Creating a free website is possible: platforms such as Google Sites, Tilda, Wix and WordPress.com let you put a site together without knowing how to code and without giving card details. But the price of a free plan is paid in another form: the site opens at the platform's address, carries the platform's ad or badge, and important features are locked. In this article we compare the free plans of four platforms and show when a free website is enough.
Key takeaways:
- A free website suits a trial, a personal project, an event page and testing an idea.
- Free plans share three limitations: the platform's address (for example, ad.tilda.ws), the platform's ad or badge, and locked features.
- On Tilda, Wix and WordPress.com, you need to move to a paid plan to connect your own domain.
- A website with its own domain and no ads costs a few dollars a month at the cheapest, plus the annual domain fee.
- For a business website that has to bring in customers, a free plan is a starting point, not a permanent solution.
Can you create a free website?
Yes. Website builders let you assemble a page from ready-made blocks, and most of them have a free plan. You sign up, choose a template, change the text and images, and publish the site. You need neither a programmer nor separate software for this: everything happens in the browser.
There is a simple logic behind the free plan: the platform lets you try its tool, and in return the site runs at the platform's address and with its ads. For serious use, you are expected to move to a paid plan. So the question of a "free website" should really be put this way: is what the free plan gives me enough for my goal?
We explain what a website consists of in the article What is a website.
Where can you create a free website?
The free plans of the four most widely used platforms are as follows (official information as of October 2026):
| Google Sites | Tilda | Wix | WordPress.com | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Site address on the free plan | sites.google.com/view/ad | ad.tilda.ws | ad.wixsite.com/sayt | ad.wordpress.com |
| Size limit | Not stated on the official page | 1 site, 50 pages | 500 MB storage, 1 GB bandwidth | 1 GB storage |
| Platform ad or badge | Not stated on the official page | "Made on Tilda" badge | Wix banner ad at the top | WordPress.com ads |
| Connecting your own domain | An existing domain can be connected | Paid plan only | Paid plan only | Paid plan only |
| Online payment | No built-in feature | Not on the free plan | Not on the free plan | Not on the free plan |
| Cheapest paid plan | — | $10 a month (billed annually) | About $17 a month (billed annually) | $4 a month (billed annually) |
| Best suited for | A simple information page | Landing page and showcase website | Brochure website for a small business | Blog |
Sources: Google Sites, Tilda, Wix, WordPress.com. Prices are shown in dollars and may vary by country; check the platform's own page before paying.
Be ready to work with the admin panel of these platforms in English or Russian: for example, Azerbaijani is not on Wix's official list of languages (Wix). You can, however, write the text of the site itself in any language.
How do you create a website on Google Sites?
Google Sites is Google's simple tool for building websites, and anyone with a Google account can use it. You do not have to choose a paid plan, so when people say "creating a website on Google" they usually mean this tool.
- On a computer, open sites.google.com and sign in with your Google account.
- Choose a blank page or a ready-made template.
- Type the name of the site and change the header image.
- Using the panel on the right, add text, images, a button, a map or a YouTube video.
- Create new pages in the "Pages" section: About us, Services, Contact.
- Click the "Publish" button and type the address of the site.
According to Google's help page, you can connect a domain you have already bought to a published site (Google Sites Help). This sets Google Sites apart from the other three platforms.
Its weak side is its simplicity: design options are limited, it is not intended for an online store and payments, and there are few settings for search engines. Google Sites suits an internal page, an event, a club or a simple brochure page.
What does Tilda's free plan give you?
Tilda is a website builder that lets you assemble neat pages from ready-made blocks, and it is widely used for landing pages in Azerbaijan. The terms of the free plan (Tilda):
- 1 site and at most 50 pages;
- only some of the blocks are available, not all of them;
- the site runs on a tilda.ws subdomain, and connecting your own domain is a paid feature;
- receiving form enquiries, Google Analytics, payment systems and the catalogue do not work on the free plan.
The last point is decisive for a business: even if a free Tilda page has a form, the enquiries do not reach you and you cannot count visitors. The Personal plan is $10 a month billed annually and $15 billed monthly, and gives you 1 site; the Business plan starts at $20 a month and includes 5 sites and code export (Tilda).
What does Wix's free plan give you?
Wix is a builder with a wide choice of templates. On the free plan (Wix):
- 500 MB storage and 1 GB bandwidth;
- the site opens at an address in the format ad.wixsite.com/sayt;
- a Wix banner ad is shown at the top of the page;
- you cannot connect your own domain or accept online payments.
The cheapest paid plan (Light) is about $17 a month billed annually: it gives you your own domain and a site without ads. Online payment starts from the next plan up (Wix). Wix prices vary by country.
What does the WordPress.com free plan give you?
WordPress.com is a ready-made service built on the WordPress system. The free plan has 1 GB of storage, an address on a wordpress.com subdomain, and unlimited pages and posts; there is no own domain, no plugin installation and no ad-free site, and the site shows WordPress.com's ads (WordPress.com).
The cheapest paid plan (Personal) is $4 a month billed annually and $9 billed monthly. WordPress.com is a good choice for a blog. Do not confuse it with WordPress installed on your own hosting: we explain the difference in the guide What is WordPress.
What are the limitations of a free website?
- Someone else's address. An address like "ad.wixsite.com/sayt" is hard to remember and looks unserious on a business card and in ads. The address belongs to the platform: if you change platform, the address changes too.
- The platform's ads. Another company's ad or badge appears on your site.
- No measurement, or limited measurement. Some free plans do not let you connect analytics, which means you do not know how many people visited.
