So you have a small business and want to build a crazysexycool website to go with it. You could hire a web designer, but you’re feeling a bit creative, and want to try building the site yourself. You can totally do that – and should, because we live in a golden age; an age in which tons of free website building tools exist.

Many small business owners don’t know anything about HTML (what’s HTML?) or how to use plugins, but there are a variety of developers out there who do, which is how all-in-one website builders came to be. Now you – yes, you! – can build a professional website in a few minutes, give or take.

As I mentioned, there are a ton of website builders out there and, to be honest, they’re not all that different. Most offer multiple templates and drag and drop control. But they do differ in what they’re willing to offer you for free, and how much you have to pay for premium pricing plans.

Below is a very basic website builder comparison guide, so you can get started on deciding which builder gets the privilege of helping you create your fabulous, crazysexycool website. I suggest reading in-depth reviews if you’re waffling back and forth between builders.

Note: while it’s free to build your site with these tools, if you want special features, like your own domain or use of Google Analytics, you typically have to upgrade to a premium plan, which will cost you, as listed below.

Legos

Wix

For many years, Wix has been one of the top free website builders. The site offers drag and drop control, and lots of plugins. There are tons of templates to choose from, and everything is customizable (color, text, images, etc). Also, as a browser-based application, you can sign in from anywhere and alter your site’s code, add images, blog about your day or post new products. However, while the interface works well, it doesn’t have a lot of options for mobile site building.

Premium plan pricing: $5.95-$19.90/month.

IM Creator

IM Creator is another good site builder for those who want to build a pretty site in minutes. Design Shack has a pretty good breakdown of what IM Creator has to offer, but it’s fairly similar to Wix, for the most part. You can maintain and promote your site using the IM Creator tools, and the site provides a variety of templates constantly updated new designs. One con, though, is that there is limited customization.

Premium plan pricing: $7.95/month if you sign up, and pay, for one year.

Squarespace

Time magazine named Squarespace one of its 50 best websites in 2012. What more is there to add? Of particular note is that Squarespace-created sites look good on multiple platforms – PC, tablet and those tiny little things you see people staring at instead of talking to one another: the mobile device.

Premium plan pricing: $10-$30/month-to-month

Weebly

Weebly is one of the most popular website builders around today. It’s intuitive, easy to use, and has a broad range of templates. However, if you have a complex e-commerce site, Weebly isn’t the builder for you, as it just doesn’t have the advanced tools to handle those needs. A review of Weebly’s pros and cons can be found at Website Builder Expert.

Premium plan pricing: $7.95/month.

Buildicus

Oh, did I mention we do website building right here at Buildicus? We do. But I’m not going to hit you over the head with it or anything. Ahem.