You know what? I’m Kayla, and I actually use these tools. I make small sites for friends, local groups, and a few paid gigs. I like paint-by-numbers stuff that still lets me get fancy when I want. That’s why WYSIWYG builders fit me. WYSIWYG means “What You See Is What You Get.” You drag parts on the page, and it looks the same when you publish. If you want a bird’s-eye view of today’s top drag-and-drop contenders, this roundup of the best WYSIWYG website builders is a handy cheat sheet. Easy, right? Mostly. If you want the blow-by-blow of my earlier experiments, I wrote up how I built real sites with several other WYSIWYG builders in this hands-on recap.
Let me explain how three real projects went for me: one on Wix, one on Squarespace, and one on Webflow. Different needs, different moods, same coffee.
Project 1: Wix for a PTA Bake Sale (fast and cute)
We had a Saturday bake sale at the school. We needed a little site with the menu, pickup times, and a volunteer form. I built it in Wix in an afternoon. My laptop battery was at 20% the whole time. Stress? A little.
- I started with a “Bakery” template. I swapped the hero photo for my iPhone shot of lemon bars. Yellow, bright, cheerful.
- I used Wix’s drag blocks like Lego. Text, gallery, buttons. It felt like moving sticky notes on a desk.
- I added a simple contact form and set it to email the PTA Gmail. No code.
- I added alt text to images (this is for screen readers and Google). Just short, clear lines.
- I changed the theme color to a soft peach (#FDE3D4) and the button to a bright raspberry (#E64B5D). It popped on mobile.
What worked: It was fast. The mobile view auto-adjusted pretty well. I used the built-in SEO basics, typed a title like “Lincoln PTA Bake Sale,” and hit publish.
What bugged me: The layout sometimes jumped when I dragged a section. Also, spacing on mobile needed extra tweaks. I had to nudge paddings, then check again. It’s like smoothing a bedspread—every tug makes a new wrinkle.
Result: We posted it Friday night. On Saturday morning, we got 37 form submissions. We sold out of brownies before noon. The site did its job. For other nonprofit-style projects, I’ve compared a bunch of free options in this guide for organizations on a shoestring.
Project 2: Squarespace for a Photo Portfolio (clean and calm)
My cousin Maya is a portrait photographer. Her old site felt messy. She wanted a calm look, with simple galleries and no fuss. We used Squarespace 7.1.
- I made a homepage with a full-width banner and a short tagline. No clutter.
- I used a “masonry” gallery for her black-and-white set. It looked balanced right away.
- I set simple spacing and a soft off-white background (#FAFAF7). It felt like paper, not a screen.
- We added a Contact page and a Pricing page. Kept it short and friendly.
- I set a password on a client gallery. It took one switch. Nice touch.
Some photographers also send sneak-peek shots to clients through chat apps like Kik because it hides phone numbers and is quick to use. If you’re curious about that workflow—especially how to stay safe and respectful—this plain-English guide to Kik nudes breaks down privacy settings, consent basics, and smart sharing tips so your images don’t end up in the wrong place.
What worked: The design felt steady. Typography looked pro without me fussing. I used built-in blocks, and they snapped into place.
What bugged me: Fine control was limited. I wanted a tiny shift of the caption line-height. Nope. Also, the image compression looked a bit soft on huge screens, so I resized images to a sweet spot: 2500 px wide, around 400–700 KB each.
Result: Maya sent the link to two clients that week. She got one new booking. She texted me a photo of her cat as a thank you. I saved it, of course. And if your niche is more on the motivational side, my breakdown of the best website builders for life coaches digs into which templates convert.
Project 3: Webflow for a Yoga Studio Landing Page (more control, more brain)
A local yoga studio wanted a one-page site with a class list and a sign-up form. They also wanted the schedule to be easy to update. So I used Webflow. I almost reached for WYSIWYG Web Builder 12 Portable, which I used for two other real sites, but the studio needed CMS features, so Webflow won.
- I built sections with the Designer, stacked in the Navigator. Think tidy folders.
- I used classes like “section—hero” and “btn—primary,” so I could change styles once and reuse them.
- I used flexbox for the class cards. Rows that wrap. It felt neat, like shelves.
- I set breakpoints for tablet and mobile, and adjusted font sizes so headers didn’t shout on phones.
- I made a CMS collection for classes: Title, Instructor, Time, and Level. Now they can add a class without touching design.
What worked: Control. So much control. The published page matched the layout I saw. No weird jumps. The CMS made updates easy after I set it up.
What bugged me: The learning curve. If you don’t know basic layout ideas (like spacing and nesting), it can feel like a puzzle with extra pieces. Also, publishing to a custom domain took me a minute with DNS stuff, but the guide was clear enough. By contrast, when I built a quick brochure site on iPage, the built-in domain wizard spared me the record-juggling. I also spent a week tinkering with Voog, and that role-play review shows where simplicity meets quirks.
Result: They ran a spring promo and tracked 22 form sign-ups from the page in week one. They were happy. I was tired, but happy too.
Little things I loved (and noticed)
- Wix: Great for quick wins. The ADI setup asked me a few questions, and bam, a starter layout. I still edited a lot, but it saved time.
- Squarespace: Typography feels classy. Good for portfolios, weddings, restaurants, anyone who loves clean lines.
- Webflow: Pixel-precise. If you’re picky (I am sometimes), it’s a joy.
If speed is your obsession, I tried Octane Builder recently and documented the whole three-site sprint; it’s snappy but rough around the edges.
Little things that bugged me
- Wix: Drag-and-drop can feel jumpy. Padding, margins, and grid don’t always behave. I had to re-check mobile a lot.
- Squarespace: Fewer knobs to turn. If you want tiny tweaks, you’ll hit walls unless you add code.
- Webflow: Setup time. You build the system first—classes, styles, CMS—then it speeds up. Worth it, but not “five-minute site.”
If you want to compare even more builders side-by-side, check out this comprehensive ranking of the best website builders that I often reference before starting a new project.
So, which one should you use?
- Need a site by tonight for a bake sale, pop-up, or school event? Wix.
- Want a calm, pretty portfolio or a simple small business site? Squarespace.
- Want full control and plan to update content often? Webflow.
If your project leans toward something a bit more adult-oriented—say you’re in Chillicothe and want a discreet personals board instead of relying on crowded classifieds—whipping up your own landing page can give you total control over privacy and content. I recently helped a friend launch a one-pager that serves as an alternative to SkipTheGames Chillicothe and it lets them refresh photos, availability, and screening rules on the fly without waiting for a third-party site to approve changes.
Still weighing the pros and cons for a side-hustle or brick-and-mortar shop? Zapier’s no-fluff guide to the best website builders for small business maps out features, pricing, and ease of use in one chart.
For property owners