Weebly Website Builder Review 2024: Features, Pros & Cons, Cost, & Is It Right for Therapists?

What Is Weebly Website Builder?

Weebly is a self-service website builder that allows you to create and maintain many different types of websites. Access to the website builder and hosting can be obtained at no cost, but if you’d like to use a custom domain and gain other industry-standard features, prices begin at $13 monthly.

While Weebly is built with eCommerce in mind, it can be used to create an effective website for a therapist. Weebly allows you to select a template for your website and then customize it to suit your needs. While it is accessible for any skill level, Weebly also includes in-depth customization tools for adding custom code and integrations.

Types of Website Builders

Website builders can range from completely do-it-yourself systems wherein you build the website mostly on your own to fully professionally managed websites designed by experienced web designers. Depending on your experience, budget, and the amount of time you’d like to spend on setup, different options may be better for you.

Weebly is a DIY web design solution that allows users to create full websites with no need for help from a consultant. Unlike some competitors, Weebly does not have any in-depth AI solutions similar to Wix’s Artificial Design Intelligence system.

Weebly Website Builder Specs

How Easy Is Weebly Website Builder to Use?

Weebly is straightforward to use. Rather than select a pricing plan to start with, upon signup, Weebly allows you to get right to editing your website. Simply select a template that would work best for your needs and aesthetic taste, then begin to edit the details.=

The steps for creating a website with Weebly are:

1. Select a beginning template: Select a template to start your website with from an assortment of templates. (5-10 minutes)
2. Edit the template website to meet your needs: After choosing a template, you will edit the contents of it to match your website. Change the text content, fonts, colors, and images from the options available on Weebly. (30-60+ minutes)
3. Review your draft website and make revisions: Double-check everything to ensure that everything is the way you’d like it, both aesthetically and functionally. (15+ minutes)
4. Your website goes live: Once this process is complete, you will publish your website. If you decide you’d like to make changes, edits are easy to accomplish after the initial publication.

How Much Does Weebly Website Builder Cost?

Weebly costs range from $0 – $29 monthly and there is no upfront setup fee. While you can create a website at no cost and host it indefinitely, the subscription cost is well worth its cost. Subscriptions include free domain registration and many premium features.

Below are the costs for Weebly:

How to Get Started with Weebly

To get started with Weebly, simply navigate to the Weebly homepage and select “Sign Up.” After entering a few details, you will be able to get started creating your website straight away. If you need premium features, you can select them later, so a payment method is not needed immediately at signup.

Weebly Web Builder Core Features

Weebly provides an intuitive design suite to create your website and offers plans for hosting your website and handling all of the behind-the-scenes work. Wix offers tools like curated templates, smart integrations, SEO features, and blogging that would work well for a therapist’s website.

Templates

Weebly offers over 50 templates to choose from to get your website started. While all of these can be customized to suit the needs of a therapist’s website, a few will work better than others. For my website, I decided on one of the online business templates.

All of the templates offered by Weebly are generic, so they can be customized to any business or personal website. However, I  missed the ease of an AI tool taking an aesthetic I like and building the website for me as Wix ADI does. In this way, Weebly seems a bit outdated.

Design Customization

Customizing your website design in Weebly is fairly straightforward. Weebly uses an interactive editing suite that allows you to change design elements, add new ones, change fonts, and more. Weebly also allows you to change the template that you selected at the beginning while retaining the design changes you’ve already made. I particularly liked how easy it was to add new sections to a page or add dividers to improve the flow.

You can embed videos, audio, and documents, as well as add search boxes, contact forms, interactive forms, as well as many eCommerce features. There are a ton of options that you can add and change about your website. With a bit of ingenuity, you can also add custom HTML or CSS code and integrate APIs from external applications – however, this is fairly complex. Weebly also includes some stock photos that can be placed throughout your website to add some visual flair.

Entire pages and sections can easily be added, removed, or changed. Pages that are automatically included with the website are determined by the type of template you chose, however, they can all be edited accordingly. To reorder pages, simply drag and drop the order. Some different types of pages included are contact forms, product pages, blog pages, and external pages.

I found Weebly’s design customization system to be less intuitive than competitors, such as Wix’s. While there is a drag-and-drop interface, it’s rather restrictive and elements can only be placed in predetermined locations, snapping them into those spaces automatically. Meanwhile, with Wix, you can freely place elements and the auto-snap feature is much more intuitive. Still, Weebly offers a wide variety of customizations that should cover all of your needs.

