IONOS vs SITE123: What’s the Best Builder in 2024?

IONOS vs SITE123: Final verdict

IONOS and SITE123 both offer solid website building platforms, but they cater to different user needs and preferences.

• 
  IONOS (Overall Grade: 6.9/10)
  
  is a versatile website builder and hosting platform that excels in providing a wide range of customizable templates, robust hosting services, and advanced marketing tools. It is particularly strong in ecommerce capabilities, AI features, and website speed optimization. When comparing IONOS vs SITE123, IONOS is ideal for users who need a comprehensive solution with advanced functionalities and are willing to invest time in learning the platform.
• 
  SITE123 (Overall Grade: 6.5/10)
  
  stands out for its user-friendly interface and ease of use, making it an excellent choice for beginners and small businesses. It offers a straightforward website building experience with a good range of templates and essential features. Considering IONOS vs SITE123, SITE123 is perfect for users who prioritize simplicity and quick setup without needing extensive customization or advanced features.

	Overall grade: 6.9	Overall grade: 6.5
Design functionalities & templates	7.2	7.2
Ease of use	7.8	8.1
Ecommerce	7.1	7.0
Website Editors	7.8	7.0
Product testing options	6.5	6.4
Price	7.8	6.2
Hosting quality	8.8	7.0
Website speed optimization	7.2	5.8
Plugins and integrations	6.5	7.1
Marketing features	7.5	6.0
Customer support	7.3	7.3
Security	7.5	7.5
AI capabilities	7.2	2.8
User Management	3.1	6.3

Which one is the best for ecommerce: IONOS or SITE123?

7.1

7.0

Verdict

: IONOS and SITE123 both offer solid ecommerce capabilities, but IONOS edges out slightly with its advanced marketing tools and flexible payment processing options.

• 
  IONOS
  
  : IONOS provides a comprehensive set of ecommerce features, including store management, marketing tools, and extensive payment and shipping options. Its ability to integrate with various third-party payment processors without additional fees makes it a flexible choice for online businesses. The platform also offers detailed customization for product pages, ensuring that businesses can tailor their online stores to meet specific needs. With a score of 7.1, IONOS is a robust option for ecommerce.
• 
  SITE123
  
  : SITE123 is user-friendly and offers a range of ecommerce features such as product management, payment gateways, and SEO tools. It supports various payment gateways like Stripe and PayPal, making it easy for users to manage transactions. However, it may not offer the same level of advanced marketing tools and customization options as IONOS. With a score of 7.0, SITE123 is suitable for those looking for a straightforward and efficient ecommerce solution.

Which one is the best for informational and business websites?

7.4

7.4

• 
  IONOS
  
  : IONOS offers a professional website builder with a wide range of customizable templates and drag-and-drop functionality. It is ideal for users who want a visually appealing website with various features like ecommerce capabilities, contact forms, and social media integration. IONOS also provides reliable hosting services and ensures that websites are optimized for search engines, enhancing online visibility. Its comprehensive approach to website speed optimization and robust hosting quality make it a solid choice for businesses looking for a professional online presence.
• 
  SITE123
  
  : SITE123 is known for its user-friendly interface and ease of use, making it an excellent choice for individuals and small businesses without coding or design skills. It offers a wide range of customizable templates and features such as ecommerce capabilities, SEO tools, and mobile optimization. SITE123’s well-structured learning resources and multilingual customer support further enhance its appeal. For those prioritizing simplicity and support, SITE123 stands out in the IONOS vs SITE123 comparison.

IONOS vs SITE123: Detailed comparison

7.2

7.2

Winner: It’s a tie.

Both IONOS and SITE123 offer a wide range of templates and designs, with customization flexibility and mobile responsive design. However, they differ in their creative design possibilities.

IONOS offers a wide variety of templates and designs for their website builder. With over 200 templates to choose from, users can find a design that suits their needs and preferences. The templates are categorized into different industries and styles, making it easy for users to find the perfect design for their website.

IONOS Themes

On the other hand, SITE123 offers a wide variety of templates and designs for their website builder, with over 180 options to choose from. Their templates are organized by industry and category, making it easy to find the perfect design for your website. SITE123 also allows for customization of templates, giving users the ability to make their website unique and tailored to their brand.

SITE123 Themes

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7.8

8.1

🏆 Winner: SITE123

. With an ease of use score of 8.1, SITE123 edges out IONOS, which scored 7.8. SITE123’s user-friendly interface and intuitive design make it an excellent choice for individuals and small businesses looking to create professional-looking websites without any coding or design skills. IONOS also offers a straightforward and intuitive interface, but SITE123’s higher score indicates that users find it slightly easier to use.

