Looking for the best Builder.io alternative?
You’re in the right place. While Builder.io is a popular visual development platform, it may not fully meet developer needs, especially if you want tighter integration with your stack, more flexibility, or a solution that works for both pages and emails. That’s why we’ve handpicked five developer-friendly platforms, breaking down their features, pros, and pricing to help you choose the right fit.
Key Takeaways:
Drag-and-drop editors, reusable blocks, responsive design, and SDK/API support speed up builds without losing code control.
Unlayer provides embeddable builders, JSON blocks, mobile-first layouts, and collaboration tools for fast, flexible email and page creation.
Webflow and Plasmic offer visual editors with framework integration and code export for design-driven workflows.
Contentful and Sanity are API-first, headless CMSs with structured content and real-time collaboration for scalable apps.
Pick the platform that fits your workflow, with Unlayer delivering the broadest flexibility and embeddable capabilities.
What to Look for in a Builder.io Alternative?
Choosing the right platform can be overwhelming. Keep these elements in mind:
Drag-and-Drop Functionality: Speed up prototyping with visual editing while still allowing fine-tuning in code.
User-Friendly Interface: An intuitive UI saves setup time and reduces friction for developers and teams.
Seamless Integrations: Should connect easily with your stack React, Vue, Angular, Next.js, Shopify, or APIs without extra hacks.
Pre-Designed Templates: Kickstart projects with layouts you can customize instead of building everything from scratch.
Reusable Blocks: Define components once and reuse them across pages to keep workflows DRY and efficient.
Customization Options: Ability to tailor styles, layouts, and workflows to match your brand or product needs instead of being locked into rigid templates.
Extensibility: Support for custom code, plugins, or APIs so developers can extend functionality beyond what’s offered out of the box.
Collaboration Tools: Real-time editing and smooth developer–designer handoff with Git-friendly workflows.
Responsive Design: Mobile-first performance with built-in responsive grids and breakpoints.
Developer Support: Clear documentation, reliable support, and fast issue resolution for smoother builds.
Top 5 Builder.io Alternatives in 2025
We’ve selected five platforms that give developers the right mix of control, integration options, and scalability. These tools help you move faster while still keeping code quality and maintainability in check.
1. Unlayer
Unlayer is a drag-and-drop email and page builder that simplifies creating responsive emails and web pages. It’s fully embeddable into SaaS products, integrates seamlessly with developer workflows, and emphasizes speed without compromising flexibility.
Key features
2,000+ HTML Email Templates: Access a wide library of production-ready designs to save development time.
Reusable Custom Blocks: Define and reuse components with JSON schema support for consistent design.
AI-Assisted Content Generation: Generate subject lines, copy, and images to streamline content creation.
Team Collaboration Tools: Real-time editing, comments, and role-based access control for smoother teamwork.
Mobile-Responsive Layouts: Built-in responsive design ensures content looks great across all devices.
Seamless ESP Integration: Connect directly with major email service providers for streamlined publishing.
Embeddable JavaScript SDK: Integrate Unlayer’s builders directly into SaaS platforms without separate hosting.
Customization & Extensibility: Tailor themes, layouts, and styles with custom CSS/JS. Extend functionality with custom tools, embed dynamic content, and adapt the builder to unique workflows.
Webhooks & REST API: Manage templates, automate workflows, and connect to your existing systems.
Enterprise-grade security: Includes SSO integration for secure user access, along with role-based permissions, data protection, and compliance-ready infrastructure for scaling safely.
2. Webflow
Webflow combines a visual design canvas with CMS and hosting capabilities, allowing developers to export clean HTML, CSS, and JavaScript or use its built-in CMS API. It supports enterprise workflows with custom code embeds.
Key features
Designer-friendly visual canvas with code export
CMS and e-commerce APIs for headless integrations
Custom code embeds (JavaScript, HTML, CSS)
Webhooks and Zapier support for automation
3. Contentful
Contentful is an API-first, headless CMS that provides content modeling, versioning, and localization features. It scales to enterprise usage with role-based permissions and detailed audit logs.
