The fastest and easiest way for kids to start their own website is by using a website maker.
Most of what kids do, watching shows, playing games, and even schoolwork, often takes place online. So, it comes as no surprise that kids want to create their own websites and make their mark on the world. They can build a website to start a business, make a portfolio, share a passion, or whatever else they decide.
There are many website builder options available, so we’ve narrowed the field by selecting the best for kids to use.
Best Website Makers for Kids:
How can kids build a website?
There are two ways kids can make their own website:
- Write the code themselves
- Use a website maker
When the internet was first created, the only way to build a new webpage was to code one yourself using HTML. It required specific knowledge, dedication, and time. At CodeWizardsHQ, we teach kids exactly how to code their own websites. If they choose this option, they can customize every feature of their site.
Times have changed though.
Today’s websites do still use HTML and CSS and learning how to code in these languages is super helpful for making customizations. However, there are also a ton of easy-to-use website builders that make it fast and simple to create a fully functioning website without needing any coding experience at all!
These website builders are used by businesses and bloggers alike to quickly build useful websites for work. There are also some easy enough for kids to use to make a website of their own.
Are kids allowed to make websites?
The simple answer is yes, kids are allowed to make websites! However, there are some restrictions.
In the US, there is a law called the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA. This is a group of laws governing how websites collect and use private information from children, and it basically boils down to: Don’t. Websites should not be collecting any information from children under 13. They are also limited on what information they can collect from children over 13.
Practically, this means that if your child is under 13 and wants to make their own website, they should not use their own information to do so. They will need a parent to create the account in their own name and to take responsibility for the website.
Website Design for Kids
Web design is the process of conceptualizing, wireframing, and implementing a visual design for a website.
Nowadays, designing a website goes beyond just the look and feel, to also include interactive elements and overall functionality.
Website design is inherently a creative project, and kids will often find the process of building a website to be a lot of fun. Each choice they make during the design process can have an immediate impact on the look and feel of their site. Often, that feels exciting and empowering.
Creating a website helps kids to think critically about the way they want their website to work. It’s a puzzle to solve. It lets them experiment with how they want to string different web elements together to create the website they want. It also teaches them how to think critically to solve problems that come up. That’s a super-valuable skill no matter where they want to go in life!
Ultimately, website design is a worthwhile skill to learn in and of itself. As of 2023, according to Salary.com, the average salary for a web designer is $66,340. Experienced designers can make significantly more than that.
Many web designers also choose to work as freelancers, which means they have the freedom to set their own hours. That makes web design an increasingly valuable skill. And the easiest way to learn it is for kids to dive in and start making their own website!
What is the best website builder for kids?
For most people, including kids, website builders are the easiest and best way to create a new website. However, which website builder you choose will depend a lot on what that specific builder has to offer!
Features of the best website makers for kids
In our opinion, a good website builder for kids should:
Be easy to use
We wanted website builders that were easy for kids to use, even if they don’t have any coding experience. Their interfaces should be user-friendly and intuitive.
Have templates
Templates are a great way to jump into making a new website. Even if your kid chooses to create a completely custom look for their website, templates can make great jumping-off places for getting started.
Offer a feature-rich experience
Some website builders offer significantly more features than others. While your kid may not have a use for all of the features on offer, it’s still really nice to have them there so they can explore their options.
Be reasonably priced
Some premium website builders come with a decidedly premium price. While these sites do offer some amazing benefits for making the website-building experience as smooth as possible, free or low-cost builders are usually a better choice for kids who are just starting to explore what they want in a website. Besides, you can always upgrade later!
Note: More than 43% of websites online today were built using WordPress (W3Techs, 2022). That’s an impressive statistic, and it shows that WordPress is a capable program that can meet most people’s needs for a website maker. However, the same features that make it so flexible also make it a little bit harder to use for beginners. It’s worth learning, but maybe not first.
Recommended: 25 Best Coding Apps for Kids
Top 5 Website Makers for Kids
After careful consideration, these are our top 5 best website makers for kids!
