WebStarts is a hosted website builder that lets people create small sites using a drag-and-drop editor, without installing any software or managing hosting separately. It’s aimed at small businesses and personal sites rather than large or complex projects.
What WebStarts is
WebStarts is a proprietary, closed-source platform. Hosting, the editor, and the underlying code all run on WebStarts’ own servers. Users don’t get access to the source files or a way to run the platform independently. This puts it in the same general category as other hosted site builders, rather than alongside self-hosted CMS platforms like WordPress or Joomla.
The platform offers a free plan with WebStarts branding and limited features, plus paid tiers that add a custom domain, more storage, and e-commerce tools. Exact pricing and plan details change over time, so check the current WebStarts site rather than relying on older reviews.
Typical use cases
- Personal websites and portfolios
- Small business brochure sites
- Simple online stores with a limited product range
- Landing pages that don’t need custom development
It’s not built for large content libraries, complex custom functionality, or sites that need direct server or database access.
How it compares to self-hosted CMS platforms
| Hosted builder (WebStarts) | Self-hosted CMS (WordPress, Joomla, etc.) |
| Hosting bundled with the platform | Hosting bought and managed separately |
| No access to source code | Full access to files and database |
| Limited plugin/theme ecosystem | Large third-party plugin and theme markets |
| Migrating out is harder, often manual | Standard export/import tools usually exist |
Moving away from WebStarts
Because WebStarts doesn’t expose a database or standard export format, there’s no built-in one-click migration path to another CMS. Content typically has to be copied out page by page, or rebuilt on the new platform. Anyone planning to move should check what content types (pages, blog posts, product listings) are actually needed on the new site before starting, since manual copying is slow and errors are easy to introduce with images and formatting.
For background on how other platforms handle this differently, see the list of the platform index covered on this site.
What’s uncertain
- Current pricing tiers and feature limits change periodically and aren’t repeated here to avoid quoting stale figures.
- Whether WebStarts offers any official export tool has varied historically; verify directly with the platform’s current documentation before relying on it.
- Ownership and company details behind WebStarts are not independently confirmed here.