Is Universe a Good Site Builder?
Is Universe a good site builder?
In the crowded business of website development, the relative newcomer Universe has some unique concepts. This mobile only site builder promises to build pages in “under a minute.” Their mobile-first outlook is geared towards millenials who want to create “light” websites on the go for small business.
A Quick Overview
Name: Universe
Business: Mobile Website Developer
Founder: Joseph Cohen
Located: Brooklyn, NY
Price: Free if hosted on a Universe domain, $2.99/mo if registered with a custom domain
Summary: Universe promotes itself as being fast and mobile-only with an easy to use interface that is geared toward non-tech people.
Rating: 2 out of 5
What is Universe?
Universe is a new start up that is turning website development into a purely mobile activity. Currently Universe is mobile only and they have no plans for a desk top version. You can download the app from the app store by searching for OnUniverse. You can see what the app looks like in the image below.
Once you get throught the process of choosing your domain name and deciding if you will utilize the .onuniverse.com or if you will find an available custom domain, you can work through a series of templates and create a simple page quickly.
Training
Right now Universe doesn’t provide training. You can go to the ios App store and download the UniverseBuilder App. The templates they provide are simple to use. They are based around a 3 x 5 grid. You can develop a personal landing page, links for social media, invitations, business information pages, and personalization options inclusing icons and backgrounds. If you are new to building websites and require a little support or hand-holding you won’t get that here. At least for now you need to be self sufficient.
Price
The price is reasonable. The free option is great to mess around with. You can check it out quickly and set up a fun little site within minutes. I personally don’t have a need or desire to have anything but a custom domain so I wouldn’t opt to pay for a non custome domain at this time. With that said if I am buying a custom domain I would choose a different site builder.
See my #1 recommendation here.
Conclusion
As you saw previously, my rating for Univers is quite low. This may change over time. RIght now Universe is new and although it is pretty simple to set up this app and get something started, I think some tech challenged folks will have diffculty. I also think anyone looking to build out a website with content and create a strong online presence will be disappointed with the limitations of this mobile site builder. Right now Universe is fun but not overly functional.