Best website builders for startups in 2026

For a fast startup launch page with a custom domain and built-in waitlist form, Carrd Pro Standard ($19 / year) is the cheapest option, while Framer ($10 per month with yearly billing) and Webflow ($15 per month) suit growing teams. Heya is $0 on Free, $3 a month on Pro Lite, or $6 a month on Pro Standard with up to 5 sites and 1 custom domain per account, though waitlists require an external form link. Here is how all 6 builders compare.

See the comparison Start with the startups template

Heya is ours, so read its row with that in mind. Every other number comes from each company's own pages, checked on October 28, 2026.

The short answer

Best low-cost waitlist page Carrd Pro Standard costs $19 per year and includes custom domains, up to 10 sites, and native signup forms that connect to Mailchimp, Kit, and EmailOctopus.
Best for design and CMS Framer starts at $10 per month with yearly billing, giving startups a complimentary custom domain, 2 CMS collections, 50 GB bandwidth, and up to 10 editor seats.
Best for scaling content Webflow starts at $15 per month, billed yearly, for a 300-page static site with unlimited form submissions, or $25 per month, billed yearly, with full Webflow CMS.
Best free launch page Heya Free costs $0 for up to 3 sites with 5 pages each and includes 68 templates on yourname.heya.bio, while Heya Pro Standard ($6 a month) includes up to 5 sites and 1 custom domain per account.
Best all-in-one business suite Wix starts at $17 per month (paid yearly) and includes a built-in CRM, unified inbox, email marketing, and over 2000 templates.

Startup website builders compared side by side

This table compares entry pricing, custom domain requirements, forms for waitlists, and code export across all six platforms.

Builder	Free plan	Cheapest paid plan	Custom domain	Built-in forms / waitlist	HTML code export
Heya	$0, up to 3 sites (5 pages/site)	$3/mo (Pro Lite)	Yes, on Pro Standard ($6/mo, 1 per account)	Link a Google Form or Tally form, or embed Calendly	Yes, on Pro Plus ($15/mo)
Framer	$0 (non-commercial, 1 GB bandwidth)	$10/month billed yearly (Basic)	On paid plans (free domain on yearly Basic/Pro)	Not stated	Not stated
Webflow	Free Starter (2 pages, 50 form submissions)	$15/month billed yearly (Basic)	Included from Basic ($15/month billed yearly)	Yes (50 on Free, unlimited on Basic)	Not stated
Carrd	Free Basic experience	$9/year (Pro Lite)	From Pro Standard ($19/year)	From Pro Standard ($19/year)	On Pro Plus ($49/year)
Wix	$0 with Wix domain and branding	$17/month paid yearly (Light)	On Premium plans (1 year free voucher)	Yes, with built-in CRM and inbox	Not stated
Durable	$0 private preview only (not live subdomain)	$22/month (Launch, 15% off yearly)	Included on paid plans	Custom forms on Launch ($22/month); CRM on all	No extensive HTML customization

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

Not stated means the feature is not mentioned in the verified product facts provided for this comparison.

Detailed breakdown of each startup website builder

Heya

Free; Pro Lite $3/mo; Pro Standard $6/mo

Heya is our no-code builder for one-page and small sites. You can draft in your browser without an account, build on a phone, and pick from 68 templates. Heya Free is $0 for up to 3 sites (up to 5 pages each), Pro Lite is $3 a month, and Pro Standard is $6 a month for up to 5 sites (up to 20 pages each), no badge, and 1 custom domain per account.

Better at: 68 templates on every plan, mobile editing, and no-account browser drafting.
Watch out: Custom domains require Pro Standard at $6 a month (1 custom domain per account), and Free sites show a small badge and allow up to 5 pages per site.

Framer

Free (non-commercial); paid from $10/month billed yearly

Framer has a $0 Free plan for non-commercial sites. For commercial startup sites with a custom domain, Basic is $10 per month with yearly billing and includes 2 CMS collections, 1,000 CMS items, and 50 GB bandwidth. Pro costs $30 per month for 150 pages and 10 CMS collections.

Better at: Built-in CMS, up to 10 editor seats, and optional A/B testing add-on.
Watch out: Free plan is for non-commercial use only; add-ons like Convert cost $50 per 500,000 events.

