New Year, new site: how to launch on a budget this weekend
How to create a website on a budget before the end of the first weekend of 2026.
2026 is here, and with it - new business ideas, which all need a home online.
You've got two main options: hosting a website yourself with one of the best web hosting providers or using one of the best website builders around today.
Web hosting providers
The first choice is which web hosting provider to use - and for this article, I've narrowed this down to three providers. Hostinger, Bluehost, and Namecheap.
Hostinger has one of the most complete web hosting packages that makes it comparable to a website builder and they have their own website builder too. It has very low starter prices but renewal prices are high compared to other hosting options.
Bluehost has, in my opinion, one of the best WordPress page builders on the market making created WordPress sites super easy. The hosting packages are less complete, starter prices are also low but renewal and add-ons do increase the price later on.
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Namecheap, as the name would suggest, is cheap and has everything you need but the user experience is not as friendly as the above options.
After going over the pros and cons of these three providers I'll throw in a website builder comparison.
Hostinger
(Image credit: Future)
What you get
On the most basic Premium plan ($1.99/mo for 48 months, then $12.99/mo), Hostinger should give you everything you need for a weekend launch.
Other plans give you more features, support more website, and provide more performance, but the Premium plan should be fine, as it includes:
A free domain for one year - When you use the domain from Hostinger you don't need to configure or do anything other than find a domain name that's available. When it comes to the subsequent years, using the domain from Hostinger is slightly more costly than using one of the best domain registrars to manage your domain name but you will need to configure it yourself (easy if you want to).
20 GB of storage - This should be plenty of storage for most websites.
2 mail boxes per website - Be aware that these are only free for one year.
(Image credit: Future)
Website building options - You can use an AI website builder for WordPress - just WordPress, or Hostinger's Website Builder. I'd recommend the AI website builder for WordPress, or just WordPress because you have more flexibility.
All of these options can be installed easily with one click and don't require any additional configurations.
You can check out a step by step process on how to create a site with Hostinger in my 60 Minutes with Hostinger article.
Bluehost
(Image credit: Future)
What you get
On Bluehost's Starter plan ($3.99/mo for 36 months, then $9.99/mo), you also get everything you should need for a straightforward launch.
A free domain for one year - As with Hostinger, it is easy enough to use this free domain for a year - but you might want to check out other options at a later date.
10GB of storage - Less than Hostinger, but still plenty of storage for most websites.
Pro Email - Only free for a year, and then an additional $2.99/mo after.
(Image credit: Future)
Website building options - Bluehost just provides an AI builder for WordPress, and I think it's better than Hostinger's AI WordPress site building tool.
WonderBlocks makes it really easy to edit and modify WordPress sites - and you can read my 60 Minutes with Bluehost article to see how easy it is to build and manage a website with this option.
Namecheap
(Image credit: Future)
What you get
Once again, you can find everything you need to start and manage a website with Namecheap's basic plan: Stellar ($1.98/mo for 12 months, then $4.88/mo).
A free domain for one year - Namecheap has some of the lowest renewal prices for domains, so you won't need to search elsewhere after your year's free trial is up.
20GB SSD storage - Par for the course, and should be all you need.
30 Mailboxes- This is the real bonus, as our previous hosts require you to pay extra for email after one month or a year - but with Namecheap, email is included, and free forever.
Bundled with shared hosting, Namecheap's no-code website builder allows you to easily create a website thanks to the inclusion of over 200 templates (Image credit: Namecheap)
Website building options - You have a few options with Namecheap and it can be a bit overwhelming, so I'm just going to mention two: WordPress and the AI Website Builder.
The AI Website Builder is OK but it doesn't support ecommerce and doesn't have the same maturity and amount of options as WordPress. I'd stick with WordPress but you get less of a helping hand using the WordPress page builder.
Website Builder option: Wix
Get started quickly with Wix's help, or take your time with a more bespoke design (Image credit: Wix)
What you get
Wix's cheapest plan is $17/mo from the starting block, and you don't get much for it.
A free domain for one year - The first year is free and the 'starting' price is stated but the renewal cost is hidden.
2GB storage - This isn't much compared to some other options, but should be manageable for most users.
Email - What email? None is provided.
Wix offers great freedom in your design, but not so much that it is easy to mess up your site. (Image credit: Wix)
Website building options - The upside to Wix is that it has a very user friendly page builder, but you don't get free add-ons like you do with WordPress - and if you wanted to leave Wix, you'll need to re-build your page from scratch.
Web hosting summary
Our tests show that there isn't much between the hosts when it comes to performance so the choice is entirely down to budget and how much of a helping hand you want with WordPress.
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Host
Pro
Con
Price
Hostinger
Lots of features and low starter price
No free email and high renewal prices
$1.99/mo then $12.99/mo
Bluehost
Excellent page building tools
No free email and high renewal prices
$3.99/mo then $9.99/mo
Namecheap
Low price comparable performance
Less helpful tools
$1.98/mo then $4.98/mo
Wix
Easy to use page builder
Expensive, vendor lock-in, lacks email
$17/mo
If I was on a budget and had more time to play with WordPress then I'd pick Namecheap.
If I could stretch my budget and needed help page building with WordPress I'd use Bluehost.
If I could extend my budget and in return get AI website management tools like Kodee and more features like email marketing, I'd go with Hostinger.
FAQs
How easy is it to make a website with a web host?
It can definitely be as easy to make a site with a web host as it is with a website builder. Some hosts have their own website builder, and some have tools for WordPress. They all have templates, they all have drag-and-drop page editors, they are all easy to use.
The only caveat is that WordPress's drag-and-drop builder is not as-easy-to-use but there are plenty of tutorials. If you're having difficulties it's worth persevering.
What is WordPress and why do I need it?
When you use a website builder you are given a section of server with the website builder software installed that is used to build and manage you site. It's all behind lock-and-key. When you use a web host you just rent the server. You need to install software on it to build and manage a site. This is where WordPress comes in. It's free and open-source. Installation is easy as you just need to click one button and the host does all the technical things for you.
What about ecommerce stores?
As these recommendations are all based on WordPress being used as the CMS all you need to do is install the WooCommerce plug-in. You likely won't be able to host an ecommerce store on the basic plans because they won't be powerful enough but you can use one of the higher spec plans,. The recommendations are the same. My advice is to speak to the hosting provider and tell them your idea, they can recommend a suitable plan for you.