Learning Resources

🏆 Winner: SITE123

. Both platforms offer solid learning resources, but SITE123’s resources are particularly well-structured and designed to support beginners. The platform offers a live chat and a main support center full of informative guides and FAQs, providing detailed insights into important topics and issues. These resources are easily accessible within the editor, ensuring help is just a few clicks away. IONOS also offers a range of learning resources, but SITE123’s approach to customer support and learning resources is highly rated, especially for its target audience of beginners.

7.1

7.0

When it comes to ecommerce, both IONOS and SITE123 offer a range of features designed to help users build and manage an online store. However, there are some differences in their offerings that may make one more suitable than the other depending on the user’s specific needs.

Ecommerce themes and templates	6.5	6.5
Product page customization	6.8	6.8
Payment processing and commissions	7.0	6.0
POS capabilities	5.5	5.0
Payment gateways	7.2	7.0
Product numbers	6.0	6.0
Additional ecommerce features	6.3	6.5

IONOS ecommerce features:

• Store Management
• Marketing Tools
• Payment and Shipping options
• Products and Inventory management

SITE123 ecommerce features:

• Product Management
• Payment Gateways
• Shipping and Tax Configuration
• SEO tools
• Analytics
• Social Media Integration

Ecommerce themes & templates

IONOS offers a variety of ecommerce themes and templates designed to help businesses set up their online stores efficiently and effectively. Their online store builder is tailored to support a range of ecommerce needs, from selling on social media platforms to managing a scalable ecommerce website without any coding or design skills required. On the other hand, SITE123 offers a variety of ecommerce templates suitable for various types of businesses. These templates are designed to be professional and user-friendly, ensuring that your products stand out and that customers have a seamless shopping experience.

Product page customization

IONOS provides users with the ability to extensively customize product pages. This includes the flexibility to adjust the design and layout, ensuring that product images, descriptions, and specifications are displayed according to individual preferences. Additionally, IONOS allows for the setup and management of product options and variations, such as size and color, enabling customers to select their preferred version of a product. SITE123 offers extensive customization options for ecommerce product pages, suitable for both physical and digital goods. Adding products is streamlined through the Website Editor, under the ecommerce (Store) page within the Pages section. Products can be organized into categories for better navigation. Detailed product pages can include essential information like product name, description, images, videos, pricing options, SKUs, brands, and additional descriptions, with customizable SEO settings to improve online visibility.

Payment processing

IONOS supports a wide variety of third-party payment processors for its website builder, including PayPal, Stripe, and Square, without charging direct fees for payment processing. Users can choose from an extensive list of payment options to suit their business needs and customer preferences, enhancing the flexibility and security of online transactions. The platform offers detailed guidance on integrating these payment methods into online stores, allowing for customization in terms of fees, order value thresholds, and geographical availability. SITE123 supports various payment gateways like Stripe, PayPal, and Amazon Pay, enabling seamless online transactions without charging sales commissions. Users can expect payment processing fees around 3%, which are standard across ecommerce platforms. The platform offers a 14-day money-back policy on certain package purchases, with detailed terms around invoicing, taxes, and refunds.

7.8

7.0

🏆

Winner: IONOS

. IONOS, with a score of 7.8, provides an intuitive website builder equipped with AI assistance, designed for users to quickly create professional-looking websites without needing coding skills. This platform offers customizable templates, AI-generated content, and is optimized for mobile use, ensuring a responsive design across all devices. With features that cater to both basic and advanced website needs, including eCommerce capabilities, IONOS aims to simplify the web creation process.

SITE123’s editor, scoring 7.0, is a straightforward and user-friendly website builder designed for individuals without coding or design expertise, emphasizing ease of use and efficiency in creating and customizing websites. It offers a selection of ready-made templates, mobile responsiveness, free hosting, and SEO tools, alongside ecommerce capabilities for users willing to subscribe to higher plans. However, customization is somewhat limited due to the inability to access template source codes or integrate external templates, and advanced features may incur additional costs.

Mobile editor/app

4.5

5.5

🏆

Winner: SITE123

. Both IONOS and SITE123 do not have a dedicated mobile app for website editing. However, they offer limited editing capabilities on mobile browsers. This allows users to make quick changes to their websites on the go. Despite the similar offerings, SITE123 has a slightly higher Mobile Editor score than IONOS, making it the winner in this category.

6.5

6.4

Overall Result

:

IONOS wins

. IONOS scores slightly higher than SITE123 in product testing options, with a score of 6.5 against 6.4. While neither platform offers a free or trial version, both allow testing of premium features during a refundable period. However, IONOS stands out with its 30-day money-back guarantee, providing a longer period for users to evaluate its features and services compared to SITE123’s 14-day refundable period.

Free Plan	No	Yes
Trial Duration	No	No
Testing Premium Features	During 30-day refundable period	During 14-day refundable period
Money Back Guarantee	30 days	No

7.8

6.2

IONOS offers a wider range of price plans, including options for both website building and online store building. SITE123, on the other hand, has a simpler pricing structure with a free plan and a premium plan.

