AI Site Builder Showdown 2025 Test Results

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Generative AI and web development appear to be a perfect match. Web design involves coding, creative text, graphics, and overall design – tasks AI generally handles well.

When I embarked on finding the best AI-based website builders, I anticipated seeing these capabilities integrated into hosting dashboards. The reality was quite different.

Also: The best web hosting services: Expert tested and reviewed

This article summarizes a six-month, 70-hour research project. Much of this time involved dealing with hosting providers who claimed to offer AI, exchanging 236 emails, setting up test accounts, and searching for actual AI capabilities in their services.

I also constructed test sites using each service. To ensure fair comparison, I modeled them on a business named "Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective."

The Sherlock concept provided design cues: consulting and private detective themes, a dark academia color palette, and iconic imagery like deerstalker hats and magnifying glasses. Sherlock is so well-known that most AI engines should grasp the reference.

Also: The best e-commerce website builders: Expert tested

Some AI website builders performed better than others. One (10Web) even knew Sherlock's address is 221B Baker Street. Others understood the private detective concept, though some generated food-related images. One produced a crime scene so graphic I cannot display it.

The Current State of AI Website Builders

Overall, the current state of AI website builders is rather mediocre. AI functions in isolated areas but fails to manage the entire website holistically. Site-wide elements like fonts and spacing cannot be controlled via AI. Some layouts were quite poor.

Help systems had limited AI support, if any. Users were often directed to traditional help systems. When AI chat support was available, the bots weren't integrated with site development, frequently couldn't answer basic questions, or simply crashed.

Also: The best AI for coding (including two new top picks - and what not to use)

None of the website builders seem to realize AI can code, so CSS sections (for customizing site appearance) lacked AI coding support. This was a missed opportunity, as it would have been a relatively simple API integration.

Top AI-Powered Website Builders Reviewed

Let's examine the individual website builders. It's important to note that these are all from excellent hosting providers; this evaluation focuses solely on their AI components or alternatives.

Also, when I refer to a website builder, I mean a service category. Some hosting providers brand their service as "Website Builder."

Squarespace AI Website Builder Review

Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET

• AI for interview to determine site focus and pages - no
• AI for choosing initial layout - no
• AI for choosing colors or themes - no
• AI for choosing fonts - no
• AI for helping write headline or body text - yes
• AI for text to image - no
• AI logo designer - no
• AI coding for CSS blocks - no

If you've watched YouTube, you've seen a Squarespace promotion. The company is known for its hosting and attractive website templates.

Initial setup allows choosing a "brand personality" (e.g., Professional, Playful). Squarespace then offers six pre-canned templates. You select pages, colors, and so on.

I used Squarespace's website builder for over an hour but couldn't find the advertised Blueprint AI. I had to email PR to learn the only generative AI feature was in the text style dialog.

Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET

Squarespace excels at creating good-looking sites easily with well-considered, pre-canned options in a helpful wizard. However, aside from text generation, it's not AI.

Wix AI Website Builder Review

Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET

• AI for interview to determine site focus and pages - yes
• AI for choosing initial layout - yes
• AI for choosing colors or themes - yes, limited
• AI for choosing fonts - yes, limited
• AI for helping write headline or body text - yes
• AI for text to image - yes
• AI logo designer - doesn't work
• AI coding for CSS blocks - no

Like Squarespace, the Wix website builder started with a wizard. It asked for the site title and a short description. From this, it identified a consultant-type website with booking, portfolio, and blog pages. It suggested a perfect tagline for Sherlock: "Unraveling mysteries with precision and expertise."

Wix calls its AI website builder Astro. Astro helped select services Sherlock could offer, like Investigation Class, Case Consultation, and Crime Scene Analysis – all spot-on. It also generated good success stories.

An option to generate site layout and look was available. Layouts were mundane, but it made color palette recommendations. After three attempts, it produced a reasonable look.

AI image generation worked well, allowing image creation directly where needed, avoiding external tools like ChatGPT or Midjourney.

The generated images were thematically relevant but, as often with AI, slightly off. An image meant to have two people had one. Another, intended to be Sherlock investigating, looked more like Jack the Ripper. The initial crime scene images were disturbingly graphic.

Overall, Wix has a solid AI website builder, but AI only views the entire site during setup. Afterward, individual AI-generated items are standalone. Still, it's a good start.

10Web AI Website Builder Review

Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET

• AI for interview to determine site focus and pages - no
• AI for choosing initial layout - no
• AI for choosing colors or themes - no
• AI for choosing fonts - no
• AI for helping write headline or body text - yes
• AI for text to image - yes
• AI logo designer - yes
• AI coding for CSS blocks - no

What 10Web's AI website builder did well: It understood Sherlock references enough to include 221B Baker Street in the Visit Us section unprompted.

It also automatically generated a near-perfect illustration for the Legacy and Mission page.

Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET

But those were the highlights. The Expertise section was amusing, but images had text issues (e.g., "crince" instead of "crime"). A world map was inexplicably generated, featuring an island named Legal in the Pacific Ocean.

The malfunctioning image-text generator also affected the logo-making tool, producing "Sierloik Holmes, Conslligy Detect."

Generative text was also problematic. A 63-word site description I provided – "I operate a consulting detective practice in London, offering services to private citizens, Scotland Yard, and foreign dignitaries" – was rewritten into a 98-word version starting with, "Welcome to my esteemed consulting detective practice based in London, where I provide a range of investigative services to private citizens." The reason for this change was unclear.

The AI, named Co-Pilot by 10Web, also produced errors and failed throughout testing. It shows promise but is not fully developed.

