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Whether you’ve recently launched a new venture or simply want to start accepting online bookings (and upgrade your online presence in the process), now is the perfect time to look at the best website builder for your service business. There are plenty of options, they’re affordable, and, in my humble opinion, a no-brainer if you don’t want to deal with the nitty-gritty of website development.
After all, your time is probably best spent helping people book your services, training staff, or concentrating on improving your own practice. So without further ado, let’s break down exactly how to get started with your service business website.
Summary: What is The Best Website Builder for Service Businesses?
What Features Should a Service Business Website Have?
The most obvious features of a service business include a contact page and basic information. Pictures and text, basically. Every single website builder will offer that.
But then, you will probably also need to consider the following:
- Booking system: A booking, or scheduling system, is perhaps the most crucial feature to integrate. In this roundup, I’ve paid particular attention to the website builders that offer built-in solutions, but also those that let you integrate, say, a Google Calendar option.
- Team management: If you need multiple people to access and manage the website, pay close attention to the team management features. You want to avoid simply sharing the login details, and ideally, you will have the option to set different levels of permissions for your employees.
- Online payment: You might want to consider accepting payments for your services directly from your website. This effectively means looking at the features of small online stores.
- CRM: Customer Relationship Management systems (CRMs) are a must-have to manage big lists of customers – especially ones who come back regularly and have preferences or special requests. I’ve paid special attention to website builders that give you similar features, or at least easily integrate with third-party CRM providers.
- Marketing: Building your website is one thing. But what about spreading the word about it? I’ve looked at all the best options, from SEO to email marketing integrations.
Are Website Builders Suited for Service Businesses?
Absolutely. Website builders offer a cost-effective solution that will, at the bare minimum, let you showcase your services online. How long it takes to make the website varies depending on how much control you want over the design, but it’s possible to get a basic website launched in as little as an hour.
Speaking of design, a great advantage is that website builders let you get started with templates. These are effectively pre-built websites that you can tweak according to your needs. And a look at our top-rated solution, Wix’s templates, for instance, shows that you will find dozens of designs for:
- Event planning companies
- Wedding planners
- Photographers (if this is you, you might also want to check out our specific guide on how to create a photography website)
- Consulting and coaching
- Real estate
- Finance and law
- Hairdressers (you can also learn more in our guide on how to create a hair salon website)
- Landscaping services
- House remodeling
- Psychologists
- Yoga studios
- Dietitians
- And many, many more…
Wix includes dozens of service-based website templates covering a wide range of categories
Last but not least, website builders take care of all the maintenance and updates. You won’t have to compare web hosting plans or worry about hiring a developer to fix bugs and tweak code.
Still unconvinced? You can read more about the basics of website builders here.
The 9 Best Website Builders For Service Businesses
So now that you should be convinced that website builders are suited to the task, let’s list the top solutions based on features, price, and pros and cons.
Wix – All-in-One Website and Scheduling Software
Wix regularly tops our list of the best website builders for beginners and small businesses. And the good news is that it doesn’t disappoint when it comes to service businesses either.
Its biggest strength is the fact that Wix effectively offers a complete schedule system out of the box. Well, almost out of the box. You will need to install an app called Wix Bookings. Luckily, it’s free, easy to use, and maintained by Wix itself, so you don’t have to worry about integration issues in the long run.
At its core, Wix Bookings lets you add a special page on your website for bookings. 
But that undersells it, though, as Wix Bookings offers so much more than that. Here is a list of everything you can do with it:
- Display services and timetables
- List prices and sell services
- Integrate a live chat
- Collect client info with a basic CRM
- Send SMS and email booking reminders
- Create membership plans and packages
- Sync your team’s calendars
- Create booking rules and policies
- Accept payments in 40+ currencies
- Send invoices and quotes
- Set user roles and permissions
- Track team performance
- And much much more.
So why even bother going down this list and looking at alternatives?
Well, there are a few missing features I’d love to see. For instance, you won’t be able to create a multilingual booking system (or website for that matter).
The way you set the length of your booking sessions is also a bit finicky, as you need to set them in the backend for each service you offer (the default is either 45 or 60 mins).
