Drag and drop website builder
Mobirise builds sites from ready-made blocks: drop one into the page, replace the sample text, and set spacing, background or columns in its panel. Every block adapts to phones on its own, and the builder is free in the browser or as a desktop app.
Facts checked 13 October 2026 · Mobirise team
How Mobirise does drag and drop: the key facts
A no-code website builder lets you make a site without writing HTML or CSS, and drag and drop is how most of them work: you move blocks or elements on the page and set everything else in panels.
- Editing model
- Block-based. You pull ready-made blocks onto a page, change words and pictures right where they are, and fine-tune each block in its own parameters panel instead of nudging items pixel by pixel.
- Per-block settings
- Its spacing and background, the parts it displays, and how many columns it has. Fonts are picked in the Style Editor, and every title can take the H tag you choose.
- Phones and tablets
- Blocks are responsive, and the editor shows each page as it looks on a phone, a tablet and a desktop. One layout serves all screens: you can't keep a different arrangement for phones or hide an item on one device only.
- Free plan
- The desktop app, including 200+ blocks and a single basic theme, for as many self-hosted sites as you like. In the browser, three live sites under mobirisesite.com, HTTPS included, and three AI generations monthly. Free sites keep the Mobirise branding; business use is fine.
- Paid plans, per year
- KIT ($149) opens the full premium library of 220+ themes and extensions, without branding. BASE ($199) brings three hosted sites on your own domains plus 100 generations monthly. GROW ($249) lifts the limits to ten sites and 1,000 generations.
- Platforms
- Any web browser, or desktop version 6.1.12 for Windows 7 or later (installer roughly 105 MB), macOS 10.13 High Sierra or later with separate Apple Silicon and Intel builds (roughly 134 MB each), and Debian-based Linux such as Ubuntu (.deb, roughly 102 MB).
- Code
- Not needed. The desktop app writes out the finished site as plain HTML, CSS and JS whatever your plan; the paid Code Editor shows a block's markup when you want to change it.
- Not the best fit for
- Pixel-exact freeform layouts, a hand-made phone version, or reopening a site that was built with a different tool.
Back in 2015, Network World's review headline called it “a free, simple, drag and drop mobile responsive Web site builder”. Today the official pricing page counts 2,500,000+ users.
Freeform canvas vs block-based editing
Most builders on this page let you move things with the mouse. What you move is the difference, and it decides three things: how much separate work the phone version needs, how quickly a first page comes together, and how much exact control you keep.
Freeform canvas
Wix is the clearest example. Its editor lets you grab a single element and drop it at any point on the page, even on top of another one. That freedom has a price on small screens: Wix derives the mobile version from your desktop arrangement, items can end up in different places, and you sort them out in a separate mobile editor whose edits stay off the desktop site. Choose this when exact position matters more than build time.
Block-based
Mobirise moves whole blocks rather than single items. You stack them in the order you want, then change their content and options. Alignment and spacing belong to the block, so phones get a sensible layout without a second pass, and a page takes shape quickly. Squarespace mixes the two ideas: pages are built from sections, but inside each one you drag blocks around a grid and may arrange the phone version on its own. Carrd is the simplest case, a single page of elements in one list.
Try block editing freeA third kind sits apart: visual CSS tools. In Webflow you style elements through a panel of CSS properties, save the styles as reusable classes and adjust them at each breakpoint, which is close to writing a stylesheet without typing one. Framer feels like a design app: content flows in stacks and grids, layers can be taken out of the flow and pinned, and smaller breakpoints override the main one. Both give the most control and expect the most knowledge.
Best drag and drop website builder for each kind of project
There is no single winner. The right tool depends on how exact the layout has to be, who keeps the files and what you are willing to pay every year. These picks are honest, and most of them are not ours.
- Owning the files of a free site
- Mobirise. The app costs nothing, keeps working offline, saves plain HTML and uploads to any host, while its blocks look after the phone layout.
- Placing every element by hand
- Wix: a freeform canvas, and a phone-only editor where you can hide or rearrange items without touching desktop.
- A design-led brand or portfolio
- Squarespace: section layouts with a drag grid and a phone arrangement you can change separately; a trial rather than a free plan.
- One page for the least money
- Carrd: free one-page sites with its branding, and cheap yearly Pro plans once you want a custom domain.
- Design-tool control and motion
- Framer: a canvas with stacks, breakpoints and an AI agent, on Framer hosting only.
- CSS-level control for a team
- Webflow: classes and breakpoints set in a Style panel, with code export on paid workspace plans.
