Agencies tasked with managing multiple client websites face unique challenges—streamlining workflows, managing updates, ensuring scalability, and maintaining site performance across a broad portfolio. Investing in the right website builder can dramatically improve efficiency, team collaboration, and client satisfaction. In this article, we dive deep into three of the best website builders for agencies that manage multiple sites, evaluating them based on features, scalability, ease of use, support, and pricing models tailored for professional use.
TLDR;
For agencies juggling multiple client websites, Webflow, WordPress (via managed hosting solutions), and Duda are top contenders. These platforms offer powerful design versatility, multi-site management, and advanced collaboration tools. Each has its strengths: Webflow offers unparalleled design freedom, WordPress brings customization and plugin compatibility, and Duda shines with multi-site scaling and ready-made templates perfect for agencies. Choosing the right platform depends on your clients’ needs, your team’s skills, and how much control you want over project development.
1. Webflow — Best for Custom Design Flexibility and Hosting in One Place
Webflow has rapidly become a favorite among creative agencies for a reason. It brings the power of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript into an intuitive visual interface that doesn’t require a steep coding background. Agencies can produce professional-grade, completely custom websites efficiently—all while hosting on Webflow’s powerful infrastructure.
- Multi-project dashboard: Webflow offers an agency-level dashboard where all client projects can be organized and accessed in one place with different roles and permissions for collaborators.
- Client billing and white-labeling: Webflow allows agency users to handle client billing, including white-labeling options to reinforce the agency brand.
- CMS-driven design: Build content-rich sites using Webflow’s CMS that clients can update themselves through an easy Editor interface, reducing maintenance workloads.
Webflow shines when creative freedom is a necessity without compromising on responsive design or performance. However, it may not be the best fit if you rely on pre-built templates or lack any design background entirely.
Weakness: Lacks plugin variety compared to WordPress, and third-party integrations can be limited.
Pricing: Webflow’s Workplace plans for agencies start at reasonable tiers and increase based on the number of seats and hosting requirements, making it scalable as your agency grows.
2. WordPress (with Managed Hosting) — Best for Maximum Flexibility and Plugin Ecosystem
WordPress remains the most widely used website platform in the world, and for good reason. When paired with a quality managed hosting solution (like WP Engine, Flywheel, or Kinsta), it becomes an excellent choice for agencies managing multiple websites who need flexibility, control, and extensibility in one platform.
- Unlimited customization: With thousands of plugins and themes, WordPress allows you to build virtually any type of site, from eCommerce to membership portals.
- Multi-site management: Agencies can deploy a WordPress Multisite network to manage multiple projects from a single WordPress dashboard, simplifying updates, security, and content collaboration.
- Client-friendly backend: The WordPress admin panel is familiar to most clients, allowing for easier transitions and requiring less education post-handoff.
- Staging environments: Managed hosts often provide automatic staging tools to test changes before applying them live—an essential feature when running many sites simultaneously.
Key Consideration: WordPress does come with a steeper security and maintenance learning curve, so managed hosting is highly recommended to offload performance, backups, and updates.
Top Managed Hosts for Agencies:
- WP Engine: Offers dedicated agency features, partner benefits, and scalable hosting infrastructure.
- Flywheel: Tailored agency tools like Client Billing Transfer and Blueprint Sites (site templates) built-in.
- Kinsta: Performance-focused with premium support and developer tools.
Pricing: Free to use the WordPress CMS; the costs stem from premium plugins, themes, and a hosting package (which can start at around $30/month/site but offers bulk discounts for agencies).
3. Duda — Best for High-Volume Website Production & Client Collaboration
Duda is specifically built with agencies and freelancers in mind. It’s optimized for scale, speed, and collaborative workflows, making it especially effective for agencies handling high client turnover, quick delivery timelines, or template-driven services.
- Multi-site management dashboard: Track all projects from a centralized dashboard, categorize clients, and manage content updates efficiently.
- Access roles and permissions: Give different access levels to clients (e.g., content editing only, full admin), which makes training and rollouts smoother.
- Client communication tools: Duda includes built-in feedback and comment features on draft pages, reducing dependency on external review tools.
- Pre-built templates and widgets: Great for churning out professional websites rapidly with drag-and-drop-rich widget libraries.
Automation Tools: Duda supports APIs and content import features perfect for agencies reusing data sources or integrating workflows from CRMs and CMSs.
Shortcomings: A bit more limited in terms of customization for those who want deep backend control or unique code behavior. It also lacks the sheer flexibility of WordPress or Webflow in custom builds.
Pricing: Starts at $19/month per site, but agency plans offer volume discounts, admin privileges, and more robust tools under its ‘Team Plan’ and ‘Agency Plan’ tiers.
Conclusion: Which Builder Should You Choose?
Ultimately, the best solution for your agency comes down to your team’s technical capabilities, the types of clients you serve, and how scalable you want your workflow to be:
- Choose Webflow if you want creative control and an all-in-one design and hosting platform with native CMS flexibility.
- Choose WordPress if you need deep customization, access to thousands of plugins, and you’re comfortable managing hosting or using a managed provider.
- Choose Duda if you prioritize fast deployment, scalability, and client collaboration over backend complexity.
Each of these website builders brings impressive capabilities to the table, but what matters most is aligning those capabilities with your agency’s specific requirements, client expectations, and project scope. By doing so, you’ll streamline your production pipeline, reduce operational stress, and deliver exceptional results consistently.