Also, it isn’t easy to create add-ons to upsell your services. This may require some manual work, for instance, by adding a link in your confirmation email.
These are all minor details, though, and when you take into account the fact that the templates are beautiful, the editor is flexible and intuitive, and the prices are competitive, it’s hard not to recommend Wix.
Why I recommend Wix for service businesses:
- Wix Bookings is simply brilliant. It’s effectively an all-in-one scheduling software that lets you manage bookings, payments, notifications, and even staff.
- Great selection of templates. You’ll find excellent starting points for a wide range of service businesses, from yoga teachers to event managers and lawyers to hairdressers.
- Easy to use. Whether it’s the actual editor to tweak your design or the scheduling settings, I find that Wix is not only intuitive but also logical and well-documented. You can even have a website built for you by its AI website builder, Wix ADI.
Why you might consider an alternative:
- Wix prices aren’t the most competitive. This is especially true when you consider that you’ll need at least the Business Basic plan to enable Wix Bookings, starting at $36.
- No multilingual option either for your website or scheduling software. You could add multiple pages and translate them, but it’s a bit clunky.
- Choosing a template is final. You can of course edit the template to your heart’s content, but Wix doesn’t let you completely start anew once you start paying for your plan.
> Read our full Wix review
Squarespace – Stylish Templates + Acuity Scheduling
Squarespace, which is known for its stylish and modern website templates, is just as smart when it comes to deploying useful features. Case in point, in 2019 it acquired Acuity, a software solution designed to manage scheduling from any website.
Acuity is available in six languages, and the integration makes it easier than ever to create a page on your website to:
- Accept appointments
- Display your available times
- Accept direct payments
- Automatically create invoices
- Sync a calendar with Google Outlook, iCloud, or Office 365
Each team member can get their own calendar, depending on which plan you choose. The Emerging Plan ($14 per month) is good enough for one person, but Growing ($23 per month) gives you 2-6 accounts, and Powerhouse ($45 per month) enables up to 36 calendars.
You’ll also need to go above the basic plan to:
- Send SMS reminders
- Enable memberships and subscriptions
- Work in multiple time zones (Powerhouse only).
Sadly, these plans are not included in your Squarespace pricing. Which means you’ll have to fork out additional money on top of your existing plan. Luckily, there is no restriction on the type of Squarespace plan that lets you enable the extra feature.
Aside from that, Squarespace, as a solution, is one of our top-rated ones. I love the templates and designs, of course, and if blogging is your strong suit, you won’t be disappointed with the system.
Why I recommend Squarespace for service businesses:
- I love that you can embed an appointment page link into other sources. This is great to accept bookings directly from an email or social media page, for instance.
- Squarespace Scheduling (also known as Acuity Scheduling) offers powerful features for larger firms, for instance, the ability to work in multiple time zones, enable custom APIs, and sync 30+ calendars.
- Squarespace’s excellent support and templates make it one of our top-rated website builders. You also get a ton of control over the actual website design (see more in our Squarespace tutorial).
Why you might consider an alternative:
- The scheduling feature is not included in your Squarespace plan. You need to pay at least $14 per month for the entry-level Acuity plan to enable it.
- Limited extension capabilities. While Acuity Scheduling is a powerful add-on, I find that the Wix App Store, for instance, lets you play around with more features.
- Squarespace websites aren’t the fastest to load. This could lead to a frustrating experience for your visitors – especially mobile users.
> Read our full Squarespace review
WordPress – Flexibility and Plenty of Booking Plugins
WordPress, the world’s most popular content management system, is perfectly suited for service businesses. This is in part thanks to its incredibly large plugin marketplace, which lets you turn a simple website into a business powerhouse.
The best way to demonstrate it is to type in the keyword “scheduling” into its plugin directory. You’ll be greeted by dozens upon dozens of options, from the most basic to full-featured calendars and appointment systems.
And while I haven’t tested every single one of them, my experience with WordPress plugins has been great. They are easy to install (even for non-technically minded people), and you can often find a free one that does the job. Bookly, for instance, operates under a freemium model but offers plenty of great options for free users.
