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IONOS by 1&1 Review (2023)

An intuitive site builder for small businesses
By Michael GrawBy Michael Graw -
Last Updated: May 19, 2023
88 reviews
very good
8.6
very good
8.6
logo-IONOS
Visit Site
Price
From $5/month
Number of Templates
400
SEO Features
Yes

Is IONOS by 1&1 Worth Signing Up For?

IONOS MyWebsite is a powerful and affordable website builder for small businesses. It offers 2 versions of its site editor to cater to both beginners and advanced designers. Features like email and traffic analytics are standard, while an online store option offers inventory management and cross-selling on social media. Overall, IONOS MyWebsite is a great option for small businesses looking to grow their online presence.

Price
From $5/month
Number of Templates
400
SEO Features
Yes

IONOS Pros & Cons

PROS

Beginner and advanced versions of site editor
Excellent ecommerce features for the price
Options for personalized visitor experiences

CONS

Blog features require an upgrade
Limited selection of templates

Top IONOS Reviews

St
Steven
, PA
It's a great service and their software has everything you could need to build a professional website. The cost of the service is also very reasonable.
Sh
Shawn
, WV
I love using this web-building site because it's so helpful and easy to understand. Even a kid can use it.
Ar
Armetha
, TX
They stand out above the rest because it's very easy to use and access the system. I love that they are very hands-on with their clients.
See all IONOS reviews

How do I know I can trust this IONOS review?

Top10.com authors, contributors, and editors are serious about research. We combine our own experience with the services we recommend, with reviews that come from verified users–just like you! Together, with reviews from industry experts, we find the Top 10 best products and services to make sure you can choose with confidence and ease.

IONOS IONOS Visit Site

IONOS by 1&1 Video Review

How IONOS by 1&1 Works

IONOS is a web host and domain registrar founded in 1988. The company offers everything from shared hosting to cloud computing. Its MyWebsite site builder includes shared hosting by IONOS with unlimited storage and bandwidth.

The IONOS MyWebsite builder was created with small businesses in mind. It offers site editors for both first-time and experienced designers, as well as selling tools that can help your business grow. It’s ideally suited for small businesses that want to build a scalable online store, but that don’t want to spend a fortune on a more advanced ecommerce-specific platform like Wix or Shopify.

IONOS homepage screenshot

Using IONOS

We found the overall experience of using IONOS MyWebsite to be quite seamless. You can sign up, choose a template, and start designing all within a few minutes.

The complexity of the editor will depend on whether you sign up for the beginner-friendly MyWebsite Now or the more advanced MyWebsite Creator editor. In either case, it’s easy to customize your template’s styles, drag and drop content elements, and preview your site.

IONOS Features and Tools

IONOS features and tools

Hosting

All IONOS MyWebsite plans include shared hosting from IONOS with unlimited storage and bandwidth. You also receive a free SSL certificate, a free domain name for one year, and 1 free email address at your domain.

Privacy Tools

IONOS helps you communicate to your visitors that you take privacy seriously. You can easily add a banner to your site explaining your cookie policy. In addition, all forms you add to your site are GDPR-compliant by default.

IONOS example templates

How to Create a Website with IONOS

The process of building a website with IONOS MyWebsite starts with choosing a template. There are only 18 templates available, much fewer than comparable website builders. The designs are decent, although they can feel a bit bland. You can switch templates at any time, but you’ll have to restart the design process if you do.

Once you’ve selected a template, you can customize it and add content elements to your site. How much control you have over this process depends on whether you choose MyWebsite Now or MyWebsite Creator. 

With MyWebsite Now, you only have a small degree of flexibility to customize your site. You’re limited to showing or hiding content elements within the blocks already present on the template you selected. You can’t drag and drop new content elements onto your site or edit your site’s code.

With MyWebsite Creator, you have the ability to drag and drop content elements like text boxes, images, buttons, forms, and more onto your site. You can customize the layout of these elements and add effects like video backgrounds. MyWebsite Creator also enables you to edit your site’s CSS code, so users with coding experience can make more in-depth changes to the basic design.

Whichever editor you use, we found MyWebsite to be pretty straightforward. You can preview how your site will look on desktop, tablet, and mobile devices, and it only takes one click to push your site live.

Overall, we were pretty happy with the site creation process for IONOS MyWebsite. We think most users will want the flexibility of MyWebsite Creator, although MyWebsite Now can be useful for first-time designers who want to launch a site as quickly as possible.

Adding Multimedia to Your IONOS Website

IONOS MyWebsite supports photos, videos, audio files, and PDFs. You can upload files simply by clicking on an existing media content element. Files are saved to a content library, so it’s easy to reuse them across your site. 

One thing we especially liked about IONOS is that the platform automatically resizes images to optimize them for faster page loading. You also get access to thousands of free stock images to use on your website. Overall, the platform’s media management is quite solid. 

