Search for "free website for my business" and you'll find two very different things behind the word free. Most results are free website builders: the tool is free, but you do the work. A smaller group are done-for-you offers, where someone else builds the site.
Both can be the right choice. This guide compares the popular free options honestly, so a café owner in Melbourne, a salon in Manchester or a clinic in Mumbai can pick the one that suits their time, budget and taste.
Rule of thumb: if you enjoy design and want to change things yourself every week, use a builder. If you want a great-looking site without spending your evenings on it, get one built for you.
Plans and limits change often, so check each builder's current pricing page. At the time of writing, this is how they generally compare:
Drag-and-drop editor with lots of templates. The free plan puts your site on a Wix address and shows Wix branding; a custom domain and removing the branding need a paid plan.
Good for: owners who like designing and want lots of freedom.
Free, simple and ad-free, made by Google. Designs are basic and there are few features made for businesses, but it's quick for a simple information page.
Good for: a plain page with hours, contact and a few photos.
Builds neat one-page sites quickly. The free tier uses a Carrd address and includes branding; paid upgrades are cheap.
Good for: a single landing page or link-in-bio site.
A huge ecosystem and strong for blogs. The free plan uses a WordPress.com address and can show ads; most business features need a paid plan.
Good for: businesses that plan to publish a lot of articles.
Built around selling and ordering, and it works well if you already use Square for payments. It's less flexible for design-led sites.
Good for: restaurants and shops that mainly want online orders.
ℹ️ Google used to offer simple free websites through Business Profiles, but retired them in 2024. Squarespace offers a free trial rather than a free plan.
The tool is free; the hours aren't. To get a builder site that actually helps your business, you need to:
That's often a weekend or more, and the result tends to look like the many other businesses that picked the same template. For an owner who would rather be running the business, that's the real price.
With a done-for-you website, someone who designs websites for a living builds it for you. Traditionally that meant an agency or a freelancer, and a bill. GrabNear now does it for free for local businesses.
You can open the live examples on the showcase: a rooftop café whose site flies you into a glass dome, a patisserie whose signature cake pours as you scroll, a book café that opens on a turning book. None of them share a design.
| Free DIY builder | Paid agency | GrabNear free website | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free, with paid upgrades for a domain and no ads | Usually the most expensive option | Free |
| Your time | High | Meetings and feedback rounds | A one-minute request and a look at the preview |
| Design | Shared templates | Custom | Custom, one per business |
| Wording | You write it | Often you supply it | Written for you |
| Builder ads or branding | Often, on free plans | No | No |
| Change things yourself | ✅ Any time | Depends on the setup | Send us changes and we update it |
Send your business name and Google Maps link. We'll design the site and send you a private preview, for free.
Request a free website →Related: Get a free website for your business · Why local businesses need a website · Website showcase