Webflow

Free Starter; paid from $15/month billed yearly

Webflow's free Starter plan gives you a Webflow.io domain, 2 static pages, and 50 form submissions. Basic costs $15 per month, billed yearly, for a custom domain and 300 static pages without a CMS. Premium is $25 per month, billed yearly, and adds Webflow CMS and site search.

Better at: Includes 50 form submissions on Free and unlimited forms on Basic.
Watch out: Full Webflow CMS requires the $25/month (billed yearly) Premium plan; analytics is a $9/month add-on.

Carrd

Free Basic; Pro from $9/year

Carrd has a free Basic plan and a 7-day Pro trial with no credit card required. Pro Lite is $9 / year for 3 unbranded .crd.co sites. Pro Standard ($19 / year) adds 10 sites, custom domains with SSL, and signup forms, while Pro Plus is $49 / year.

Better at: Custom domain and integrated waitlist signup forms for $19/year.
Watch out: Custom domains are not on the $9/year plan, and HTML export requires Pro Plus ($49/year).

Wix

Free; Premium from $17/month (paid yearly)

Wix offers a $0 Free plan with over 2000 templates, AI creation tools, and a Wix domain. The Light plan is $17 per month (paid yearly in full) for a custom domain, no Wix branding, 2 GB storage, and 2 collaborators. Core is $29 per month for basic eCommerce.

Better at: Built-in CRM, unified inbox, scheduling, blog, and eCommerce under one roof.
Watch out: Higher starting cost at $17/month paid yearly in full.

Durable

Free preview; paid from $22/month (15% off yearly)

Durable builds unlimited AI pages and includes a CRM on every plan. The $0 Free plan gives you 300 AI credits and 10 CRM customers, but only as a private preview. Publishing live with a custom domain, forms, and 24/7 booking takes the Launch plan at $22 per month.

Better at: Unlimited AI-generated pages, built-in CRM, and 24/7 calendar booking on paid plans.
Watch out: Free plan is a private preview only; not built specifically for e-commerce.

What an early-stage startup website actually needs

Most pre-launch and seed-stage startups just need a clear headline, a product explanation, social proof, and a way to collect waitlist signups or book demo calls. On Heya, you can build a launch page with 10 block types, including a countdown block, a buttons block with up to 6 buttons, and an embed block for a YouTube or Vimeo demo video. For waitlist signups or user interviews, link a button to a Google Form or Tally form, or embed a Calendly scheduling page.

If you want native waitlist forms on the page, Carrd Pro Standard ($19 / year) connects to Mailchimp, Kit, ActiveCampaign, and EmailOctopus, and Pro Plus ($49 / year) links to Airtable, Zapier, Make, n8n, and Stripe Checkout. Webflow also gives you 50 form submissions on its free Starter plan and unlimited submissions on Basic at $15 per month (billed yearly).

When to pay for a dedicated platform like Framer, Webflow, or Wix

A simple one-page builder works for idea validation, but startups outgrow basic pages when they hire a marketing team, publish frequent content, or run conversion experiments. Framer supports up to 10 editor seats on Basic ($10 per month, billed yearly) and Pro ($30 per month), with 2 to 10 CMS collections, a Pro staging environment, and a Convert add-on ($50 per 500,000 events) for up to 5 A/B tests and funnels. Webflow runs from its $25 per month (billed yearly) Premium plan with Webflow CMS up to Team ($2,500 per month, annual contract) and Enterprise plans, plus Analyze ($9 per month) and Optimize ($299 per month) add-ons.

Selling memberships, courses, events, or physical products right away? Wix offers scheduling, event ticketing, a unified inbox, and eCommerce on Core ($29 per month), Business ($39 per month), and Business Elite ($159 per month), above its entry Light plan ($17 per month). Durable fits service startups wanting unlimited AI-generated pages, a CRM, and 24/7 booking on its $22/m Launch plan.

Free vs paid plans: subdomains, custom domains, and branding

Free plans come with strict rules when you're testing a startup idea. Durable's $0 Free plan is only a private preview, and Framer's $0 Free plan is strictly for non-commercial use. To publish live for free, Webflow's Starter plan gives you 2 static pages on a Webflow.io domain, Wix's $0 Free plan uses a Wix domain with Wix branding, and Heya's $0 Free plan gives you up to 3 sites (up to 5 pages each) at yourname.heya.bio with a small Made with Heya badge.

