Jimdo

Jimdo offers three different pricing plans: JimdoFree, JimdoPro and JimdoBusiness.

JimdoFree

JimdoFree gives you 500MB of storage, which is the same amount of storage you would get on the free plans on Weebly and Wix. Just like Weebly and Wix, you will be assigned a sub-domain as your website's URL, such as yoursite.Jimdo.com. If you own a domain name, ie. yourname.com, then you wouldn't be able to use the JimdoFree plan. The Jimdo logo will also be added to the footer area of your web pages.

But unlike Weebly and Wix, you can sell up to 5 products on JimdoFree. The free plans on both Weebly and Wix doesn't offer any eCommerce capabilities.

Though each of Jimdo's templates come with its own set of pre-styled variations, the overall collection of templates are relatively small as well as the caliber of the templates are relatively average when compared to other website builders. There are certainly other website builders out there that offer much more stylish templates, such as Squarespace and Wix.

JimdoFree only gives you access to a limited number of templates. If you want more template choices, you will need to subscribe to the JimdoPro or JimdoBusiness plan.

But there is one feature that is currently unique to Jimdo: the ability to add visual effects to the background of your website by using full slideshows or videos.

Another great feature Jimdo offers is a Custom Template Interface (HTML/CSS editor). So if you know your way around codes, you can use to create a unique, customized design. If you are not up for coding your own template, there are also third party Jimdo templates providers where you can purchase a professionally-designed Jimdo theme for quite reasonable prices.

Another drawback is Jimdo's themes are not responsive. Instead, Jimdo gives you a mobile template that you can turn on for your website. Unfortunately, there are no customization options for the mobile template.

Jimdo's editor is designed for beginners. The editor is not a pure drag-and-drop builder, but it is still relatively easy to use - you can add and edit website elements in just a few clicks. On the editor's interface you will see your website in full view with a collapsible editing toolbar. The design is basically a compromise between that of Squarespace, which shows your entire website while hiding the toolbar, and Wix or Website.com, which the toolbar is always shown.

Jimdo's toolbar also differs in options it offers. If you are familiar with other website builders (ie. Wix, Weebly and Website.com), you will be accustomed to items such as photos, spacers, buttons, text boxes, forms and other items you can place on your web page. You won't find these on Jimdo's toolbar, instead you will find that the toolbar focuses on template selection, style customization, blog postings, SEO and website stats.

The actual page elements are found from overlaid menus and boxes that appear when you mouse over them on the page. Initially, it does take some time to find these elements, but once you've become more familiar with the editor, using Jimdo was no more difficult than using other website builders.

You can drag and drop some elements on to your web pages.

When customizing your website's style, you can choose between site-wide or by-element. You will find the Style by Element toggle on the Style editor. The toggle lets you choose between applying changes to a single element or to all the elements of that type throughout the website.

Another highlight of Jimdo's editor is that it allow you access to the HTML/CSS editor – you can completely customize your website's design by modifying the template's codes.

Unfortunately, the way to publish your Jimdo website is very unclear. There is no Publish or Save buttons. Your website is live on the Internet from the moment you begin creating it. There is no option to create a website first, save and then publish when ready.

Standard features that are included in all Jimdo plans include: website editor, design templates, social media buttons, mobile view, blogging tools, photo galleries, Google Maps, contact forms, video embedding and guestbook. You can also add an HTML widget using the HTML editor. However, there isn't an audio player app and it doesn't support membership system.

Jimdo's contact form is relatively basic in terms of capability – the form only support the standard name, email and message fields – it doesn't allow you to add additional fields. The good news is, Jimdo lets you customize the success message and all form submissions are saved in the Form Archive.

Jimdo's blogging feature might seem a bit confusing at first. For example, you must first activate the blog feature, then you must click on the Public icon to launch your post (there is no Publish button). Once your post has been launched, it will show up on the top of your home page by default; if you want to create a blog page, you will need to create a page and then add the Blog Display element.

Once you get the hang of Jimdo's blogging tool, you will realize you can create dynamic blog posts that offers various user interactions, including file download, custom widget/HTML, form, Google Maps, flash animation and more.

If there is one area that Jimdo falls short, it would be image tools.

Jimdo comes with very limited image editing tools – you can only align, rotate and resize images. Competitors such as Squarespace provides excellent integrated online photo editing from Aviary; Wix comes with powerful built-in photo editing tools.

Unlike Website.com, Jimdo also doesn't offer any stock image library. This means, if you should need professional images, you will either have to hire a photographer or purchase the images from stock image providers such as Getty Images.

When adding galleries, you can upload multiple image files at once or pull them from Dropbox storage. Jimdo gives you 4 gallery styles: horizontal masonry, vertical masonry, grid and slideshow. Wix offers 15 different gallery styles.

Jimdo gives you everything you need to run a basic store. You can add products, create variations, set categories, customize the checkout form, accept several different payment types, customize email receipts, shipping costs and time descriptions, tax options, cancellation and return policies and more. Jimdo also provide you with back-end support such as inventory tracking, open/close orders and discount codes. All these features makes managing your online store easy and also makes Jimdo stand out from other website builders.

If you are building an online shop, JimdoPro and JimdoBusiness are very reasonably priced given the e-commerce tools. You can sell up to 5 items on the JimdoFree plan, JimdoPro gets you 15 and JimdoBusiness is unlimited. But note that Jimdo does not support digital downloads.

