Building a website with AI is free almost everywhere in 2026 — the AI will happily generate a full site from a prompt or a short questionnaire on any of the platforms below. What’s not free everywhere is keeping that site live. Most platforms publish your finished site to their own subdomain (something like yourname.platform.com) at no cost, then charge once you want a custom domain, extra pages, or their branding removed.
This guide compares 20 AI website builders that genuinely let you publish live on a free subdomain, what each free plan actually includes, and where the first real cost shows up.
Quick Comparison Table
| # | Platform | Best For | Free Subdomain | Free-Tier Limit | Upgrade Starts At |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wix AI (ADI) | Complete beginners | yourname.wixsite.com |
Wix branding + ads | $17/mo |
| 2 | Framer AI | Design & animation | .framer.website |
500 AI credits | $10/mo |
| 3 | Durable AI | Local service trades | .durable.site |
5 AI images, 10 chat msgs/mo | $25/mo |
| 4 | Jimdo | Simple small-business sites | Jimdo subdomain | Jimdo branding | Varies |
| 5 | Canva Websites | Designers already in Canva | .canva.site |
1-page site, no forced upgrade | $10/mo |
| 6 | Dorik AI | SaaS portfolios | Dorik subdomain | Basic templates, exportable code | Paid tiers for more |
| 7 | TeleportHQ | Front-end developers | TeleportHQ subdomain | Unlimited, fully exportable | N/A |
| 8 | Framekit | Multi-page sites with a store | .framekit.ai |
Small badge | $9/mo |
| 9 | GoDaddy Airo | Fastest generation (<1 min) | GoDaddy subdomain | Less design depth | Varies |
| 10 | Webflow | Design control | .webflow.io |
Capped at 2 projects | Varies |
| 11 | SITE123 | Absolute beginners | SITE123 subdomain | Limited customization | Varies |
| 12 | Webador | Small business pages | Webador subdomain | Small template range | Varies |
| 13 | IONOS AI | Bundled marketing tools | IONOS subdomain | Smaller AI feature set | Varies |
| 14 | WebWave | Freelancers & agencies | .webwave.me |
Branding shown | $5/mo |
| 15 | Blink | Full-stack apps with a database | Blink subdomain | Custom domain only | $25/mo |
| 16 | Lovable | Prompt-to-app builds | Lovable subdomain + badge | Credits run out fast | $25/mo |
| 17 | Dora AI | 3D, animated sites | .dora.run |
120 AI credits | ~$14/mo |
| 18 | Bolt.new | Full-stack web apps | .netlify.app (via 1-click deploy) |
150K tokens/day, 1M/mo | $20/mo |
| 19 | v0 by Vercel | Next.js apps from a prompt | .vercel.app |
Exportable code | Vercel usage-based |
| 20 | B12 | AI-drafted sites w/ human polish | b12sites.com |
Draft only, 5 credits/day | $49/mo |
The 20 Platforms in Detail
1. Wix AI (Wix ADI)
Answer a few prompts and Wix’s AI assembles a full site, published free at yourname.wixsite.com. The free plan includes heavy Wix branding and a subdomain; removing the ads and connecting a real domain starts at $17/month.
2. Framer AI
Framer’s generator produces polished, animation-heavy sites from a prompt. Its free plan is unusually generous for a design-first tool — 500 credits and a live subdomain — making it one of the strongest free tiers for designers specifically.
3. Durable AI
Built for local service businesses like garages, cleaners, and salons. The free plan publishes to a .durable.site subdomain with Durable branding, though AI features are rationed to 5 AI images and 10 chatbot messages a month.
4. Jimdo
Jimdo is one of the handful of platforms that keeps a free site online indefinitely on its own subdomain, with Jimdo branding left on your pages.
5. Canva Websites
If you already design in Canva, its site tool is arguably the least restrictive free option on this list. It publishes to a .canva.site subdomain with no forced paid upgrade for a basic one-page site.
6. Dorik AI
Dorik’s free basic plan suits clean SaaS-style portfolios and, unusually for this category, exports code rather than locking your site into its platform.
7. TeleportHQ
Popular with front-end developers who still want AI-assisted layout. Its free tier is unlimited and the output is fully exportable — no upgrade required to take the code elsewhere.
