Building a professional website has never been more accessible, yet choosing the right platform can feel overwhelming with countless options available. Website builders like Instapage and Strikingly have carved out distinct niches in the digital landscape, each offering unique advantages for different types of users. This comprehensive comparison will help you navigate the key differences between these platforms and determine which one aligns best with your specific goals and requirements.
What Makes These Platforms Different?
Both Instapage and Strikingly serve the website building market, but they approach it from completely different angles. Instapage positions itself as a conversion-focused landing page specialist, designed primarily for marketers and businesses that need to optimize their campaigns for maximum results. The platform’s entire ecosystem revolves around creating high-converting landing pages that turn visitors into customers, leads, or subscribers. Every feature, from its advanced A/B testing capabilities to its sophisticated analytics dashboard, serves this primary purpose.
Strikingly takes a broader approach, functioning as a comprehensive website builder that prioritizes simplicity and user accessibility. Rather than focusing solely on conversions, Strikingly aims to help users create complete websites quickly and efficiently, regardless of their technical background. The platform excels at providing an intuitive experience that allows anyone to build a professional-looking website without getting bogged down in complex features or overwhelming customization options.
The fundamental difference between these platforms becomes clear when you consider their target audiences and primary use cases:
- Instapage: Advanced marketers seeking conversion optimization tools and sophisticated campaign management features
- Instapage: Businesses running paid advertising campaigns that need dedicated landing pages for each ad group or keyword
- Instapage: Teams requiring collaborative workflows and detailed performance analytics for marketing initiatives
- Strikingly: Small business owners who need a complete website solution without technical complexity
- Strikingly: Freelancers and creatives looking to showcase their work through portfolio websites
- Strikingly: Individuals wanting to establish an online presence quickly and affordably
Which Platform Offers Better Design Control?
Design flexibility represents one of the most significant differentiators between these two platforms. Instapage provides exceptional creative freedom through its advanced drag-and-drop editor, which allows pixel-perfect placement of every element on your landing page. This level of precision gives experienced designers and marketers complete control over the visual composition of their pages. The platform supports custom CSS and HTML editing, enabling technically skilled users to implement highly customized designs that perfectly match their brand requirements.
The platform’s Thor Render Engine ensures that even complex, media-rich landing pages load quickly, maintaining performance while delivering sophisticated visual experiences. Instapage’s Instablocks feature allows users to save and reuse design components across multiple pages, ensuring brand consistency while speeding up the creation process. With over 500 professionally designed templates serving as starting points, users can begin with proven designs and customize them extensively to meet their specific needs.
Strikingly approaches design customization differently, offering a more structured but user-friendly system. The platform’s template-based approach provides attractive, contemporary designs that users can personalize through an intuitive section-based editor. While this system imposes certain limitations on layout flexibility, it significantly simplifies the design process for users without extensive design experience. Users can customize colors, fonts, images, and content within the framework of their chosen template, creating professional-looking websites without needing to understand complex design principles.
How Much Technical Knowledge Do You Need?
The learning curve for each platform varies dramatically based on your existing technical skills and design experience. Instapage offers a sophisticated interface that provides powerful capabilities but may initially feel overwhelming to complete beginners. The platform’s precision and advanced features require users to invest time in learning its various tools and workflows. However, Instapage mitigates this complexity through comprehensive tutorials and a logical workflow that guides users through the page creation process step by step.
Strikingly prioritizes accessibility above all else, making it exceptionally easy for novices to create professional websites. The platform’s guided approach walks users through the website building process methodically, with clear prompts and intuitive controls that eliminate guesswork. This simplicity does come with trade-offs in terms of creative freedom, as users must generally work within the constraints of their chosen template’s structure.
A Mobile-First Alternative Worth Considering
While Instapage and Strikingly represent two ends of the website building spectrum, Perspective Funnels emerges as a compelling middle ground that addresses the mobile-first reality of today’s digital landscape. Unlike traditional platforms that adapt desktop designs for mobile use, Perspective was built from the ground up with mobile users in mind—a crucial distinction considering that 98.5% of customers now access content through their mobile devices. This mobile-first approach translates into lightning-fast loading times that keep visitors engaged, modern design templates optimized for touch interactions, and interactive tools like quizzes and multi-step forms that create engaging user experiences rather than static page visits.
What sets Perspective apart from both Instapage’s complexity and Strikingly’s limitations is its integrated ecosystem that combines powerful functionality with intuitive usability. The platform includes built-in CRM capabilities for lead management, comprehensive analytics for performance tracking, and advanced personalization features that adapt content based on user behavior—all accessible through a streamlined interface that doesn’t require technical expertise. This makes Perspective particularly attractive for creators, agencies, and mobile-focused marketers who need more sophisticated tools than basic website builders offer, but want to avoid the steep learning curve and high costs associated with enterprise-level platforms. The result is a solution that delivers professional-grade conversion optimization while maintaining the accessibility that modern businesses demand.
