It took me 44 hours to write this article. During this time, I studied and tested over 50 different tools for landing-page creation, and here I describe the best 20 in detail. So if you’re looking for the best way to create a landing page without knowing how to actually write code, you’ll definitely find a solution here.

Hello, my name is Diana, and I’m an Internet marketer at IconDesignLAB.com. Every now and then I have a need to create a landing page for marketing purposes. Even though our studio includes amazing professionals who create awesome landing pages, it’s not always worth distracting them for minor tasks. Especially, when the Internet is full of offers saying: “A quick and easy way to create your own landing page! No programming skills required!” 

I decided to check whether these tools really are cheap and easy. As you can see, I got a little carried away with my research (44 hours!), but I managed to delve into the subject deeper than anyone else on the Internet – and I discovered ways to create a landing page on your own without having any programming or design skills. I hope my work will save you a lot of time. You can thank me by sharing this article. 

Ways to create a landing page

As it turns out, there are several ways to create a landing page. You can

1. Use special designing platforms

2. Use WordPress plug-ins

3. Use a mailing list service

4. Use frameworks or ready-made templates

5. Build the whole thing from scratch (this is a hardcore option and requires programming skills, so let’s set this one aside).

Next, I’ll show you the pros and cons of each of these methods.

Perhaps there are other ways I don’t know about. If you are aware of any, please let us know about them in the comment section. 

Landing page design platforms

Pros:

• They are very likely to have a visual editor you can use to simply drag and drop the blocks you need, edit text and images, etc.

• Knowledge of HTML or programming skills is not required.

• Generally, there’s a free trial period so you can get to know the platform’s functional features and avoid buying a pig in a poke.

Cons:

• They may charge you from $4 to $70 (sometimes more) per month to use the platform. The price depends on different rates and functions.

• You can register your domain, but in most cases you won’t be able to acquire hosting. It means that your landing page remains in the possession of the platform you created it on, and you won’t be able to make your page fully yours.

• Rates are sometimes very confusing. Read the terms & conditions pages carefully. Cheap prices often conceal a lot of functional limitations. It can be impossible to disable the branding, or the number of leads may be limited.

Now let’s look in more detail at the design platforms recommended to me by Google and my colleagues on social networks. 

1) WIX

http://www.wix.com  

This platform is mainly distinguished by being free (almost).

With WIX, you can create an online store, a blog, or a single-page site for almost any purpose. You can try out the visual editor immediately after creating your account. With this editor, you can add basically anything to your site: video backgrounds, pop-ups, slideshows, social network buttons and much more. In addition, you can find the free or paid applications you need in the WIX App Market. There is an opportunity to add an online record to your calendar; a fair sprinkling of what is necessary for an online store; and you can also add a blog, etc.

You can find a huge number of templates here (more than 500 are stated), and they are divided by themes. You will definitely like it.

The good news is that you don’t need any HTML or programming skills.

You can either choose a new domain name or use your old one (in that case, it won’t be free). 

There’s a 24-hour support service. However, your letter will probably be answered with one of those template letters with the same text you can find on the website. I asked: “What other services can WIX be integrated with?” I received an answer saying: “Unfortunately, WIX cannot be integrated with any outside services at the moment”, although the service update information states that MailChimp intergration is available. Thus, the question about how this platform can be integrated with mail and other services still remains open. 

Technically, the platform has its own tool for mailing lists, although the functionality is not very broad. Besides, more than 200 applications for business are featured; you can download them from the WIX App Market. Analytics is also available. 

The tariff rates are a bit confusing – you can’t easily tell which one is most favorable.  

Disadvantages:

The hosting is provided by the platform, so there’s no way to transfer the data to your own server.

WIX casts itself as a platform where one can create a fully-functional website absolutely free of charge and say the only way they earn money is by providing premium services. But this is not quite true. You can actually publish a landing page for free, but the domain name will be something like: https://www.youremail.wixsite.com/yoursitename, and it will have WIX advertisements everywhere. Moreover, if you want to register your domain and mail, you will have to change your subscription (i.e., you’ll have to pay more). It feels like you’re being fooled, and it gets on your nerves. 

Another minus, as I’ve said, is that the support service is not great. 

Conclusion:

This platform can be used for temporary tasks. My personal opinion, though, is that it is not trustworthy. However, the iceberg is not that scary once you see below the tip and know what things to beware of. 