Key features
RESTful and GraphQL APIs with global CDN delivery
Custom content types and validation rules
Localization and multi-environment support
Webhooks, SDKs (JavaScript, Ruby, Java), and CLI for automation
4. Sanity
provides a real-time collaborative editor and treats content as structured data, enabling query-driven rendering via GROQ or GraphQL. It offers a customizable studio and plugin ecosystem.
Key features
GROQ and GraphQL APIs with live previews
Customizable editor (Sanity Studio) built with React
Structured content as JSON, portable text format
Plugin registry and CLI for schema migrations
5. Plasmic
Plasmic is a visual builder that integrates directly with your codebase, allowing teams to create complex UI designs without losing developer control.
Key features
Visual editor for web and app interfaces
Supports integration with React, Next.js, and other frameworks
Figma to React code conversion
Real-time collaboration
Which Builder.io Alternative Should You Choose? A Quick Comparison
Every platform serves a different use case. Here’s how the top options stack up so you can pick the one that best fits your development needs.
Platform | Best Features | Plugin/Integrations | Pricing Model |
Unlayer | Embeddable drag-and-drop builder; JSON-configurable reusable design blocks; deep customization (themes, custom CSS/JS, dynamic content, custom tools); real-time team workspaces; enterprise-grade security (with SSO) | Major ESPs (Mailchimp, HubSpot, Salesforce), embeddable SDK | Forever Free plan; Paid plans: Launch: $250/month, Scale: $750/month, Optimize: $2,000/month; Enterprise: custom pricing |
Webflow | Visual design canvas, CMS, hosting, enterprise-grade workflows | APIs, webhooks, Zapier, marketing tools, e-commerce | Starter (Free); Paid plans starting from $14/mo) |
Contentful | Headless CMS, API-first, content modeling, enterprise scalability | Extensive API, webhooks, GraphQL, 30+ integrations | Freemium (Free tier; paid from $300/month) |
Sanity | Real-time collaboration, structured content as data, flexible architecture | APIs, webhooks, GraphQL, custom integrations | Freemium (Free plan; Growth $15/seat/month) |
Plasmic | Visual builder, Figma integration, React/code export, headless CMS | Figma, React, Next.js, headless integrations | Freemium (Free plan; paid from $39/month) |
All of these tools have their place, but if you’re a developer looking for flexibility, embeddability, and email-plus-page building in one solution, Unlayer is the option that covers the most ground.
Conclusion
Choosing the right Builder.io alternative can shape how efficiently you build and maintain digital experiences. While several tools offer flexibility, ease of use, or design depth, only a few strike the right balance between power and simplicity.
Unlayer does exactly that. Its drag-and-drop editor, reusable blocks, seamless integrations, and collaboration features reduce friction without limiting control. With deep customization options and extensibility like themes, custom CSS/JS, and dynamic tools you can adapt the builder to your exact needs. Instead of working around platform gaps, you can focus directly on building, iterating, and shipping faster.
Sign up today and start building better, faster.
FAQs on Builder.io Alternatives
1. Why should developers consider Unlayer as an alternative to Builder.io?
Unlayer gives developers a fully embeddable drag-and-drop builder with a JavaScript SDK, REST API and webhooks. It lets you integrate email, page, popup or document editors directly into your product instead of building and maintaining a visual editor from scratch.
2. Can I extend an embeddable builder with custom tools or plugins?
Yes. Platforms like Unlayer expose hooks for custom blocks, dynamic content, and custom CSS/JS so you can add your own tools or features. This makes it possible to adapt the builder to very specific design systems or workflows.
3. Can I migrate content from Builder.io to other builders like Unlayer or a headless CMS?
Migration is possible if you can export Builder.io content as JSON or HTML. You then map it to new templates or blocks in the target system, but complex interactions may require some manual adjustments.
4. Do builders support SEO and server-side rendering (SSR) for frameworks like Next.js?
Headless and API-first builders can integrate with SSR frameworks by serving content at build time or on the server. This helps maintain SEO benefits while using a visual editing experience.
5. How do embeddable builders handle security and enterprise needs (SSO, RBAC, compliance)?
Enterprise tiers usually include single sign-on (SSO), role-based access control, audit logs and stricter data handling policies. This ensures secure collaboration and compliance at scale.