To drop the branding cheaply, Carrd Pro Lite ($9 / year) removes Carrd branding on .crd.co URLs, while Heya Pro Lite costs $3 a month to remove our badge and allow up to 20 pages per site. For a custom domain, Heya Pro Standard costs $6 a month for up to 5 sites and 1 custom domain per account.

How to launch a fast startup page on Heya

You can start building a launch page on Heya right in your browser without creating an account. Pick a template from our 68 templates, adjust your 5-color palette and 42 fonts, and edit on your computer or phone. You can drop in a countdown block for launch day, embed a YouTube or Vimeo pitch video, embed a Calendly page for user calls, and link a button to your external waitlist form.

Once you set your site name, description, tab icon, and 1200x630 social share image, just sign in with Google to publish, and Heya handles HTTPS, sitemap.xml, and robots.txt automatically. Pro Plus at $15 a month also lets you download your site as a ZIP with an index.html per page, styles, fonts, and images.

Open the startups template in the editor or see what it includes.

How we checked

We compared Framer, Webflow, Carrd, Wix, Durable, and Heya on October 28, 2026 using only verified product documentation on pricing tiers, free plan limits, custom domain availability, and templates. The facts come from carrd.co/docs/pro/plans, carrd.co/pro, durable.com/pricing, framer.com/pricing, webflow.com/pricing, wix.com/plans, wix.com, heya.page/pricing, heya.page/docs.

Plans change often. If a number here is out of date, email hello@heya.page and we'll fix it.

FAQ

What is the cheapest website builder for a startup with a custom domain?

Carrd Pro Standard is the cheapest option with a custom domain at $19 / year for up to 10 sites with SSL support via Let's Encrypt. Heya Pro Standard is next at $6 a month, for up to 5 sites (up to 20 pages per site) and 1 custom domain per account with automatic HTTPS. For larger multi-page sites, Framer Basic costs $10 per month with yearly billing and Webflow Basic is $15 per month, billed yearly.

How do I collect waitlist emails or book demo calls on Heya?

On Heya, link a button in a buttons block (up to 6 buttons) or links block (up to 50 links) to a Google Form or Tally form, or embed a Calendly scheduling page. If you need native forms connected to Mailchimp, Kit, Airtable, or Zapier, look at Carrd Pro Standard ($19 / year) or Pro Plus ($49 / year), or use Webflow for built-in form submissions.

Can I export the HTML code of my startup landing page?

Yes, on Heya, Carrd, and Webflow. Heya Pro Plus ($15 a month) lets you download your site as an HTML ZIP with an index.html per page, styles, fonts, and images. Carrd exports unminified HTML, CSS, JS, and images on its Pro Plus plan at $49 / year, and Webflow paid Workspace plans export a ZIP of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and assets.

Can I use Framer or Durable for free to launch my startup?

Neither is a good fit for a live commercial launch on its free plan. Framer's $0 Free plan is for non-commercial use, and Durable's $0 Free plan only gives you a private preview instead of a public subdomain. For a live free site, use Heya Free ($0 at yourname.heya.bio), Webflow's free Starter plan, Wix Free ($0), or Carrd's free Basic plan.

Which startup website builder is best for A/B testing and analytics?

Framer and Webflow are best since both sell A/B testing add-ons. Framer includes 30-day analytics on Basic ($10 per month, billed yearly), 90-day on Pro ($30 per month), and a Convert add-on ($50 per 500,000 events) for up to 5 A/B tests and funnels. Webflow has Analyze from $9 per month and Optimize from $299 per month for up to 5 concurrent optimizations and A/B testing.

Does Heya have a template for startups?

We have 68 templates (12 designs and 56 templates for specific uses) or you can start from a blank page and customize it in your browser without an account. You can build up to 3 sites with up to 5 pages each for $0 on Heya Free, or pay $3 a month for Pro Lite to get up to 20 pages per site and remove the Made with Heya badge.

Try Heya free

Start building your launch page with one of Heya's 68 templates in your browser right now with no account required, and publish for $0 at yourname.heya.bio.

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