GoDaddy AI Website Builder Review

Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET

• AI for interview to determine site focus and pages - no
• AI for choosing colors or themes - no
• AI for choosing fonts - no
• AI for helping write headline or body text - sort of
• AI for text to image - no
• AI logo designer - maybe
• AI coding for CSS blocks - no

GoDaddy was another provider where I had to contact PR to find the AI website builder functionality. I specifically used their Website Builder service.

I tested the base $9.99 plan, which handles AI text descriptions. Higher-end plans for social media and e-commerce supposedly include specialized AI features for those functions.

Given GoDaddy's history, domain registration is required before site setup. I chose TalkWithSherlock.com.

Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET

First, I used the logo designer, which produced adequate, if uninspired, logos. I'm unsure if this was actual AI; icons could have been from pre-canned detective category selections.

When starting the site, I added basic info, then pasted my Sherlock backgrounder. GoDaddy's AI generated a website. The main picture was perfect for the Sherlock theme. The color scheme was workable, though I dislike full black backgrounds.

There is no AI support for changing color themes or fonts.

A strange "get copy suggestions" feature in text fields was slow and odd. It doesn't allow input on desired text; it just cycles through limited, repetitive suggestions. I found no evidence of prompt-based generative AI text generation.

Similarly, while chosen images suited the detective theme, there's no text-to-image generator. GoDaddy offers purchasing images from iStock by Getty Images.

I've been a GoDaddy domain customer for years and like the company, but calling anything on their website builder service "AI," even their phrase chooser, is a significant stretch.

Hostinger AI Website Builder Review

Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET

• AI for interview to determine site focus and pages - no
• AI for choosing initial layout - yes
• AI for choosing colors or themes - yes
• AI for choosing fonts - yes
• AI for helping write headline or body text - yes
• AI for text to image - not really
• AI logo designer - no
• AI coding for CSS blocks - no

Hostinger offers two distinct services with AI elements. First, their Website Builder, matching basic AI features of other builders: a pre-interview, starter template generation, and some text generation in blocks. Nothing remarkable.

Then there's Hostinger Horizon, a separate service with its own pricing. Hostinger Horizon performs AI website generation via a chat interface, as one might expect.

The problem is its poor performance. It failed at logo design and changing the main image. A request for a London building resulted in an image resembling an old Yonkers neighborhood. Asking to tighten margins yielded no change. A request for a dark academia color scheme only changed the background to another dark shade.

It's not something I'd recommend paying extra for yet. Hostinger seems on the right track, allowing generative AI to recode the site based on chat requests.

How it would handle integrating chat-based changes with user-made edits is unclear, but the AI implementation is far from ready for such complexities.

Unlike other providers focusing on adding AI to pinpoint features, Hostinger is looking at the holistic whole. They have a long way to go but are taking an interesting approach. This is one to watch.

Is ChatGPT a Better Alternative for Website Building?

Here's the issue: none of the hosting providers made a compelling case for their AI website builder services. Clicking an image to ask AI for a new one is nice, but annoying when AI generates unusable images.

Also: How to turn ChatGPT into your AI coding power tool - and double your output

Similarly, clicking a text block for AI-generated text seems easy, but in practice involves many clicks, usually into a text formatter and then a separate form.

And color choices? None of the AI website builders provided a quality color palette for Sherlock or an opportunity for AI to generate CSS.

Screenshot by David Gewirtz/ZDNET

ChatGPT can do all this with ease and reliability. I used it extensively for my music site, along with Midjourney for images, in summer 2023. ChatGPT's image creation has improved since.

Also: I asked ChatGPT to write a WordPress plugin I needed. It did it in less than 5 minutes

Thus, it's hard to recommend a hosting provider's AI website builder, especially if it costs extra, compared to cutting and pasting from ChatGPT. The free version is quite capable, though I use the $20/mo Plus version. This expense can be amortized over many applications, not just web hosting.

The Future of AI-Based Website Building

As stated earlier, AI and web development seem ideally suited. Today's web hosting providers mostly offer website builders making API calls to large language model providers, embedding features into text-editing and image-selection engines.

This is a straightforward first step, but some providers clearly chose lower-cost LLMs. Hopefully, these LLMs will improve, or providers will pay more for better quality results.

Many hosting providers, when advertising AI website building, are really referring to their onboarding process: answer questions, and a perfect site is built. This has worked for vendors like Squarespace, who curate a large template library, guided by a hard-coded interview wizard.

This can be slightly extended with AI helping choose the right template. If providers focus on AI-based builders modifying existing sites, they can avoid bolting on AI in multiple areas.

Hostinger, despite practical issues, showed that an AI chatbot in one pane and the website in another is a workable interface.

This idea needs extension with AI aware of the entire site structure, allowing users to instruct AI like a designer: "Make those columns closer," "Make fonts bigger," "Make the man older," "Add a return policy section," "Show fun fonts."

This shouldn't be a huge leap. Many coding AI tools (GitHub Copilot, Gemini Pro 2.5) manage multi-file projects. A website is essentially a multi-file coding project with image assets.

Also: I retested Microsoft Copilot's AI coding skills in 2025 and now it's got serious game

Another direction could be major players like Microsoft and Google offering AI website builders as extensions of their office suites, especially for premium Copilot and Gemini users.

Also: Gemini Pro 2.5 is a stunningly capable coding assistant - and a big threat to ChatGPT

I have high hopes for this category. The technology exists. What's needed is dedication to integration, usability design, forward-thinking product management, and time.

Stay tuned for updates as offerings improve. For now, thanks to Squarespace, Wix, GoDaddy, 10Web, and Hostinger for subjecting their developing AI offerings to analysis and for their responsiveness over the six months of this project.

What Do You Think About AI Website Building?

Have you tried any mentioned platforms? How well did AI features work? Should AI handle more web design, or do you prefer a hands-on approach? Which features (text generation, layout suggestions, CSS coding) should providers prioritize? Let us know in the comments below.

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