2) Landingi

https://landingi.com 

To start with, you’re required to answer some questions about your business to register. You’ll also have to provide your telephone number, but you can type in any random digits. It works – I checked. ;).

You can choose a template according to the purpose of your landing page. It’s very convenient. The editor is simple, not feature-packed, but offers enough functions to create an elegant, good-looking landing page.

All landing pages are divided into 12 groups, according to their purpose. Each group has 3 to 20 templates. 

The visual editor has no support service. However, you can get a quick and constructive answer to any of your questions from the website’s online consulting service. The standard tariff rate is $39 per month. There is a 14-day trial period. 

Another big advantage of Landingi is that you can transfer data to your server via the “Export to HTML” option. However, this option is still experimental, but the support service promises to send instructions and assist with carrying out the operation. 

Disadvantages:

The price is suitable for a design platform, but a bit too high for permanent tasks. 

Conclusion:

One of the best platforms for creating a landing page for any purpose. On the other hand, the monthly payment is high, and you can probably find a better use for your money. Spend it on Facebook advertising, for example. 

3) lpg.tf

https://lpg.tf/en 

About $14 per month, if you pay for the whole year, and all you get are 3 templates that are not completely customizable; you can only move certain elements. The design platform is very simple, even primitive. See for yourself: 

Useful features: You can use a ComeBacker option – a pop-up window to collect contact information from users leaving the page. You can also add a counter, but there’s not much more to be interested in.

You can test and even launch your landing page, but naturally you cannot register a domain.

You can also conduct A/B testing.

There’s an interesting blog about landing pages, too.

Disadvantages:

This platform is not the best. You can find better options for the same price.

Conclusion:

I personally gave up on this one – but if you’re not bothered with strict template frames, you may want to have a look. You can test it for free. 

4) Tilda

https://tilda.cc/?lang=en 

Tilda was highly recommended to me on Facebook on different marketing-themed pages and groups. The tool’s main feature is that it is text-focused. Much attention is paid to the fonts. It’s a great platform for media and blogging. You will have to pay around $10 per month for 1 landing page if you pay for a year, but if you need it for work there’s also a tariff rate of $20 for 5 landing pages. It’s the best price-quality match among the platforms I’ve seen so far. 

You can create any kind of landing page here – with a parallax, background video or animation, anything money could buy!

It features more than 450 professional blocks you can use to create your site. 

This editor only seems to be simple. It looks plain and concise, but you can create really complex things with it.

Support is provided by a help center and chat, and you can also write an old-fashioned e-mail. 😉 

You can integrate various services, conduct A/B testing, and carry out analytics.Perhaps this is the reason this platform is loved so much by marketing experts – it has everything. It is also given certain credit in SEO reviews. 

Disadvantages:

The same thing as with many other platforms – you can’t acquire your own hosting.

Conclusion:

Of all the platforms, Tilda was my favorite, based on its price-to-quality ratio.

5) Leadpages

https://www.leadpages.net

This platform offers about 100 different templates, categorized into themes. There’s a nice visual drag-and-drop editor you can use to add pop-ups, counters, call-to-action buttons etc. This platform doesn’t have a free test period. 

If nothing else, integration with MailChimp and other services is promised.

You can conduct A/B testing.

Disadvantages:

You can’t acquire your own hosting. It’s also a bit pricey: $48 per month for an annual subscription. 

Conclusion:

You can use it, but there are options better than this one. I won’t recommend it, only because I couldn’t try out the editor. 

6) Unbounce

https://unbounce.com

This is one of the most expensive platforms I’ve tested, so I was actually prepared for the WOW effect. However, it appeared to be a typical mainstream design platform with a non-mainstream price of $79 per month per year. You can add a parallax, a background video, full-screen backgrounds and other bells and whistles. It includes about 125 different templates.

You can conduct A/B testing, integration with MailChimp is available, etc. The trial period is 30 days, but you have to enter your credit card information to get it. I did not test the editor, so I won’t focus on this platform.You can draw your own conclusions, if you’re interested.

Disadvantages:

High price for a design platform. Hard to get a free trial period.

Conclusion:

I did not test it, but the functionality seems unreasonably expensive.

