Nicepage Review 2024: Why It’s Not Your Best Option

Should You Use Nicepage?

1

Nicepage promises to be the evolution of freehand web design, intending to give maximum control back to designers. Tall promises aside, the idea behind Nicepage is certainly, well, nice. Can it measure up with the major website builders on the market in terms of ease of use and comprehensive features? I put it through extensive testing to find out.

Overall, it offers an impressive amount of creative control, and it’s one of the few website builders that allows you to work both locally and on the cloud. However, with its lack of important site integrations and somewhat complicated publishing process, Nicepage hasn’t found the right balance between ease of use and features yet.

If you’re looking for a beginner-friendly alternative that also gives you complete creative control, then I’d recommend Wix instead1. The ideal builder for you will also vary depending on your experience level and needs, so I’d recommend looking at our curated list of the best website builders in 2024.

Nicepage does offer quite a few interesting features though, and it has vastly improved since the last time we reviewed it, so keep reading to find out if it could be the right alternative for you.

You can use Nicepage in two different ways: either purchase the software for a one-time fee and install it on your computer, or sign up for a subscription to the online version of the builder. Only the second option includes website hosting.

Thousands of Templates in Multiple Categories

There are over 10,000 mobile-friendly templates available on Nicepage. That’s more templates than I’ve ever seen – but is it quantity over quality? The template gallery is broken down into three sections: HTML, WordPress, and Joomla. The designs are mostly the same in each category, but it’s important to choose according to the format you’re going to be using.

Within each section, the templates are divided into 19 categories, including Business and Law, Food and Restaurant, Real Estate, Wedding, and more.

If you’re after a specific design element, you can browse by block function – for example, templates that include image grids. The templates are built as one-page, self-contained websites. You can add more pages to your website, but there are no templates for additional pages. You’ll need to modify the main template or use another template. This can be a considerable drawback if your goal is to create a website quickly, since you’ll need to reformat the entire template to fit additional pages, like a blog or an About Us page.

Overall, Nicepage has a great collection of diverse website templates, making it ideal if you want to build a landing page. If you want a multi-page website, things get a little more challenging.

Design and Customization

You can’t switch templates mid-edit unless you create a new page and start over with a different template. Still, the level of customization Nicepage offers is one of its main selling points.

Nicepage promises to stand out from the competition with its Web Design 3.0. What is Web Design 3.0, you might ask? Well, according to Nicepage, it’s the ability to position elements on a page without the limitations of a grid or single-layer editing. If that sounds like most drag-and-drop builders out there, it’s because it is.

Although Nicepage makes a lot of noise around a fairly standard feature, I can’t deny that it offers an impressive set of features for complete creative control. The downloadable webpage editor has a drag-and-drop interface, and you’re not limited to where you can place elements on the page. You can also modify images, add and remove blocks, and change design details like colors and fonts.

Nicepage’s Site Editor Gives You Total Freedom, but Is That Enough?

You can use Nicepage in two different ways: either purchase the software for a one-time fee and install it on your computer, or sign up for a subscription to the online version of the builder. Only the second option includes website hosting.

That flexibility has its pros, but it also comes with some drawbacks. Instead of just clicking a Publish button to get your website online, you’ll need to export the file as HTML code or WordPress or Joomla format.

Though Nicepage’s features catalog is massive, most of these are aimed at the visual aspect of your site. That might be great for increasing your creative control, but it comes at the expense of limited features for things like e-commerce, marketing, and SEO. Don’t get me wrong, Nicepage offers more than enough to stand on its own as a builder for any kind of website. It’s just a shame that a builder created for professionals doesn’t put as much horsepower behind functionality as it does design.

However, the Nicepage editor does have some great features of its own:

Freehand Positioning

Some website builders limit you on where you can place elements on your page. With Nicepage, you can move boxes out of designated areas and even arrange elements in layers. You have full control over exactly where and how you want every detail to appear.

Website Animations

You can grab visitors’ attention by adding animations to your existing text boxes and images. Simply set them to slide, zoom, or fade when a user scrolls through a page.

That’s not the only dynamic element that Nicepage introduces either. You can add motion effects for a specific element whenever the user takes a specific action like hovering, clicking, or scrolling. Once again, though element animation is a fairly common feature, Nicepage stands out for the amount of customization you get over these motion effects.

Overall, if you’re looking to create a dynamic, attention-grabbing website, Nicepage gives you all the tools you need to do it.

Template Block Sections

If you don’t want to build a section from scratch, you can drag and drop entire ready-made blocks to your website.

Does Nicepage’s editor make up for the lack of typical website builder features? That depends on what you’re using it for. If you’re comfortable with uploading your design to a platform, like WordPress, you’ll have access to all the features there. Otherwise, you can sign up for one of the online builder plans, but keep in mind that you will have to pay for an annual subscription instead of just paying a one-time fee for the software.