Wix
Wix is an incredibly popular website builder for a reason. Signing up with Wix is super simple, and their program walks new users through all the initial setup steps so they can dive straight into designing their website.
- One of the easiest website builders
- Drag-and-drop interface
- AI integrated into the site builder
Ease of Use
Wix is one of the easiest-to-use website builders out there. Not only do they have a super-intuitive drag-and-drop interface for building and customizing your website, but they have also deeply integrated artificial intelligence into their site builder so that you can use it to customize your site simply by giving answers to a handful of prompts. This isn’t how most website builders currently work, but it is fairly likely that it is where the industry is headed, so helping your kid learn this now could be a huge leg up in the future.
Templates
While it’s easy enough to build a website from a large number of pre-made Wix block elements, Wix also has a huge number of really nice looking templates to choose from. All the templates are completely customizable, and lend a cohesive and professional look to a new website with minimal effort.
Features
Wix uses something called Wix Apps to add extra functionality to web pages. These apps help site builders to add all sorts of abilities to their websites, from recording and playing music and podcasts to setting appointments or selling merchandise. Which apps you choose to include depends largely on what your kid wants to do with their website, but almost anything is possible from a technological standpoint.
Price
Wix has a free plan with limited storage and a wixsite.com domain name. Premium plans start at $4.50/month if you want to keep the Wix branding, or $8.50/month if you want to get rid of the Wix branding.
Weebly
Weebly is another website builder, similar to Wix, that features an easy-to-use drag-and-drop site editor.
- Many responsive templates available
- Drag-and-drop interface
- Limited customization
Ease of Use
As easy as Wix is to use, Weebly is even easier. However, that ease of use comes at the price of customization. Weebly sites can be just as beautiful as Wix sites right out of the box, but if there are small changes that your kid wants to make to their site, it may end up not being possible.
Templates
Weebly offers a large number of beautiful, responsive templates for websites, but again, there is a lack of easy customization options for many of them. Still, if your kid is more interested in the content they want to put on their website than they are in the actual design of the website itself, Weebly does a great job of getting “design” out of the way.
Features
Weebly is designed to make the website design as simple as possible so that people can jump straight into creating the content that makes their website unique. They make an excellent place for hosting a personal blog, and they even allow basic eCommerce transactions on their free plan, which is fairly unusual for free websites.
Price
Weebly does offer a free-forever plan on its website alongside its paid plans. Personal (non-business) plans start at $10/month.
Squarespace
Squarespace is a website builder with specialized formatting tools that help maintain a consistent look and feel across the entirety of your website with minimal effort. That consistency, and easy integration with a number of business apps, makes Squarespace a favorite for small businesses looking to create an amazing online experience, but it works just as well for kids wanting to design a good-looking site, too!
- Simple features
- Grid editing interface
- Many integration opportunities
Ease of Use
As with the previous website makers, Squarespace relies on a drag-and-drop system for placing different elements into a webpage. It’s a simple, but effective, way to create a variety of web page designs while keeping styles consistent. Squarespace blocks are constrained to a grid on the page to help keep things lined up. However, for more complex layouts, it takes a bit of work to get things how you want them.
Templates
Squarespace has hundreds of beautiful templates to choose from, which, admittedly, can seem overwhelming, at first. Luckily, their template selection page starts with a few questions about the kind of blog you want to build that can help narrow down the field. Or, you can browse the entire collection to find the perfect fit!
Features
The biggest reason to use Squarespace over other website builders is their unified style sheet. Essentially, it allows you to choose your color palettes and fonts once and have them remain consistent across the entirety of your site. This saves a ton of time for businesses, but can be useful for kids, too! Other site builders have site-style features similar to this, but Squarespace’s implementation is one of the best that I’ve seen.
Price
Unfortunately, Squarespace does not have a free tier for their service, though they do have a 2 week free trial for those interested in taking a look. After that, their least expensive plan is $16/month. Essentially, if you were already planning on having a custom domain or paying for other features, Squarespace is just as affordable as most other website builders. But if you want a free option, you’ll need to look elsewhere.
