White Label Website Builders vs. Traditional Website Builders

on 16 May 2022, by Bogdan, in Blog, WordPress, Cloud, Guides

by Bogdan

Website builders are becoming more popular since they allow individuals and businesses to build solutions faster and more efficiently. With these customizable platforms, users can build unique websites and other related solutions for themselves and their clients.

When it comes to website builders, there are two main types depending on the degree of control and ownership you have over them. These are the white-label website builders and traditional website builders. But, what exactly are these two types of website builders and how do they differ?

In this article, we’ll compare white-label website builders vs traditional website builders. By the end of it, you should be able to comfortably choose which one is suitable for you.

Let’s first understand what each of them is.

What is a white-label website builder?

A white-label website builder is one that allows individuals or businesses to create and launch their own website builder service under their own brand name or label. Essentially, a white-label website builder allows you to create and offer a website builder service without having to develop the software or infrastructure yourself, which is very difficult most of the time.

With a white-label website builder, you can brand the platform with your own company name, logo, and design, and offer the platform as your own service to your clients. The white-label provider handles the technical aspects of the service, such as server management and software updates, while you focus on marketing, sales, and customer support.

What is a traditional website builder?

On the other hand, with a traditional website builder, you’ll only be able to design and create websites using the platform. It will still retain the brand and the name of the company that created it.

This doesn’t mean that you will get limited features. If you pay for the highest license plan, you will have access to all the features that the website builder has to offer, except, you won’t be able to brand, market, or resell it as your own solution.

How do these website builders work?

Traditional and white-label website builders generally work in the same way. These website builders usually use a drag-and-drop interface that allows users to select and move various elements, such as text boxes, images, and buttons, around the screen to create a website layout.

They often come with pre-designed templates for different types of websites and niches, for example, restaurant websites, ecommerce shops, portfolios, and so on. You can select a template that suits the type of website you want to create and customize it to fit your preferences.

Website builder companies may also offer features such as website hosting, which helps to put your website online after you’re done creating it. You could also get domain registration services, e-commerce capabilities, and search engine optimization (SEO) tools.

What’s the difference between white-label website builders vs Traditional website builders

Although white-label and traditional website builders are similar in how they work, they have patent differences in their features. In this section, we’ll examine those differences, one after the other.

1: With a white-label website builder, you get complete control over it

A white-label website builder gives you total control over it, allowing you to rebrand it as your own software or platform. You can change the name of the builder, and custom domain, and add your business logo and favicon to it. You can also link your business profile, support pages, pricing pages, and the about page. With all of this added, the website builder will share an identity with your brand.

You’ll be able to control how the website builder looks and when clients visit the builder they will see it as an extension of your services. This way it helps to build a stronger brand with more services.

On the contrary, with a traditional website builder, you won’t be able to control how it looks. It retains the producing company’s logo, domain name, support links, and so on. As a result, you can’t include it as a part of your brand or the services that you offer. You will still get customization features to build unique websites for you or your clients, but you won’t be able to brand it as your own solution.

2: You can resell a white-label website builder

The importance of branding a white-label website builder is that you can resell it as your own solution to your clients. You can set up your own pricing, choose to offer discounts or promotions, and so on. Some white-label website builder companies can assist you by processing payments for you.

But if you’re not this fortunate with your provider, you might have to link your pricing pages and handle payments on your own. Because of this, white-label website builders enable you to unlock an additional revenue stream by reselling it. If it works out you can gain a lot of profit.

Since you can’t brand or market a traditional website as your solution, you can’t resell it as your product. You will be limited to being the end customer of the company that sells a traditional website builder. However, you can still generate revenue from a traditional website builder by building websites using the platform and selling them to clients.

Alternatively, you can enter into an affiliate marketing program. Here, you will refer customers to the website builder and then get paid a commission once a customer buys its plans via your affiliate link.