What Marketing Tools Do You Get?
Marketing capabilities represent perhaps the most significant distinction between these platforms. Instapage delivers an impressive array of conversion-focused marketing tools designed specifically for campaign optimization and lead generation. The platform’s heatmap functionality allows users to visualize visitor behavior patterns, identifying which elements attract attention and which areas are being ignored. This data proves invaluable for optimizing page layouts and improving conversion rates over time.
Advanced A/B testing capabilities enable data-driven optimization by allowing users to compare different page variants and determine which performs better with actual visitors. The platform’s form builder offers extensive customization options and seamless integration with popular CRM systems, streamlining the lead collection and nurturing process. Perhaps most impressive is the AdMap feature, which helps marketers connect specific advertisements to relevant landing pages, ensuring message consistency throughout the entire customer journey.
Dynamic text replacement automatically personalizes landing page content based on search terms or traffic sources, enhancing relevance for visitors arriving from various marketing channels. These sophisticated features work together to create a comprehensive conversion optimization ecosystem that can significantly impact campaign performance and return on investment.
What About Basic Website Functionality?
Strikingly focuses on providing essential marketing tools that cover fundamental business needs without overwhelming users with complex features. The platform includes integrated contact forms that facilitate visitor inquiries, basic analytics that provide insights into visitor behavior, and social media integration that helps expand content reach across various platforms. SEO settings allow users to optimize their pages for search engine visibility, while the Simple Store feature enables basic e-commerce functionality for businesses looking to sell products online.
While these tools lack the sophistication and conversion optimization focus that characterizes Instapage’s offering, they provide sufficient functionality for small businesses and individuals who need straightforward marketing capabilities. The platform’s approach prioritizes ease of use and quick implementation over advanced features, making it accessible to users who want effective tools without complexity.
How Well Do They Connect With Other Tools?
Integration capabilities significantly impact a platform’s practical utility within your existing business ecosystem. Instapage excels in this area, offering over 120 integrations with popular marketing, CRM, analytics, and e-commerce platforms. These connections include major services like Mailchimp, HubSpot, Google Analytics, Salesforce, and numerous advertising platforms. The depth of these integrations extends beyond simple data passing, enabling sophisticated automation workflows based on user interactions and behaviors.
For businesses with complex marketing technology stacks, Instapage supports Zapier integration, effectively extending its connectivity to thousands of additional applications. This comprehensive integration network enables seamless data flow between landing pages and other business systems, creating unified workflows that enhance operational efficiency and data accuracy. The platform’s integration capabilities support advanced marketing automation scenarios that can significantly improve campaign effectiveness and lead nurturing processes.
Strikingly offers a more focused set of integrations that cover essential services without overwhelming users with options. The platform connects with Google Analytics for visitor tracking, integrates payment processors like PayPal and Stripe for e-commerce functionality, and supports social media linking to increase visibility. While less extensive than Instapage’s offerings, these integrations address the core needs of small businesses and personal websites effectively.
Which Platform Handles Team Collaboration Better?
Team collaboration features become crucial for businesses with multiple stakeholders involved in website development and marketing campaigns. Instapage provides robust collaboration tools designed specifically for team environments and complex approval processes. Real-time collaboration capabilities allow team members to work simultaneously on landing page projects, with changes appearing instantly for all collaborators. This functionality eliminates the confusion and inefficiency of working with multiple file versions or coordinating edits through external communication channels.
The platform’s integrated commenting system enables stakeholders to provide contextual feedback directly on specific page elements, streamlining the review and approval process. Role-based permissions allow administrators to control access levels, determining which team members can edit, comment, or simply view projects. Comprehensive revision history tracking enables teams to monitor changes over time and revert to previous versions when necessary, providing security and accountability for collaborative work.
Strikingly offers more limited collaboration functionality, focusing primarily on basic site management rather than sophisticated team workflows. The platform allows site owners to invite contributors who can help edit content, but lacks the real-time collaboration features found in Instapage. For feedback collection, users must rely on external communication tools rather than integrated commenting systems. While sufficient for individual users or small teams with straightforward needs, these limitations may prove restrictive for larger organizations with complex approval processes.
What Performance Analytics Can You Access?
Performance measurement and analytics capabilities directly impact your ability to optimize and improve your online presence over time. Instapage delivers comprehensive analytics designed specifically for conversion-focused landing pages and marketing campaigns. Detailed heatmaps visualize visitor interactions, showing exactly where users click, scroll, and spend time on your pages. This visual data helps identify engagement patterns, potential usability issues, and optimization opportunities that might not be apparent from traditional analytics alone.
