Google Sites vs Durable.co: Comprehensive comparison guide for 2024

Final verdict

Google Sites and Durable.co both offer unique advantages, but they cater to different user needs.

• 
  Google Sites (Overall Grade: 5.6/10)
  
  is ideal for users seeking a simple, collaborative website builder with seamless integration with Google services. It excels in ease of use, learning resources, and security, making it a great choice for team projects, personal portfolios, and small business websites. However, it lacks built-in ecommerce features and advanced customization options, which may limit its appeal for more complex web projects.
• 
  Durable.co (Overall Grade: 6.8/10)
  
  stands out for its AI-powered website builder, making it an excellent choice for small businesses and entrepreneurs looking to establish an online presence quickly and efficiently. It offers basic ecommerce capabilities, advanced marketing features, and a user-friendly interface. However, it may fall short in terms of hosting transparency and customer support compared to Google Sites. Durable.co is best suited for users who prioritize AI-driven customization and quick website creation.

Best for ecommerce

Verdict

: Google Sites is not ideal for ecommerce due to its lack of built-in features, while Durable.co offers basic ecommerce capabilities suitable for small businesses.

• 
  Google Sites
  
  : Google Sites is primarily designed for creating simple websites and lacks built-in ecommerce features. Users can integrate third-party tools for ecommerce functionalities, but this requires additional effort and may not provide a seamless experience. When comparing Google Sites vs Durable.co, Google Sites falls short in supporting ecommerce needs effectively.
• 
  Durable.co
  
  : Durable.co provides basic ecommerce features, including product pages, secure payments with Stripe, and lead capture forms. While it lacks advanced ecommerce functionalities like inventory management and shipping configurations, it is a better option for small businesses looking for a straightforward solution. Durable.co’s AI-driven approach simplifies the website creation process, making it a more viable choice for ecommerce compared to Google Sites.

Best for informational & business websites

Verdict

: When it comes to creating informational and business websites, Durable.co slightly edges out Google Sites due to its AI-powered customization and higher website speed optimization score. However, Google Sites remains a strong contender with its ease of use and robust security features.

• 
  Google Sites
  
  : Google Sites is a structured web page-creation tool included in the Google Workspace package. It enables users to build websites easily without having to know how to code, using a drag-and-drop interface. Users can integrate various Google services, such as Google Drive, Maps, and Calendar, directly into their websites. It’s designed for collaboration, allowing multiple users to work on a site simultaneously, making it a popular choice for team projects, personal portfolios, and small business websites. With a score of 7.2, Google Sites is a solid option for those who prioritize ease of use and integration with Google services.
• 
  Durable.co
  
  : Durable.co’s AI Website Builder tool is designed for businesses to create professional websites effortlessly. This builder leverages artificial intelligence to simplify the website creation process, allowing users to build a business website in seconds. It’s geared towards providing a user-friendly experience, requiring no coding skills, and is particularly beneficial for small businesses and entrepreneurs. With its AI capabilities, the platform can generate a complete website quickly and efficiently, making it an ideal solution for those looking to establish an online presence without the complexity of traditional web development. Scoring 7.4, Durable.co offers a slightly better experience for informational and business websites, especially for users looking for quick and efficient website creation.

Detailed comparison

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Winner: Durable.co.

If you’re looking for a platform that offers more creative control and a wide array of design features, Durable.co is the preferred choice.

Google Sites offers a limited number of templates suitable for various purposes, from personal blogs to business websites, with both free and premium options available. These templates are designed for user engagement, simplicity, and functionality, allowing for customization to meet specific needs.

Google Sites Themes

Compared to Google Sites, Durable.co’s website builder offers a unique approach by prioritizing AI-powered customization over a large library of pre-built templates. Despite offering around 30 AI-generated templates, the emphasis is on unique designs tailored to user preferences. The customization flexibility compensates for the seemingly smaller template count, enabling users to create distinct websites.

Durableco Themes

🏆 Winner: Google Sites

. With a score of 8.3, Google Sites slightly edges out Durable.co (8.2) in terms of ease of use. Google Sites offers a user-friendly interface and seamless integration with other Google services, making it an efficient tool for creating basic websites. Durable.co, on the other hand, provides a user-friendly platform with an AI-powered website builder, but it may lack the familiarity and integration benefits of Google Sites.

Learning Resources

🏆 Winner: Google Sites

. Google Sites offers a wide array of learning resources, from practical guides to comprehensive digital skill development programs. Durable.co, while leveraging AI assistance for an effortless user experience, currently offers limited educational resources.

