Three kinds of builder
“AI website builder” covers three quite different things. Choosing well is mostly choosing the kind.
- Visual platforms with AI added: you design on a canvas and the AI speeds up layouts, copy and components. The site lives on the platform.
- Agency platforms: built around managing many client sites, with client accounts, permissions and white-label options.
- Agents and connectors: you describe the site to an AI agent, which writes the code. A connector gives the agent design, checks and hosting.
The options, fairly
| Tool | Kind | Best for | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Webflow | Visual platform | Designers who want fine control, a strong CMS and clients who edit content. Has its own MCP server for agents. | A learning curve, and the site lives in Webflow. |
| Framer | Visual platform | Designers who like a canvas, polished motion and fast publishing; AI layout and component tools. | Per-site plans add up across many clients. |
| Wix Studio | Agency platform | Agencies managing many client sites, with client handover and business features built in. | The site lives in Wix. |
| Duda | Agency platform | Agencies selling sites at volume, white-labelled, with client management. | Built for scale more than for distinctive design. |
| Lovable and similar | Prompt-to-app | Apps and prototypes from a prompt, with code you own. | Marketing sites tend to look generic without a design system. |
| Sonder | Connector (MCP) | Studios that already work in Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor, pitch redesigns and build brand, launch and small-business sites. | No canvas and no client CMS. Changes are made by asking your agent. |
Check each tool's current plans on its own site: pricing pages change often, and several changed this year.
What Sonder gives a studio
Sonder, the website MCP for designers, is a connector rather than an app. Your agent does the thinking: reading the brief, choosing the look, writing every word. Sonder supplies:
- 23 whole-site looks, each a complete designed site, filled with the client's own words, photographs, colours and logo.
- Checks on every page in a real browser: errors, contrast, phone width, speed and the tells of generated design and copy.
- Batch pitches: a list of prospects in, a before and after of each out, with a page that shows who opened theirs.
- Review links where clients comment and approve; in your own branding on Team.
- Hosting on a link or the client's domain, and code export on any paid plan.
| Plan | Price | For |
|---|---|---|
| Trial | Free | One real client project, pitch to built site, on a Sonder link with a small “Made with Sonder”. |
| Solo | $39 a month | 1 seat, up to 3 client projects a month, code export, custom domains, no badge. |
| Studio | $99 a month | 2 seats, client projects without a limit, a larger monthly allowance of builds. |
| Team | $299 a month | 5 seats, the largest allowance, review links in your own branding, priority builds. |
Yearly billing is 23% off each plan. Credit packs add builds in a busy month and don't expire at the month's end. Full details on pricing.
How to choose
- Clients edit their sites weekly: Webflow or Framer.
- You run dozens of small sites and need client management: Wix Studio or Duda.
- You work in an agent, pitch redesigns and want sites that look designed: Sonder. Start with getting premium sites out of Claude.
Questions
What's the best AI website builder for a freelance web designer?
If you design on a canvas, Framer or Webflow. If you already work in an AI agent and win work by pitching redesigns, Sonder: Solo is $39 a month for up to 3 client projects a month.
Is Webflow worth it for a small agency?
If your clients need a strong CMS and you like designing visually, often yes. If most of your sites rarely change and you'd rather work in an agent, it may be more platform than you need.
Can I white-label Sonder for my agency?
Review links carry your studio's own colours, ground and logo on the Team plan. Published sites have no “Made with Sonder” badge on any paid plan.
Do my clients need a Sonder account?
No. They open the review link, comment and approve without an account. The site is published on a link or their own domain.
Can I leave Sonder and keep the sites?
Yes. On any paid plan you can export a site's code and host it anywhere.