NorthLuma blog · 2026-05-16 · 8-minute read
AI website generator 2026 — which ones are actually free.
Every AI website generator claims to be free to try. Most are — for the 90 seconds it takes to type your business name and watch the AI compose a site. The interesting question is what happens at second 91, when you try to actually use what was generated. We tested seven generators in May 2026, looking for the exact moment each one asks for a credit card. Two stay genuinely free past that moment. Five don't.
TLDR
- · All 7 let you generate the site for free. The free tier exists for all of them; the AI does its work without asking for billing.
- · 5 of 7 require a recurring subscription the moment you try to keep what was generated (custom domain, remove badge, download code, capture leads).
- · 2 of 7 stay free past that moment: Framer (free hosting under a framer.website subdomain, indefinitely) and NorthLuma (pay $49 once for the source code, then $0 forever).
- · Hostinger's "free" requires a credit card up-front for the 7-day trial. We don't consider that free.
The 7-generator paywall audit
Three columns each: can you generate, can you preview, can you walk away with the site. Plus the exact moment the paywall appears.
| Generator | Generate? | Preview? | Walk away with site? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Durable | ✓ free | ✓ free | $ pay first |
| 10Web AI | ✓ free | ✓ free | $ pay first |
| Hostinger AI Website Builder | ✓ free | ✗ card required | $ pay first |
| Wix AI Site Generator | ✓ free | ✓ free | $ pay first |
| Framer AI | ✓ free | ✓ free | $ pay first |
| Mixo | ✓ free | ✓ free | $ pay first |
| NorthLuma | ✓ free | ✓ free | $ pay first |
NorthLuma's "$ pay first" cell is honest — we charge $49 one-time for the ZIP download. The other "$ pay first" cells are recurring monthly subscriptions starting at $9-30/mo with no end date.
Per-generator paywall detail
Durable · paywall at
Custom domain, image export, removing 'made with Durable' badge — all $15+/mo
Verdict: Free preview is a sales-funnel. Real product starts at $15/mo subscription.
10Web AI · paywall at
Anything beyond preview requires $10+/mo Personal plan; static export not offered.
Verdict: AI generation is a teaser for a managed-WordPress subscription.
Hostinger AI Website Builder · paywall at
Preview lives under a 7-day trial that requires a credit card up-front.
Verdict: 'Free' is the marketing word, 'trial' is the legal word.
Wix AI Site Generator · paywall at
Static export is gated behind Wix Combo $17/mo or higher; even then export is partial.
Verdict: Generation is free; the site you generated is not.
Framer AI · paywall at
Framer free subdomain hosting OK; custom domain + removing 'made in Framer' badge + e-commerce all behind $5+/mo tiers; code export at $30+/mo Pro tier.
Verdict: Generous free tier; full ownership still costs $30+/mo.
Mixo · paywall at
Custom domain + analytics + lead capture starts at $9/mo. No source-code export tier exists.
Verdict: Cheapest 'try-it' funnel of the bunch; ownership not available at any price.
NorthLuma · paywall at
Download ZIP of generated HTML/CSS/JS = $49 one-time. After that, $0 forever (deploy on Vercel free tier).
Verdict: Generate + preview for free indefinitely; pay once to walk away with the source code.
Why the free preview always works, and the payment always shows up later
The unit economics of every AI generator look roughly the same. The AI generation itself costs the vendor pennies — even at GPT-4 / Gemini class, a complete site costs the company under $0.50 in API calls. That's why every generator can afford to let you generate for free; it's a cheap marketing demo. The actual cost the vendor has to recover is hosting your generated site indefinitely (storage + bandwidth + uptime + support) — and that is what the subscription is funding.
We designed NorthLuma to break that cycle. We don't host you; we hand you the site as a ZIP, and you host it on Vercel / Netlify / wherever you already have a host. Our cost-to-serve drops to zero the moment you download. That's why $49 once works as a price for us when $9-30/mo is the floor for everyone else — they're paying for your hosting in perpetuity; we're paying for one AI generation and a one-time download.
