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I am looking for a free (open source) or low cost WYSIWYG website builder that I can host on my own server. It needs to be able to handle multiple separate sites on different domains, and it needs to be usable by a non-programmer while preferably also allowing direct code editing for more advanced users.

In effect, I'm trying to host my own copy of Wix.com / Squarespace / Weebly for a bunch of local organizations to which I provide tech support.

I already know about Ghost, but the people who will be working on these sites will just be confused by Markdown.

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  • Have you heard about Wikis? Like Wikipedia? Compare a bunch of them at wikimatrix.com and see iif any meet your needs.
    – cybernard
    Jul 21, 2015 at 3:27
  • @cybernard Yes, I have certainly heard about Wikis, and I have already looked at a large number of them. I have not found any that meets my needs. There are extremely few that have a WYSIWYG interface that the non-technical content managers can use, and there are also very few that are multi-site ready. Also, the website you link to is a parking page, not a real site.
    – Moshe Katz
    Jul 21, 2015 at 3:47
  • Apologies it is really wikimatrix.org I made a ".com" assumption and failed. :(
    – cybernard
    Jul 21, 2015 at 3:54
  • @cybernard I had a look at WIkiMatrix, and found nothing there that fills all my requirements. In addition, I also found that there are a large number of factual errors on the site - features that it claims some wikis have that they actually do not have.
    – Moshe Katz
    Jul 21, 2015 at 21:01
  • Some Wiki's have externsion or plugins. You may find other users have created some of these. Otherwise, you could pick a wiki that comes the closest and supports plugins. Write your own plugins, which maybe or may not be a viable option. Maybe, your advanced user can help you with that.
    – cybernard
    Jul 21, 2015 at 21:18

2 Answers 2

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It's hard to find many software really free in this category. You could give a try to BlueGriffon (open-source but some extension needs to be paid).

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Ghost sounds like a pretty good option along with most modernized WYSIWYG sites. I was use to using Square Space, however their templates are limited and it costs extra than basic to edit further into the CSS. Have you tried Sitelio ? Stella offers free Ad Credits. It would count as a low cost WYSIWYG website builder but is user friendly. I do not like that it is $3 higher a month to maintain. Much like most WYSIWYG sites, you have to upgrade a decent amount to get the full benefits, the problem that I have run into as well with WYSIWYG sites is that once a client stops paying for it or can not make a payment the site is of course offline almost immediately (hosting). I have not tried Ghost personally. The problem comes when you are looking for a user friendly webbly that can be understood while having the advanced functionality for technical users. I am not sure they have WYSIWYG sites for both types yet.

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    Do you have experience with Sitelio? Is there anything you like/dislike about it?
    – Undo
    Jul 21, 2015 at 17:31
  • @Eric How about adding more links to your post and some reasons why you recommend Ghost and Sitelio?
    – user416
    Jul 21, 2015 at 17:51
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    I already explained why I can't use Ghost - it doesn't have a full WYSIWYG editor - it requires you to know Markdown. Sitelio is also out because you can't host it yourself, which was one of my requirements.
    – Moshe Katz
    Jul 21, 2015 at 21:03

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