- Enquiries and payments are locked. Forms, online payment and the catalogue are often paid features.
- A weak position in search. A site on a subdomain can appear on Google, but it is weak in competition with a site that has its own domain.
- Dependence on the platform. Moving the site elsewhere often means rebuilding it.
- No corporate email. An address like info@sirket.az needs your own domain; we explain this in the article What is corporate email.
How much does it cost to move a free website to your own domain?
The cheapest plans for a site with its own domain that does not show the platform's ads are as follows:
| Platform | Cheapest suitable plan | Annual cost (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress.com | Personal, $4 a month | $48 |
| Tilda | Personal, $10 a month | $120 |
| Wix | Light, about $17 a month | about $204 |
The annual domain fee is added to this amount; we show the prices and the registration procedure in the article What is a domain and how to buy one. So a site that starts out "free" turns into a cost of roughly $70–230 a year for the plan and the domain together once it moves to serious use. That is not a bad price; you just need to know it in advance.
Who is a free website enough for, and who is it not enough for?
| Situation | Is the free plan enough? |
|---|---|
| Event, wedding, class or club page | Yes |
| First portfolio of a student or an individual specialist | Yes, as a start |
| Testing an idea: is there any interest? | Yes |
| Trying out and learning a website builder | Yes |
| A landing page for your ads | No: you need a form, analytics and your own domain |
| The company's main website | No: someone else's address and ads reduce trust |
| Online store | No: payment and the catalogue are paid features |
| A website that must bring in customers from Google | No: you need your own domain, speed and structure |
The rule is simple: if the website has to make money, the free plan is a solution for the first weeks only. We have shown with examples what very cheap offers end up costing later in the article Why a cheap website ends up costing more.
How do you create a free website step by step?
- Write down the goal. What should the site do: give information, collect enquiries, show your work?
- Draw up a list of pages. Four pages are enough for a small site: home page, services, about us, contact. We explain the rule in the article How to structure a website.
- Prepare the text and images in advance. Filling in a template is easy; knowing what to write is hard.
- Choose the platform. Google Sites for a simple page, Tilda for a neat landing page, Wix for a brochure website, WordPress.com for a blog.
- Choose a template and fill it with your own content. None of the sample text in the template should be left.
- Check it on a phone. Most visitors will open the site on a phone.
- Publish it and share the link. Add it to your Instagram profile, WhatsApp and business card.
Does a free website appear on Google?
It can: Google also indexes sites on platform subdomains. But there are two limitations. First, free plans have few settings for search, and it is hard to measure the site. Second, for competitive queries ("dental clinic in Baku", "website development"), sites with their own domain, speed and separate service pages come out ahead.
A free website may be enough for people to find you when they search for your name or your company's name. Appearing in front of new customers who are looking for a service takes more work; we explain this in the guide What is SEO.
What does Advertol recommend?
Advertol is an agency that builds websites with custom code, and that is not the right choice for every project. If you need a single page for a promotion lasting a few weeks, a five-page brochure website or a trial landing page for a new product, it makes more sense to build it in a website builder yourself or with a freelancer.
A custom website pays off when the site is part of the sales system: it works with advertising, analytics, CRM and in several languages. Examples of such projects are the two websites and one admin panel built for Assistance Group and, for Padel 77, a three-language website with online court booking. Advertol is an agency based in Baku: website and mobile app development, Meta and Google advertising, SMM, CRM and AI automation are handled by one team. The way of working is described on the website and app development page.
Frequently asked questions
Can I create a completely free website with no ads?
Of the platforms we compared, Tilda, Wix and WordPress.com show their own badge or ads on the free plan. Google Sites does not require a separate plan, but its capabilities are the simplest. For a site with its own domain, no ads and its features unlocked, you almost always need a paid plan.
Can I use my own domain on a free website?
Not on Tilda, Wix or WordPress.com: connecting a domain is a feature of the paid plan. The Google Sites help page, however, describes connecting an existing domain to a site. In both cases the domain itself is bought separately and renewed every year.
What software do I need to create a website?
None. Builders work in the browser: Chrome or Safari is enough, and there is no need to download software to your computer. All you need is to sign up with an email address, plus texts and images.
Can I create a website on a phone?
Partly. Some platforms have a mobile app and small edits can be made on a phone, but a computer is more convenient for building a site from scratch. Google's help page says to use a computer to create a site on Google Sites.
Can I sell online with a free website?
In practice, no. Online payment, cart and catalogue are locked on free plans. To sell, you either have to move to a paid plan or build a separate online store; connecting payment also requires a contract with a bank or a payment provider.
Can I move a free website to another platform later?
Text and images can be moved, but usually not the site itself: each platform has its own structure, and the design has to be rebuilt. So if you are planning a long-term site, think about the platform and the domain in advance.
Conclusion
Creating a free website is realistic and a good way to start: Google Sites suits a simple page, Tilda a landing page, Wix a brochure website and WordPress.com a blog. But a free plan means someone else's address, the platform's ads and locked features. If the website has to bring in customers, buy your own domain, move to a paid plan, or treat the website as a sales tool and have it built separately.
If you want to discuss whether a website builder or a custom website suits your business, book a free strategy session or write to the Advertol team.
Sources
- Google Sites Help — connecting your own domain to a site
- Google Sites Help — creating a site
- Tilda — pricing plans
- Tilda — free plan limits
- Wix Help Center — building a website for free
- Wix Help Center — removing the Wix banner ad
- Wix Blog — Is Wix free?
- Wix Help Center — dashboard and editor languages
- WordPress.com — pricing plans