TL;DR: No free AI website builder offers unlimited AI credits in 2026. Free tiers ration the AI: Framer gives 500 credits, Durable 300 total, GoDaddy Airo 50 a month, and B12 5 a day (pricing pages, October 19, 2026). WebZum doesn’t count credits: you preview and edit for free, and pay $19/month only when you publish.
Disclosure: WebZum publishes this blog and appears in the comparison. Every free tier below was checked on that builder’s own pricing or help page on October 19, 2026. Where we couldn’t confirm something, we left it out.
Verified October 19, 2026.
What changed since our July update: Durable’s free plan is now a private preview and no longer publishes live. GoDaddy’s Airo free plan builds but can’t publish. B12’s paid plan dropped from $49 to $24/month, and its free plan now publishes on a b12sites.com address. Hostinger’s headline price fell to $2.49/month on a 48-month prepay. We removed Jimdo because its pricing page wouldn’t load for verification.
How we judged “free”
For each builder we asked five questions, using only the company’s own pages:
- Is there a permanent free plan, or just a trial?
- Does the free version publish a live site?
- How much AI do you get free, and does it reset?
- Do you need a credit card to start?
- What’s the cheapest paid step to your own domain?
Is there a free AI website builder with unlimited credits?
No. Every builder we checked either meters its AI with credits or caps how much AI you get for free:
| Builder | Free AI allowance | Resets? | Source (Oct 19, 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Framer | 500 credits “to try” | No | framer.com/pricing |
| Durable | 300 credits total | No | durable.com/pricing |
| GoDaddy Airo | 50 credits | Monthly | GoDaddy Airo guide |
| B12 | 5 credits a day, max 30 a month | Daily | b12.io/pricing |
| Squarespace | 10 credits on Basic, one time (no free plan) | No | squarespace.com/pricing |
| Hostinger | 250 credits, a one-time gift on Premium (no free plan) | No | hostinger.com/website-builder |
| WebZum | No credit system: free preview with unlimited edits | n/a | webzum.com/free-website |
Paid plans meter too. GoDaddy’s Starter plan ($9.99/mo billed annually) includes 150 credits a month that “don’t roll over,” and extra packs cost $24.99 for 250 credits. Framer Basic includes 1,000 credits a month, and Durable Launch includes 1,000 a month.
What does each free AI website builder actually give you?
Wix: free and live, but on a Wix address
- Publishes free at
siteprefix.wixsite.com/siteaddress, with 500MB of storage and 1GB of bandwidth (Wix Help) - AI site creation works on the free plan, and Wix lists “AI creation tools” on every plan
- No custom domain on the free plan; paid plans start at Light, $17/month billed yearly (wix.com/plans)
Choose it if: you want a free live site today and plan to keep building in a drag-and-drop editor.
Durable: a private preview, not a live site
- The free plan lets you “build and share a private preview of your site on the durable.site subdomain” (Durable FAQ)
- 300 AI credits in total, and the CRM is capped at 10 customers
- Launch is $25/month, or $22/month billed yearly. It includes 1,000 AI credits a month, your own domain (a free one up to a $20 value), and branding removal
Choose it if: you want AI agents writing blog posts and replying to leads, and you’re fine paying to go live.
Canva: the most generous pure-free option for simple pages
- Free users can publish up to 5 live websites on my.canva.site, with a “Designed with Canva” footer (Canva Help)
- Free sites can publish up to 10 sections per page
- Custom domains need Canva Pro
Choose it if: you need a good-looking one-pager, like an event or a link-in-bio, and you’ll design it yourself.
Google Sites: free, even with your own domain, but you build it all
- Free with a Google account; you can connect up to five custom domains to one site, and you buy the domain separately (Sites Help)
- No platform branding bar
- You lay out every page by hand from blocks
Choose it if: you want $0 plus a custom domain and have the time to write and design every page.
GoDaddy Airo: builds free, publishes paid
- Start free with 50 AI credits a month and no credit card
- GoDaddy’s own guide says: “Publishing your site requires an active paid plan”
- Starter is $9.99/month billed annually, with 150 credits a month
Choose it if: you want to prototype a site or a small web app by chat before paying.
Framer: free on a Framer domain, credits are one-time
- 500 AI credits to try, a free Framer domain, and 1GB of bandwidth
- Framer calls the free plan “ideal for non-commercial use”; connecting a custom domain needs a paid plan
- Basic is $10/month on yearly billing
Choose it if: you’re a designer who thinks in layouts and breakpoints.
Butternut AI: unlimited free drafts, pay to go on your domain
- “Generate and edit as many draft sites as you like. Upgrade only when you’re ready to connect a custom domain” (Butternut pricing)
- Starter is $20/month with 100 AI credits a month; the chatbot trained on your data is on Pro at $69/month
Choose it if: you want a free sandbox and are fine with $20/month to go live.
B12: now publishes free on a B12 address
- Free sites go live on
yourbusiness.b12sites.com, with 5 AI credits a day (30 a month at most) - The Website plan is $24/month (after $1 for the first 7 days), adds your own domain, 100 credits a month, and removes B12 ads
Choose it if: you want a free live draft and a paid tier that’s cheaper than it used to be.
10Web: one free generation, then a card-backed trial
- Free users “are limited to generating one website, and full editing requires enabling the 7-day free trial,” which needs a credit card (10Web Help)
- AI Starter is $10/month as a 12-month prepay ($120, “regular price $240”) with 100 credits a month. It’s WordPress underneath.
Choose it if: you want WordPress and its plugins with an AI head start.
Hostinger and Squarespace: no free plan at all
- Hostinger: “No, Hostinger’s website builder isn’t free,” though there’s a 14-day free trial. Premium is $2.49/month on a 48-month prepay ($119.52), renewing at $10.99/month.