When it comes to ecommerce, Google Sites and Durable.co offer different levels of functionality. Google Sites does not have built-in ecommerce features, but it allows for the integration of third-party tools and widgets. Durable.co, on the other hand, offers basic ecommerce capabilities, but lacks advanced features like a built-in shopping cart, inventory management, or shipping configurations.

Google Sites ecommerce features:

Google Sites itself does not have built-in eCommerce features. However, you can integrate eCommerce functionalities into a Google Sites website by embedding third-party tools or widgets, linking to an external eCommerce platform, or using buttons that link to payment processors.

Durable.co ecommerce features:

• Product pages
• Secure payments with Stripe
• Lead capture forms
• Marketing tools

Ecommerce themes & templates

Google Sites does not have any ecommerce templates. On the other hand, Durable.co offers pre-built website templates that can be adapted for online product sales, but it lacks traditional ecommerce features found in platforms like Shopify or BigCommerce. The platform has limitations such as the absence of a shopping cart, requiring manual payment links for each product, no inventory management tools, and limited shipping options that need to be configured externally.

Product page customization

Google Sites lacks any product page customization features, as the products can be listed with embedding third-party platforms, all the customization can be done within the mentioned platforms. Durable.co offers customization options for product pages on their platform. Their AI-powered website builder allows for easy customization of product pages, where users can add sections, change images, and edit titles and SEO settings to suit their needs. Additionally, Durable provides the option to add custom code and embedding components to further personalize the website, including product pages.

Payment processing

You can integrate payment gateways into Google Sites using external tools or links, not through native features. This can be done by embedding HTML code for payment buttons from services like PayPal, Square, or Stripe, or by linking to an external checkout page. Third-party eCommerce widgets also offer a way to add payment functionalities. However, Google Sites doesn’t offer the comprehensive eCommerce capabilities that dedicated platforms provide.

Durable.co partners with Stripe to offer secure and versatile payment processing solutions, charging a 3.1% plus $0.30 fee per credit card transaction for invoices. This collaboration enables businesses to handle various payment methods, including POS transactions, through Stripe’s comprehensive payment gateway infrastructure. The focus on Stripe ensures a high level of security and flexibility for businesses in managing online and potentially in-person sales.

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Winner: Durable.co

. Durable.co, with a score of 8.1, offers a user-friendly, AI-powered platform designed to help users swiftly create business websites without the need for coding knowledge. It boasts a wide range of features, integrated SEO, and marketing tools, complemented by business management features like CRM, invoicing, and an AI assistant to enhance operational efficiency. However, despite its ease of use, it falls short in offering the advanced functionalities required for developing more complex websites, limiting its suitability for more sophisticated web projects.

Google Sites’ editor, scoring 7.0, offers a user-friendly website builder editor that allows users to create and design websites without needing coding knowledge. With its drag-and-drop interface, users can easily add, customize, and arrange elements such as text, images, and videos on their web pages. It also provides a variety of templates and design options to help users get started quickly and ensure their site looks professional. Additionally, Google Sites integrates seamlessly with other Google services, enabling the incorporation of Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Maps directly into the website.

Mobile editor/app

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Winner: Durable.co

. Both Google Sites and Durable.co do not offer a dedicated mobile editor app. However, Durable.co allows users to edit their website using a mobile browser, which gives it a slight edge over Google Sites. This feature can be particularly useful for users who need to make quick changes on the go.

Google Sites, on the other hand, does not provide any mobile editing capabilities, which can be a limitation for users who prefer to manage their website from a mobile device.

In summary, Durable.co scores higher in this category due to its mobile browser editing capability.

Overall Result

:

Durable.co wins

. Durable.co scores slightly higher than Google Sites with a score of 7.2 compared to Google Sites’ 6.9. Both platforms offer a free version, but Durable.co stands out with its 30-day money-back guarantee, which also allows users to test premium features. Google Sites, on the other hand, offers a 14-day free trial with the possibility to test some premium features, but does not provide a money-back guarantee.

Google Sites and Durable.co have similar price scores, indicating that they offer comparable value for money.

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Winner: Google Sites

Google Sites offers cloud-based managed hosting with a 99.9% uptime guarantee and a network of 21 global data centers. Durable.co, while offering hosting in all plans, does not provide explicit information about its hosting type, uptime, or data centers, which makes it difficult to assess its reliability. Google Sites’ transparency and reliability earn it a higher rating.

🏆 Winner: Durable.co

Both Google Sites and Durable.co emphasize on website speed optimization, but Durable.co has a higher score in this aspect.