SITE123
SITE123 advertises itself as being the absolute easiest website builder out there, and it does a decent job of backing up that claim. However, the flip side of that being simple means there are fewer customization options available for those who want them.
- Get started in a few clicks
- Different layouts to choose from
- Low-cost option
Ease of Use
SITE123 is extremely easy to get up and going. I was able to get a decent-looking website with multiple pages ready in just a few clicks! Editing those pages was simple as well, with only a handful of formatting options to choose from. Their target audience seems to be small business owners who don’t want to spend a lot of time building their website, but that same simplicity means SITE123 is well-suited as a website maker for kids, as well!
Templates
Where the previous website makers featured numerous different templates to choose from, SITE123 limits its template selections to a mere handful of layouts. The focus is on simplicity more than on customization, which works very well for younger kids just getting started out.
Features
SITE123 has many of the most basic features that you would expect from a website builder, but locks most of its more advanced features behind a paywall. Free sites are limited on everything from what page elements can be added to what fonts can be used. If you’re just getting started and want to stay on a free site, this can be a bit frustrating. However, SITE123’s paid plans are some of the least expensive options I’ve seen, so if you are looking for a basic website but want a personalized domain, this is an OK option!
Price
SITE123 does have free options, but they are severely limited. Their most basic plans start at around $3.50/month paid annually, though that number can go down during sales or if you purchase your site for longer periods of time.
Google Sites
Google Sites is a website maker for Google users. If your child already has a Google Account, they actually already have access to a decent, but not great, website builder. While Google knows the web well, its main business model is website discovery, not website creation. This shows in Google Sites’ offerings. Even so, if your kid is wanting to get started in web development but isn’t quite ready to take charge of the whole project, Sites is a great place to begin.
- Drag and drop editor
- 3rd party free and paid templates available
- Easy integration with Google Drive
Ease of Use
If you have any experience with using Google Drive, you already know how to use Google Sites. Head to sites.google.com, hover over the plus symbol in the lower right-hand corner and choose to create a new site or start from a template. From there it’s a simple drag-and-drop editor.
Visually, the editor is a bit basic, but all the elements are resizable, you can change color templates and font styles easily from the themes tab, and its direct connection with Google Drive means embedding media is really easy, too.
Templates
Google Sites Template gallery is fairly limited, but has some decent-looking sites to choose from. However, if you’re willing to do some internet searches, it’s possible to find free and paid templates for Sites from 3rd party websites. These are fairly simple to upload to Google and apply to a new site, meaning there are endless options here.
Features
The main feature here is the easy integration with Google Drive, meaning you can easily embed documents, forms, and YouTube videos without hassle. However, Sites does not have a dedicated blogging function. Nor does it come with an easy way to search and add plugins. It gets around this by allowing 3rd party embeds in a code block, but it isn’t a super clean solution. It’s not as robust as many other options, but may be a great choice for a kid looking to make their own website!
Price
Google Sites is completely free to use. It just requires a Google Account. If you want your own domain name for your site, you’ll have to buy it separately and then use it to host your Google Site. But the Sites platform itself is 100% free.
Compare the best website makers for kids:
Kids Can Build a Website from Scratch
Of course, no matter which website builder you choose to use, you will eventually come up against some limitations. One way around this is to skip using a website builder entirely and start from scratch. With enough coding knowledge, the sky’s the limit!
Websites are built using HTML, just like they were before any of these website builders even existed.
However, modern sites also use other coding languages, like CSS, JavaScript, and more. While it is still quite possible to create a fully-functioning website with nothing more than some text documents and a firm understanding of HTML, being able to code a modern website requires more than that.
CodeWizardsHQ offers coding classes for kids of all skill levels, and can take your kid from “Hello World!” to creating their own websites, and beyond! And, even if they do end up deciding to use a website builder, the ability to code is an invaluable skill for so much more than just customizing websites.
In fact, no matter where your kid chooses to go in life, having a good understanding of code and how it works can help them to succeed!
Nevertheless, we all have to start somewhere! I hope this has helped you in finding your kid’s starting line.