Elements that can be customized by you in Weebly:

• Changing/uploading images
• Changing text content
• Customizing submittable forms
• Creating new pages from a template
• Sitewide color scheme
• Font size and color
• The overall flow of the website
• Recoloring individual design elements
• Moving text, images, or other items around on a page
• Custom code and web APIs in Dev Mode
• The website template once published

Elements that cannot be customized by you in Weebly:

• Freely moving elements on a page without auto-snapping

Website Integrations

Weebly offers several integrations to help boost the functionality of your website. Some of the integrated features of importance are unlocked at higher subscription plans, particularly the eCommerce features. For instance, the ability to ship products, and enable pop-up notifications are built into Weebly but only unlocked with premium subscriptions levels.

Other integrations are available on the Weebly App Center and can be accessed directly from the website editing tool. Some of these integrations are built by Weebly, and others are from third parties. Some examples include search engine optimization (SEO) plug-ins, charts, forms, animations, and integrations for popular external tools like G-Suite. Keep in mind that certain applications may require a premium subscription level or an additional fee.

SEO Tools

Weebly offers a handful of features to help you manage the search engine optimization (SEO) of your website. On the basic level, your website’s description, meta keywords, and footer and header code can be edited. Weebly also offers reports for monitoring the performance of your website over time.

More in-depth customization is also unlocked at premium subscription plans. This includes the ability to set alt tags and page-specific descriptions. Weebly states that it optimizes the HTML structure of your website’s code to ensure it is as optimized as possible for search engines. On top of this, Weebly also offers a few third-party SEO apps and a full guide for how to manage your SEO settings.

Marketing

Weebly offers a tool for building email marketing materials – it is much the same as the website editor with a slightly different format. It enables you to make beautiful emails and ads to send to prospective or current clients. In addition to email marketing, Weebly offers integrations for interactive website pop-ups for collecting visitor email addresses and more.

Weebly also helps you create style standards for your emails, and add many other marketing features. In addition to built-in features, the Weebly App Center also has a handful of marketing tools available.

Weebly also helps you create style standards for your emails, and add many other marketing features. In addition to built-in features, the Weebly App Center also has a handful of marketing tools available.

Weebly Domains & Hosting

With a free subscription, Weebly will include a basic URL for users to access your website. This domain will be partially customizable in the format of “yourcompanyname.weebly.com” with the first part of the URL being customizable based on availability. With premium subscriptions, you’ll gain the ability to connect custom domains to your website.

At the Professional Plan subscription level, Weebly will register a domain on your behalf and keep it active for one year. After this, you will have to pay for continuing that domain registration. Also beginning at the Professional Plan level, you will get unlimited storage with your hosting plan. Weebly provides 24/7 hosting and support, and an SSL certificate at all subscription levels.

Who is Weebly Right For?

Weebly is an excellent choice for people that would like to be able to customize their website on their own, those who want a quick and straightforward solution, and those who don’t need HIPAA-compliance or therapist-specific features on their website.

People Who Want to Customize Their Website Themselves

If you prefer a hands-on solution in your website builder, then Weebly is an excellent choice. The website editor is easy to navigate and use and provides great results.

People That Want a Quick, Straightforward Solution

Weebly is fantastically easy to implement. Simply create an account and get to customizing – all-in-all an afternoon’s time would be enough to get a website off the ground using Weebly.

Those Who Don’t Need HIPAA-Compliance or Therapist-Specific Features

Weebly wasn’t built specifically for therapists or mental health workers. If you don’t need HIPAA-compliance or unique features designed specifically for therapists, then Weebly may be a great choice.

Who May Want an Alternative to Weebly?

Weebly is a great solution for many, but some may be suited to alternatives. For example, people who prefer a hands-off approach, practices that need therapist-specific features, and those who want a high-tech website builder would be better served by other platforms.

Those Who Want a Hands-Off Approach

While Weebly makes building a website easy, some may prefer a hands-off approach. If you’re one of those people, then Brighter Vision may be the platform for you. Instead of designing the website on your own, with Brighter Vision, you will clarify your needs and aesthetic preferences, and professional web developers will create it on your behalf. Brighter Vision was also designed specifically for therapists, so you know they will have your practice’s interests at heart.

Read our review of Brighter Vision for more information.

Practices That Need Therapist-Specific Features

Since Weebly wasn’t built specifically for therapists, it lacks some of the features that other mental health website builders offer. SimplePractice is an EHR platform that also offers a professional website builder. With one subscription, you unlock access to a full suite of tools to manage your therapy practice.

For more information, take a look at our SimplePractice review, as well as our comprehensive review of SimplePractice Website Builder.

People Who Want the Highest Tech Website Builder

In terms of template-style website builders, Weebly is a little outdated. It doesn’t offer AI-assisted technology to help you build your website. It also isn’t the most intuitive when it comes to user experience, so if you need something that leverages modern technology to the fullest, you may be better off elsewhere.

For a more modern website builder, Wix is a great option. Take a look at our Wix review.