Nicepage’s Site Editor Looks More Intimidating Than It Actually Is

At first, I was worried about using Nicepage’s downloadable site editor. It didn’t look similar to any other website builder I’ve tested. However, after a few minutes, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to modify a template and even build my own page from scratch.

The drag-and-drop editor is highly intuitive, so it’s easy to customize your page and place elements wherever you like.

Here are a few other features that make Nicepage easy to use:

Introductory Guide

An interactive “personal assistant” greets you as soon as you open the software, and shows you how to perform different tasks. The guide will walk you through how to add pages, where to go to add blocks, how to resize elements and move them around, and more. I spent a few minutes completing this tutorial and was instantly more comfortable using the editor.

You can go back to this guide as many times as you like, so you won’t be completely lost even if you rushed through it the first time. I will say, however, that the beginner’s guide only gives you an introduction to a specific set of elements.

If you want to explore Nicepage’s capabilities beyond this, you’re stuck with the ever-reliable method of trial and error. You’ll quickly get the hang of some things on your own, but for a builder this size, the “getting started” guide could stand to be a bit more comprehensive.

Video Tutorials

If you still have questions after finishing the introductory guide, you can check out Nicepage’s video tutorials. This is a great resource where you can get detailed information on how to perform tasks within the editor, including how to use menu items, apply design advice, and make your website mobile-responsive.

Editing for Multiple Devices

Nicepage allows you to preview how your website will look on various devices and screen sizes. Not only that, but it has a similar approach to Wix when it comes to screen sizes, which can only be called “responsive-but-not-too-responsive.”

Basically, Nicepage makes some automatic adjustments so your site will show up on any screen size, you can also adjust the specific characteristics of individual elements based on how they’re viewed.

While this might be convenient for designers looking for complete control over how their site’s display, it does mean that you can’t just edit your site once and be done with all of its mobile versions.

When you are ready to publish your website, Nicepage gets more complicated. As previously mentioned, you need some level of technical know-how in order to export the HTML, WordPress, or Joomla file and then install it on the platform of your choice.

Nicepage’s editor gives web designers the advantage of greater artistic freedom, but the average user might not want to deal with the extra work involved in purchasing a hosting plan and installing an additional platform.

Nicepage’s customer support leaves much to be desired

One area where I was particularly disappointed was Nicepage’s customer support. Currently, there are limited channels to contact Nicepage when you need help.

The main way to get in touch with the support team is to ask a question on the forums. You can post an “open question,” which anyone with a Nicepage account can answer. If you’d like an official Nicepage support staff member to  answer, you can post a “closed question.”

Receiving answers via a customer support forum has its pros and cons. Anyone can answer your question based on their previous experiences with the product. The advantage is that you get multiple solutions from different users. You can also browse previously asked questions that are related to yours. However, who’s to say that the answers from other users are accurate or present the most efficient way to solve your problem?

When I submitted my questions on the forum, I got an answer in about 12 hours, which seems standard. The answers I received were mixed. The answer to my first question was satisfactory, but the answer to another question wasn’t helpful at all, and it seemed the rep didn’t even understand the question.

I was frustrated by the fact that there’s no live chat option or even a phone number for customer support. The premium Pro Plans come with premium support, but there’s no indication if this means there are more ways to reach Nicepage with this paid plan.

I also reached out to Nicepage on their Facebook page, although it isn’t an official channel for customer support. I got a reply the next day, but again, my question wasn’t fully answered.

Overall, I felt let down by the limited options to reach out to Nicepage. It would greatly improve the level of service, in my opinion, if they added at least one more channel, such as live chat. Moreover, while they did respond to my questions, the answers weren’t particularly satisfactory.

Is Nicepage Worth the Price Tag?

Nicepage offers free plans (for both the downloadable software and the online version) and a wide variety of paid plans geared towards different needs.

With the free plan, you can download and use the website editor for an unlimited amount of time. You can build one website of up to 5 pages, create an online form, and receive up to 10 submissions. You’ll have access to a limited selection of features, like templates, sections, blocks, and gallery grid styles. You can also access tons of free stock photos, which is nice.

The Premium Plans let you build as many websites as you want. You’ll have more templates, section designs, and grid layouts to choose from than the free plan offers. You can download free stock images in various sizes and in greater daily amounts.

The Pro Plan, which is the top plan, comes with priority customer support and allows you to build pages with WooCommerce or VirtueMart products in WordPress and Joomla.

The Online Builder plans follow a similar structure, with hosting services included.

Nicepage accepts payments via most major credit cards and PayPal.

It’s worth noting that the only way to cancel your Nicepage account is to log into the forum and post that you’d like to cancel your licence. Also, payments and refunds are handled by a third party, PayPro Global Inc., therefore any issues with refunds are redirected to this company. According to a PDF document on PayPro’s website, refunds can be requested within 30 days of purchase.

It’s worth noting that payments and refunds are handled by a third party, PayPro Global Inc., therefore any issues with refunds are redirected to this company. According to a PDF document on PayPro’s website, refunds can be requested within 30 days of purchase.