The honest exception — when a free hosted plan is what you actually want
If you want a single-page site that lives at a vendor-subdomain forever, doesn't need a custom domain, and you're fine with the "made with Framer" badge in the footer — Framer's free tier is genuinely free and genuinely good. It is the right answer for a portfolio link in a Twitter bio. It is not the right answer for a small business that needs a custom domain, real email, contact forms that go somewhere, and the ability to leave if they later want to. For that second category, NorthLuma $49 once is the cheapest honest answer in the table.
Frequently asked
Which AI website generator is actually free to use in 2026?
All seven in the table let you generate the site for free. Two — Framer and NorthLuma — let you keep a usable result without a recurring subscription: Framer's free tier hosts the generated site under a framer.website subdomain forever; NorthLuma lets you download the source code for a one-time $49. The other five (Durable, 10Web, Hostinger AI, Wix AI, Mixo) require a monthly subscription to use what they generated.
Can I download the site Durable / Wix AI / Mixo generated?
Not without a subscription. Durable and Mixo don't offer source export at any price. Wix AI offers a partial static export only on Combo ($17/mo) or higher — and what you get is stripped of the App Market features that made the preview work. The clean-export story belongs to NorthLuma at $49 once and Framer at $30+/mo Pro.
Is the Hostinger AI Builder really free?
Free to start, yes. Free to keep, no. Their public flow asks for credit-card details before the preview is reachable; without billing on file you can't see what was generated. After the 7-day trial it converts to a paid plan automatically unless cancelled. NorthLuma's free preview asks for nothing — type your business name, see the generated site immediately, no card.
Why is NorthLuma $49 even cheaper than Framer's $30/mo?
Different shape, not just different price. $30/mo Framer Pro is recurring — by Year 2 you've paid $720, by Year 5 you've paid $1,800. $49 NorthLuma is a one-time payment for a ZIP of code that runs anywhere — by Year 5 you've still paid $49. The right comparison is annualised over how long you actually use the site; Framer wins if you're rebuilding every 12 months, NorthLuma wins for anyone planning to use the site for more than ~3 months.
Are these AI generators actually using AI, or is it marketing?
Real AI in all seven. Durable uses a custom LLM trained on small-business sites. 10Web uses GPT-4-class models behind a WordPress wrapper. Hostinger AI uses a hosted model with their own templates layered. Wix AI uses internal models with their App Market integrations. Framer AI uses GPT-4-class with Framer-native components. Mixo uses GPT-class for copy + Unsplash for imagery. NorthLuma uses Google's Gemini for the copy + a curated 50-capability block library for the layout. The AI is real everywhere; what differs is what each generator gives you in return for the AI's work.
What's the quality difference between these generators?
Honest answer: all seven produce roughly Lighthouse-90 HTML in our spot-checks (May 2026). The quality differences are in design polish and copy intelligence, not raw output. Framer wins for visual design fidelity. Wix AI wins for sheer feature breadth. NorthLuma wins for honest copy (we run an anti-fabrication scrubber that the others don't, so we won't generate fake testimonials or fake awards). Durable + Hostinger + Mixo are noticeably template-feeling on close inspection.
Can I try NorthLuma to compare against Durable / Wix AI before paying anyone?
Yes — that's the entire point of our free preview. Type your business name, pick an industry, watch the AI ship a full multi-page site, see the result. Then go try Durable / Wix AI / Framer / whoever else with the same inputs. Pick the one whose generated site you'd actually be happy shipping. If that's us, the $49 ZIP gets emailed to you instantly. If it isn't, close the tab — we've cost you nothing.
Generate it for free, decide later
No card, no email up-front, no sales-funnel email sequence. Type your business name, watch the AI ship a real multi-page site in 90 seconds. If it's what you want, $49 lands the ZIP in your inbox. If it isn't, you walk away — no traces, no follow-ups.
Bias note: NorthLuma is in the table. All pricing + paywall behaviour verified May 16, 2026 by signing up for the free flow of each vendor (no cards used). If a vendor changes their free-tier behaviour after this date, email [email protected] and we will correct.