7) Weebly

https://www.weebly.com/?lang=en 

This platform has about 70 templates. The editor works by dragging and dropping elements onto the template. The good stuff: you can add a background video, HD-video, etc. to your landing page. It looks like this: 

Weebly can be integrated with different mailing services like MailChimp. However, I was surprised that there’s no opportunity to conduct A/B testing.

The price is below average – $12 per month for an annual subscription.

Disadvantages:

You can’t transfer it to your own server.

Conclusion:

Best suited for an online shop. 

8) Ukit

https://ukit.com

I was really pleased with the price of this platform. It’s only $8 per month. I was expecting to encounter some kind of a nasty trick the whole time, but …There are more than 200 templates, divided by theme. You can test the editor for free.

There is integration with MailChimp and other services. Landing pages are customized for mobile devices. The templates are simple, but look classy. I couldn’t find any animations or parallax effects here, or anyone to ask about them. However, the platform has an image slider.

Disadvantages:

There is no live online help, although they claim to offer 24/7 support. Where can one find help if needed? Write an e-mail? Are you kidding?

Conclusion:

Ukit should suffice for simple, stylish-looking landing pages that are not intended for showing off.  The price and quality are just about right. 

At this point, I decided to stop testing the platforms after realizing one simple thing. You can create a good landing page on a design platform for $20-$30 per month if you choose to pay for the whole year. However, it will be hosted on the platform. There are cheaper options, but they lose a lot in terms of functionality and will look unimpressive. As for the platforms, my personal pick is Tilda. By the way, if you choose the business rate, you can even transfer data from this platform to your own host!

WordPress Plugins

Pros:

• You pay only once and get a landing page at your disposal for an unlimited time

• WordPress is usually cheaper than other platforms

• You use your own hosting (this is an advantage for us, but keep in mind that paying for it is your responsibility)

• You work in good old WordPress – that is, if you’re already familiar with it.

• You don’t need any coding or web design skills.

Cons:

• You need WordPress.

• There’s no trial period or any other opportunity to see the plugin at work.

• It can be difficult to install the plug-ins (although this is a subjective observation).

9) Visual Composer

https://vc.wpbakery.com 

The big advantage of this WordPress plugin is that it has a trial version. You can get it in exchange for providing your e-mail. There is a Frontend editor where you can immediately see all the changes, and a Backend editor, which is also very convenient. However, there’s a lack of certain tools you may need for your work. For example, you can’t undo changes you’ve made. 

 This plugin is compatible with any WordPress theme, which is another advantage.

There are more than 60 templates, and 40 elements that can be added at your disposal. Moreover, you can create and save your own templates. 

Disadvantages:

Setting it up is not easy, but it’s a one-time task.

Conclusion:

A good option for a stationary work for only $34.

10) Thrive Themes

https://thrivethemes.com/landingpages/

Another plugin suitable for any WordPress theme. It has more than 162 templates with elements that you can drag and change within a visual editor.

You can create thank-you and confirmation pages that can be done in the same style as your landing page. There are a lot of well-designed triggers that can be used for linking different counters, pop-ups, reviews etc. to your landing page.

Disadvantages:

You can’t test the plugin before you buy it. However, there’s a video on the page, and they promise a 30-day money-back guarantee if you don’t like the plugin.

Conclusion:

It’s a good option, but unclear why the price is almost twice as high – $67 for a year – as other alternatives. Also, I can’t tell the difference between this plugin and the previous one, since I could not get a free trial. They could differ in their drag-and-drop method, which makes it easier to change elements. 

11) Optimizepress

https://www.optimizepress.com

Yet another WordPress plugin with a drag-and-drop function. You choose a template and drag elements onto it. The editor is visual; you can see all the changes right away. 

Optimize templates are customized for mobile devices, and so will be any landing page that you create here. You can also choose content that won’t be shown to mobile users. 

This plugin is effortlessly compatible with any WordPress theme, can be integrated with different mailing services, and it’s easy to use it with analytics and different marketing tools. 

There is a rate of $97 that is suitable for 3 websites, but you won’t be able to conduct A/B testing here.

Nor will 50 templates and beautiful animations be available. Therefore, I’m considering the average option of $197 for work purposes, yet I can’t understand one thing: why is it so expensive?

Disadvantages:

The price is higher than that of other plugins.

There is no free trial version.

