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This Jimdo review examines an AI website builder that’s designed specifically for people who’ve never built a site before. The Hamburg-based company has been helping users create websites since 2007, focusing on simplicity over advanced features. While our best website builders guide features more powerful options, Jimdo carves out its own niche in the beginner market.
TechRadar reviewers have spent thousands of hours testing 140+ website builders, giving us deep insight into what works and what doesn’t. Jimdo stands out to our team for its straightforward approach, though it can’t match the versatility of our top pick Wix, which offers far more templates and advanced features. Jimdo’s new AI-driven setup process makes it incredibly accessible, but this simplicity comes with trade-offs in customization and scalability.
Our testing reveals that Jimdo works best for solo entrepreneurs and very small businesses who need something online fast. The platform’s “paint-by-numbers” approach keeps things simple but may frustrate users as their needs grow.
Jimdo: 2-minute review
Jimdo earns a solid 3.5 out of 5 rating as a beginner-focused website builder that prioritizes ease of use over advanced functionality. The platform’s standout feature is its AI-powered setup process, which can build a basic website by asking you a few simple questions about your business or personal needs. This makes it incredibly accessible for first-time website creators who might feel overwhelmed by more complex builders.
Still, Jimdo’s simplicity comes with significant limitations as your needs grow. With only 16 templates available and no way to preview them before committing, design options feel more restrictive than most competitors. The platform caps e-commerce stores at just 100 products and supports only Stripe and PayPal for payments, making it unsuitable for larger online businesses. Founded in 2007 by three German entrepreneurs, Jimdo has built a reputation for helping over 25 million users get online, but it hasn’t kept pace with more feature-rich competitors in the website building space.
What is Jimdo?
Jimdo is a no-code builder that lets you create professional-looking websites without writing code or having technical skills. It comes with pre-made website templates and an easy drag-and-drop system, kind of like how you might arrange furniture in a room with a floor planning app. The platform is known for its acessible AI assistant, which can build a basic website for you by asking simple questions.
This company offers two main ways to build your site: AI-powered generation that does most of the work for you, and a hands-on editor where you can customize things yourself within certain limits. Instead of overwhelming beginners with hundreds of options, Jimdo keeps things simple by giving you fewer choices but making those choices very easy to implement. This works well if you want to get online quickly without fussing over every design detail.
Features
With Jimdo’s professional domain feature, I was able to get my own domain name for my website all in minutes. Having a custom domain name helps build trust with my customers, making them feel more comfortable when they visit my website.
The multiple pages feature of Jimdo let me create a lot pages on my site so that visitors can learn more about the products and services I offer on my test site. This helps me make sure that visitors see all the best parts of my business at once instead of having to search around for various pieces of information. This also means they’re more likely to stay on the page longer and take action – like signing up for a newsletter or buying something from my site. Jimdo makes it easy for me to optimize my website for Google searches so that more people can find me online. It provides step-by-step instructions on how to improve my ranking on Google so that I can drive even more traffic to the site.
Jimdo also offer GDPR-compliant legal pages feature. With this feature, all of my legal pages like imprint, privacy policy, terms & conditions are now covered by trusted shops guarantee – giving me peace of mind knowing everything is taken care of properly.
Tools
Jimdo provides a focused set of tools designed to get beginners online without overwhelming them with options. The platform emphasizes simplicity over comprehensive functionality, making it easy to understand what each tool does.
AI website builder
Jimdo’s standout feature is its AI-powered website creation tool that builds sites automatically based on your answers to simple questions. The system asks about your business type, goals, and preferences, then creates a customized website complete with relevant content and design elements. You can even connect your social media profiles to help the AI better understand your brand and populate your site with appropriate content.
Drag-and-drop editor
The platform offers a visual editor that lets you modify your website by dragging elements around the page, though within the constraints of your chosen template. You can add new sections, change colors and fonts, and rearrange content blocks, but you’re limited to the structure and elements provided by Jimdo. This “paint-by-numbers” approach prevents design mistakes but restricts creative freedom.
Ecommerce tools
Jimdo includes basic online store functionality that supports up to 100 products with features like product variants and manual stock updates. The platform handles essential e-commerce needs including flat-rate shipping calculations and integrates with Stripe and PayPal for payment processing. However, the limited product capacity and basic shipping tools make it suitable only for very small online stores.
SEO and analytics
The platform provides beginner-friendly SEO tools that help optimize your site for search engines without requiring technical knowledge. Basic analytics features let you track website performance and visitor engagement, while mobile optimization ensures your site works well on all devices. The SEO guidance is straightforward but lacks the advanced features needed for competitive markets.
Ease of use
Jimdo has a very straightforward approach to website building. As we mentioned before, it offers two options: an AI-powered setup that builds your site for you, and a traditional drag-and-drop editor for those who need more hands-on control.
If you opt for the AI assistant, it begins by asking simple questions about your business type, goals, and industry, then automatically generates a website with content and design elements. This takes minutes and eliminates the intimidation factor that often scares beginners away.
But even the drag-and-drop UI maintains this simplicity throughout the editing process. You can smoothly transition between editing specific pages and adjusting overall site design — without getting lost in complex menus. Everything’s clean and intuitive, though you’re working within the constraints of your chosen template rather than with complete creative freedom.
While this “paint-by-numbers” approach prevents mistakes, it also means you can’t break free from predetermined layouts and structures. With only about 16 dated templates available, that can be limiting. But the platform does include features like mobile responsiveness built into all templates, free SSL certificates ,and 24/7 backups for enhanced security.