	Offerings	Offerings
Free	No offering at this amount.	Free ($0/month): 250 MB storage, 250MB bandwidth, SITE123 branding, basic SEO for homepage. This plan allows to manage 1 website and there is no limitation on number of pages. It offers hosting with 250MB storage and bandwidth. However, it does not offer ecommerce features, has limited templates and does not have AI website builder.
$5-$15	Starter ($12/month): Basic for newcomers with 10GB space, 10 pages, 2GB email, free domain first year. Value for price: 5.0	Premium ($7.8/month): 3 GB storage, 3 GB bandwidth, connect your domain, remove SITE123 floating tag. This plan allows to manage 1 website and there is no limitation on number of pages. It offers hosting with 3GB storage and bandwidth. However, it does not offer ecommerce features, has limited templates and does not have AI website builder. Value for price: 6.5
$15-$20	Plus ($18/month): Enhanced with 50GB space, 200 pages, custom HTML, SiteAnalytics, online booking, AI Text Generator & AI Text Improver, AI SEO Text Generator Value for price: 7.5	No offering at this amount.
$30+	Pro ($30/month): Advanced for scaling, unlimited space/pages, 50GB email, SEO tools, comprehensive marketing tools. Value for price: 9.0	No offering at this amount.

8.8

7.0

Winner: IONOS

. IONOS offers a diverse range of hosting services including shared, VPS, dedicated, and WordPress hosting, with features like daily backups, and unlimited traffic. It also boasts a 99.99% uptime guarantee and has 7 data centers in the EU and USA. SITE123, on the other hand, offers managed hosting with a 99.9% uptime guarantee but does not disclose any information related to their data centers. This lack of transparency gives IONOS the edge in this category.

Do they offer hosting?	Yes, IONOS offers a diverse range of hosting services including shared, VPS, dedicated, and WordPress hosting.	Yes, SITE123 offers managed hosting but does not provide detailed information on their hosting solutions.
Data Centers:	Total of 7 data centers in EU(Frankfurt, Berlin, Paris, Logroño) and USA(Las Vegas, NV; Newark, NJ; Lenexa, KS)	SITE123 does not disclose any information related to their data centers.
Type of hosting:	Shared, Dedicated, VPS, WordPress Hosting	Managed Hosting
Uptime:	99.99%	99.9%
Uptime Guarantee:	Yes, 99.99%	Yes, 99.9%

7.2

5.8

🏆 Winner: IONOS

Both IONOS and SITE123 have strategies in place for website speed optimization, but IONOS takes the lead with a more comprehensive approach and a focus on Core Web Vital improvements.

Focus	HTML, CSS, and JavaScript Optimization	CDN, Image Optimization, Caching
Performance Tools	WordPress Optimization, CDN	Minification of CSS, JavaScript, and HTML
Key Strategies	HTML, CSS, and JavaScript Optimization, Image and Multimedia Optimization, Caching, WordPress Optimization, CDN	CDN, Image Optimization, Caching, Minification of CSS, JavaScript, and HTML, Use of Asynchronous Loading, Database Optimization
Load Times	Varies widely, depending on the optimization and user’s location	Varies widely, depending on the optimization and user’s location
Page Speed Scores Range	Varies widely, depending on the optimization and user’s location	Varies widely, depending on the optimization and user’s location
Core Web Vitals Improvement	Emphasis on LCP, FID, CLS improvements	No disclosed information

IONOS focuses on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript Optimization, Image and Multimedia Optimization, Caching, WordPress Optimization, and CDN for speed optimization. It also emphasizes on improving Core Web Vitals, specifically LCP, FID, and CLS. However, the load times and PageSpeed scores can vary widely, depending on the optimization and user’s location.

On the other hand, SITE123 uses CDN, Image Optimization, Caching, Minification of CSS, JavaScript, and HTML, Use of Asynchronous Loading, and Database Optimization as their key strategies for speed optimization. Similar to IONOS, the load times and PageSpeed scores can vary widely, depending on the optimization and user’s location. However, SITE123 does not disclose any information about Core Web Vitals improvements.

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6.5

7.1

🏆 Winner: SITE123.

SITE123 scores 7.1, offering a wide range of plugins and extensions to enhance the functionality of your website. With over 250 apps available, you can easily add features such as social media integration, ecommerce capabilities, and SEO optimization. The platform also allows for easy integration with popular third-party tools like Google Analytics and Mailchimp. IONOS, with a score of 6.5, also offers a good range of plugins and extensions, but SITE123’s larger number of apps and higher score give it the edge.