The platform’s A/B testing analytics provide statistical significance data and confidence intervals, ensuring that optimization decisions are based on reliable data rather than random fluctuations. Conversion tracking monitors form submissions, button clicks, and other key actions, providing clear insights into campaign performance and visitor behavior. Integration with Google Analytics and other analytics platforms enables deeper analysis within broader marketing contexts and customer journey mapping.
Strikingly provides more basic but user-friendly analytics focused on general website performance metrics. Users can access essential statistics like page views, visitor counts, traffic sources, and basic engagement metrics directly from an intuitive dashboard. While less sophisticated than Instapage’s offering, these analytics cover fundamental needs for small businesses and personal websites that don’t require advanced conversion optimization data.
How Much Should You Expect to Pay?
Pricing structures reflect each platform’s positioning and target market, with significant differences in both cost and value proposition. Instapage positions itself as a premium solution with pricing that reflects its specialized marketing features and advanced capabilities. The Building Plan starts at $99 per month when billed annually, including core landing page features, A/B testing capabilities, and basic integrations. Higher-tier plans offer advanced features like personalization, enhanced integrations, and dedicated support, with custom pricing for enterprise-level requirements.
While expensive compared to general website builders, Instapage justifies its pricing through conversion-focused features that can generate substantial return on investment for businesses running paid advertising campaigns. The platform’s sophisticated tools can help optimize campaign performance to a degree that more than offsets the monthly subscription cost for many users.
Strikingly presents a more accessible pricing structure designed for small businesses and individuals with limited budgets. A free plan allows users to create basic websites with Strikingly branding, while paid plans begin at approximately $12 per month for the Pro plan when billed annually. The VIP plan, at around $49 per month, adds multiple site management, expanded e-commerce capabilities, and priority support. This tiered approach makes professional website creation accessible to users who cannot justify the investment required for specialized marketing platforms.
Best Practices for Platform Selection
Choosing between these platforms requires careful consideration of your specific needs, goals, and resources. The decision should align with your business objectives, technical capabilities, and budget constraints rather than simply comparing features in isolation.
- Evaluate your primary website purpose and determine whether you need a specialized landing page tool or a comprehensive website builder that covers multiple use cases.
- Assess your technical comfort level and available time for learning new tools, as this will significantly impact your success with either platform.
- Consider your budget not just for the platform subscription but also for any additional tools, integrations, or professional services you might need.
- Analyze your existing marketing technology stack and determine which platform integrates better with your current tools and workflows.
- Think about your team collaboration needs and whether you require sophisticated approval processes or simple content management capabilities.
- Review your performance measurement requirements and decide whether you need advanced conversion analytics or basic website statistics.
Key Features That Matter Most
When evaluating these platforms, certain features will have more impact on your success than others. Understanding which capabilities align with your specific goals helps ensure you make the right choice for your business needs.
Essential features for conversion-focused businesses include:
- Advanced A/B testing: Compare different page variants to optimize performance and maximize conversion rates
- Heatmap analytics: Visualize visitor behavior patterns to identify optimization opportunities and usability issues
- Dynamic personalization: Automatically customize content based on visitor characteristics and traffic sources
- Comprehensive integrations: Connect seamlessly with CRM systems, email marketing platforms, and analytics tools
Core requirements for general website building encompass:
- Responsive templates: Ensure your site looks professional across all devices and screen sizes
- Content management: Easily update text, images, and other elements without technical expertise
- SEO optimization: Built-in tools to improve search engine visibility and organic traffic
- E-commerce functionality: Basic online selling capabilities for product-based businesses
Start Building Your Perfect Website Today
Choosing between Instapage and Strikingly ultimately depends on your specific business needs and objectives rather than which platform offers more features overall. Instapage excels for marketing teams and businesses focused on conversion optimization, campaign performance, and lead generation through specialized landing pages. Its advanced features, sophisticated analytics, and extensive integration capabilities make it ideal for organizations with complex marketing requirements and the budget to invest in specialized tools.
Strikingly shines as an accessible, cost-effective solution for creating complete websites without technical complexity or significant financial investment. Its user-friendly approach, affordable pricing, and sufficient basic features make it particularly suitable for small businesses, freelancers, and individuals who need professional online presence without marketing sophistication. The platform delivers excellent value for users who prioritize simplicity and quick implementation over advanced conversion optimization capabilities.
Your optimal choice should align with your current needs while considering future growth and evolving requirements. Consider starting with the platform that best matches your immediate goals, knowing that you can always migrate or expand your toolkit as your business develops and your needs become more sophisticated.
For mobile-driven marketers seeking the perfect balance of speed, personalization, and performance, Perspective Funnels represents a smart alternative that bridges the gap between basic website builders and complex marketing platforms. Its mobile-first architecture and integrated CRM system make it particularly well-suited for today’s fast-paced digital environment where quick deployment and immediate results are essential. In an increasingly mobile world, choosing a platform designed for how customers actually engage with content—not how we work on our desktops—may be the competitive advantage your business needs.
