In this article, we're going to look at Duda website builder. Duda site builder is popular with web designers from around the world. We'll have an in-depth Daua review, so you can better understand this website builder. By the end of this article, you can decide whether the Duda site builder is the right one for you.

The beauty of technology is that it allows us to perform complex tasks with ease, while saving time. Take website designing, for instance. A few years back, if you wanted to create your own website, you would have to contact a web developer and a web designer, discuss your ideas with them, and then spend weeks (if not months) on getting your website up and running.

And every time you wanted to modify your website (as simple as changing an image on the home page), you would need to contact your developer.

That is not the case anymore. Thanks to a site builder, you can create a beautiful website with all the bells and whistles, with great ease, and in just a day or two. I am not saying you will be able to create an Amazon or eBay replica in a day, but you get my point!

Why use Site Builders?

You do not need programming or tech skills to create a website when using website builders. You won't need to be a designer to create a website when you are one of those top website builders. A website builder gives you a large library of templates, themes and applications.

Using a website builder saves you immense time (thanks to its drag and drop features). No more waiting for weeks and days to get a website up and running. And finally, you can maintain responsive websites and perform the necessary tweaks in no time using a website builder.

Duda website builder Review: Intro

Duda claims itself as the professional website builder you can call your own.

Today, close to half a million businesses use Duda website builder.

Without tech or coding skills, you can create a stunning website using Duda drag and drop site builder.

Duda website builder review: Ease of Use

When I check out a website builder, I focus a lot on ease of use. We have to understand that a website builder primarily makes it “easy” for the user to create a website. That is why it is important that the software is relatively easy to use, and does not have a steep learning curve.

My analysis suggests that Duda is easy to use, and it is good for beginners. Since Duda offers free trial, you can get started quickly. The sign up process requires you to add your name, email, website url, phone number, and a few other things. I would have given Duda five stars if it allowed an email only signup.

Being a drag-and-drop builder, Duda lets you customize your website template without having to code even a single line. Just click, drag, drop, and tweak your web pages.

I like that you get structured templates in Duda. This makes it easy to create a personalized website without any hassle. However, on the flip side, you get less creative freedom. In other words, there is only so much you can do when using Duda. This does not hurt a beginner. However, for the advanced, Duda might not be impressive.

Duda website builder: Templates

Duda drag and drop website builder offers 98 professionally designed templates across 10 categories, such as online store, business, travel, and more. Just like any other website builder, Duda lets you preview the template before making a choice. What I like about Duda in this context is that you can preview the template for desktop, tablet, and mobile.

And you can customize the template for each device. This comes in handy when you are creating a mobile-friendly (or even a mobile-first) website.

When editing for different devices, switching between device editors in Duda is relatively easy.

Edits in Duda happen in front of you, on the screen. There is no guesswork here.

You will find it easy to edit pre-filled content, add new sections (contact form, gallery etc.), and tweak colors. Replacing images and changing menu structure is also easy when working with Duda website builder.

I would like to add that Duda website builder focuses more on design, rather than advanced features.

Duda website builder: Features

Duda comes with more than 100 different fonts and a built-in photo editor.

You can even create your own widgets to personalize your website using Duda.

Creating videos, promotional offers, pop-ups and other messaging is easy with this website builder.

Duda Ecommerce Features

If you are planning to sell online, Duda might be a good choice.

The website builder allows you to add ecommerce features even on its basic plan.

If you compare Duda with other website builders, Duda will have the upper hand because of this specific reason.

With Duda, you can add multiple product images, integrate design between your website and your storefront, and use one of its several readymade product page layouts.

Duda has sales tools such as payment options, an auto tax calculator, product categories, low stock alert, digital downloads, and customizable shipping options and rates.

These features are great for selling online.

Duda SEO Features

Without marketing features, it becomes difficult to run an online store. Duda does not do a great job in this regard. It has limited SEO capabilities. 

However, it does offer basic features such as free SSL. This functionality comes with every Duda site. However, you will have to install it.

All Duda templates are responsive, and auto-resize to fit different devices and screen sizes. Duda offers Google PageSpeed optimization. You can customize the titles, meta tags, page URLs, and ALT text.

For beginners, these SEO features should be enough.

However, for advanced marketers, Duda's features might not be impressive.

Duda Marketing Features

Duda does offer customized tools to help drive sales.

If you upgrade to the Team tier or above, you will get access to client management features such as site comments and custom branding.

You also get a lead generator landing page template.

What Duda lacks is an email newsletter tool.

This is a serious problem if you are seeking marketing automation.

If you have used Shopify or any other leading website builder, you would have had no issues adding add-ons or apps from the App Store.

Duda falls short in area as well.

Duda Review: Pricing

Duda offers four pricing tiers- Basic, team, Agency, and Custom. These plans range from $14 to $44 per month (annual billing). The Custom Plan, however, is for agencies or businesses with hundreds of websites.