SITE123 Applications

7.5

6.0

🏆

Overall Winner: IONOS

. IONOS stands out for its more advanced marketing tools, especially in analytics and ad campaign management. SITE123 is strong in SEO and social media integration, ideal for content-driven strategies.

SEO Tools
Email Marketing
Blogging
Social Media Integration	Advanced integration for selling directly on social platforms	Basic linking with accounts, enhanced through app integrations
Analytics and Reporting	Provides detailed insights through built-in metrics and SiteAnalytics, with support for Google Analytics integration	Basic analytics provided, with more detailed insights on higher plans
Ads and Promotions	Features sophisticated ad campaign management with Google Ads, and promotional tools like coupons and special offers	Limited direct marketing tools, with some promotional features available on premium plans

7.3

7.3

🏆 Winner: Tie

. When comparing IONOS vs SITE123, both platforms offer robust customer support services, each with its unique strengths.

IONOS provides 24/7 customer support through multiple contact numbers, ensuring users can get help at any time. Their support is particularly noted for its availability, making it a reliable option for users who may need assistance outside of regular business hours.

SITE123 also offers 24/7 support via online chat in English, with additional support in 16 other languages during business hours. This extensive language support makes SITE123 a great choice for users from diverse linguistic backgrounds, ensuring they can receive help in their preferred language.

Both platforms do not offer enterprise-level support, focusing instead on providing comprehensive assistance to all users. With their respective strengths, IONOS and SITE123 both ensure that users have access to the help they need to build and maintain their websites effectively.

7.5

7.5

🏆

Draw: IONOS and SITE123

. Both IONOS and SITE123 take security seriously, implementing robust measures to protect user data and websites.

IONOS provides secure data storage with options for backup, easy data transfer, and enhanced access security. It also supports two-factor authentication and offers end-to-end encryption, ensuring that data is encrypted during transfer and storage. For website security, IONOS focuses on preventing malware spread, spamming, and data breaches, offering guidance on security patches, backups, secure logins, and implementing HTTPS and SSL certificates.

SITE123, on the other hand, provides free domain privacy protection, shielding registrants’ personal information from public internet access. For website security, SITE123 prioritizes data privacy and protection against cyber threats through SSL/HTTPS encryption and modern firewalls. It also offers built-in features like SEO tools, e-commerce capabilities, a variety of apps and plugins, and support for multilingual websites.

In conclusion, both IONOS and SITE123 offer robust security measures, ensuring the safety of user data and websites.

7.2

2.8

Personalized Design	IONOS AI builder offers personalized design recommendations
SEO Optimization	AI-driven SEO optimization	AI-driven SEO optimization
Content Generation	AI-powered content generation	AI-powered content generation
Additional AI Features	AI Section Generator and AI Color Palette Generator

🏆 Winner: IONOS

. With a score of 7.2, IONOS leverages AI to streamline the website creation process, offering personalized design recommendations, automatic content generation, and SEO optimization. It also includes additional AI features like the AI Section Generator and AI Color Palette Generator, which enhance the website design and content creation process.

SITE123, with a score of 2.8, offers AI-powered content generation and SEO optimization. However, it lacks a comprehensive AI builder and additional AI features, making IONOS the clear winner in this category.

3.1

6.3

🏆 Winner: SITE123

. Both IONOS and SITE123 allow multiple users for website editing, but SITE123 provides more structured user management with defined roles.

• IONOS permits multiple users for website editing. However, there is no mention of user roles and permissions, nor is there information about limitations on the number of users allowed to edit a website.
• SITE123 allows multiple users to have two different roles: Admin and Contributor, each with its own set of permissions. However, there is no mention of limitations on the number of users who can edit the website on SITE123.

Additional Features

SSL Certificate
Custom Domain
Free Custom Domain Included
International Domains
Mobile Responsive
Page Speed
Website Builder Mobile App
Convert a Website To An App
Website Analytics
Multilingual Sites
Multiple Users

IONOS vs SITE123: User Feedback

IONOS

20 reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars

SITE123

11 reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars

As IONOS is primarily a hosting provider with a website builder as an additional product, most reviews focus on its hosting services. Users have mixed experiences with IONOS 1&1 Websites & Shops. While praised for its great packages, personalized support, and streamlined interface for IT professionals, some encounter issues with backend functionality and find customer service representatives too pushy. Despite occasional short outages, the overall reliability and responsiveness of the service are appreciated by users.

SITE123 seems to offer a user-friendly platform with drag-and-drop features, making website building quick and easy. Users appreciate its wide library of free images and templates, mobile responsiveness, and excellent customer support. However, some users find its customization options limited, especially in the free version, and wish for more robust features like additional plugins and payment methods tailored to different regions. Overall, SITE123 appears beneficial for those seeking to create professional-looking websites without extensive coding knowledge, though it may lack certain advanced functionalities for more specialized needs.

IONOS vs SITE123: FAQ

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