Use the website builderThe Sitejet Builder in Plesk - build a website without code

Published on October 20, 2026

What the website builder is

The website builder is a graphical site builder: you choose a template, replace texts and images and drag building blocks to the right place - you do not write source code. It is built directly into Plesk, so you do not have to install, unlock or pay for anything extra.

That distinguishes it from a classic CMS such as WordPress: there, you set up an application on your web hosting that you then have to keep up to date yourself - core, theme and plugins. With the site builder, this maintenance disappears completely; in return, you are tied to what the builder brings. Which route fits is clarified by the comparison Builder or WordPress.

The site builder is typically well suited for:

• club, practice and craft business sites of a manageable size
• portfolios, landing pages and business card sites
• an interim page while the actual project is still being built
• all cases where nobody is there who wants to apply updates regularly

Prerequisite: the domain must be in place

Before you open the builder, the domain should already point to the web hosting and a certificate should be active. The reason is the same as with a CMS installation: the finished site refers internally to its own address. If that is only switched afterwards, the references are no longer correct.

So the right order is:

1. Connect the domain and wait until it actually points to the web hosting.
2. Issue a Let's Encrypt certificate - that only works once step 1 is done.
3. Only then open the website builder.

For a test run that should not reach anyone yet, a subdomain is the most convenient route. It gets its own certificate and can be deleted later without the main site noticing anything.

Create and edit a site

1. In Plesk, expand the desired domain under Websites & Domains.
2. Open the entry for the Website Builder.
3. Choose a template. Over 140 templates are available, sorted by industry - the structure can be changed freely afterwards anyway; the template mainly determines the colour scheme and basic grid.
4. Replace the content in the editor: click texts directly and overwrite them, swap images, move or remove sections via drag & drop.
5. Check the view for mobile devices. The editor has its own toggle for this - long words and multi-column sections often look different on a phone than expected.
6. Save and publish.

Saving and publishing are two different things: saved changes initially stay in the editor and are not visible to visitors. Only publishing writes them to the web hosting.

What happens when publishing

This is why a backup via the Plesk backup manager always belongs before the first publication. That applies especially if you want to try the site builder on a domain under which something is already running. We do not create automatic backups for you - the backup beforehand is yours.

The same applies the other way round: as soon as a site is managed by the builder, changes you make to the files via FTP have disappeared again at the next publication. The builder is the leading source, not the directory on the web hosting.

Limits of the site builder

A site builder saves you work by making decisions in advance. That is exactly where its limits come from:

• No plugin ecosystem. You use the features the builder brings. A specific booking or member management, as exists as an extension for WordPress, cannot simply be added.
• A move is not a copy. A site builder page does not travel as a project file to another provider. What you can take along is the content - texts and images - not the structure.
• Editorial work in a team. If many posts are maintained by several people, a CMS with its role and permission management usually serves you better.
• Own code. If you want to include your own PHP scripts or intervene deeply in the markup, you work around a site builder instead of with it.

None of these points speaks fundamentally against the builder - they only describe when something else fits better. For a five-page club website updated twice a year, a CMS with a monthly need for updates is the much more laborious route.

Several sites on one plan

The builder is not limited to one site. Every domain and every subdomain of your plan can get its own site builder page - and you can mix both: the main domain with WordPress, a subdomain such as info.your-domain.com with the builder.

How many domains and subdomains are available to you depends on the plan: from 2 domains and 10 subdomains in plan S to an unlimited number from plan L. The storage requirement of a site builder page is small - what takes up space is almost always the images, not the site itself.

A practical note on images: upload them at the size at which they are actually displayed. A 6-megapixel photo from the camera noticeably slows down the site - more on this in the guide Speed up your website.

Frequently asked questions