How to Choose the Best Website Builder to Sell Books & Courses in 2026

As an author and entrepreneur, your website is no longer just a digital business card—it’s a dynamic income engine designed to sell your books and your high-value online courses. This combination requires a platform that excels at both content management and robust e-commerce.

We've analyzed the leading platforms to find the best fit for authors looking to not just exist online, but to inspire action and maximize sales.

The 4 top contenders for the best website platform for the Author-Entrepreneur

The best choice for you depends on how much control vs. convenience you prioritize. Here are the leading website builders that meet the dual needs of selling physical products (books) and digital products (courses):

1. Squarespace: The All-in-One Design Champion.

2. Self-Hosted WordPress (with Plugins): The Ultimate Flexibility Powerhouse.

3. Wix: The User-Friendly Customization King.

4. Shopify: The E-commerce Specialist.

Selling Books vs. Selling Courses

To choose the right platform, you must weigh its native e-commerce strength against its learning management system (LMS) capabilities.

Platform	Best For	Selling Books (E-commerce)	Selling Courses (LMS)	Learning Curve
Squarespace	Authors who value elegant design and simplicity.	Excellent. Built-in store for physical/digital books, product management, and checkout.	Excellent. Uses Member Sites and its Video Studio for gated content, recurring subscriptions, and full online courses—all native to the platform.	Easy. Highly intuitive, structured editing experience.
Self-Hosted WordPress	Authors who demand complete control and limitless scalability.	Outstanding. Requires the WooCommerce plugin, which is the world’s most powerful e-commerce system.	Outstanding. Requires dedicated LMS plugins (like LearnDash or Teachable integration) for a fully featured course experience.	Moderate to Steep. Requires technical management (hosting, security, plugins).
Wix	Authors who need a visual drag-and-drop builder with powerful add-ons.	Very Good. The Wix Stores feature is robust for physical and digital sales.	Good. Relies on specialized apps (like Wix Video or third-party integrations) to sell and deliver online courses and private membership content.	Easy. True drag-and-drop freedom.
Shopify	Authors with massive book sales or complex merchandise inventory.	The Best. Built specifically for product sales and fulfillment.	Poor. Requires significant third-party integrations and workarounds to offer a high-quality course experience.	Moderate. Excellent for selling, but less flexible for a content-first author site.

The Author's Actionable Verdict for 2026

The best platform for you is the one that minimizes your effort and maximizes your sales for the products you prioritize.

1. The Top Recommendation: Squarespace (The All-in-One Solution) 🥇

For the majority of authors, Squarespace is the best overall choice in 2025.

It strikes the perfect balance between professional design, ease of use, and integrated functionality. You can set up a stunning, mobile-responsive author site, a robust blog, and sell both your books and your high-value online courses without ever leaving the platform or wrestling with a dozen different plugins.

• Action Insight: Choose Squarespace if you want a beautiful, low-maintenance, all-in-one platform where selling courses and books is seamlessly integrated.

2. The Power User Choice: Self-Hosted WordPress (The Scalability Option)

If you are a tech-savvy author, plan to hire a developer, or foresee building a massive empire that goes far beyond simple courses (e.g., membership forums, complex web apps), WordPress is still the most powerful foundation.

• Action Insight: Choose WordPress if you need complete long-term control, don't mind the setup and maintenance, and plan to heavily customize features with premium plugins like Elementor and WooCommerce.

3. The E-commerce First Choice: Shopify

If your primary focus is physical book sales and merchandise with large inventory volumes, and courses are a secondary, non-essential offering, Shopify provides the most reliable and powerful e-commerce backend available.

• Action Insight: Choose Shopify if you are essentially running a bookstore with a small blog, not a content-first author platform.

If you need help deciding how to choose the best website builder to sell books and online courses, reach out to Inspire Action Marketing. Serena Sampat, MBA has over 25 years of experience in marketing, website design and is a continual student of all things AI and SEO to help clients achieve optimal success in their businesses.