The Cheat Sheet that shows you exactly which website builder to choose based on your needs with bonus on how to get free custom domain, free email hosting, and more.
Get the FREE cheat sheetBy David Nge • Last Updated: September 06, 2024
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There are numerous free AI website builders in the market but only these 3 allow you to connect your own custom domain for free.
In this article, I'll let you in on which AI website builder you can use to:
I've also shared examples of website and landing page built using these AI website builders.
Let's get started.
Hubspot launched its AI website generator earlier this year as part of its free marketing hub.
It's 100% free, meaning you can build a fully functional website and, more importantly, add your own custom domain at no cost.
The great thing about Hubspot is that you get access to other free tools, like email automation, ad retargeting, live chat, lead management, and more on top of the free website you just built, all of which are part of their Free marketing Hub.
But let's talk about their AI website generator.
I've created a step-by-step tutorial on how to create a complete website using Hubspot AI, but in short, the AI website generator asks you 3 questions and generates a website based on your answers.
1. Describe Your Business: The website AI generator tool will first ask you to describe your business. Based on your answer, the AI website generator will write the copy for your business.
2. Set Your Goal: It will then ask for the goal you're trying to achieve with your website. This prompt influences the type of sections that will be included on your site. For example, the AI will include a lead sign-up form if your goal is to generate leads.
3. Choose Your Style: Next, it will ask for the style you like. After some testing, this prompt primarily influences your site's font and color scheme choices.
I appreciate that it gives you a preview of your site, which they show on the right side of the prompt.
Based on your answers to these 3 questions, the AI website generator will create a website in about 30 seconds.
Click here to see the website yourself
Check out all the free tools included in Hubspot's free marketing plan
1. The AI website generator won’t create a website that exactly matches your vision based on the initial prompts. Even with detailed input, it often defaults to a standard template.
2. The default AI-generated website uses stock images that are not relevant to your business. But they can be easily replaced with your own photos or more relevant ones from Shutterstock.
3. Customization Constraints: Unlike more advanced website builders like Wix or Webflow, HubSpot’s editor has limited customization options.
The platform provides predefined settings, so you won’t have the same level of control over every design element.
I think the HubSpot AI website generator is great for small business owners who need a quick marketing website to promote their business.
It's free, you get your own domain, and it comes with a decent set of free marketing tools, which makes it the best value free plan in my opinion.
However, if you want to set up an eCommerce store that sells products and manages inventory, I suggest looking into a proper eCommerce platform, like Shopify, Branchbob, or WooCommerce.
Overall, it's great that the AI website generator is 100% free.
GetResponse originally started as an email marketing tool but has since evolved into an all-in-one marketing platform that now includes an AI-driven website builder.
With this website builder, you can create either a landing page or a complete website and connect it to a custom domain.
However, you can only build landing pages on GetResponse free plan.
That said, you get to send newsletters to up to 500 email subscribers on top of the free website.
1. Initial Questions: The AI website generator first asks you a couple questions about your business and the type of website you want to build. This is the main prompt that uses GetResponse's AI to write all the copy for your site's pages.
2. Feature Selection: Next, it will ask what features you want to include on your site. You can choose to add a sign-up form, a gallery, a testimonial section, and other elements that fit your needs.
3. Color Palette: The tool then asks you to select a color palette for your site. Currently, there are only four color palettes to choose from, but you have the option to upload your company logo to generate a custom color palette.
4. Company Details: Next, you'll be asked to fill in your company basic information, like the company name, address, and contact number.
5. Design Options: Based on your previous answers, the website generator produces 3 web design options for you to choose from.
Once you’ve made your choice, your website will be generated in about 15 seconds.
Click here and see the landing page yourself
The GetResponse AI Wizard generates a REALY good first draft of a landing page, the design options are sleek, the copy is on point,
I highly recommend using it to quickly generate a landing page to collect leads. The onboarding is smooth, and the AI-generated copy is quite good, saving you time on editing.
However, know that GetResponse is best known for its email marketing tools. If you plan to use email and automation as key parts of your marketing strategy, then building your site with GetResponse makes a lot of sense.
Landingi is a specialized no-code builder known for its lead generation landing pages because of its conversion-focused templates.
Their AI website builder is slightly different from that of Hubspot and GetResponse in that it doesn't use AI to generate the website itself; instead, you choose a pre-existing template, and use the AI assistant generates relevant copy for the page.
You can also use their AI assistant to generate titles and descriptions and remove backgrounds from images.
The AI features operate on a credit system, but don’t worry—they’ll tell you how much credit each action will use.
1. Choose a Template: Start by selecting from one of the 400+ landing page templates available. Each template is visually impressive and conversion-focused, and once you select one, you’ll be directed to the site editor.
2. Use the AI Assistant: In the site editor, click on any text, and the AI-assisted panel will appear. Simply describe your business and select the option to generate text for the entire landing page.
3. Apply Generated Text: The AI assistant will generate copy for each text field on the landing page. You can choose to apply the generated text individually, or apply them all at once.
Landingi is great if you need to create a landing page for lead generation quickly. They have a wide variety of high-quality landing page templates that cater to different industries, and the AI assistant produces surprisingly realistic copy, I'd say it’s a solid recommendation.
That said, if you’re okay with the 500 monthly visit limit on the free plan, Landingi’s AI-assisted builder is a great tool to have at your disposal.
There are several website builders in the market now that offers AI-assisted features — Hubspot, GetResponse, and Landingi, to name a few. These website builders often use AI to generate content, suggest layouts, and optimize the site based on your inputs.
It just happens that these platforms also allow you to connect your own domain at no cost, making them truly free.
Yes. These website builders allow you to add a custom domain on your site on their free plan, no credit card required.
But there are some limitations to keep in mind.
For example:
Additionally, all of these builders will display their branding on your website.
There are no hidden cost for these website builder as of this writing.
Yes, you can get a free domain from Freenom, Github Student developer pack, and Name.com
Here's a step-by-step guide on how to get these domain.
Wix AI website builder is free to use while Squarespace offers free trial.
Unfortunately, both platforms DO NOT allow you to connect a custom domain for free now, both platforms DO NOT allow you to connect a custom domain for free now