Webnode Review We put Webnode through its paces

Last updated: See Updates

This article has been written and researched by our expert tooltesters through a precise methodology. Learn more about our methodology

Robert Brandl

Robert Brandl

Author

Inka Wibowo

Inka Wibowo

Researcher

Tooltester is supported by readers like yourself. We may earn an affiliate commission when you purchase through our links, which enables us to offer our research for free.

With more than 40 million registered users, Webnode is one of the larger players in the website creation arena. Their core strength is clearly languages – they support more than 20 of them and they even let you create a multilingual website. Surprisingly, they also offer support in all these languages.

A while ago, Webnode decided to launch a new version of their platform and replace the good old editor that we liked a lot. We even used it to build the original version of Tooltester back in the days before it became too complex for Webnode!

The improvements include a more direct editing experience as well as a range of good-looking designs. They also added a new and improved shopping cart to the website builder.

Most recently, Webnode have enhanced their ecommerce offering even further by making it possible for store owners to sell in multiple currencies. So, it’s clearly a platform built with international audiences in mind.

Webnode review summary

Webnode has clear advantages in a few areas: it's an affordable website builder that allows you to create a multilingual website. Their templates are attractive, and there's also a backup and restore feature that many of their competitors are missing.

The downside is Webnode's overall limited range of features and customization options.

So how does it compare with the industry leaders? We’ll reveal to you all the ins and outs of this website builder. Keep on reading to find out:

Videos

  • See Webnode in action here
See Webnode in action here video

You can sign up for a free Webnode account here

Webnode Screenshots

Webnode Pricing

$0

Free

Displays a Webnode ad at the bottom of the screen. Doesn't include own domain name. Up to 200 MB of storage.

$4.00

Limited

Connect your own domain name. It includes a Webnode link in the footer.

$8.50

Mini

Good solution for smaller projects that need professional email. Still shows a Webnode ad.

$12.90

Standard

The ideal plan for professional and bilingual websites. Ad-free. Access to Webnode's ecommerce store. Includes Backup and Restore functionality.

$22.90

Profi

For big sites that need up to 7 GB of storage, 100 email accounts and multilingual sites (unlimited language versions).

$31.90

Business

With 15GB of storage, and advanced ecommerce features such as multiple currencies, manual orders, automatic invoices and the ability to customize store notification emails (e.g. order confirmations).

Monthly prices based on a 1-year contract (Personal Website). Domain: from $9.90 per year (prices vary depending on the domain ending).

Read our entire Webnode pricing comparison.

Pros and Cons of Webnode

  • Pros
  • Cons

Pros

  • Multilingual websites

    Webnode’s system for creating translations is the most intuitive we’ve come across in any website builder. Build a completely different language version of your site with just a couple of clicks. The additional languages will be put in a subdirectory, e.g. /es/

  • Backup & Restore feature

    Available on the Standard and Profi plans, this essential feature lets you restore backups of your site, and even download an offline version.

  • Free email addresses included

    A bonus that you don’t get with many website builders, Webnode gives you a professional email address on your own domain with the Mini plan. If you need more, the Standard plan comes with 20 email accounts, while the Profi plan comes with a very generous 100.

Rating Details

Ease of use Info popup

With the drag and drop editor you can add sections (e.g. a price list) and content elements (e.g. images, text, videos, etc) to pages. It can take some time until you know your way around as not everything is intuitive.

Choice and flexibility of design (templates) Info popup

They offer responsive designs and there is enough variety. However, be aware that you won’t be able to tweak their HTML or CSS. A neat feature is that you can give a unique look to each section by changing their background color. Changing the template without losing all of the content is not possible, unfortunately.

Advertisement-free Info popup

You'll need the Standard plan or the Profi package minimum for an ad-free site.

Languages Info popup

Webnode is available in more than 20 languages. A great plus is the multilingual feature that supports different language versions of your website!

Your own domain name (e.g. .com or .net) Info popup

Register a domain via Webnode or re-direct your existing domain. The plans Mini and higher include a free domain for the first year. SSL encryption is included in all plans, so your site will run on https. Includes free email addresses too.

Depth of navigation Info popup

It comes with 3 levels (2 sublevels) of navigation.

Widgets (small tools to add extra functionality) Info popup

Best alternative: Wix

It’s missing some important widgets such as: social likes and shares, and some more. Unfortunately, Webnode doesn’t come with an app store like Weebly and Wix. The good news though is that some advanced functionality is already built in (e.g. a search bar, language switcher), meaning you don’t need to install widgets for these.

Mobile App Info popup

  • iOS
  • Android

While they don’t offer a mobile app, you can edit your site easily by logging into webnode.com on your phone. The editor is mobile-friendly and lets you do everything the desktop editor does (note however that you’ll be viewing the mobile version of your site; changes may look different to how you’ll see them on desktop).

E-Commerce Info popup

They have an integrated ecommerce solution that allows selling of unlimited products. Even though the multilingual and multi-currency features are decent (making it an interesting option if you plan to sell internationally), it doesn’t have advanced functionality like real shipping costs or integrated label printing. Available in the Standard, Profi and Business plans. If you are serious about ecommerce, there are much better ecommerce website builders.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Info popup

Enough for most users. Customize title tags, meta-descriptions and URLs. Webnode generates a sitemap automatically. Creating 301 redirects is not possible and some templates don’t use an SEO-friendly headings structure.

Blog

The blog isn’t too bad, it comes with the basic features (e.g. comments and categories), and their editor is pretty flexible. For more details, check this review of the Webnode blog editor.

Visitor statistics Info popup

It has a simple reporting system integrated for statistics. Be aware that to integrate Google Analytics, the Standard plan or higher is required.