- Trying an AI design at zero cost
- 8B AI: one sentence gets you a complete design for free; going live requires Pro.
- A store with a big catalogue
- Shopify, or a similar platform built for selling.
Seven builders compared on editing, price and export
Every drag and drop site builder in the table was looked up on its own pricing and help pages, not on review sites. Code export and offline work get their own rows, and so do the points where Mobirise comes off worse.
| Mobirise | Wix | Squarespace | 8B AI | Webflow | Framer | Carrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Editing model | Block-based: pull in prepared blocks, type straight onto them, tune each one in its parameters panel | Freeform canvas: move any single element anywhere, layers can overlap | Sections with a drag-and-drop grid for blocks (Fluid Engine) | AI-generated: a complete design from one line of text, adjusted later via AI chat (Pro) | Visual CSS: elements styled with classes in a Style panel | Design canvas: stacks and grids, layers can be positioned absolutely | One page: elements dragged before or after each other, up to four columns |
| Phone layout | Automatic for every block; no phone-only arrangement or per-device hiding | Generated from desktop, then adjusted in a separate mobile editor | Arranged independently of the desktop layout | Not published | Set per breakpoint (media queries) | Breakpoints that inherit from the main one and override what they need | Automatic, with optional manual settings per element |
| Learning curve | Low: blocks keep spacing and alignment | Low to start; the phone version needs its own pass | Low to medium: grid placement, optional phone pass | Low: one sentence of description to begin | High: classes, CSS properties and breakpoints | Medium: design-tool concepts and overrides | Low: a single page and a short list of elements |
| Free plan | Unlimited self-hosted sites in the app; three live sites under mobirisesite.com, branded | Yes: Wix subdomain, Wix ads shown | None; a 14-day trial instead | Free for designing; publishing not included | Yes, on webflow.io with a badge | Yes, on a Framer domain with a “Made in Framer” badge, 1 GB bandwidth | Up to 3 one-page sites on .carrd.co with “Made with Carrd” branding |
| Entry paid plan | KIT, $149 yearly (your hosting, no branding); BASE, $199 yearly, for a custom domain on Mobirise hosting | Light: $17 a month, annual billing | Basic: $19 monthly if paid annually, or $25 paid month to month | Pro: $9 a month, paid annually | $15 a month for the Basic site plan, billed annually | Basic: $10 a month, as shown for annual billing | Pro Lite costs $9 a year but keeps a Carrd URL; a domain of your own needs Pro Standard, $19 a year |
| AI | Prompt, sketch or screenshot in, four designs out; three free generations monthly; changes by chat or in the editor | An AI agent builds pages, layout and copy from a description; free to start | An AI starting point with content and imagery, plus an AI section builder | The core of the product: design from a sentence free, chat edits on Pro | Up to 5 pages from a description; 2 pages without a paid plan | An agent creates pages, sections, copy and visuals; 500 credits to try, 1,000 a month on Basic | None listed |
| Code export | Yes: the desktop app exports HTML, CSS and JS on any plan; in the browser, BASE or GROW | No, sites must run on Wix's servers | No; content only, as an .xml file for WordPress | Full HTML export on Pro | On paid workspace plans | No HTML export | Pro Plus, $49 a year; forms stop working in the download |
| Offline editing | Yes, in the desktop app (Windows, macOS, Linux) | No, the editor runs online | No, the editor runs online | No; browser-based | No, the Designer runs online | A desktop app exists, yet editing switches off when the connection drops | No; browser-based |
Sources: each company's pricing page and help centre, read on 13 October 2026. Amounts in US dollars; Mobirise and Carrd charge per year, the others are quoted per month with annual billing unless a cell says otherwise. Vendors revise plans and AI limits often, and prices may vary by region, so treat this as a snapshot and recheck before buying.
What you drag, and what you set in parameters
In Mobirise the mouse does the big moves and a panel does the details.
Blocks, from the block panel
Drag a block from the panel to the place on the page where it belongs, and drag it again to reorder. Clone Block makes a copy, handy when two sections should match.
Words and pictures, in place
Click a heading or a paragraph and type over it. Replace a picture the same way; uploads are converted to WebP automatically. Titles can use whichever H tag suits the page structure, and text can be justified.
The parameters panel
Each block has its own settings: the padding around it, what sits behind it, which of its parts appear, and the column count. You switch parts of a block on or off rather than dragging them loose.
Site-wide styles
Fonts are chosen in the Style Editor, which gained extra fonts in recent versions. Every theme is Bootstrap 5 underneath, so all blocks share Bootstrap's grid and class names.
