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WordPress vs Weebly

WordPress scores 7.9/10, Weebly 7.3/10. Where each one wins, what they cost and who should pick which, side by side.

The short answer

WordPress scores 7.9/10 and Weebly scores 7.3/10 on our rubric. WordPress is the stronger all-round pick.

WordPress leads on design, flexibility, and value. Weebly leads on ease of use and support.

WordPress starts at $0/mo and has a free plan; Weebly starts at $13/mo and has a free plan. WordPress is the cheaper way in.

WordPressWeebly
Score7.97.3
From$0$13
Free planYesYes
Sells onlineYesYes
Code exportYesNo
Ease of use5.68.8
Design7.86.8
Flexibility9.85.8
Value9.28.4
Support6.46.6

What WordPress does well

  • Powers a large share of the web, so every problem has been solved by someone already
  • Tens of thousands of themes and plugins
  • You own the site outright and can move it to any host

What Weebly does well

  • Genuinely simple drag and drop
  • Square payments and point of sale built in
  • The free tier is actually usable

Who each one is for

WordPress. Content-heavy sites, anyone who wants to own the stack outright, and projects where a specific plugin solves a problem no hosted builder addresses. If the site will live for years and change often, the ownership pays for itself.

Weebly. A simple business site, particularly one already using Square for payments or in-person sales. The integration is the strongest reason to choose it now.

Pricing side by side

WordPress

WordPress.orgFree softwareyou pay for hosting, a domain and any premium plugins or themes
WordPress.com Personal$4/mo first year, then $5billed yearly, 6 GB, no ads, plugins allowed
WordPress.com Premium$8/mo first year, then $913 GB, all premium themes, payment buttons, video
WordPress.com Business$25/mo first year, then $2850 GB, SSH and Git deploys, real-time backups, priority support
WordPress.com Commerce$45/mo first year, then $50WooCommerce store features on top of Business

Weebly

Free$0Weebly subdomain, Square ads, shopping cart included
Personal$13/mo yearly · $16 monthlyconnect a custom domain, Square ads remain
Professional$15/mo yearly · $20 monthlyremoves Square ads, free domain, password protection, phone support
Performance$32/mo yearly · $36 monthlyPayPal, item reviews, abandoned-cart emails, priority support

What a year costs

WordPress

WordPress.com's headline prices are introductory. On yearly billing, Personal is $4 a month for the first year and renews at $5; Premium goes from $8 to $9, Business from $25 to $28 and Commerce from $45 to $50. Paying monthly is much more expensive, from $9 a month for Personal to $70 for Commerce, and two- and three-year terms are cheaper still. Budget on the renewal figure, not the first-year one.

WordPress.com: a year at the renewal price (billed yearly, before tax)
Personal$60
Premium$108
Business$336
Commerce$600

Plan price after the first year

First-year prices are lower: $48, $96, $300 and $540 respectively.

Weebly

The Free plan and Personal both show Square ads on your site; Personal only adds the ability to connect your own domain. Professional, at $15 a month billed yearly, is where Weebly becomes presentable: no ads, a free domain, unlimited storage, advanced statistics, password protection and phone support, for just $2 a month more than Personal. For almost everyone, skipping straight to Professional is the right call.

A year on each paid Weebly plan (billed yearly)
Personal$156
Professional$180
Performance$384

Plan price

Personal still shows Square ads on your site. Monthly billing costs $16, $20 and $36 a month.

Who should skip each one

WordPress

Someone who wants to be online this afternoon and never think about the site again. Every hosted builder here beats it on time-to-live and on not having to care about updates.

Weebly

Anyone who cares how current the site looks, or who needs a growing feature set. Wix and Squarespace are both clearly ahead on design and momentum.

The bottom line

WordPress

Choose WordPress when you want to own your site outright and expect it to grow into something other builders cannot contain. For most people, WordPress.com's Personal or Premium plan is the sensible way in; developers and content-heavy businesses should look at Business or self-hosting.

Weebly

Weebly makes sense for a small business already using Square that wants an online shop connected to its tills, on the Professional plan.

Questions people ask

Is WordPress better than Weebly?

WordPress scores 7.9/10 and Weebly scores 7.3/10 on our rubric. WordPress is the stronger all-round pick. WordPress leads on design, flexibility, and value. Weebly leads on ease of use and support.

Which is cheaper, WordPress or Weebly?

WordPress starts at $0/mo and has a free plan; Weebly starts at $13/mo and has a free plan. WordPress is the cheaper way in.

Which is easier to use, WordPress or Weebly?

Weebly scores 8.8/10 for ease of use against WordPress at 5.6/10.

Do WordPress and Weebly have a free plan?

Both WordPress and Weebly have a free plan.

Can you sell online with WordPress and Weebly?

Both WordPress and Weebly can take payments and run a store.

Can you move your site off WordPress or Weebly?

WordPress lets you export your code; Weebly does not export a working site.

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