- Squarespace: “Squarespace doesn’t offer a free plan,” but there’s a 14-day trial with no credit card. Basic is $19/month billed yearly ($25 monthly), with 10 one-time AI credits.
Free AI website builders: 2026 comparison table
| Builder | Permanent free plan? | Free plan publishes live? | Card to start? | Free AI | Cheapest step to your own domain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wix | Yes | Yes (wixsite.com) | No | AI creation tools | Light, $17/mo yearly |
| Durable | Yes | No, private preview | Not stated | 300 credits total | Launch, $22/mo yearly or $25 monthly |
| Canva | Yes | Yes (5 sites, my.canva.site) | Free account | Not specified for websites | Canva Pro |
| Google Sites | Yes | Yes, even on a custom domain | Free Google account | You build it by hand | $0 + domain |
| GoDaddy Airo | Yes | No, paid plan needed | No | 50 credits/mo | Starter, $9.99/mo yearly |
| Framer | Yes | Yes (Framer domain) | Not stated | 500 credits, one time | Basic, $10/mo yearly |
| Butternut AI | Yes (drafts) | Drafts only | Not stated | Not stated for free | Starter, $20/mo |
| B12 | Yes | Yes (b12sites.com) | Not stated | 5/day, max 30/mo | Website, $24/mo |
| 10Web | One free generation | No, trial needed | Card for trial | One generation | AI Starter, $10/mo (12-mo prepay) |
| Hostinger | No (14-day trial) | No | Trial | Trial | Premium, $2.49/mo (48-mo prepay) |
| WebZum | Free preview | No, publishing needs a plan | No | Not metered | Professional, $34/mo (domain included) |
Can I start free and only pay when I connect my domain and remove branding?
Yes, on four of these. Wix, Canva, B12, and Google Sites all publish a free live site, and you pay (or, on Google Sites, just buy the domain) when you want your own address and no platform branding. Butternut works the same way, except its free sites stay drafts until you pay.
WebZum works differently: you pay when you publish, not when you add a domain. Basic ($19/month) puts your site live on a yourbusiness.webzum.com address. Professional ($34/month) adds a custom domain that WebZum registers and pays for, and removes WebZum branding.
What does $0 get you on WebZum? We timed it
Since you’ll ask: WebZum has no free live plan. Instead, you see your entire finished site before you pay anything. We recorded our own build and editor on October 17, 2026, using a demo bakery site. Here’s what the free preview did and how long each step took:
| Step (free preview, no card) | What we typed or did | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Build | A one-line description, then about 4 chat questions | About 4 minutes to a site with logo, copy, photos, and pages |
| Change the color theme | “make the colors softer, pastel pink and cream” | ~25 seconds |
| Rename the business everywhere | “change the name to Golden Rye Bakery & Cafe” | ~50 seconds (header, body, footer) |
| Add a blog with a first post | “add a blog with a first post about how we make our sourdough” | ~50 seconds |
| Edit a photo | “add a small vase of fresh flowers on the counter in this photo” | Under 30 seconds |
| Edit a photo (slow run) | “give the hero photo a cozy fall vibe…” | ~6 minutes (the screen estimated ~3) |
| Undo | “undo that last photo change” | ~8 seconds |
| Credits used | None; WebZum doesn’t count them |
Newer builds also include features that landed this fall:
- A 5-second hero video made from your homepage photo
- One of seven header designs picked for your business
- SVG logos with a version for dark headers
- A photo window where you can generate, upload with Enhance, or edit any image
- Version history that notes what each edit did
When you’re ready, publishing costs $19/month (Basic) or $34/month (Professional). Every site includes an AI assistant that talks to your visitors and sends you their contact info.
WebZum’s terms also describe an invite program. When a business owner you invite builds their first website, you each get a free month, banked up to 12 months per account.
More on how edits work: regenerate your website with AI for free and editing a website by chat instead of drag-and-drop.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free AI website builder with unlimited credits?
No. As of October 19, 2026, every AI builder we checked meters its AI: Framer (500 credits to try), Durable (300 in total), GoDaddy Airo (50 a month), B12 (5 a day). WebZum doesn’t use credits at all. Its free preview includes unlimited edits, and you pay only to publish.
Is there a free AI website builder with no credit card required?
Yes. Wix’s free plan, GoDaddy Airo’s free plan, and Squarespace’s 14-day trial all say “no credit card required,” and Canva’s free websites come with a free account. Of those, only Wix and Canva publish a live site for free. WebZum also needs no card to build and preview your complete site.
Is there a free AI website builder with a custom domain?
Not among the AI builders we checked; the custom domain is where every paywall lands. Google Sites lets you connect your own domain for free, but it doesn’t build the site for you.
Does Durable have a free plan in 2026?
Yes, but it changed. Durable’s free plan is now a private preview on a durable.site subdomain, with 300 AI credits in total. Going live on your own domain starts at Launch: $25/month, or $22/month billed yearly.
Are free AI website builders good enough for a small business?
They’re fine for testing. For running a business, platform subdomains and branding cost you credibility, and free AI allowances run out right when you start relying on them. See what the paid tiers cost in the cheapest AI website builder in 2026 and where extra fees hide in AI website builders with no hidden fees.
The bottom line
Free AI website builders in 2026 are test drives. Wix and Canva will let you drive off the lot on their plates. Durable and GoDaddy now keep the car in the showroom until you pay. None of them hands you unlimited AI.
If you want to know what you’d be paying for before you pay, build your site on WebZum and look at the whole thing. See how the AI website builder works, or compare head to head on WebZum vs Durable. If you’re new to all of this, start with how to make a website for your business. If you’re open to paying, our best AI website builder picks cover the paid options by what you need.