14 Website Builder Success Stories [2024]
Jumpstart your tech venture with a website builder business. A website builder offers a platform to create websites without needing sophisticated coding skills.
This business revolves around developing a user-friendly tool that helps individuals and businesses design their own websites with ease—drag-and-drop features, customizable templates, and integrated functionalities like eCommerce and SEO tools.
The demand for websites is insatiable, fostered by the growing number of small businesses, freelancers, and personal brands needing an online presence. By providing an easy-to-use solution, you tap into a vast market eager for simplicity and efficiency.
Starting this business requires a solid understanding of web development, user experience, and continuous adaptation to new tech advancements. But the payoff is substantial: empowering users to establish their digital footprint efficiently.
In this list, you'll find real-world website builder success stories and very profitable examples of starting a website builder that makes money.
1. Madwire ($102M/year)
JB Kellogg, the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Madwire, came up with the idea for his business while interning at a travel magazine company. After realizing his talent for website design and seeing the potential for helping businesses grow through digital marketing, JB and his father decided to start Madwire and grew it into a company with over 500 employees and $100 million in annual revenue in less than 10 years. Their mission is to help small businesses grow and make a difference in their local communities.
How much money it makes: $102M/year
How many people on the team: 520
Co-founder of Madwire JB Kellogg grew his business from just the two of them in a tiny office to over 500 employees and $100 million in annual revenue in under 10 years, by focusing on exceptional customer service and a multi-channel inbound strategy.
2. Framer ($2.4M/year)
Jorn came up with the idea of Framer after working with his co-founder at a company called Sofa, which they founded in 2006. Initially, they focused on building Mac apps but had to rely on agency work for major clients to fund their projects.
After gaining valuable experience, including working on the first native Facebook mobile app for iPhone, Jorn and his co-founder decided to leverage their combined expertise from Sofa and Silicon Valley to create a new startup. This led to the founding of Framer, aimed at building a lasting company for the next two decades.
How much money it makes: $2.4M/year
Learn how Framer evolved from a JavaScript library into a full-fledged, no-code website design tool, generating an impressive $2.4 million annually with over 50 successful Product Hunt launches.
3. The Creative Collective ($2.4M/year)
Yvette Adams, founder of The Creative Collective, came up with the idea to start her marketing agency out of both ambition and necessity. With a diverse background in marketing and media, she saw the potential in offering a one-stop-shop for creative services on the Sunshine Coast. She began by offering her services to people she knew and quickly gained clients and referrals, positioning her agency as a pioneer in the industry.
How much money it makes: $2.4M/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 20
The Creative Collective is a full-service marketing agency that has grown its revenue and doubled its team in the past year, with around 100 active clients and responding to an average of 160 inquiries each month.
4. GreenRope ($1.92M/year)
metrics for our business are our customer satisfaction and retention rates, which remain consistently high. We currently have over 1,000 customers in over 20 countries, ranging from startups to universities and municipalities. Moving forward, we plan to continue evolving and improving our platform to meet the changing needs of businesses and provide even greater value to our customers.
How much money it makes: $1.92M/year
How many people on the team: 15
GreenRope, a self-funded CRM and marketing automation platform with over 1,000 customers in 20 countries, was built organically and focused on creating a positive, customer-centric culture without outside investment, with an all-in-one interface solving challenges in managing sales, marketing, customer service, and operations.
5. Trusted CMO ($900K/year)
Burnt out from her full-time CMO roles, Alison Murdock founded Trusted CMO in 2020 to provide fractional marketing services for B2B startups. With minimal investment, the consultancy has scaled by 50% annually and hit a million in revenue by 2023.
How much money it makes: $900K/year
How much did it cost to start: $5K
How many people on the team: 4
Trusted CMO founder built a marketing consulting firm from scratch, growing 50% yearly, attracting clients via word of mouth from investors, founders, and marketing leaders, with plans to expand educational offerings and managed services based on client needs.
6. Kairos Digital ($780K/year)
Kairos Digital, a marketing agency specializing in clear messaging for businesses, was founded by two brothers who saw a need for their services. With over $230,000 in sales in 2020 and a focus on ongoing retainer marketing work, the agency is poised for continued growth. Through their own sales funnel and digital advertising strategies, they attract and retain customers while prioritizing quality and strong ROI.
How much money it makes: $780K/year
How much did it cost to start: $50K
How many people on the team: 5
Two brothers started Kairos Digital, a marketing agency that focuses on clear messaging, and closed out 2020 with over $230,000 in sales, utilizing retainer marketing work as their most profitable kind of service, and utilizing WordPress, Asana, Quickbooks, and Google Ads for their operations.
7. Website Rental Coaching ($504K/year)
The daily workload at his 9-5 job at General Electric as an HR left Luke unfulfilled from his career, and while he was searching for a profitable side gig, he realized that websites are like digital properties. With a top-ranking lead generation website, he could rent it to local businesses and earn a steady monthly income. Luke quit his job at the 6-month mark and hit six figures by the one-year mark of starting this business.