Conclusion:

This is an acceptable option, if you’re comfortable with the price.

12) Instabuilder

http://instabuilder.com/v2.0/launch/

This one stands out for the sense of humor of the people who created the main page. “It’s As Sexy As It Is Effective”, they say. 

They offer you more than 100 templates to choose from. You can also create and save your own templates. There are a lot of cool little things such as counters, animations, pop-ups, toolbars and many more. 

This plugin can be integrated with anything and is compatible with any theme. It uses the drag-and-drop technique, has a gallery with ready-made graphics and an editor for editing and improving photos. Any landing page created with this plugin is customized for mobile devices.

There is also a function that allows you to conduct split testing, and a unique function for two-step and even three-step contact collection. (Watch the video on the page for more information.)

Generally speaking, this plugin is packed with different features, which may be one of the reasons the price starts at $77. This is a one-time payment for the plugin itself and updates and support for one year. Later, you will be charged $37 annually. There is a 60-day money-back guarantee. 

Disadvantages:

You can’t test it before you buy it.

Conclusion:

I think Instabuilder is a great plugin, and its price matches its quality. It has a lot of features that an average marketing specialist usually has to make additional payments for, such as pop-ups, bars, etc. 

13) Seedprod

https://www.seedprod.com

I won’t tell you much about this plugin. Despite the fact that you can create landing pages with it, it’s not what Seedprod is primarily used for. This plugin will be useful for those who wish to create a one-screen landing page. There are a few templates to choose from, and you can change their lead-capture form, background, and text; insert video; and even add counters or animations. However, these templates are basically designed for creating a beautiful “coming soon” page to capture leads while the actual website is being constructed. Here’s what the templates look like:

The editor is user-friendly and simple. You choose an action in the left column, and see the result in the right one.

There is a free trial period and a money-back guarantee. Seedprod can be integrated with various mailing services.

You get an opportunity to create a landing page at rates starting from $79.

Disadvantages:

This plugin is aimed for a specific task – creating “coming soon” pages – so you can clearly feel the lack of templates for other purposes.

Conclusion:

The price of $79 is a bit high, but if you only need a “coming soon” page or, shall we say, want to collect leads from an e-book, you can choose the $29 rate. It will be enough for your needs, provided that you have only one website. 

14) Divi Builder

https://www.elegantthemes.com/plugins/divi-builder/

This plugin has a drag-and-drop editor, so it’s really easy to work with. You can change virtually anything you like, from fonts to video or images, or design beautiful landing pages with animations. There’s also an “undo” button – yippee!

Divi Builder can be customized for any device.

You won’t need any design or programming skills to create a proficient-looking landing page. It is compatible with any WordPress theme. You can connect 16 mailing services using this plugin: https://www.elegantthemes.com/plugins/bloom/ 

Before you make a purchase, the support service takes a long time to answer, advertises its other plugins and can offer a 10% discount for Divi Builder.

Disadvantages:

No trial period, but you can get your money back within a 30-day period.

The $89 price is above average.

Conclusion: 

Suitable for any task; the main limitation is its price.

15) Elementor

https://elementor.com 

This is a WordPress plugin with a free version.

The editor is drag-and-drop, i.e., all changes are visible at once. You can undo the change or compare the previous version with a new one. It has more than 20 templates and 28 widgets that can be used to create a landing page. You don’t need any specialized knowledge; everything is fairly simple.

You can switch to Elementor Pro – at https://elementor.com/pro/ – which is a more advanced version with a price starting at $49 per year.

Disadvantages:

Not enough beautiful templates to choose from if you use the free version. 

Conclusion:

It’s exactly what you need to create a landing page, especially because it has a free version. 

Mailing-list services

Creating a subscriber database is one of the main purposes of a landing page. This is the reason why many mailing services can offer you an opportunity to create a landing page. Using one tool instead of several different ones is very convenient. So if you create a landing page just to collect subscribers, you should consider this option.

Pros:

• You don’t need to connect to other additional plugins or services. You have everything you need – from the ability to creating a landing page to making a letter thread – in one place. 

• They usually have a free trial period.

• You use your own hosting.

Cons:

• These services are designed for mailing purposes, so don’t expect them to have a wide range of features for landing-page creation.

• Monthly fee.