Contact form

Pretty good. Advanced form fields such as date pickers or drop-down menus are available. Users can also upload files.

Password protection & member areas Info popup

It comes with support for user registration. In other words, users can have their own password and username to access exclusive content. This is only available for the Standard plan and higher.

Newsletter tool Info popup

No, but you can integrate external newsletter systems like Mailchimp or MailerLite easily via the HTML element.

Add HTML code Info popup

Allows you to add other widgets and tools.

Storage space

200 MB+

The different plans have different storage limits (ranging from 200 MB to 15 GB). Additionally, there is a bandwidth limit (1 GB, 3 GB, 10 GB and unlimited) for most plans (Limited, Mini and Standard).

Backups & Restore Info popup

Yes, you can restore your website to a previous version. However, this is only included in the Standard (up to 5 backups) and Profi/Business (unlimited backups) plans. For an extra fee you can add automatic daily backups – this is available for all plans!

Support

  • FAQ
  • Chat
  • Email
  • Telephone

Email and knowledgebase. Technical support questions are answered quickly but not always to our full satisfaction. Help files are not very comprehensive.

Fun Factor Info popup

It lacks some key features and some of the functionalities it does have are a bit too simple (e.g. image galleries).

Overall Rating

3.95

Webnode offers, for now, a rather limited range of features. For example, the ecommerce needs improvement and they should really integrate social media widgets for the entire site. But fewer features make for a simpler website builder. Paired with their attractive templates and multilingual features, it still is a very interesting option for many creators.

Conclusion

Webnode has a great strength: few website builders make it so easy to create a multilingual website. We were impressed with their templates, especially compared with their previous versions. Additionally, Webnode is one of the few site builders that lets you create (and restore) backup copies of your website.

On the downside, it misses some basic features such as a better blog and an app store. Their templates have some SEO shortcomings you should be aware of (e.g. odd heading structures).

And remember, if you’d like to have a site without the self-promoting Webnode banner, you’ll need the Standard or the Profi plan. We also think they could be more generous with the storage and bandwidth limits they offer with the lower plans (Mini and Limited).

> Click here to try Webnode for free

Example Sites

webnode example jill kimmel

Jill Kimmel

webnode example Abdullah Nawafleh

Abdullah Nawafleh

webnode examples lawyer

Barberà

FAQ

Your website files and images need to be sent to each visitor that you receive. Webnode limits the amount of data that you can send each month (1 GB, 3 GB & 10 GB) for the different plans (Limited, Mini & Standard). 1 GB of bandwidth will more or less last for 1000 visitors per month.

If you go over the limit, you’ll have to buy more bandwidth from Webnode to let visitors browse your website.

Yes, Webnode is a legit company. They have been in business since 2008. Originally, they are a Czech company, which is also where they still have all their development and operations. The headquarters are in Zurich, Switzerland. From our own experience, we can tell that Webnode honors their money-back guarantee.

It can always happen that scammers build a website with Webnode, but these get usually shut down quickly by the spam team.

You can cancel within the first 15 days (no questions asked). They will refund your payment, except domain registrations. After 15 days you can cancel at anytime and won’t be billed again.

You can add AdSense support via the HTML element. Banner ads and affiliate links are another possibility.

Yes, you can backup your entire website and roll it back if you need it. However, you won’t be able to back up individual pages.

Webnode Alternatives

If you are looking for an affordable website builder specifically, you should check out this article that lists the cheapest website builders we were able to find around the web.

Still no sure what website builder you should use? Let our smart finder decide for you in less than 2 minutes.

The authors

Learn more about us

Robert Brandl

Founder and CEO

Hi, my name is Robert Brandl! I used to work in a digital marketing agency where I managed website and email marketing projects. To optimize my client's campaigns, I always had to find the optimal web tools. Tooltester offers this knowledge to you, hopefully saving you endless hours of research.

Inka Wibowo

Content Manager

Hi, I'm Inka! I started using website builders and content management systems over 10 years ago, when I managed websites for clients in my first marketing role. Since then, I've worked on hundreds of web and digital projects. Now, at Tooltester, I'm happy to be able to use my experience to help users like you find the right website builder for your needs.

Learn more about us

We keep our content up to date

23 Feb 2023 - Blog editor review updated
5 Jan 2022 - Introduction of search bar feature.
28 Oct 2022 - A couple of smaller updates
21 Mar 2022 - New ecommerce features, new Business plan.
17 Dec 2021 - Mobile app rating added.
14 Oct 2021 – Checked for accuracy and smaller updates.
22 Apr 2021 – Daily automatic backup option added
23 Mar 2021 – Price changes reflected (mostly increases)
10 Feb 2020 – General update
08 Mar 2019 – General update
09 Aug 2018 – General update
20 Nov 2017 – Minor text updates
07 Apr 2017 – New editor’s review
17 Jan 2017 – Included the backup & restore category to the table
22 Apr 2015 – Update in templates and designs
05 Jun 2014 – Text updates & revision
15 Jul 2013 – A couple of smaller updates
13 Mar 2013 – We’ve added information about password protection
21 Feb 2013 – New form creator feature
22 Nov 2011 – We have tested Webnode’s server performance.
16 Aug 2011 – New look and functionality for the editor
30 Mar 2011 – General update
16 Jan 2011 – The free plan now features a small Webnode banner button. So it is not really ad-free anymore, contrary to Webnode’s claim on its website.
11 Jan 2011 – Update of all reviews: Webnode hasn’t released any new features for a couple of months now.

THE BEHIND THE SCENES OF THIS REVIEW

This article has been written and researched following a precise methodology.

Our methodology

Comments