If you are setting up on your own, choosing a website builder can turn into a much bigger job than expected.
Wix looks easy. WordPress can do many, many different things. Squarespace has nice, slick templates. Lovable can apparently build the whole thing from a prompt. Then there are bespoke agencies and specialist recruitment website builders like Pillar & Post.
They can all produce a decent-looking website. The real difference is how much work sits behind it, and whether it actually does what a recruitment business needs.
I have a background in recruitment and now spend a slightly ridiculous amount of time looking at recruitment websites. These are the main options I would consider, and who I think each one is best for.
What should a recruitment website builder include?
A recruitment website does not need to be enormous. I have written separately about what a recruitment website should include, but most independent recruiters need the same core things:
- A professional home page
- A proper jobs page
- Individual pages for each role
- A simple way for candidates to enquire or apply
- Clear information about what sector you work in and what level you work at
- A website that works properly on mobile
- Basic search engine optimisation
- The technical information Google needs to understand your jobs
The last couple of points are where it gets less straightforward. A website can look perfectly good and still have job pages that Google struggles to find, no structured job data and very little useful content when search engines visit it.
That does not mean you need to become an SEO expert. It does mean you should check what is included before choosing a builder.
Wix
Wix is probably the best-known option for people who want to build a website themselves. It gives you plenty of templates, a visual editor and lots of extra features you can add.
Best for
Someone who enjoys working on their own website and wants plenty of control over how every page looks.
The good bits
- Lots of templates and design freedom
- No coding required for a basic website
- Hosting and security are handled for you
- Plenty of guides and support information
What to think about
Wix is a general website builder rather than a recruitment website builder. You can create a jobs page, but you will normally need to decide how vacancies are added, how applications work and how the individual job pages are set up. From the sites I have looked at, it is quite rare for somebody building with Wix to get all of the job-page functionality right.
The freedom can also become a job in itself. If you enjoy adjusting layouts, spacing and mobile views, that may be fine. If you just want the site live so you can get back to recruiting, it can take longer than expected.
Squarespace
Squarespace is a strong option if the look of the website is your main priority. Its templates tend to feel polished without needing quite as much adjustment.
Best for
A recruiter who wants a smart brochure-style website and only expects to advertise a small number of jobs.
The good bits
- Professional-looking templates
- Relatively easy to keep the design consistent
- Hosting, security and mobile layouts are included
- Good for simple company and service pages
What to think about
Like Wix, Squarespace is not built specifically around recruitment. A basic vacancies page is possible, but a proper searchable jobs section may need more thought or an external system.
It can work very well as a polished online brochure. It is less obvious if regularly publishing and removing vacancies is going to be a major part of the site.
Lovable and other AI website builders
AI website builders such as Lovable have made it possible to create a surprisingly good-looking website by describing what you want in plain English.
For somebody comfortable experimenting with technology, they can be genuinely useful. You can create something more individual than a standard template without writing all the code yourself.
Best for
Someone who is reasonably technical, likes experimenting and is prepared to check what has actually been built behind the design.
The good bits
- Very quick to get a first version on screen
- More freedom than a fixed template
- You can ask for changes in ordinary language
- Useful for testing an idea before investing in a larger project
What to think about
The difficult bit is that a website can look finished before it really is finished.
You still need to think about the domain, hosting, contact forms, privacy, security, mobile behaviour and what happens when something breaks. For a recruitment website, you also need proper vacancy pages, structured job data and content that search engines can reliably read.
None of that makes Lovable a bad choice. It just means the AI has helped you build the website rather than taken responsibility for running it.
WordPress
WordPress is the most flexible option on this list. It can be turned into almost anything, including a large recruitment website with an ATS integration, candidate accounts, blogs and complicated search features.
Best for
An established agency with more complex requirements, or somebody happy to work with a developer and maintain the site properly.
The good bits
- Almost unlimited flexibility
- Thousands of themes and plugins
- Plenty of developers know how to work with it
- Suitable for larger and more complicated websites
What to think about
The flexibility is also the problem. You need to choose hosting, a theme and the right plugins. Those plugins need updating, and they do not always play nicely together.
You can absolutely build a brilliant recruitment website with WordPress. You can also end up with something slow, difficult to edit and held together by a collection of subscriptions nobody quite remembers choosing.
For a solo recruiter who needs five or six pages and somewhere to publish jobs, it can be more machinery than the business actually needs.
A bespoke recruitment website
A bespoke website is designed and built for your business, usually by an agency or freelance developer. This gives you much more scope to create something distinctive.
Best for
An established recruitment company with a clear brand, a sensible budget and requirements that cannot be covered by an off-the-shelf platform.
The good bits
- Designed specifically for your business
- More freedom over branding and features
- Can include complex ATS integrations
- You have somebody to guide the project
What to think about
Bespoke normally means a larger upfront cost and a longer process. I have broken down the typical costs of the different recruitment website options in more detail here.
If you are launching a larger agency or replacing an old site with very specific requirements, that investment may make complete sense. For a new independent recruiter, it may be difficult to justify before the business is bringing in regular revenue.
Pillar & Post
Pillar & Post is the specialist option, and obviously I am not completely neutral here because I built it.
It is made for independent recruiters and small recruitment businesses that need a professional website, a proper jobs section and the technical basics dealt with, without paying up front for a large bespoke project.
Best for
A new or independent recruiter who wants plenty of control over how their website looks, while not having to worry about the technical side.
The good bits
- Built specifically for recruitment businesses
- Lots of design control which is easy to use
- Jobs and individual vacancy pages are included
- Google Jobs structured data is added to job pages
- Hosting, mobile layouts and technical SEO basics are handled
- You can use your own domain
- The AI Wizard can help with the first version of your copy and design
- We also do bespoke designs at a fraction of the cost of a purely bespoke website
What to think about
Pillar & Post gives you plenty of control over the finished site, but it is all designed around recruitment.
There is also the option of a bespoke HTML design.
Because we are not rebuilding the entire platform behind the website, this can be much cheaper than commissioning a traditional bespoke recruitment site. You get a more individual design without paying for somebody to recreate all the underlying functionality you already need.
If you want complete freedom over every feature and a complicated bespoke system behind the site, a larger development project may still be the right answer. For most independent recruiters and small agencies, that is probably far more than they need.
The aim is to give you a site that feels like your business, while making sure the jobs pages, mobile layout and technical foundations are already in place.
So, which recruitment website builder is best?
There is no single answer for every recruiter.
- Choose Wix if you want plenty of design control and are happy to build the recruitment features yourself.
- Choose Squarespace if you mainly want a polished brochure site with a simple vacancies section.
- Choose Lovable if you want to experiment with an AI-built site and are comfortable checking and maintaining the technical details.
- Choose WordPress if you need flexibility and are prepared to manage the technical side or pay somebody else to do it.
- Choose a bespoke website if you have more complicated requirements and the budget to have something built around them.
- Choose Pillar & Post if you are an independent recruiter who wants the website, jobs pages and technical foundations handled without a large upfront project.
Before signing up for anything, write down what you actually need now. Not what you might need when you have 40 employees and offices in three countries. What will help the business look credible, advertise jobs and start conversations today?
That usually makes the decision much easier.
If you already have a website and are not sure what is working, you can put it through our free Recruitment Website Health Check. It checks the SEO, technical setup, jobs pages and whether search engines and AI tools can properly understand the site.