16) GetResponse

https://www.getresponse.com/?lang=en&_ga=2.36422628.596563832.1502121528-539448725.1502121528 

This is a powerful marketing tool suitable not only for mailing, mind-mapping, and conducting webinars, but for creating landing pages as well. It has about 100 templates that look pretty nice to me, simple and unpretentious. You can add GIF, video, web-forms to them. However, you won’t find any parallax effects or background videos here. 

There is a free trial period for testing features.

You acquire your own domain, but not your own hosting. The support staff told me that it’s still possible to transfer the landing page to another host, but you won’t be able to edit it in real time.

In general, I was very pleased with the support here. Everything was quick and relevant. 

Disadvantages:

You can’t create a landing page with parallax or a background video. The editor is pretty plain, but includes everything one might need. 

Conclusion: 

Suitable for those who want to kill two birds with one stone and create mailing lists and landing pages at the same time. 

I did not review any other services for landing-page creation here, because I’m pretty much satisfied with MailChimp and Sendpulse. I’ve been using them for a long time.

Also, I think a more complex tool can never beat a tool that was created for a single specific task. However, I do believe such services are the thing of the future, since they help olve several marketing problems at one time. 

Frameworks and Templates

Pros:

• Much better templates and animations

• You pay a fixed price, only once – no more deceptive fees

• You can create as many landing pages as you like, without paying extra

• You can acquire your own host and domain.

Cons:

• You need to be familiar with HTML, CSS, etc.

• You can’t test the tool before buying it. 

17) Framework Slides

https://designmodo.com/slides/ 

This is not software, but an online tool you can get access to by making a one-time payment of $249. It is more expensive than any of the previous options, but if you consider the fact that you get your own hosting and your domain, and the landing pages are simply gorgeous, the price seems fine.

In order to limit my remarks, I will simply give you this short video to watch: https://youtu.be/wPKOPs63l0A 

Disadvantages:

The main and most significant disadvantage here is the user element. If you don’t know HTML, CSS and jQuery, this tool will be hard to master. And you can’t test it before buying. 

Conclusion:

This tool gives you the opportunity to create a landing page quickly, but only if you have enough knowledge to do it. 

18) Framework Startups

https://designmodo.com/startup/ 

To start working with this tool, you will need free Sublime Text, a Code Kit compiler, basic knowledge of HTML, CSS … and this is where my desire to start using this tool fades away. However, I might consider it for the future. You can see the editor and learn how to use in it in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjyitAv_vwQ 

The landing pages are simply gorgeous. Words fail me.

Disadvantages:

You need knowledge that will take a lot of time to acquire. 

Conclusion:

I am not considering this tool for my work now. It’s just too complicated. However, if you feel strong enough, I advise you to start with the Demo version. (Fortunately, there is one.)

For a person who is nowhere near to being an IT geek, it will take a lot of time and work to learn how to use these toolls. However, if you can do it, then you have one of the most powerful and promising tools to create mind-blowing landing pages. 

There is an approach similar to the one with using frameworks – you can buy a template and customize it for your own needs. For these purposes, you can explore special template databases. By the way, some studios buy their landing-page templates from similar databases. This is why their “custom” landing is so cheap. Now let’s study them in more detail. 

19) TemplateMonster

https://www.templatemonster.com 

TemplateMonster offers 26,640 templates categorized by theme and purpose. There is a special section dedicated to landing-pages templates. The average price for such a template is around $14. You can get a landing page with or without an admin panel. According to the consultant, the first is easy to edit, even for an unexperienced user. You can change text and pictures.

There is an interesting service: for $49, they will help you to run the site, change your logo, pictures and text, and transfer the data to your host. 

I really liked how the TemplateMonster support team responded to me before I made a purchase. Their answers were quick and relevant. They advised me to take a closer look at a template with an admin panel. I would be able to change it quickly and easily without having any specific knowledge. It turns out you can test it for 14 days. You need to click on the “Control Panel Demo” button under the template, and you’ll be invited to test the admin panel in exchange for providing your email.

Here you can edit text and images, insert and delete sliders, dividing bars, widgets and whole blocks.

Disadvantages:

Each template can only be used once, and this can be expensive for simple tasks.

Conclusions:

Template Monster is more suitable for creating business websites and landing pages for eCommerce. If you want to create a simple landing page, you can choose a less complicated tool. 