Weebly Vs. Brighter Vision

Weebly and Brighter Vision are different types of website-building solutions. While Weebly is a DIY builder, Brighter Vision is a full-service website design consultant that will do almost everything for you.

Since Brighter Vision is a custom service, the costs are significantly greater than with Weebly. While a basic website can be created at no cost with Weebly, Brighter Vision costs at least $169 up front, with a monthly cost of $69.

To learn more about Brighter Vision, take a look at our comprehensive Brighter Vision review.

Weebly Vs. Wix

Weebly and Wix are direct competitors. They are both DIY website-building platforms that provide you with a suite of tools to create and maintain your website. Both platforms provide hosting services to keep your website up and running.

Wix is slightly more intuitive than Weebly to use. For instance, it has an AI tool that can be used to eliminate most of the manual work of designing your website, and the customization tools are easier to use. Wix and Weebly are comparable in terms of cost. Both offer free plans, and core plans range ~$15 – $30 monthly. However, Wix has some more expensive pricing plans tailored for business needs.

To get more insight about the differences, take a look at our review of Wix.

History of Weebly Website Builder

According to Weebly, the company was founded in 2007 and is used to power more than 50 million websites worldwide.¹ Weebly has multiple offices across the United States and is one of the most popular website builders available today.

In 2018, Square acquired Weebly, and, today, Weebly users can access a variety of integrations that help to bridge the gap between Weebly’s and Square’s services.

Weebly Website Builder Review – Key Takeaways

• Weebly is a DIY website builder that offers free and paid subscriptions, depending on your needs.
• Weebly offers some great customization options, and setup is quick and easy.
• Weebly doesn’t have as many unique and intuitive features as competitors.
• There are many apps and integrations available for your website.
• Many practices will find Weebly very valuable.

Weebly Website Builder – Our Final Verdict

In my time using Weebly, I was impressed with its value and versatility. While it lacks some of the unique features that are offered by therapist-specific website builders, you can still build a useful and beautiful website for your practice. If you plan on selling products online, Weebly has many useful eCommerce features.

You should consider signing up for Weebly if you:

• Want a DIY website builder that’s quick and easy to set up
• Need a variety of apps and plugins, or eCommerce features
• Want a platform that’s been around for many years

You should consider looking for an alternative to Weebly if you:

• Want a website builder built specifically for therapists. A better alternative might be Brighter Vision. Read our Brighter Vision review.
• Want a DIY website builder with AI tools. Wix offers these and is more intuitive to use overall. Check out our Wix review for details.
• Need an EHR platform with your website. SimplePractice offers a full suite of practice management software – check out our SimplePractice review.

FAQs for Weebly

Is Weebly HIPAA-Compliant?

No. Weebly is not built specifically for healthcare professionals and is not HIPAA-compliant. Care should be taken to ensure that your clients’ data is protected.

Is Weebly Free to Use?

Yes. Weebly has a free plan in which you can create a basic website. However, this is somewhat restrictive, and industry-standard features become available in premium subscription plans.

Does Weebly Own Your Content?

No. You retain ownership of the content of your website; Weebly simply provides you with a platform to publish and host your content.

What Kind of Help and Support Does Weebly Offer?

Weebly maintains a robust database of self-service customer service articles to help you solve problems that might arise with your website. In addition to this, you will be able to access customer service representatives by chat or email, and there is a forum where users can submit questions and hold discussions with other users and staff.

More advanced customer service is unlocked when you purchase a premium subscription plan. For instance, you gain access to phone support with the Professional plan, and “priority” support with the Performance plan.

What Safety and Security Features Does Weebly Have?

Weebly offers all websites an SSL certificate which helps protect your website visitors’ privacy. Keep in mind that Weebly is not designed specifically for healthcare workers, so it is not HIPAA-compliant.

Does Weebly Have E-Commerce Features?

Yes. Weebly is designed with eCommerce in mind, so it does offer a variety of eCommerce features. These features could facilitate a large online shop, so as a therapist, Weebly should have any needs you have completely covered.

What are the Disadvantages of Weebly?

Weebly is not designed specifically for therapists or any healthcare professionals. While you can design a sufficient therapist website with Weebly, it does lack some of the unique features of a service designed for therapists.

Additional Website Builder FAQs

What is Web Hosting?

Web hosting, in layperson’s terms, is the process of making your website’s data available and accessible to the internet. Web hosting companies provide the storage needed on a physical server, which you would then rent to store your website’s data. ²

What is a Domain Name?

Domain names are human-readable addresses for any given web server accessible on the internet.³ This address corresponds to a computer’s IP address which your web browser will use to access the page you’d like to view. Domain names are a way to make these IP addresses easier to read for humans.

What is SEO?

SEO stands for search engine optimization. It is the process of optimizing a website to be more visible on the results page of a search engine like Google or DuckDuckGo.⁴