If you’re a designer, you already know how important presentation is. A clunky template or slow-loading layout can kill the vibe of even the most beautiful portfolio. In 2025, AI website builders are changing the game, allowing creatives to build clean, functional, and visually sharp websites quickly. But here’s the question: which tools actually deliver solid technical performance under the hood?
In this post, we’ll break down the best AI website builders for designers based on speed, customization, and reliability.
What Makes a Website Builder Good for Designers?
Designers need more than just drag-and-drop convenience. You want precision, layout control, good font choices, and, most importantly, a site that loads fast and runs smoothly on mobile.
Here’s what I looked for when testing these tools:
- Load speed (measured via GTmetrix and PageSpeed Insights)
- Mobile responsiveness
- Template flexibility
- Ease of exporting assets or custom code
- AI-generated design accuracy
- SEO and hosting features
1. Framer – Best for High-End Design Aesthetics
Framer’s AI site builder is built for designers. You can start with a prompt, and the AI will generate a minimalist layout that you can fully customize using real-time design tools with no rigid templates. All with animations, fluid layouts, and modern fonts are included.
- Speed: 97/100 desktop, 91/100 mobile
- Mobile-Friendly: Yes, auto-resizing works well
- Customization: High (CSS and layout control)
- Export/Code Access: Partial—best for staying within their ecosystem
- AI Output: Clean sections with room for polish
Bottom line: If you care about how it looks and feels, Framer gives you the most design freedom with solid performance baked in.
2. Hostinger Website Builder – Best Balance of AI + Control
Hostinger’s AI builder is surprisingly good for designers who want a quick setup that still feels tailored. You answer a few questions, and the builder generates a site you can fully tweak in their drag-and-drop editor.
- Speed: 95/100 desktop, 88/100 mobile
- Mobile-Friendly: Yes
- Customization: Medium-High (section-based editing)
- Export/Code Access: No raw code, but DNS and domain control included
- AI Output: Polished business-ready sections
Starting from $2.49/month
Get Hostinger web-hosting from $2.49 /mo + extra months
Key Features
Extremely affordable
User-friendly control panel
LiteSpeed Cache for faster loading times
Why We Recommend It
Storage and Bandwidth:
30 GB SSD storage
100 GB bandwidth
Extras:
Free SSL certificate
Pros & Cons
- Low starting price
- Good performance for the price
- No free domain in the lowest-tier plan
- Support can be slow during peak times
Pro tip: Hostinger is great for freelancers and agencies who want to spin up small brand sites without sacrificing performance.
3. Wix ADI – Good for Beginners with Visual Needs
Wix’s ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) builder walks you through setup step-by-step. While it’s less precise than Framer or Webflow, it’s more user-friendly if you’re newer to website building.
- Speed: 85/100 desktop, 78/100 mobile
- Mobile-Friendly: Yes, but slower than others
- Customization: Medium-High
- Export/Code Access: No full access
- AI Output: Easy-to-read layouts, simple visuals
$17/month
Key Features
Extensive collection of templates
App Market for adding extra functionality
Advanced design features like video backgrounds and animation
Why We Recommend It
Storage and Bandwidth:
From 500MB storage and 1GB bandwidth on the free plan to 50GB storage on higher plans
Extras and Inclusions:
Wix offers a wide range of customizable e-commerce templates
Built-in SEO tools to help your store rank better in search results
Multiple payment solutions and business apps through the Wix App Market
Pros & Cons
- Pros: Intuitive site builder with drag-and-drop features
- A wide variety of templates
- Competitive pricing
- Shopify is more scalable for large e-commerce operations
- E-commerce tools need to be more comprehensive
Drawback: Performance can dip if you add too many animations or apps.
Bonus: Why Technical Performance Matters for Design Sites
Designers often focus on visuals, and that’s important but technical performance affects how people experience your site. A beautiful page that loads slowly or breaks on mobile can cause trust to be lost quickly.
Here’s what to aim for:
- Load time under 2.5 seconds
- Google PageSpeed scores above 85
- Fully responsive design
- Optimized images and fonts
Even the best design loses impact if users bounce before it loads.
Final Thoughts: Pick the Tool That Matches Your Workflow
Each AI website builder here has its strengths. If you want the best combination of design freedom and performance, Framer and Hostinger are top picks if you’re in a rush or don’t want to mess with code at all.
And if you’re just starting out, grab your Hostinger plan here to lock in fast hosting, a clean domain, and easy setup tools that work with any design. Your site reflects your work; make sure it performs as well as it looks.