↑ Reseller Dashboard in Brizy White Label

3: White-label website builders tend to have more customer support

White-label website builders tend to have more customer support because they need to be set up to meet your needs. Adding your branding elements to the website builder, a custom domain can be complex and hence require support from the company that owns it.

Additionally, white-label website builder providers often work closely with clients to ensure that the platform is implemented correctly and that users are trained on how to use it effectively. This personalized support can be critical to the success of the implementation of the website builder and can help to ensure that the client's investment in it is maximized.

Also, since a white-label website builder is often used to provide services to other businesses, the software provider may need to offer additional support to their client's customers. This can include help desk support, technical assistance, and training to ensure that the end users are able to use it effectively.

For traditional website builders, support is often limited to fixing errors that occur when you use the platform or conducting updates to the software. You can also get support when you have difficulty using it.

4: White-label website builders and traditional website builders have different pricing structures

Because white-label website builders offer special features, their pricing structures are often different from traditional website builders. Generally, the prices of white-label website builders tend to be higher because of this.

White-label website builders allow you to customize them as your own and generate additional revenue by reselling them to the end user. This comes at an additional cost from the owner of this website builder. You need to purchase a white-label/reseller license from the producing company so that you can resell it as your own. Some providers may also charge additional fees for more features, for instance, handling payments for you.

Traditional website builders usually have lower prices because they lack the rebranding and reselling features. Since you’re the end user, the producing company has to set prices that are favorable to you.

5: White-label websites take longer to set up

As soon as you purchase a traditional website builder, you can start using it to create websites right away. Everything is pre-built and ready for use. However, this is not the case with a white-label website builder.

Before you can start marketing and reselling it as your own, you’ll first have to change the branding elements we mentioned previously (builder name, custom domain, support links, and so on). This takes some time to set up, usually a few weeks.

To sum up, a white-label website builder offers greater flexibility and customization options, allowing you to rebrand and resell the platform to customers as your own. A traditional website builder, on the other hand, offers a pre-existing product that may not be as customizable but may be more cost-effective and easier to implement.

White-label website builders vs Traditional website builders: Who is each suited to?

We’ve looked at the differences between these two website builders, and by now, you must have a rough idea of which one suits you. To make it completely clear, let’s see to whom each of these types is suited.

Who is a white-label website builder perfect for?

White-label website builders are primarily meant for organizations/agencies which want to build websites for clients while marketing the website builder as their own platform. Agencies have the financial capacity to handle the cost of having a white-label website builder.

However, with white-label website builder providers like Brizy, anyone can have a white-label website builder for as low as $199/year. So if you’re an independent freelancer, looking to have and resell your own website builder a white-label option is ideal for you. With a white-label website builder, agencies and freelancers can:

Save on the time and resources that they would otherwise spend building a new solution
Get their website builder to the market faster.
Focus solely on branding and marketing when the technical aspects of building and maintaining a website builder are handled by the service provider.

Who is a traditional website builder perfect for?

A traditional website builder is perfect for anyone who wants to build a website for themselves or for a client, without reselling the website builder. In a traditional website builder, they will get a ready-made tool with everything they need to create websites without writing any code.

Conclusion

White-label and traditional website builders allow users to create websites without writing any code. However, white-label website builders come with additional features that enable users to brand, market, and resell the website builder as their own. As a result, they tend to cost more and they take longer to get them ready for use.

Traditional website builders, on the other hand, are ready-made solutions that you can start using as soon as you purchase the license from the provider. The provider will retain all the branding and selling rights, and in this case, you will be the end customer.

The choice between these two comes down to how you want to use the website builder. If you want to resell it to end users, then a white-label website builder is the solution for you. If you want to simply build websites for yourself or your clients, then the traditional option is better.

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Article by Bogdan

Co-founder & Head of Design, Bogdan has a passion for everything that works great and looks awesome. Guilty for most of the UI and UX around this place, you can say "Hi" to him at bogdan at brizy dot io