Dazzly

What it is

Dazzly is a website builder for small and medium businesses, aimed at owners who want to create, host, update and launch a professional site without coding. The team is based in Auckland, New Zealand, and the site describes the company as "100% Kiwi-owned and operated". It is built for the founder or small business owner who wants a mobile-ready business site, or a small online store, without hiring a developer. Its pitch is a short path from sign-up to a live page, with the building free and payment only once you publish.

What you build and how

Dazzly starts from templates. On the home page you pick a business category, type in a business name, an email address and optionally a phone number, and create the site from there. The site offers "Service or eCommerce templates", and the category tiles it shows include Builders & Construction, Cleaning, and Painters and Plasterers, with a "Show More" option for the rest. The company says sites can be single-page or multi-page.

The editing model is deliberately plain. The ecommerce page describes an interface that "works like a simple form": you enter your business information and logo, choose some colors, write a short blurb about your products and services, then hit Publish. Colors can be changed, which the company says gives the site "a very distinct first impression", and you add your own text and photos. The home page puts it as "type in some words, add some photos and Dazzly does the rest". After you build, a Website Preview shows the result before you go live. Dazzly also describes itself as a mobile website builder, and the home page links a walk-through on creating a website from a mobile phone.

The ecommerce path is the second half of the product. You choose the E-commerce Store template, fill out the sign-up form, and land on a screen where you add products. Products can be saved mid-creation and edited again as often as you like. The company's guidance is to organize product information in a spreadsheet first and then load it into Dazzly as you go. The ecommerce page covers a shipping setup in which the customer picks a delivery option based on location, and it raises international tax with a section titled "Does Dazzly ecommerce website maker support international tax?" The page also walks through a launch checklist: place a test order, read the order confirmation email from the customer's side, check stock levels, and collect customer feedback after real orders.

Around the builder sit the services a small business needs. Domain registration is offered, and the company says you can register a .co.nz or .com name or connect one you already own. A domain check tool and email hosting appear in the feature list, along with email accounts as an extra. Free SSL certificates are included, because the company says security is "a necessity for any website builder, not just an addon or a paid privilege". Sites are hosted on what the company calls "enterprise-grade infrastructure". The platform gives access to stock image, video and icon libraries, plus third-party providers whose assets are available under the Creative Commons license.

Growth help is part of the offer. The company provides a free website consultation when you go live: an expert checks that the site is set up properly and gives you two tasks to improve your search-engine rank over time. The extras listed include SEO Boost, SEO Advanced, Logo Design and Article Writing. If you would rather not build at all, a Managed Build service exists, covered below. The home page also mentions that Dazzly released a Marketplace for small business services, and a feature list that names Integrations, though the pages in hand do not say which ones.

The evidence

The pricing section reads "Start for free, go live when you're ready". Building is free and needs no credit card. To launch with your own domain you choose a paid plan.

• Free, "Create your website", with the service or eCommerce templates.
• Starter, $10 a month, "Launch Your Website Online". You connect or purchase a domain name. Support is not included, and the plan carries a "5 Product Limit For Ecommerce websites".
• Growth, marked Most Popular, $22 a month or $200 a year. It includes local email and phone support, a website growth guide with tools and resources, and a free website launch check from an expert. Paying yearly includes free domain registration for 1 year. The page shows a dollar sign without naming the currency, and prices exclude any applicable taxes.

Domains bought separately "typically cost about $40 / Year", per the FAQ. The company says there are no hidden fees and it does not lock you into contracts. It also says the hosting is part of the plans. A separate offer promises a free .co.nz domain on an annual plan.

The Managed Build costs $200 for a single-page website or $400 for a multi-page site. You send photos and the site is online "in just a few days". The company says it builds these with Dazzly itself.

Support is stated as free and available around the clock. The ecommerce page says "free 24/7 support" by phone and email. The home page cites "100+ Google Reviews" and a testimonial from an Auckland customer. The ecommerce page recounts customers who had "no previous web design skills" and were "able to make a high-quality online store for their business in under an hour". That is the company's own account, not an independent test. The site also states "there's no up-front cost and no requirement to enter your credit card during sign-up".

On the home page the country selector lists USA, NZ, AUS, ID, PH, MY, VN and TH, so the company runs regional versions of the site.

Who it suits

Dazzly fits a solo founder or small business owner who needs a straightforward site fast. Trades and service businesses are the clearest match, since the template tiles on the home page are builders, cleaners and painters. A small shop with a handful of products can start on the Starter plan, and the free build stage lets you judge the result before paying.

It also suits owners who want a person to call. The company advertises phone and email support, a consultation after launch, and a done-for-you Managed Build for those short on time.

There are caveats. The Starter plan caps ecommerce sites at 5 products and does not include support, so a growing shop will move to Growth. The editing model is a template with a form-like interface, and the pages do not mention exporting code or hosting the site elsewhere, so a developer wanting an escape hatch into HTML will not find one described. The pages also do not list an integration set, an app marketplace for the store, or a published limit for Growth. Teams needing governed workflows, many editors or custom data models are looking at a different class of platform.