Best free website builders in Canada (2026)

A customer at the counter asks for your website so they can order gift cards before the holidays, and all you have is an Instagram handle. You can fix that this week for $0. The catch shows up the moment you want your own name in the address bar.

The short answer: Wix, Square Online, WordPress.com, Google Sites and GoDaddy all let you build and publish a small business website for free. On every free plan in this guide, the site lives on the builder's own address (yourname.wixsite.com, for example) and usually carries the builder's branding. The lowest published plan price for using your own domain is US$4 a month, on WordPress.com Personal billed yearly. If you want to sell online for free, Square Online is the only free plan here that takes payments, with pickup, delivery and shipping included.

Key takeaways

Square Online Free lets you sell online with no monthly fee; you pay 2.8% + $0.30 per online transaction, and a custom domain needs Plus at $36 a month billed annually (currency not stated on the page).
Wix Free has no time limit but caps you at 500 MB of storage, shows Wix branding and cannot take payments.
To register a .ca domain you must meet CIRA's Canadian presence rules, for example as a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident or a business incorporated in Canada.

A shop owner behind the counter of his small store, with shelves of goods behind him

At a glance

Website builders for Canadian small businesses. Prices from each company's own pricing page, before tax; Vaelolab did not test these tools.
Builder	Best for	Free plan limit	Custom domain from	Canadian note
Square Online	Shops and restaurants that want to sell online free	No custom domain; Square branding; 2.8% + $0.30 per online sale	Plus $36 a month billed annually (currency not stated on the page)	Canadian plans page with pickup and delivery options
Wix	Owners who want a polished design without code	500 MB storage, 1 GB bandwidth, wixsite.com address, Wix branding, no payments	Light US$17.77 a month billed yearly	Wix says USD prices are for reference and prices vary by location
WordPress.com	Owners who want room to grow with plugins later	1 GB storage, WordPress.com address, ads shown to visitors	Personal US$4 a month billed yearly, US$9 monthly	Prices shown in US$
Google Sites	A simple info page with hours, menu and contact	Basic templates; no store features described	Connect a domain you buy from a registrar	Works with a .ca domain you already own
GoDaddy	Owners who want AI to draft the first version	Free start with 50 AI credits a month; other free limits not listed	Website Builder from C$12.99 a month on an annual term	Priced in CAD on its Canadian page
Squarespace	Design focused businesses happy to pay from day one	No free plan; 14 day trial, no card needed	Basic $19 a month on annual billing (currency not stated on the page)	Free domain for the first year on annual plans

How we chose

Official pages only for every price, limit and rule.
Published features and pricing, not hands on testing.
What matters to a small Canadian business: a free plan you can publish on, the real cost of using your own domain, selling online, and Canadian rules such as .ca eligibility and Ontario's accessibility standard.
Nobody pays to be included.

The free builders, one by one

Square Online

Square Online is the website and online store builder from Square, the payments company, with a free plan and three paid tiers in Canada.

Best for: a café, bakery or shop that already uses Square at the counter, or wants to take online orders without a monthly fee.

Selling: online store, social selling and customer accounts on the free plan.
Fulfilment: in store and curbside pickup, on demand delivery, in house delivery and shipping.
Payments: Apple Pay, Google Pay, Afterpay and Square Pay accepted.

Why it stands out: it is the only free plan in this list that lets you take payments online.

Limits: custom domains need a paid plan, and removing Square branding is a Plus feature. The free plan has no themes, site statistics, abandoned cart recovery or real time shipping rates.

Price: Free, with 2.8% + $0.30 per online transaction. Plus is $36 a month and Premium $99 a month, both billed annually; Premium lowers the online rate to 2.5% + $0.30. The page shows only a $ sign, so the currency is not stated on the page.

Wix

Wix is a drag and drop website builder with a free plan and four Premium plans.

Best for: a service business, such as a salon or a contractor, that wants a good looking brochure site and can live with a Wix address for now.

No time limit on the free plan.
Storage and bandwidth: 500 MB and 1 GB on free.
Light plan adds a custom domain and 2 GB of storage; Core adds payments and 50 GB.
Free domain for a year on a first Premium purchase, redeemed within 60 days.

Why it stands out: the free plan never expires, so you can design the whole site before paying anything.

Limits: Wix says free sites show Wix branding and sometimes ads, use a fixed wixsite.com address, cannot take payments and cannot use tools like Google Analytics.

Price: Light US$17.77, Core US$29.77, Business US$39.77 and Business Elite US$159.77 a month, billed yearly. Wix says USD prices are for reference and vary by location, so check the price at checkout in Canada.

WordPress.com

WordPress.com is the hosted version of WordPress, run by Automattic, with a free plan and paid plans that unlock plugins.

Best for: an owner who writes regularly, or expects to need booking, forms or a store through plugins later.

Free forever with 1 GB of storage.
Personal adds a custom domain, 6 GB and plugins.
Premium adds PayPal and Stripe payment buttons.

Why it stands out: the cheapest published price in this list for using your own domain.

Limits: free sites show WordPress.com ads to visitors and use a WordPress.com address. A full online store needs the Commerce plan.

Price: Personal US$4 a month billed yearly or US$9 monthly; Premium US$8 yearly or US$18 monthly; Business US$25 yearly or US$40 monthly; Commerce US$45 yearly or US$70 monthly.

Google Sites

Google Sites is Google's simple page builder. Google lists it among the apps in Google Workspace Essentials Starter, which it says is available at no cost.

Best for: a one page site with your hours, services, menu and a map, built in an afternoon.