Marketing Functionality with IONOS Websites

IONOS offers several features for marketing your online business. First, all sites include a built-in email marketing tool that you can use to send newsletters to your contacts. It’s not the most customizable newsletter builder we’ve seen, but it’s pretty handy if you don’t want to pay for a third-party email marketing service.

MyWebsite Creator users also have access to an app for scheduling appointments online. While this app doesn’t integrate with MyWebsite’s online store system, it can be a big help for small businesses that offer in-person services.

IONOS has good support for blogs, although you must use MyWebsite Creator to launch a blog. You can schedule posts ahead of time, create accounts for multiple bloggers, and allow your posts to be collected in an RSS feed. You can also easily advertise your new posts on social media or in an email newsletter.

Finally, users on IONOS’ top-tier Pro plan can personalize visitors’ experiences based on how they got to your site, whether they’re first-time visitors, and more. For example, you can put a coupon code on your home page that’s visible to first-time visitors, but not to anyone else.

SEO Functionality & Add-Ons with IONOS Websites

IONOS MyWebsite offers strong SEO capabilities. To start, you can add a meta title and description to each page on your site. You can also add alt text to images and videos to help search engines better catalog your site. On top of that, MyWebsite optimizes your content—including images—to ensure your site loads as quickly as possible.

To analyze your visitor traffic, IONOS offers a built-in analytics tool. You can also integrate Google Analytics.

ECommerce

Using IONOS, users can get their ECommerce site online quickly without investing a lot of time getting wrapped up in small technical details of their online storefront set up. Users can choose between three subscription tiers for ecommerce builders, according to their needs.

All ECommerce templates include drag-and-drop sections, like widgets, and automatic labeling for sales items. These features mean that IONOS templates are completely beginner-friendly. No technical skills are needed to register online sales inventory and merchandise them online.

IONOS offers specialized features for ecommerce site building, such as:

  • Fraud Checker: Any major ECommerce website can be subject to fraudulent purchasing activity. IONOS features a fraud detection engine which helps store owners identify fraudulent transactions. Users can receive warnings if transactions trigger certain conditions like originating from certain IP addresses that are known to be botnets or represent malicious activity.
  • Sales Tax Calculator: Tax rate changes are determined automatically. Additionally, users can set up their business as sales tax nexuses and mark specific customers as exempt from tax.
  • Multilingual shop: Users can roll out various versions of their online stores in different languages.
  • Instagram/Amazon/Ebay: Thanks to an integrated app solution, subscribers can sell through Amazon, eBay, and even Instagram Shopping.

Payment Processing

Stores built using the builder can accept payments processed via PayPal as well as all major credit cards. Additional payment gateways can be configured depending on the location of the store. Some users may prefer to configure options such as Stripe and Bitcoin.

Scalability

IONOS Ecommerce sites are also scalable, with features that enable users to expand their store as their business grows. This includes wide inventory management (subscribers can add up to 10,000 products and eGoods to their stores), wishlists for customers, and B2B support. Stores built using the IONOS website builder are based on expert-designed templates that are beginner-friendly and easy to use. Automatic labelling for sales items and drag-and-drop sections ensure that users can merchandise their inventory online without technical skills.

IONOS by 1&1 Customer Support

Screenshot of IONOS knowledge base

IONOS offers 24/7 customer support by phone, email, and live chat. You can also request a free personal consultant so that you have a single point of contact for all questions about your website.

For troubleshooting on your own, IONOS offers a detailed online knowledge base with tutorials for both MyWebsite Now and MyWebsite Creator. The tutorials don’t have many screenshots or videos, but they are pretty thorough nonetheless.

IONOS by 1&1 Pricing

Pricing & Special Offers

IONOS offers 3 plans: Starter, Plus, and Pro. The Starter plan includes access to MyWebsite Now, while the Plus and Pro plans use the more advanced MyWebsite Creator software. You can add ecommerce functionality to any of the 3 plans for an additional charge.

All plans are billed annually and you can get a steeply reduced price for your first year. There’s no free trial, but you can request a refund if you cancel within the first 30 days of your subscription.


Starter
Plus
Pro

Regular Price

$5/month

$10/month

$15/month

First-year Price

$1/month

$5/month

$10/month

Ecommerce Price

$12/month

$20/month

$35/month

Site Editor

MyWebsite Now

MyWebsite Creator

MyWebsite Creator

Blogging

No

Yes

Yes

Personalized Visitor Experiences

No

No

Yes

Number of Products (Ecommerce Plans)

500

5,000

10,000



IONOS by 1&1 Alternatives

How IONOS by 1&1 Compares to Other Website Builders


IONOS
GoDaddy
Bluehost
Wix

Pricing

$5-$35/month

$9.99-$24.99/month

$10.99-$39.95/month

$14-$49/month

Hosting included?