8. Framekit
Framekit’s free plan publishes a real multi-page site with no ads, a store, and client galleries — not a stripped-down demo — though the address is a .framekit.ai subdomain with a small badge until you move to a paid plan.
9. GoDaddy Airo
Best for speed. It generates a working site in under a minute, trading some design depth for that speed, and publishes free on a GoDaddy subdomain.
10. Webflow
Offers more design control than most AI builders on this list. The free plan is capped at two projects, each published on a .webflow.io subdomain.
11. SITE123
The fastest option for complete beginners, though customization is limited until you upgrade.
12. Webador
Geared toward small business pages, with a smaller template range than bigger competitors, but a fully workable free subdomain plan.
13. IONOS AI Website Builder
Bundles AI marketing tools alongside site generation, though its AI feature set is smaller than Wix’s or Framer’s.
14. WebWave
Popular with freelancers and agencies who want creative control over layout. The free tier publishes to a .webwave.me subdomain with branding attached; a custom domain starts at $5/month.
15. Blink
A newer full-stack option. Its free plan isn’t a crippled trial — it includes a real database, real authentication, and a live Blink subdomain with zero ads. Only a custom domain sits behind the paid tier.
16. Lovable
Popular for “vibe-coding” full apps from a prompt rather than just marketing pages. It publishes free to a subdomain with a Lovable badge, though free credits run out quickly on anything beyond a simple build.
17. Dora AI
Specializes in 3D, animation-heavy sites built from a single prompt. Its free Starter plan includes an SSL certificate, a .dora.run subdomain, and 120 AI generation credits, with paid plans needed for a custom domain.
18. Bolt.new (StackBlitz)
Generates full-stack web apps in the browser. The free plan includes 150,000 tokens daily and 1 million tokens monthly, and Bolt’s built-in Netlify integration lets you publish straight from the editor to a free .netlify.app subdomain with one click.
19. v0 by Vercel
Turns a prompt into a working Next.js app with React, TypeScript, and Tailwind CSS. The generated code is yours to export, and v0 is designed for one-click deploys to Vercel, landing on a free .vercel.app subdomain.
20. B12
AI drafts a site, then nudges you toward its done-for-you service. The free tier gives you an AI-generated draft you can view, with 5 AI credits a day, on a b12sites.com subdomain — though taking the site fully live and business-ready costs $49/month.
What Free Plans Almost Always Restrict
A pattern repeats across nearly every platform above, so it’s worth stating plainly rather than discovering it after building a full site:
- A subdomain, not your own domain. Your site lives at
yourname.platform.com, notyourbrand.com, until you upgrade. - Platform branding or a badge somewhere on the page, usually in the footer.
- Storage and page caps. Many free builders cap you around 500MB of storage or a handful of pages/projects.
- Rationed AI credits. Tools like Durable, Dora, and B12 limit how many AI generations, images, or chat messages you get per day or month.
- No custom domain at $0. In 2026, essentially no AI website builder connects a real custom domain on its free tier — that’s consistently where the paywall sits.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a truly free AI website builder with no hidden costs? Canva Websites comes closest — it publishes a basic one-page site to a .canva.site subdomain with no forced upgrade. Almost every other tool on this list gives you a free generator but eventually charges for a custom domain, removing branding, or keeping the site live long-term.
Can I get a custom domain for free with any of these? No. As of 2026, no AI website builder on this list connects a custom domain at $0 — that’s the near-universal point where free plans end and paid plans begin.
Which of these tools is best for a small local business? Durable AI and GoDaddy Airo are both built specifically around local service businesses, generating a usable site in minutes. Wix AI offers the widest range of add-on business tools once you’re ready to upgrade.
Which tool gives me an exportable, developer-owned codebase for free? TeleportHQ, Dorik AI, Bolt.new, and v0 by Vercel all let you export or own the underlying code, rather than locking your site permanently inside their platform.
Do any of these builders support e-commerce on the free plan? Generally no — e-commerce features (product catalogs, checkout, inventory) are reserved for paid tiers across almost all 20 platforms, including Wix, Durable, and Dora.
Ready to move beyond a subdomain? Every platform above offers a paid tier for a custom domain — compare the monthly cost against what a fully custom-built site from a developer would cost you long-term before committing to a subscription.