Templates and themes, and pages that adjust to phones and tablets.
Custom domain: connect up to five domains from a registrar in Settings, then Custom domains.

Why it stands out: you can connect a domain you already own without a builder plan fee named on Google's pages.

Limits: the address must include a subdomain such as www, ownership is verified in Google Search Console, and Google's pages describe no store or payment features. They also do not say whether a personal account can connect a domain or only a Workspace account.

Price: no fee is shown for Sites; you pay your registrar for the domain.

GoDaddy Website Builder

GoDaddy's builder, now paired with its Airo AI tools, drafts a site for you from a short description.

Best for: an owner who wants a first draft fast and plans to buy a domain from the same company.

Free start: GoDaddy's Canadian page says you can create unlimited websites or apps for free, with no credit card.
AI credits: 50 a month on the free start; they do not roll over.

Why it stands out: CAD pricing on its Canadian page.

Limits: GoDaddy's pages do not spell out whether the free start allows your own domain, an online store or a site without GoDaddy branding, so ask before you build on it.

Price: from C$12.99 a month with an annual term.

Squarespace (paid only)

Squarespace is a design led builder. Its pricing page says plainly that it does not offer a free plan.

Best for: a photographer, florist or studio where looks sell the work.

14 day free trial with no credit card required.
Free domain for the first year on annual plans.
Store fees: 2% transaction fee on Basic, 0% on Core and up.

Limits: you pay from day one after the trial.

Price: Basic $25 a month, or $19 a month on annual billing; Core $39 or $29. Currency not stated on the page.

What owning your address costs in year one

Every free plan above uses the builder's address. Here is what the first year costs on the cheapest plan that lets you use your own domain, at the published price and before GST/HST. Each line keeps the currency its page shows, so do not compare them as if they were the same money.

A man working on a laptop at a window counter in a small cafe

WordPress.com Personal, yearly: US$4 × 12 = US$48, with the domain free for the first year.
Wix Light, yearly: US$17.77 × 12 = US$213.24, with a free domain voucher for a year.
GoDaddy Website Builder, annual term: C$12.99 × 12 = C$155.88, with a free domain on annual plans.
Square Online Plus, annual: $36 × 12 = $432 (currency not stated on the page), with a free domain credit for one year.
Squarespace Basic, annual: $19 × 12 = $228 (currency not stated on the page), with the domain free for the first year.

Domains renew at the regular rate from year two. Use the GST/HST calculator to add your province's sales tax to any of these.

Canadian rules worth knowing before you launch

.ca domains have eligibility rules. CIRA allows Canadian citizens and permanent residents of the age of majority, businesses incorporated in Canada or a province, qualifying partnerships, and owners of a registered Canadian trademark (for a domain matching the trademark).
Ontario accessibility. Ontario businesses and non profits with 50 or more employees must make public websites meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA, a rule in force since January 1, 2021, with exceptions for live captions and pre recorded audio descriptions. Smaller businesses are not covered, but alt text and readable contrast help every visitor.
Prices on an online store. If you are registered for the GST/HST, set up the right rate for where you sell before your first order.

Your launch checklist for a free site

Copy this list and work through it in one sitting:

Write the four things a visitor needs first: what you sell, where you are, your hours and how to reach you.
Add your phone number as a tap to call link and your address with a map.
Upload five real photos of your work, your space or your products, each with a short alt text.
Check every page on your own phone before you publish.
Put the site link on your Google Business Profile, Instagram bio and receipts.
Write down the date you would move to a paid plan, and the monthly price after any first year discount.

Our mobile website checklist goes deeper on what to show in the first five seconds, and the Google Business Profile setup guide covers the listing that sends people to your site.

Free limits that are not written down. If a builder does not list what the free plan excludes, assume your own domain and branding removal cost money.
No way out. Before you add twenty pages, check whether you can export your content. Moving builders usually means rebuilding.

Our take

This is a judgment based on the published features and pricing, not a hands on test.

Shop, café or restaurant that wants online orders: Square Online Free. Selling with pickup and delivery for no monthly fee is the strongest free deal here; move to Plus when you want your own domain.

Solo service business that wants its own domain cheaply: WordPress.com Personal, at the lowest published price for a custom domain.

Owner who wants the nicest free brochure site: Wix Free, then Light when you are ready for your own address.

One page with hours and a map, and you already own a .ca: Google Sites.

When the pick changes: if looks are what you sell, skip the free plans and use the Squarespace trial to decide. If your web designer already works in one builder, use that one; the time they save is worth more than the price difference. For more tools by job, see the software hub, and for design ideas, browse the Website Lab.

Frequently asked questions

Can I build a business website in Canada for free?

Yes. Wix, Square Online, WordPress.com, Google Sites and GoDaddy all let you publish a site with no monthly fee. On these free plans you use the builder's address, such as a wixsite.com subdomain, and usually its branding.

Which free website builder lets me sell online?

Square Online's free plan includes an online store with pickup, delivery and shipping. You pay 2.8% + $0.30 per online transaction, with the currency not stated on its plans page. Wix and WordPress.com need a paid plan to take payments.

Can I use my own domain on a free plan?

Not on Wix, Square Online or WordPress.com, which all require a paid plan. Google's help page describes connecting a domain from a registrar to Google Sites, and you pay only the registrar.

Who can register a .ca domain?

CIRA's Canadian presence rules cover Canadian citizens and permanent residents of the age of majority, businesses incorporated in Canada, qualifying partnerships and owners of a registered Canadian trademark.

6 best free website builders for Canadian small businesses (2026): where free stops