Duda does not offer a free plan. However, you can try its $22/month plan free of cost for 14 days. Duda’s annual plans offer a 25% savings. You have the freedom to opt for their monthly plan. But the costs would be higher.

Duda Basic

The basic plan costs $14 per month (billed annually) or $19 per month (billed monthly).

This plan gives you 1 website.

The Basic plan offers email support, Amazon Cloud hosting, Website Personalization, HTTPS Encryption, Multi-Language Websites, App Store, Membership, Millions of Free & Premium Images, and a limited Content Library. 

Team collaboration features such as Users & Permissions, Team Assets, and access to Duda Experts are missing on Duda Basic.

This plan also does not offer client management features such as White Label Client Access, client users & Permissions,  Site Comments, White Label Stats & Analytics, White Label Sales & Marketing Materials, or Custom email domain.

Advanced tools such as Instant Websites, Website Export, Widget Builder, Dynamic Pages with Internal/External Collections, API, and Zapier App are missing in this plan. Finally, Duda Basic does not offer managed services such as Account Management, API Guidance & Architecture Implementation, Customized Technical, Design & Sales Training, and Website Migration & Custom Development.

This plan offers only customer email support.

Duda Team Plan

The team plan costs $22 per month (billed annually) or $29 per month (billed monthly).

The best thing about this plan is that it offers a 14-day free trial.

The team plan offers all the features of the Basic plan along with some perks.

For example, with this plan, you get team collaboration features such as adding up to 4 team members, setting users & permissions, creating & sharing site templates, and working with certified Duda experts.

In terms of client management, Duda Team lets you have custom branding/domain, assign users & permissions, implement website comments, access white label stats & analytics, add branding to marketing materials, and more.

The advanced tools and managed service mentioned earlier in the basic plan are also missing in this Team plan.

Duda Agency Plan

The agency plan costs $33 per month (billed annually) or $59 per month (billed monthly).

This is an upgrade from the Team Plan, meaning you get all the features of the Team Plan.

The Agency plan gives you 4 websites with AWS hosting; Priority Support via phone, chat & email; custom branding throughout, access to team & client management features, dynamic pages connected to customer data, and an extensible Widget Builder.

And if you want to have more than 4 websites, you can pay $11/website/month.

You can even connect your Duda website with Google Sheets and Airtable on this plan.

Duda Review: Add-ons

Duda ecommerce add-ons come in three tiers- Standard, Advanced, and Unlimited.

These cost $7.25 per month, $19.25 per month, and $39 per month respectively when billed annually.

If you go for a month-to-month basis, these plans will cost $8, $22, and $49 per month.

Duda Standard Ecommerce

This plan lets you add up to 100 products to your store. There is no transaction fee on this plan.

The Standard plan offers over 40 payment methods. It also gives you realtime shipping quotes from leading carriers (UPS, USPS, FedEx, etc.).

Using this plan, you can even sell it on social channels such as Google, Facebook, and Instagram.

You also get an Android and iOS Store management app.

This plan, however, lacks features such as product variations, inventory management for product options, multilingual store, customizable invoices, scheduled pickup, automated emails, remarketing with Google analytics, mailchimp integration, view & recover abandoned carts, volume discounts, and digital download protection.

Data management features include CSV export for order, product & customer data, and Configurable measurement units, date/time formats & currency symbols.

SEO features include Direct indexing by Google, SEO fields for products, and Auto-embedded product schema.

Duda Advanced Ecommerce

As the name suggests, this plan offers you advanced ecommerce features such as adding up to 2500 products. Moreover, you can even connect to your Amazon or eBay store using this plan.

The Advanced plan does offer missing features (on the Standard plan) such as product variations, inventory management for product options, multilingual store, customizable invoices, scheduled pickup, automated emails, remarketing with Google analytics, mailchimp integration, view & recover abandoned carts, and digital download protection.

This plan has all the data management features available in the Standard Plan.

Duda Unlimited Ecommerce

If you are looking to add unlimited products, and features such as volume discounts, and Square POS integration, the Unlimited plan from Duda will impress you.

This plan offers all the features available on the Standard and Advanced ecommerce add-on plans.

Duda Review: Customer Support

With Duda Basic, you get access to email-only support.

If you want email, chat, and phone support, you will have to upgrade to their Team plan.

Duda Agency plan offers priority email, chat, and phone support.

Its Help Center has a large library of articles and guides.

You can go to the Resource Center to watch webinars, marketing materials, product updates, and more.

Duda’s live chat service comes in handy for simple questions.

Duda Review: Conclusion

Duda is a decent website builder. Is it the best website builder? Nope.

It is not a fancy website builder by any means.

For freelancers and agencies looking to build multiple sites quickly, Duda might not be the best option. There are several website builders better than Duda in that regard.

However, given its aesthetic designs, and a wide range of plans, Duda is not a bad website builder.

You can try its 14-day free trial and check for yourself.