Google Sites focuses on automated optimization, CDN, mobile optimization, browser caching, code minification, and the use of AMP for website speed optimization. However, Google does not disclose statistics about website Page Speed scores or load times. It also emphasizes on LCP, FID, CLS improvements for Core Web Vital improvements.

On the other hand, Durable.co uses server optimization, image optimization, caching, code minification, lazy loading, and CDN for website speed optimization. Like Google Sites, Durable.co does not publish aggregate data or benchmarks specific to sites hosted on their platform. It also emphasizes on LCP, FID, CLS improvements for Core Web Vital improvements. Despite the lack of disclosed data, Durable.co has a higher website speed optimization score than Google Sites, making it the winner in this category.

🏆 Winner: It’s a tie.

Both Google Sites and Durable.co score 6.4 in plugins and integrations. Google Sites offers a wide array of plugins and extensions to enhance website functionality, catering to various needs such as social media integration, e-commerce, chats, forms, video, audio, and more. On the other hand, Durable.co integrates with a variety of third-party tools and services to add functionality to your website. These integrations are not directly managed by Durable.co, so the number of available options and their pricing structures can vary depending on the specific tools you choose. However, Durable.co does provide a directory of recommended third-party integrations on its website, which you can explore to find tools that meet your needs.

Google Sites Applications

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Overall Winner: Durable.co

. Durable.co offers a more comprehensive set of marketing features, including email marketing, blogging, and advanced analytics and reporting. Google Sites, while offering basic SEO and social media integration, lacks in areas such as email marketing and blogging.

🏆 Winner: Google Sites

. In the comparison of Google Sites vs Durable.co, Google Sites takes the lead with a customer support score of 7.2. Google Sites offers a robust support system primarily through self-service resources like a Help Center and community forums. For Google Workspace customers, direct support options such as phone, email, and live chat are available, with 24/7 support for critical issues depending on the subscription tier. This comprehensive support structure ensures that users have access to the help they need, whether through self-service or direct assistance.

Durable.co, with a customer support score of 6.6, provides support through phone, email, and live chat, available Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. While Durable.co strives to offer prompt and efficient assistance, its support hours are more limited compared to Google Sites. However, Durable.co’s focus on providing tailored solutions and IT consulting for enterprises adds value for business users looking for specialized support.

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Winner: Google Sites

. Google Sites, with a security score of 9.3, offers robust security measures including SSL encryption, two-factor authentication, and automatic malware scanning. It also benefits from Google’s regular security updates and compliance with international data protection standards. Google Sites’ infrastructure offers DDoS protection and data redundancy, ensuring a secure environment for website creators and visitors.

Durable.co, with a security score of 7.7, also places a strong emphasis on security. It uses SSL encryption to secure data exchange and regularly updates its software and plugins to address vulnerabilities. A robust firewall is in operation to oversee and thwart suspicious activities. However, it falls short when compared to the comprehensive security measures offered by Google Sites.

🏆 Winner: Durable.co

. Durable.co, with a score of 7.5, utilizes AI to enhance the website building and ecommerce experience. Its AI features focus on website building, personalized shopping experiences, content generation, and predictive maintenance and inventory management.

Google Sites, on the other hand, does not have any AI capabilities.

🏆 Winner: Google Sites

. Google Sites and Durable.co have different approaches to user management.

• Google Sites allows multiple users to collaborate with different roles, including Owners, who have full control, and Editors, who can modify content but not site settings. There’s no strict limit on the number of users who can edit a site, allowing flexibility in management and development. Viewers can only see the site, with no editing permissions. This structure supports collaborative website building with varied levels of access and control for different users.
• The free plan of Durable.co doesn’t permit adding extra users; only the account owner can edit the website. In the Starter and Business Plans, one additional user can edit the website, bringing the total to two users. The Mogul Plan allows for the creation of multiple businesses under one account, each with its own website. Additional users can edit each website, but the exact number is not publicly disclosed.

There are no user roles tables available for both Google Sites and Durable.co.

Additional Features

User Feedback

Users consistently praise Google Workspace, particularly Google Sites, for its seamless integration, ease of use, and collaborative features, making it a go-to solution for various professional and educational needs. The platform’s simplicity and user-friendly interface are lauded, enabling effortless website creation and sharing of information within organizations. While some users desire more customization options and additional features, overall, Google Workspace remains highly valued for its versatility and streamlined workflow facilitation.

Durable.co, on the other hand, does not have any reviews on the G2 platform. However, its AI-driven approach to website building is designed to simplify the process for small businesses and entrepreneurs. The platform’s ability to generate a complete website quickly and efficiently makes it an attractive option for those looking to establish an online presence without the complexity of traditional web development.

FAQ