Jimdo supports PayPal, but you will need to provide your PayPal API credentials, which means you will need to have a PayPal Premier or Business account. Many other website builders, such as Website.com, only requires you to enter your PayPal login. In additional to PayPal, Jimdo also supports a selection of payment methods, including Stripe, invoicing, payment-in-advance, collection-upon-delivery, local pickup, and local delivery.

Other website builders like Squarespace charge a fee per transaction but Jimdo does not. This could make a sizeable difference for small businesses with a limited budget.

Jimdo's mobile editor is quite similar to Weebly's mobile editor. While your website is not responsive, Jimdo does offer a mobile version of your website so that it fits better on a mobile screen.

Jimdo doesn't allow you to drag and drop elements directly into the mobile editor. If you need to add elements to your website, you need to do so via the regular website editor.

However, it does let you customize the CSS codes of your mobile website. So far, no other mobile editor (not Wix, Weebly or Website.com, etc.) lets you modify the styling of the mobile site, so this is a very unique Jimdo feature. Unfortunately, to take advantage of this feature you will need to know CSS.

In addition, Jimdo lets you build a Mobile Express page, which is essentially a mobile landing page. You can use this page to display your business description, phone number, operating hours, address or map. The benefit of this mobile express page is all your important information is shown in a neat and organized manner so your mobile visitors won't have to search all over your mobile site for them.

You will also find that your mobile site is eCommerce ready as well. Jimdo has integrated their eCommerce functions into their mobile editor so if you have an online store, your visitors can purchase seamlessly with their mobile device.

Another standout feature of Jimdo is its iOS and Android apps. Unlike the mobile apps of Squarespace, Weebly or Wix, Jimdo's is a truly mobile website builder – it allows you to build a website from scratch using an Apple or Android mobile device.

For example, Weebly and Squarespace only let you manage your blog posts and comments, website metrics and add photos through their mobile app; Squarespace lets you manage blog posts and comments, website metrics and add photos. Jimdo lets you build and edit your entire website, and best of all, the app is free from Apple's iTunes and Google Play store.

If you need to build a website using an iPhone or Android app, Jimdo is your best option.

JimdoPro and JimdoBusiness users can register a new domain name through Jimdo at no additional costs.

Jimdo offers the following basic domain extensions : .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, .de, .at, .ch, .fr, .eu, .nl, .com.mx, .es, .co.uk, .it, .ru, .pl, .com.br, .be, .dk, .se, .fi, .no.

As you can see, it caters more to the European market – most of the country domain extensions are specific to European countries, such as Sweden, Spain and of course Germany (Jimdo is a German company).

Jimdo also offers premium extensions such as .audio, .city, .hamburg, .vegas and more.

While the JimdoPro and JimdoBusiness comes with a free basic domain name, you are certainly not limited to only one domain name. Jimdo also lets you register additional domain names and connect them to your website. Domain management is done via the editor.

And unlike most competitors, Jimdo offers email hosting services with the two paid plans. You are not forced to pay extra to use Google apps and mail for your @yourdomain.com email addresses like you would with Squarespace and Wix. The other website builder that comes to mind that offer email hosting services is Website.com.

You get 1 free domain email address on the JimdoPro plan; 20 on the JimdoBusiness plan, and just like domain names, you can purchase additional email accounts on an a la cart basis. Additional email accounts are $12/year per email account. Or you can also purchase a 10 email + 20 email aliases bundle for $60/year.

Jimdo doesn't offer any phone support. Contact is via an email form. Free users are advised that the response time is "a few days" while JimdoPro users only have to wait 1-3 business days and JimdoBusiness users are guaranteed a response within 1 business day. Jimdo also offers support via live chat, but they are only online 9AM to 5PM Pacific Time and is dependent on staff availability.

So while there is no way to get immediate assistance from a live person, Jimdo offers quite an extensive library of support articles and video tutorials.

One thing to note, Jimdo offers support in 8 languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Italian, Dutch, and Russian. You can build your website as well as get support from their support team in those languages.

Jimdo is a wonderful all-in-one website builder that provides everything you need for a small business website, from domain name and email address to the website editor to create your website and a mobile app to work on your website on-the-go.

Jimdo offers a free account that gives you plenty of feature to create a simple website. Like Weebly and Wix, the free plan comes with a limitation on the amount of storage and advanced features as well as a Jimdo logo on your web pages, and your website URL is in the form of a sub-domain, yoursite.Jimdo.com.

Just like all other website builders, you create your Jimdo website from a template. Template design is an area Jimdo can improve upon. While there are more than a handful of templates to choose from, they even offer a blank canvas template so you can unleash your creativity, the quality of their designs is relatively average. Wix offers much more templates to choose from, Squarespace offers more quality designs.

You will also find that many of the website building tools are hidden inside the Jimdo's editor, though you will eventually find most of the features you need, it will take some time to explore and figure out. But once you do, adding and editing elements are a breeze. The editor's interface could definitely be more intuitive and flexible. Website.com and Weebly are stronger in terms of the interface of the editor.

Jimdo is ideal for small sized businesses, as its e-commerce platform is more than adequate to do a really good job.

Jimdo's pricing is fair and based on 1-yr terms. They also offer a 2-year option for a slight discount.