Unfortunately, as you’ve probably guessed already, having so much choice can be a challenge. This is especially true when you consider how to create a WordPress website. Do you want to self-host or use WordPress.com? And if you host it yourself, how do you even begin comparing hosting services? (Hint: I can help you compare them).
The point is that what WordPress offers in customization and flexibility, it loses in ease of use. You’ll need to be dedicated to testing different plugins, comparing pricing plans, and maybe even learning some basic HTML to customize your site. For some service businesses, it’s absolutely worth it. For others, you might want a simpler solution.
Why I recommend WordPress for service businesses:
- Flexibility and customization are the biggest draws. This is thanks in part to the huge plugin directory, which gives plenty of options for accepting payments, scheduling, and managing customers.
- WordPress is cost-effective, but there is a big caveat: what you might gain in saved costs, you might lose in time.
- Future-proof. If you decide to, say, add a multilingual option or an online store later, it’s completely possible with WordPress plugins.
Why you might consider an alternative:
- Too many options. It might seem counterintuitive, but WordPress can be a bit overwhelming for those who have trouble getting started. This is true for the website design, pricing plans, and selection of plugins.
- The hosted version is a bit underwhelming. In my review of WordPress.com, I found it hard to justify paying a monthly fee for support and maintenance updates.
> Read our full WordPress review
GoDaddy – Online Appointments and Marketing Tools
GoDaddy recently rebranded its website builder to Websites + Marketing, so let’s start with the marketing part. As I noted in my review, the email marketing, social media, and blogging features are well-implemented and perfect for service businesses trying to cut through the online noise.
I also commented on the quality of the editor, which is great for business owners who want to quickly get something off the ground. There’s even an AI-powered builder if you’re stuck for inspiration (or time). And while GoDaddy’s templates aren’t dazzling, they’re fast and responsive for mobile users.
Now, where it gets trickier is to rate GoDaddy on the quality of its extra features. On one hand, there is no app store, so you’re limited in the functionality you can add to your site.
On the other hand, GoDaddy has got you covered when it comes to online bookings. The Appointments & Services section, as it is called, lets you easily:
- Open time blocks based on your calendar
- Create a one-time event (for instance a webinar or free consultation service)
- Set prices and online payments
- Accept deposits
- Sync appointments with your personal calendar
- Add staff members to online appointments
- And more.
GoDaddy’s inbuilt appointment booking features let customers book your services through an online calendar
You can also accept appointments directly from external sources, for instance by connecting your account with Facebook Booking.
However, I found some missing features. For instance, there is no good way to connect to a CRM or to send SMS notifications to your users.
Why I recommend GoDaddy for service businesses:
- The website builder is intuitive and pleasant to use. It’s also possible to have a website built for you using AI. This is great if you want something that looks good without having to dwell too deep into customization options.
- The marketing options are also good. I would particularly recommend them to new business owners who want to start spreading the word about their services.
- GoDaddy is one of the cheapest website builders, offering a decent amount in return for the low price you pay. Prices start at $11.99 per month.
Why you might consider an alternative:
- Basic appointment features. Not a huge con, but if you want more control over time blocks, user management, and especially customer details, you should look elsewhere.
- Limited features. Since there is no app store, you have to work with what GoDaddy gives you.
> Read our full GoDaddy review
Hostinger – Affordable, Multilingual, Basic Bookings
As noted in our Hostinger review (previously known as Zyro), the Lithuanian-based service has been impressing us with its fast and easy editor and competitive prices. The option to create websites in multiple languages is particularly impressive, especially considering some leading website builders still don’t offer the option at all.
While I wouldn’t recommend Hostinger for bigger service websites, if your needs are simple enough, this is a great option. Starting at $9.99/month only, you’ll get a decent online presence to advertise your service with the option to accept appointments.
The appointments feature is also easy to set up, if a bit finicky in my opinion. You’ll need to set your working hours, create a product in the store management area, enter a product title, and set the price and time.
Hostinger’s booking calendar (image source)
Editing the options and time slots isn’t as intuitive as with other solutions, but you do get control of the time zones – especially helpful if you have a multilingual website operating in multiple markets.
