Template to Launch

Part 1 of 9

What a hosted website builder is

What a website builder does, what "hosted" adds, and how it differs from installing website software yourself.

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In a nutshell

  • A website builder lets you make a site by clicking and typing.
  • A hosted builder also keeps your site online for you.
  • You get a quick start. In return, you give up some control.

What a builder does

A website builder is a tool for making and publishing a website without writing code.[1] You pick a design, change the words and pictures, and press a button.

Most builders give you three things. They give you visual editing tools, ready-made designs called templates, and features for managing your content.[1]

A stack of four layers inside one box labelled hosted website builder: templates and sections, an editor you click and type in, hosting that keeps the site online, and software updates done for you.
A hosted builder bundles the design tools and the hosting in one service.

What "hosted" means

A web host is a service that keeps your website on the internet so people can visit it.[2] Think of it as the place where your site lives.

With a hosted builder, the host comes in the same box. Making the site, managing it and keeping it running all come from one service.[1]

WordPress.com is one example. Its help pages say that hosting is included, so you don't need another host.[3] It also keeps the WordPress software up to date for you.[3]

Installing software yourself

There is another way to get a site. You can install website software on a host you choose.

WordPress shows both ways well. You can download its software for free and upload it to a host of your choice.[2] That is often called self-hosting. The same software also runs on WordPress.com, where the hosting is managed for you.[2]

If you self-host, you find and pay for the hosting yourself. You also take on more of the technical work.[2]

Two columns. Left, a hosted builder: one service gives you the editor, the hosting and the updates, and you add your content. Right, installing software yourself: you download the software, find and pay for a host, and do more of the technical work.
Hosted builder on the left, do-it-yourself install on the right.

A third kind

Some builders are not websites at all. They are programs that run on your own computer. You make the pages there and then publish them on any host.[1] This site is about the hosted kind, where everything happens in your browser.

The trade

A hosted builder trades freedom for ease. You start fast, and someone else handles the software and the server. But you work inside the choices the builder offers. The pages after this one show where those choices matter most: templates, plans and leaving later.

Next up is the building block of every builder site: the template.

Sources

  1. Website builder, Wikipedia (accessed 2026-10-22)
  2. WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org: What's the difference?, WordPress.com Support (accessed 2026-10-22)
  3. Choose a WordPress.com plan, WordPress.com Support (accessed 2026-10-22)
Next: part 2Templates, sections and blocks →