Pricing
Plan | Starting rate (paid annually) | Renewal rate (paid annually) |
|---|---|---|
Free | $0 | $0 |
Start | $11.00 | $11.00 |
Grow | $18.00 | $18.00 |
Unlimited | $45.00 | $45.00 |
Basic (Ecommerce) | $18.00 | $18.00 |
Business (Ecommerce) | $22.00 | $22.00 |
VIP (Ecommerce) | $45.00 | $45.00 |
Jimdo offers a free plan to get you started. Unsurprisingly, this plan is pretty limited and requires you to use a .jimdosite.com domain. However, this is a great option if you are just creating a hobby website or looking to test some of the Jimdo features before committing to pay.
To get rid of on-site ads and connect a custom domain, you will need to go for the Start plan. This plan is still a little simplistic but does offer you everything you need to create a professional website, so it is ideal for startups, freelancers, and more serious hobbyists.
If you want to really grow your website, the aptly named Grow plan could be for you. You get everything from the Start plan along with tools for Search Engine Optimization (SEO), visitor statistics, and personalized support (within 4 hours).
Online stores have three plans to pick from: Basicm, Business, or VIP. Business gives you all the ecommerce basics such as the ability to add product variants, social media marketing, and social selling tools. VIP takes this one step further, offering unlimited storage and professional design review.
Security
Jimdo takes security seriously with measures that protect both website owners and their visitors. The platform automatically provides SSL certificates for all websites, ensuring data transmission is encrypted using HTTPS protocols. All financial transactions are secured through PCI DSS certification from the international PCI Security Standards Council, guaranteeing that payment processing meets the highest industry standards.
The company hosts its services on AWS Cloud data centers in Ireland that maintain ISO 27001 and SOC2 certifications, with strict access controls requiring multi-factor authentication and encrypted VPN connections for internal system access.
Beyond basic encryption, Jimdo employs multiple layers of protection including AES-256 encryption for data storage and communication, automated DDoS attack mitigation through Cloudflare partnership, and regular penetration testing to identify vulnerabilities.
The platform participates in a Vulnerability Disclosure Program that allows security researchers to safely test and report potential weaknesses. Daily automated backups ensure data recovery capabilities, while malware protection helps prevent security breaches.
Jimdo’s professional security team also continuously monitors systems and updates security patches, backed by comprehensive emergency and recovery plans that are tested periodically.
Support
The first method for getting assistance from Jimdo is submitting a ticket. This can be done directly on the website, under the “Help” tab located in the navigation bar at the top right side of every page.
Once you click this tab, you will see an option that says “Submit A Ticket” which allows you to fill out a form with all of your relevant information including your name, e-mail address, type of inquiry (such as technical issue or billing question), and additional comments if needed. Once this form has been completed and submitted, you will be able to track your ticket status online in order to find out when it has been answered.
The second method for getting assistance from Jimdo is accessing its help center which can also be found under the “Help” tab.
In the help center you will find helpful guides on topics such as setting up your website, managing content, design features, SEO optimization, ecommerce features, and much more. The help center also contains frequently asked questions along with step-by-step tutorials in order to make sure that you are getting answers quickly and accurately. It should be noted that only paid plans have access to priority support from Jimdo’s customer service team via email; free plans must rely on submitting tickets or accessing the help center for assistance.
Alternatives
One of the main competitors of Jimdo is Wix. Wix offers a comprehensive set of tools to help you build and manage your website quickly and easily. Its drag-and-drop editor makes it easy to customize your site and add media, while its range of themes allows you to create a professional-looking site without having any coding skills.
Weebly is another popular website builder that is often compared with Jimdo. Weebly has an intuitive drag-and-drop editor and hundreds of templates that make it easy to customize your site. It also offers features like built-in analytics, ecommerce tools, and support for multiple languages.
Squarespace is another great alternative to Jimdo if you want an easy way to build and manage a beautiful website. It has a modern interface with plenty of features designed for businesses who want their sites look professional and polished. Squarespace also offers powerful blogging tools, as well as integrated ecommerce features if you plan on selling products or services online.
Jimdo: Summary
Jimdo is a good choice for businesses looking for an easy-to-use platform with plenty of powerful features at an affordable price point. With its intuitive drag-and-drop interface and comprehensive suite of tools and services, it was the perfect fit for my business – and could be just right for yours too! So if you’re looking for a website platform that will give your business a leg up without breaking the bank, then definitely consider checking out Jimdo.
All these factors add up to make it one of the best small business website builders on the market – although with some more advanced tools, businesses of any size could benefit from using the Jimdo website builder.
FAQs
What are the disadvantages of using Jimdo?
One of the first things I found out about Jimdo was the priority email support is only available to paid plan users. This could be a problem if you have questions or issues and need help from customer service quickly.
Another downside of using Jimdo is that it is limited in customization, which could be an issue if you want to get creative with your website design.
Is Jimdo free to use?
Yes, Jimdo offers you a free plan that you can use to build a website without any cost. However, this plan is limited, for example you cannot connect a custom domain, you only get 500 MB of storage, 2 GB of bandwidth, and you don’t get access to customer support. You will also have ads displayed on your website.
A free website builder can be a great way to test a platform or get a hobby online, but it will rarely offer the level of functionality needed to create a professional presence online.
Can I use my own domain name on a Jimdo website?
Yes, Jimdo allows you to connect a custom domain to your website on all plans. You can also purchase your domain directly through the Jimdo platform, making the process quick and easy.
However, if you opt for the free plan, you will not be able to connect your own domain. Instead, you will be allocated a ‘.jimdosite.com’ for your site.
Is Jimdo reliable?
After building my website on Jimdo, I can confidently say that it is reliable. The user-interface was intuitive and easy-to-use, making the entire process smooth and straightforward. The templates were also visually appealing and had useful features like galleries and contact forms integrated into them.
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