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Number of templates

18

100

300

800

Blogging functionality

Yes (with upgrade)

Yes

Yes

Yes

Ecommerce functionality

Yes (with upgrade)

Yes (with upgrade)

Yes (with upgrade)

Yes (with upgrade)

Email marketing functionality

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Responsive design

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Analytics & Reporting

Built-in and Google Analytics

Built-in and Google Analytics

Google Analytics

Built-in (with upgrade) and Google Analytics


IONOS IONOS Visit Site

IONOS vs GoDaddy

IONOS and GoDaddy are closely matched when it comes to building a small business website. GoDaddy offers slightly better tools for email marketing and booking appointments online, but we prefer the ecommerce functionality of IONOS. We think IONOS comes out on top if you’re looking to launch an online store.

IONOS vs Bluehost

IONOS offers a much smoother design process than Bluehost and more robust ecommerce features. That said, Bluehost is built on WordPress, so it’s worth looking into if you want to launch a blog rather than an online store.

IONOS vs Wix

Wix is more customizable than IONOS and offers paid apps to expand your ecommerce potential. However, it’s also much more expensive than IONOS. So, we think Wix is best suited for online businesses that are looking to scale up their marketing efforts and sales, while  IONOS is better for businesses that are just starting to sell online.

Bottom Line

IONOS MyWebsite is a powerful yet affordable website builder that offers many of the tools that small businesses need. With this site builder, you can create a highly customized website, market to customers with an email at your domain, and sell products online for delivery or local pickup. There’s a lot to like about IONOS MyWebsite, and we found few drawbacks for businesses that are new to selling online.

That said, IONOS MyWebsite isn’t right for everyone. The platform doesn’t offer blogging functionality with its most basic plan, and it’s not as scalable as an ecommerce-focused website builder like Wix. Overall, we think IONOS is best suited for businesses that want to expand their online footprint and don’t want to spend a fortune to launch an online store.

Frequently Asked Questions
How can IONOS help me rank on Google?+-

IONOS helps you boost your website’s SEO by optimizing your images and letting you write meta titles and descriptions for all your pages.

Are IONOS’ templates mobile friendly?+-

All IONOS templates are mobile-responsive.

What are the limitations of free websites?+-

Free website builders often restrict your ability to use your own domain name. Your site may have limited storage or bandwidth, and you also likely won’t be able to sell products online.

Michael Graw is a freelance journalist and photographer based in Bellingham, Washington. His work has been published on a wide selection of popular websites, and he has built a solid reputation for his writing in the technology and finance sectors. Michael has a particular interest in new technology and runs a small business where he constantly puts the latest web, business, and consumer tech through its paces.

IONOS customer reviews

Based on 88 reviews

Ease of use

Brand satisfaction

Value for money

Service quality

Top Reviews

Ease of use

Brand satisfaction

Value for money

Service quality

9 months ago

It's a great service and their software has everything you could need to build a professional website. The cost of the service is also very reasonable.

10 months ago

I love using this web-building site because it's so helpful and easy to understand. Even a kid can use it.

10 months ago

They stand out above the rest because it's very easy to use and access the system. I love that they are very hands-on with their clients.

10 months ago

It gives me fast browsing capabilities and makes it very easy to access information on the internet.

10 months ago

Their platform is easy to use and it's a good price. Their customer support is great and is quick to respond. I would recommend it to anyone looking to build a professional quality website.

10 months ago

1&1 Ionos has a very good interface and was very easy to use for website building. I love everything about it.

10 months ago

1&1 Ionos provides the tools that make it super easy to use even for someone who isn't tech-savvy. Their customer support is awesome!

10 months ago

It's the most innovative website-building tool I have ever used. It's really a great app and I would recommend it to anyone looking to build a website.

a year ago

1&1 lonos is a great website builder because it's really cool. It offers great tools and easy-to-follow instructions that anyone can follow.

a year ago

I really like 1&1 Ionos, as it's simple to use, and the setup is pretty easy and direct. The interface is clear and to the point. It's perfect for all your website needs.

a year ago

My new website looks great, and the cost was extremely reasonable. Customer support has been excellent. Everything works perfectly.

a year ago

One of the neatest tools 1&1 lonos offers is the one that allows you to change your site's content based on who's viewing it or what time of year it is. It helps keep your site relevant.

a year ago

It's a great professional service that makes my website very valuable and very relevant. They offer great equipment to service your site.

a year ago

1&1 lonos is the best website builder because it gives you the best layout, and the cost is affordable.

a year ago

It is a great and amazing website-building app. They make it so easy to use and have the latest technology available. I love how cool it is.

a year ago

They have high-quality products and tools and offer the most updated services that are required for every website builder to be successful.

a year ago

I like that 1&1 Ionos provides all the resources and online training to help you build a professional website.

a year ago

1&1 Ionos is a great website builder because it provides you with all the necessary tools and information you need to add to build your personal website.

a year ago

It's a great product and made it easy to build my website. It's a top-rated app because it works well and doesn't have any flaws.

a year ago

I like it because it is very fast and innovative, I love the speed. It functions well with many products.

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