Talking to a friend the other night. He asked me…”What do people use Carrd for?“
✅ Simply – cost and convenience. I use Carrd because it’s a fast and easy way to build and host one or many 1-page websites.
Carrd has a lower learning curve and lower cost to get a website built than most other website builders.
A little about me – I have mostly worked on small business websites, blogs, and e-commerce stores. I build my own sites and previously did freelance consulting work for clients.
This usually involved using WordPress, Shopify, Squarespace, Weblow, or something else.
On Carrd you can make a 1-page website and use a custom domain.
Carrd is simple to use and make changes.
I honestly think most businesses could be using a 1-page website.
An easy-to-read, well-written, and designed 1-page website can get customers the same or better as a multipage website.
It really is about execution.
To get traffic to the website, I would focus on Social media, and paid ads with Google and Facebook.
Starting on Carrd and then moving to a different CMS like WordPress is always an option.
Why Use Carrd – 12 Reasons I Like Carrd for Building Simple Websites
Carrd.co is a simple and user-friendly platform for building websites, especially one-page websites or landing pages.
Here are some reasons why you might consider using Carrd.co to build a website:
- Simplicity: Carrd.co offers an intuitive drag-and-drop interface that doesn’t require any coding knowledge. It’s ideal for users who want to create a basic website quickly and easily.
- One-Page Focus: Carrd.co is designed primarily for creating one-page websites or landing pages. If you need a concise and focused online presence, Carrd.co is a great choice.
- Templates: The platform provides a variety of templates tailored for different purposes, such as personal portfolios, event announcements, product promotions, and more. Templates can save you time and offer a starting point for customization.
- Responsive Design: Carrd.co ensures that your website will look good on various screen sizes and devices. This is essential for providing a consistent user experience across different platforms.
- Customization: While Carrd.co keeps things simple, it still allows for customization. You can adjust colors, fonts, layouts, and add various content blocks to suit your needs.
- Mobile-Friendly: In today’s mobile-driven world, having a mobile-friendly website is crucial. Carrd.co’s templates are designed with mobile responsiveness in mind.
- Quick Publishing: You can publish your Carrd.co website quickly and share it with your audience. This is especially useful if you have time-sensitive content or announcements.
- Affordability: Carrd.co offers free and paid plans, making it accessible to users with different budgets. The free plan provides basic features, while the paid plans offer more advanced customization and options.
- No Hosting Worries: Carrd.co handles the hosting for your website, so you don’t have to worry about finding a separate hosting provider.
- Integration: While Carrd.co is more focused on simplicity, it still allows you to integrate with external tools like analytics services, email marketing platforms, and social media.
- Rapid Prototyping: If you’re looking to quickly test an idea, Carrd.co can be a great tool for creating a prototype or a minimum viable product (MVP) to gauge interest or gather feedback.
- Personal Branding: Carrd.co is often used for personal branding, allowing individuals to showcase their skills, achievements, and portfolios in a visually appealing way.
Remember that while Carrd.co offers many benefits, it may not be suitable for complex or multi-page websites that require intricate functionality.
Evaluate your website needs and goals before deciding if Carrd.co is the right platform for you.
How much does a Carrd website cost?
Carrd offers a free plan and Pro plans to choose from: Pro Lite, Pro Standard, and Pro Plus. Each of the Pro plans offers a number of options and variations.
The Carrd entry-level Pro plan starts at $9 per year.
To use a custom domain on your Carrd.co site – the cost starts at $19 per year. This plan lets you build 10 websites.
Plus the cost of a domain ($8 to $20 per year). You will need to use a third party like Namecheap or Dreamhost.
All the prices and plans on this post are subject to change at any time.
Carrd makes it easy to manage plans and add features to your site.
The higher-priced plans on Carrd basically give you access to more websites and more features like custom forms, advanced settings, custom Carrd templates, and lots more.
Below is a screenshot from my current Carrd account to give you an idea. Plus the cost of domains or a custom template design. You can design your own or use a free or paid starter template to save time.
I am on the Pro Standard 25 plan for $39 a year. This gives me access to 25 sites, custom domains, pro templates, Google Analytics, and more.
Carrd Compared to WordPress Pricing
This website (Tempeld) is built with:
- CMS (content management system) is WordPress – Free
- Domains Dreamhost and Namecheap ~$6 to $20/yr
- Hosted on Dreamhost – Starts at about ~$100/yr
- Theme is GeneratePress Pro and GenerateBlocks – $59/yr
- Email newsletter is MailerLite – Free for up to 1000 subscribers
Different web hosts and WordPress themes will charge different amounts. This is just to give a basic price comparison.
The main reason I chose this stack to build this website instead of Carrd is I want:
- Blog – I like writing and explaining things with written and visual content. You are reading one right now. Blogging and creating content takes lots of time.
- Learning Curve – I am already familiar with all these tools and have them all set up. It takes a lot longer to learn this stack as a beginner website than Carrd.
- Website Plan – My plan for this website is going to need lots of pages and advanced features. So the initial setup time takes longer but in the future will save time by adding advanced functionality… also ain’t my first rodeo.
Which is better Carrd or WordPress?
Read Related: WordPress vs Carrd: COMPARE Website Builders
The learning curve is much steeper on WordPress and GeneratePress vs Carrd website.
It really depends on your needs.
I use both Carrd and WordPress to build websites.
To compare pricing you will have to check with Carrd and your web host and domain registrar.
Carrd Templates
Carrd has lots of templates for starting your project. Select one of the categories like; blank canvas, profile, landing, form, portfolio, sectioned, or custom Carrd template.
Choose a blank canvas if you’d rather start from scratch and design your own Carrd website.
Should You Use Carrd.co?
👍 I recommend Carrd to friends building websites.
→ Starting a simple site on Carrd to test your idea and then changing it in the future once you have paying customers is a great low-cost way of starting something. It really depends on your needs.
You can sign up for Carrd for free and make 3 free websites. Click around, and try it out.
You can also always change the website and host and keep the same domain name by just pointing it to a new host and CMS.
There also seems to be a whole Carrd subculture and a world of anime profile templates that I am too old to understand.
I just like building one-page websites, landing pages, and squeeze pages that are high-converting, easy to read, and have a nice design.
Web designer and developer. I love building high-converting 1-page website templates for Carrd. I’ve been featured on: Behance, Canva, Search Engine Journal, CBC, CTV and more…