Why I recommend Hostinger for service businesses:
- If you operate in multiple regions, the ability to create a multilingual website and control time zones for bookings is a big plus.
- The prices are highly competitive. They may pressure you into purchasing a deal before the time runs out, but their promotions are pretty much always on for new customers.
Why you might consider an alternative:
- Not ideal for larger websites. The limited subpage navigation, for instance, can make it challenging to advertise a wide range of services.
- Basic booking solution. It works, but you can’t accept payments or send notifications, for instance.
- No free trial available.
> Read our full Hostinger review
Jimdo – AI-Building Generation and Booking Add-on
I always recommend Jimdo to people who are new to website builders and want to get started as quickly as possible. The set-up wizard lets you breeze through the creation process, the templates automatically find images for you, and the websites load at blazing speeds.
So would I also recommend it for a service website? Not so fast. It turns out that the option to add bookings to a Jimdo website isn’t free or even available in every country. Or, to be more precise, it is a paid add-on unless you are already on a premium plan, starting at $18 per month.
This is a shame, because the calendar looks good, and it lets you create time slots, define business hours, enable cancellations, and send notifications to stay on top of it all.
However, note that you won’t be able to accept payments directly with the Booking add-on. You’ll need a special online shop plan, which we reviewed independently here.
Why I recommend Jimdo for service businesses:
- Getting started with Jimdo is probably one of the smoothest experiences you can have when it comes to website building.
- The websites themselves are fast, responsive, and attractive.
Why you might consider an alternative:
- The Booking option is an add-on that’s only included in higher-priced plans.
- At the time of writing, you can only enable the Booking add-on if you’re based in Europe (and specifically Andorra, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, San Marino, Spain, and Vatican City).
> Read our full Jimdo review
Hubspot CMS – The King of CRM, Now With Website Building
Chances are, your service business already relies on HubSpot CRM (or you’ve heard about it before). The leader in customer management systems is also praised for its marketing and automation tools, all designed to let you get more leads and sales.
But did you know it also lets you build a website? If you already rely on HubSpot for one part of your business, this could be one of the best options to stay in control of your marketing and sales. HubSpot CMS comes with a drag-and-drop editor and a good selection of themes to get started in minutes.
Granted, it’s not my favorite editor I’ve tested (you can read all about its cons in our HubSpot CMS review), but a great advantage is the ability to add apps in one click. And particularly relevant to your service business is the “Meeting scheduler” app, which:
- Embeds a calendar widget on your website (and external) pages
- Creates direct links you can share via email or socials
- Integrates with Gmail, Outlook, and Office 365
- Works with email automation triggers.
Hubspot’s Meeting Scheduler
In short, it’s a powerful tool to add to your arsenal, especially when you consider that it supports fairly complex website navigation and even multilingual websites (in up to three languages).
Why I recommend HubSpot CMS for service businesses:
- If you already rely on HubSpot for your marketing, CRM, and sales, it makes sense to build a website around the powerful features.
- The booking app, which is called “Meeting scheduler”, is powerful, flexible, and, of course, plays nice with all the other HubSpot features.
- HubSpot CMS lets you build a multilingual website (up to three languages). That includes SEO-friendly URLs.
Why you might consider an alternative:
- You can build a website with HubSpot, but it might not be the most seamless experience. The editor is a bit clunky in my opinion, mostly due to the sheer number of features on offer.
- There is a price to pay for all these amazing HubSpot features, and that price is $23 per month, minimum. The prices rise sharply when you add more users, features, or marketing contacts. You can refer to our HubSpot pricing page to wrap your head around the multiple options.
> Read our full HubSpot review
Weebly/Square Online – A Booking Add-On to Your Payment Solution
I’ll start off by saying that the Weebly/Square Online suite of products can be extremely confusing. First, there is the name. Weebly used to be its own website builder until it was acquired by Square in 2018. It was then renamed to Square Online.
But if you’re familiar with online payments, you’ll also know that Square is a payment processor. And the booking feature for Square is called Square Appointments, which lets you build a basic static website to:
- Manage your availability from a dashboard.
- Do the same via a mobile app, which is great if you travel a lot.
- Integrate Square (of course), to accept payments.