20) Themeforest

https://themeforest.net/ 

Themeforest includes 34,226 different templates that will suit any taste. For example, here is a $10 template for a landing page designed to collect e-mails. 

But how can I change it later? I could find neither a trial version nor someone to ask about it, as there’s no live chat support. This thing functions in the exact same way as TemplateMonster does, so I won’t tell you much about it. You can contact the support team to ask for help with connection. 

Disadvantages: 

It takes a long time to figure out how to change the template. There is no way to test this possibility. 

Conclusion:

Templates can also be used to create landing pages, but in my view this method looks a little more complicated and more expensive.

Read also: How to identify your business’s strengths: 45 ideas for your landing page

What’s the best tool?

What I chose:

I don’t know what tasks you need your landing page for or what your budget is, so it’s hard for me to recommend anything. However, I can tell you what tool I would choose. The thing I liked the most in terms of features and quality was Framework Slides. This is the best option, since you pay only once and can create real masterpieces. Moreover, you can use your own hosting service. Nevertheless, I still don’t have enough knowledge and time to start working with it.

Among the platforms, I would recommend Tilda Publishing. This is a simple and convenient design platform with a reasonable price ($15 per month). I’ll save it for temporary tasks.

As for permanent use, I choose the Elementor plugin. I’m used to working in WordPress, so it is familiar to me. It has everything I need on the functional side, from video to slides, and I haven’t found any significant flaws in it so far.

But before you choose something …

The main thing you need to know is this.

After I had conducted all this lengthy research, I drew this conclusion:

You can create a landing page on your own, and you don’t need much knowledge to do it. However, you will need a lot of other things:

• Patience, when pixels slide down or your font bounces about

• A good understanding of how to write sales texts

• Confidence in the fact that the design you’re creating will be understood

• Time to spend on choosing a tool, installing it and learning how to use it

… and a lot of other things that are essential for your landing page to start generating leads. 

Having read this article, you’ve saved at least 44 hours, which is how much time I spent studying all these tools. However, there is still a number of time-consuming things you’ll have to do before you get your landing page:

• choose a tool that’s right for your particular needs (2 hours);

• test and learn how to use it (5+ hours);

• create a landing page (10+ hours).

Whatever the platforms and plugins may tell you, they are buggy and far from perfect. And it’s at least 10 hours of dealing with pixels and moving fonts, I guarantee it. (Trust me – I’ve been there, done that.);

• pick texts and images (10 hours); and 

• check the adaptability of the site and communicate with support (3 hours).  

That’s more than 30 hours in total. All these figures, of course, are approximate and subjective, but clearly your experience will not be “make your own landing page in less than 2 hours.” However, time is not the biggest deal. There’s a certain risk that when your struggle is over, you will face the main trouble: the tool you’re using may not have the exact feature you need. 

Estimate the time you will spend on this work, and anticipate all the possible pitfalls. Perhaps in your case it’s better to turn directly to the professionals who will do everything on a turnkey basis.

When should you ask a professional to create a landing page for you?

You’d better leave everything to a professional, if:

• your product needs a unique functional feature;

• your status does not allow you to use template tools and requires a new design solution;

• your time is worth more than what you’d pay a professional, who will be able to solve this issue for you without any aches and pains;

• you lack the desire or ability to do something that is not your job.

What would I advise you to do in such a situation? Of course, I could have told you to make use of our studio, but that would sound pretty immodest. 😉

So I’ll be honest: you have several options:

• freelancers (the cheapest option).

If you choose this route, then make sure you read this and download a checklist that will help you avoid scammers.

• specialized companies that create landing pages (these guys are narrowly focused specialists and know their business, and their work is more expensive). Note that many landing-page creation tools can also offer the “unique design” service. It’s just a matter of price.

• web studios (these are also more expensive than freelancers, but they are safer, as well. The work of one particular designer can always be picked up by another one as a backup. Also, when you need other design services, you will already have someone to turn to.)

There are other options – from people recommended to you by friends to creative agencies – but I think you already know which option I think is the best. 😉

Now that I have warned you about everything, you know the pros and cons of each method, and it will be easy for you to make a decision.

If you found anything useful in this long read, I’ll be grateful to you for reposting it. 😉

Author: Internet marketing specialist at IconDesignLAB.com studio, Diana Vyshnova