How much money it makes: $504K/year
How much did it cost to start: $8K
How many people on the team: 0
Luke Van Der Veer's Website Rental Coaching business teaches people how to create passive income by renting lead generation websites to local businesses, which has helped him generate $42,000 per month as of April 2022.
8. Weblium ($444K/year)
David Braun, co-founder and CEO of Weblium.com, came up with the idea for the company after running Templatemonster.com and realizing the drawbacks of using various website platforms. He wanted to create a website builder that took care of all the issues "under the hood" without bothering customers. With a team of 24 people, Weblium is now creating 20-30 websites every day and growing 200% month over month, on track to reach the milestone of 100 custom websites a day.
How much money it makes: $444K/year
How many people on the team: 51
Weblium, a hybrid website builder that allows customers to switch between doing it themselves or having it done for them, has grown 200% month over month and is making 20-30 websites daily, with plans to reach 100 custom websites a day while partnering with banks and company registrars to offer website creation as part of their packages.
9. RightMessage ($360K/year)
Shai Schechter and his co-founder, Brennan, came up with the idea for RightMessage after seeing the success of personalization techniques in their own online businesses. They realized that there was a need for a point-and-click tool that would allow marketers to easily implement personalization on their websites, and thus RightMessage was born.
How much money it makes: $360K/year
How many people on the team: 3
RightMessage, a segmentation and personalization tool, grew its SaaS business to $30k MRR in one year, with over 1,000 websites installed, by building in public, iterating based on audience needs, focusing on high-touch demos, and partnering with complementary products.
10. Zion Builder ($240K/year)
Stefan, the founder of Hogash and ZionBuilder, started his journey in the Joomla and WordPress template/plugins business in 2012. After partnering with various designers and launching the top-selling theme Kallyas, which generated $90,000 in sales in the first month, Stefan focused on improving the theme and expanding his team. In 2018, he decided to build his own site builder solution, Zion Builder, to meet his high standards of quality, code, ease of use, and performance. The product has received great feedback and continues to evolve with each update.
How much money it makes: $240K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
How many people on the team: 6
Learn how Stefan, founder of Hogash and ZionBuilder, built one of the fastest site builders for WordPress, generating sales of $90,000 in the first month, and utilized community involvement to make an even better product with an AppSumo campaign, as well as his advice for future entrepreneurs.
11. WP Manager ($72K/year)
WP Manager, a WordPress Maintenance Subscription Service, was founded by Jason Correia after he realized he had a specialism in web development and a passion for helping people. Despite starting with just £7.63 in his bank account, Correia focused on organic SEO and providing excellent service, which has led to the company's success and steady growth. They now have a loyal customer base and are planning to expand their reach and launch exciting new products and services in the future.
How much money it makes: $72K/year
How much did it cost to start: $12
How many people on the team: 1
Meet Jason Correia, founder of WP Manager, a WordPress Maintenance Subscription Service that has tripled its team size and established a solid revenue stream from a loyal customer base, offering services such as WordPress hosting, web development services, malware removal, and more.
12. HTMLG ($72K/year)
Ferenc Denes, the founder, started his business by developing websites and online tools that generate passive income. He came up with the idea for his online HTML editor when he was working at an internet marketing agency and needed a tool to convert Word documents to HTML. After realizing the potential of the tool, he launched it on a separate domain and it started ranking first on Google. He monetized the site with Google Ads and later launched a premium version with paid subscriptions. Now, he has over 40 websites and continues to build passive income sites.
How much money it makes: $72K/year
How much did it cost to start: $50
How many people on the team: 1
This case study is about an engineer who developed a free online HTML editor that generates a passive income of $6K per month and owns over 40 websites with a total of roughly 8-10 million monthly visitors.
13. NextWave Social ($36K/year)
Samuel Gordon, the founder of NextWave Social, got the idea for his boutique-styled digital marketing agency after realizing the outdated websites and social media struggles of wedding vendors while attending a wedding. With a background in marketing and a fascination with the data behind ads, Samuel identified a problem and a need within the service industry and decided to provide a solution.
How much money it makes: $36K/year
How much did it cost to start: $1.5K
How many people on the team: 1
NextWave Social, a boutique-styled digital marketing agency specializing in SEO, social media management, web development, and Facebook ads for service and product-based industries, hit six figures in revenue for 2021 since launching in January 2020 with only $1,500 in startup costs and a team motto of "Under promise and Over deliver."
14. PageGuard ($2.4K/year)
Jonathan Moore, founder of PageGuard, came up with the idea for his WordPress website maintenance business after encountering friends and colleagues who experienced website issues. Realizing that these problems could have been avoided with proper maintenance, Moore created PageGuard to offer affordable and flexible website maintenance solutions. Despite being a new business, PageGuard is already attracting customers, particularly smaller businesses, entrepreneurs, and the self-employed. Moore's long-term goal is to expand the team and create a successful maintenance machine.
How much money it makes: $2.4K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100
How many people on the team: 0
PageGuard is a new WordPress website maintenance business bringing in $200 a month, catering mainly for smaller business, entrepreneurs, and the self-employers, offering three levels of support at different price points.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