So essentially, it’s like a standalone booking app that gives you an online presence to sell your services. But you can also build a more sophisticated website using Square Online that integrates Square Appointments.
Now, to get all the pros and cons of Weebly/Square Online as a website builder, I’ll refer you to our Weebly review. The long and short of it is that it’s easy to use and full of good features, but offers limited design flexibility.
The biggest negative, in my book, is that Square Appointments is a paid add-on. There is a free option, but it comes with higher payment processing fees.
However, one last point to consider (which will probably add to the confusion) is that Weebly comes with its own App Market. There, you can find dozens of booking and scheduling apps, which may work just fine for your service website. But seeing as they are direct competitors to what Square wants you to use (their own Scheduling app), I would be cautious around the long-term support.
Why I recommend Square Online for service businesses:
- If you use Square as your main payment processor, it could make sense to purchase the Square Appointments add-on to offer a streamlined online booking experience.
- The other option is to use Square Online as your website builder and to integrate one of the many booking apps you can find on the Weebly App Market.
- The Weebly/Square Online editor is probably one of the easiest to use for beginners, and it comes with responsive themes, team management, and even membership areas.
Why you might consider an alternative:
- The confusing range of products from Square can be a lot to take in for business owners who favor simplicity.
- The prices can add up, especially if you need to purchase Square Appointments as an add-on. Even if you choose the free option, you’ll be losing money due to the higher card processing fees.
> Read our full Weebly review
Setmore – Bookings First, Website Second
Last but not least on this list is Setmore. It’s an interesting proposition that flips the idea of a service website on its head. Put simply: it is first and foremost a scheduling software that also lets you create a website.
The biggest draw is that Setmore is a freemium service. You can use it without paying anything and accept unlimited appointments, process payments, send email reminders, and even manage bookings from an iOS or Android app.
The free plan is good for up to 4 users. Pro reduces that to 2 users but gives you integrations with other apps (Shopify, Stripe, PayPal, WordPress, Wix, Zoo, etc), enables SMS notifications, and removes the Setmore branding – all for a very reasonable $5 per user per month.
So what’s the catch? Well, it is indeed the website part. In fact, Setmore calls it a Booking Page, which is probably more appropriate, as it’s pretty basic. See for yourself:
A Setmore booking page example (image source)
On the plus side, it is customizable, responsive, and comes with smart features such as reviews. You can even embed the whole page into another service.
However, be aware that Setmore doesn’t let you use your own domain. You’ll be hosted on a custom .setmore.com URL. Plus, the free plan will show the Setmore branding, which might not appear the most professional.
Why I recommend Setmore for service businesses:
- The free plan! It lets you accept bookings and payments and set up an online booking page (with Setmore branding).
- Affordable pro plans. Starting at $5 per month per user, you get the option to integrate Setmore into another website builder, for instance.
Why you might consider an alternative:
- No custom domains. You’ll have to host your booking page on a .setmore.com URL.
- Free plan isn’t white label. That is to say, your customers will see the Setmore branding on your booking page.
Conclusion – Website Builders for Service Businesses and Alternatives
So there you have it: our pick of the best website builders for service businesses:
- The overall winner: Wix. The scheduling software is flexible, easy to use, and can turn any website into a booking powerhouse.
- The most flexible: Squarespace’s Acuity Scheduling software is interesting because it’s essentially an extra product. On the one hand, you have to pay for it, but it’s also flexible enough to be ported to other websites. WordPress is always a top choice for customization and control.
- The easiest for beginners: This would be a close call between GoDaddy and Jimdo, even if it comes at the cost of limited features. Hostinger also gets a mention for being a great solution for multilingual websites.
- The best value: Setmore, which operates under a freemium model, lets you start with the scheduling software and create a custom booking page (with a .setmore.com URL).
But wait! What if you wanted to explore more alternatives? I would also highly recommend learning more about standalone scheduling systems. Put simply, they are code snippets that you can insert into an existing website, and most of them work with website builders. This could be a great alternative if you already have a website that you need to spruce up for your service business.
Thoughts, comments, or even more alternatives I might have missed? Let us know in the comments below.
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