit more down-to-earth compared to Wix's AI, but it still gets the job done. Plus, it's easier on the budget with plans starting at $9 a month.

Jimdo is a solid choice for anyone's personal or business site. The AI gets you rolling fast, and the traditional editor lets you fine-tune to your heart's content. Quick setup, full control afterward.

Pricing: Free for basics with Jimdo ads and domain; from $9/month for the Start plan, which gets you your own domain.

Best AI website builder for LPs: Unbounce

Unbounce is the go-to for landing pages that don't mess around. Unbounce's AI can come up with a landing page fast. Considering landing pages are all about getting that one key action from your visitor, it's perfect for AI to handle. Businesses pump out tons of these for testing or targeting different customer groups, thus making AI an ideal match.

Its Smart Builder, still in beta, picks out the best template for your page based on what you're trying to achieve, your industry, and even your color preferences. Plus, it can draft some initial copy for you, thanks to its sibling, the Smart Copy app.

Unbounce also gets the ball rolling with some AI-generated content, but you're in charge of the final touches like headers, images, and links. Luckily, the platform is user-friendly.

Pricing: Kicks off at $99/month for the Launch plan, targeting serious marketers who need serious results.

Best AI website builder for complex projects: Directual

Directual is the go-to toolkit for no-code, AI website building—it has it’s own D-GPT AI web builder, based on OpenAI for development assistance. Tell Directuall what you need in plain text and watch it come to life without touching a line of code.

Building a web app with AI is super easy, see for yourself: 

You can launch slick, mobile-friendly web portals in no time. Thanks to ReactJS, your apps will run fast without making users wait. Another cool feature is the ability to create logos with AI as well—what if you need category logos or even a company logo and you can’t be bothered briefing (and paying) a designer? Get your own, just as good.

But there's more:

Role-based access. Keep things tight by deciding who gets to see what. Directual lets you split your project into public and private zones, tailoring access to user roles.

Free SSL certification. Launch your project with the security of SSL encryption, whether it's on a Directual subdomain or your custom domain.

Unlimited subpages. Your web pages can branch out into as many subpages as you need, letting you create a web of pages with complex structures and links.

Design freedom. Dive into a sea of color schemes and design settings. With Directual, you can set the visual tone of your app, down to the font pairs and button borders.

Customization with HTML/CSS/JS. If you've got the skills, Directuall lets you push the boundaries with custom HTML, making your app truly yours.

Real-time updates. Stay connected with WebSocket API for live data exchanges and instant notifications.

Forms! Create dynamic, beautiful forms that adapt to user input and make data collection easy. And with its AI-powered sorting, managing data is even faster.

Pricing: starts at $29 a month. AI logo generator is unlocked at the Pro tier, which is $99 a month.

Best AI website builder in terms of AI: Framer

Framer's a bit of an odd duck in the world of AI website builders. It's got some flair and does a decent job, but don't expect miracles.

Straight up, most AI builders that promise a website from a prompt in seconds are usually a letdown. Framer, though, actually delivers something usable. You toss it a detailed prompt, like crafting a site for a Machine Learning developer based in Portugal, and it'll churn out something that resembles a website. It even tries its hand at drafting some content.

But don't get too excited. You hit a "Request A Session" button, and... crickets. You've got to manually link it up and polish everything in Framer's editor, which is solid but can feel a bit more complex than Wix or Jimdo.

Framer's AI is more than a neat trick—it's a glimpse into what could be the future of AI in web design. It's not the best or easiest way to build a site right now, even with Framer's own toolkit. But it's a start, and it's free to play around with for hobby projects.

Pricing: Starts at $10/month/site for the Mini plan, which covers two pages and 1,000 monthly visitors.

AI website builders are evolving 

They've been a thing for a while and yeah, they're not bad. After seeing what ChatGPT and DALL-E can pull off, the bar's way higher now. Wix's AI can create a site that works, but it's not dropping any jaws. Framer tried to add some pizzazz, but it's still kind of a hot mess. Directual can do both web and backend (as well as logos), but it’s still far from being the magic button that builds everything on its own. That, unfortunately, is not available to anyone. Yet.

We're going to see a bunch of tools aiming to be the ChatGPT for websites—something that really nails it. Right now, they're nowhere near that, but it's not like it's impossible. So, keep an eye on this space—and at Directual, since we are getting closer and closer.

Afterword

Indeed, who can tell what the future holds? One thing is certain: if the AI website builder is not up to snuff, you’re going to have to spend more time fixing what it did rather than moving forward. Pick the strong tools, they’ll likely remain that way.

Want to ask Directual devs and the community about all this, and if they built something with AI already? Head over to our community channels—the links are in the footer below. Ta-taaa!

FAQ

Is Directual an AI website builder?

Directual lets you make web apps fast with AI, no coding needed. Just tell it what you want, and it does the rest. It's quick, easy, and even lets you create your own logos. Great for anyone who wants to build apps without learning to code.