IONOS website builder alternatives: move the website, keep the domain and mailbox
The IONOS builder comes bundled with a domain and a mailbox, and builds from a template you pick plus AI-written text and images. People look at IONOS website builder alternatives when they want more design direction than a template gives. You don't have to move everything: IONOS's own help shows how to point the website elsewhere while your email keeps working.
What the IONOS builder gives you
IONOS's AI website builder page describes four steps: choose a mobile-ready design, tell it about your business so AI writes text and images, optionally add products and checkout, then publish. Templates are grouped by trade, from restaurants and yoga to law and tattoo studios, and editing is drag and drop with pre-designed colour schemes and sections. That's a sound way to get a business online quickly, and it means the design starts from a template chosen from a gallery shared with other customers. If you want a site whose structure and look are decided around your business, that's where you'd look for more.
First-year and renewal prices
As of 24 October 2026, the MyWebsite Now page on IONOS's US site lists three plans on a one-year term, billed monthly, in dollars, with sales tax possibly added:
| Plan | First year | After the first year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $6 a month | $14 a month | 10 pages, 2 GB mailbox, AI logo generator |
| Plus | $1 a month | $20 a month | 200 pages, AI text and images, online booking, 12 GB mailbox |
| Pro | $17 a month | Not shown on the page | Unlimited pages, 50 GB mailbox |
Every plan includes a domain and an email address, and the page mentions a 30-day money-back guarantee. Read the renewal column before the introductory one: the second year is the real price. The AI builder page also notes that to connect an existing domain directly, it must be in the same contract.
Moving the website without losing your email
IONOS's help article on connecting a domain to Vercel describes the general pattern. If you keep IONOS as your DNS host and change only the A and CNAME records for the website, your mailboxes and other IONOS services carry on unchanged. If you move the name servers instead, mail stops unless you recreate the MX records first. Only one A record may be active for the main domain, so edit the existing one rather than adding a second.
- Copy the content. Save every page's text, your own images at full size and any product details.
- Export form entries and bookings you need to keep.
- Ask IONOS about the bundle. Find out what happens to the included domain and mailbox if you cancel or downgrade the builder plan, and whether you need a separate domain or email contract.
- Build and test the new site on its temporary address.
- Change the A and CNAME records at IONOS to the values your new host gives you, leaving MX records alone.
Our guide to moving a domain to a new website explains the records in more detail.
Four options to compare
| Option | Suits | From its own pages |
|---|---|---|
| Squarespace | Template-led design with a full online store | Its pricing page lists Squarespace Payments in the US, UK, Canada and several European countries |
| Wix | Drag-and-drop editing with payments and scheduling | Its plans page lists accepting payments and scheduling from the Core plan, billed yearly |
| Framer | A site you design yourself, element by element | Its pricing page lists Basic at $10 a month for 30 pages; currency not named |
| Anticode | A site planned from a description and held to a design system | English only; no cart |
Where Anticode fits
Anticode gives the design direction a template gallery doesn't. Describe the business; the Architect asks up to three questions where the answer changes the build and shows a plan with the pages, sections and look before building. The site is then held to one of seven design systems, each with its own typeface, one action colour and radius by role, and checked by the Critic's nineteen design checks.
It works alongside an IONOS domain: on a paid plan you connect your own domain by CNAME or TXT verification and the certificate is issued automatically, while your MX records, and so your mailbox, stay at IONOS. Contact and booking forms save submissions and can email you. Anticode doesn't redirect between www and the bare domain, so connect the one you want people to use. See custom domains and pricing.
What Anticode won't do for an IONOS customer
- Bring your own domain and mail. Anticode connects a domain you already have for the website; keep the registration and mailboxes with IONOS or another provider.
- No cart or checkout. Buy buttons open one payment link per account, from Stripe Payment Links, PayPal, Gumroad, Lemon Squeezy, Shopify or Whop.
- Fixed booking times. Six set times on the coming days, Mondays skipped; you can't set hours, slot lengths or closed days, and there's no calendar sync. Anticode doesn't email the visitor; you confirm each booking yourself.
- No video or embeds on design-engine pages, such as maps, booking widgets or video players; link to them instead.
- English only. No multilingual sites or translation.
- No import of an IONOS site; describe it and paste your text.
When staying with IONOS is sensible
If your domain, email and hosting are all at IONOS and the site does its job, one bill and one support line are worth something, and IONOS stays the convenient choice. Compare the renewal price with what you'd pay elsewhere, and if you do move, move only the website: the help article above shows that your domain and mailbox can stay exactly where they are.
Questions people ask
Can I keep my IONOS email if I move my website?
Yes. IONOS's help says that if you keep IONOS as DNS host and change only the A and CNAME records, mailboxes keep working. Changing name servers needs MX records recreated first.
What does IONOS MyWebsite Now cost after the first year?
On its US page on 24 October 2026, Starter renews at $14 a month and Plus at $20 a month. The Pro renewal price isn't shown.
Which ionos website builder alternatives include email?
IONOS includes an email address in every MyWebsite Now plan. Check each alternative's own pages for email. With Anticode, connecting your domain to the site leaves its mail records alone, so your IONOS mailbox can stay.
Can Anticode use a domain registered at IONOS?
Yes, on a paid plan. You add the record Anticode gives you at IONOS; the certificate is issued automatically.
Sources
- IONOS AI website builder, checked
- IONOS MyWebsite Now website builder, checked
- IONOS Help: Connecting your domain to Vercel, checked
- Squarespace pricing, checked
- Wix plans, checked
- Framer pricing, checked