Extensions and AI blocks
Paid plans add blocks you drag in like any other: Form Builder, Popup Builder, Smart Cart with PayPal and Stripe, or a Chat Button for WhatsApp and Telegram. Premium AI plans bring two block-level tools: Generate Block with AI, plus Edit Block with AI for one you already have.
Code, only if you want it
Nothing above needs markup. When you do want to touch it, the Code Editor, an extension that comes in KIT, BASE and GROW, lets you change a block's HTML and CSS, or the page's. See what the generated HTML looks like.
No-code doesn't mean no limits
A no-code website builder swaps some freedom for speed and safety. With blocks, the swap is visible: you cannot drop a button at an arbitrary spot, but you also cannot break the layout on a phone by accident, and a page built from prepared sections needs far less checking.
Before you build a no code website for a client or yourself, know where this approach stops. The list shows the real limits of Mobirise today and what fits better in each case.
If you often edit away from a desk, the offline builder guide explains exactly what the desktop app does without a connection. For drafting a site from a description first, see the AI website generator page.
- No freeform placement. Items live inside a block's layout. For pixel positioning and overlapping layers, a canvas editor such as Wix suits you better.
- No separate phone design. A single responsive layout covers all screens; you cannot hide or shift an element on phones only. Wix and Squarespace let you arrange the phone view separately.
- No import of foreign sites. Pages made in another tool can't be opened, only rebuilt. Import by Link is limited to pulling sites from Mobirise AI into the app.
- Stores stay simple. Smart Cart takes PayPal and Stripe payments, but a large catalogue with complex stock and shipping rules belongs on a commerce platform.
- AI is metered. The free plan includes a small monthly allowance of generations. Regenerate shows more variants without using one up, yet heavy AI work needs BASE or GROW.
- Custom code is a paid extension. Editing a block's markup and styles requires the Code Editor, which only the paid plans include.
Drag and drop builder FAQ
What is a drag and drop website builder?
It's software that lets you assemble web pages by moving prepared parts with the mouse instead of writing HTML. Some let you drop single elements anywhere on a canvas, some work with whole sections or blocks, and some expose CSS settings visually. Mobirise is block-based: you arrange ready-made blocks and adjust them in a settings panel.
Which kind of drag-and-drop editor is easiest for beginners?
Block-based and single-column editors are usually the gentlest start, because spacing and the phone layout come built in. If you want an easy drag and drop website builder, pick one where you stack sections, such as Mobirise or Carrd. Freeform canvases and visual CSS tools give more control but more ways to misalign a page.
Can I use Mobirise for free, including for business?
Yes. The free plan covers business sites as well as personal ones. The desktop app has no cap on sites you publish to your own hosting, and the browser builder adds a small allowance of online sites and AI drafts. Free sites show Mobirise branding.
Can I put an element anywhere on the page?
Not in Mobirise. You choose the order of blocks and switch their parts on or off, but you don't drag a single item to an exact coordinate. That keeps every page responsive; if pixel placement matters more to you, Wix's canvas allows it.
Will a site built from blocks look right on phones?
Yes. Each block rearranges itself for small screens, and the editor shows phone, tablet and desktop previews while you work. The trade-off is that you can't design a different layout just for phones. The mobile website builder page covers this in more detail.
Can I make a no code website and still edit the code later?
Yes. You can build and publish without touching markup, then open any block's HTML and CSS later through the Code Editor, a paid-plan extension. Under the hood every block is Bootstrap 5 markup.
Can I move my site to another host later?
Yes. On any plan the desktop app can publish by FTP (FTPES too) or to GitHub Pages, or write the whole site into a local directory as static files for whichever server you pick. Projects made in the browser can be exported on BASE or GROW.
How do AI and drag and drop work together?
Write a line or two about the site, or hand it a sketch on paper or a screenshot, and the AI returns four complete designs, words and pictures included; the first draft usually lands within a minute. From there you keep refining by chat or by dragging and editing blocks, and premium AI plans can generate or edit a single block.
Can I bring in a site made with another builder?
No. Projects from other tools won't open in Mobirise, so a site from Wix, WordPress or hand-written HTML has to be rebuilt. Import by Link exists only for pulling Mobirise AI sites into the app.
Does the drag-and-drop editor work without internet?
In the desktop app, yes. You can keep editing, preview pages and use whichever themes and blocks are already on your computer. The server-side jobs wait until you are back online: AI drafts, publishing, logging in, purchases, updates and fresh theme downloads.
Start with a sentence or a single block
Let the AI draft four designs in your browser and rearrange the blocks it picked, or install the free app and drag your first block onto an empty page. Either route ends in the same responsive site.