Bandzoogle website builder review

Benefit from excellent music-centric tools

Bandzoogle logo
(Image: © Bandzoogle)

Tom's Guide Verdict

With its native tools to help musicians showcase and sell their work, Bandzoogle appears to be a great option on the surface. However, a closer look shows that it’s not quite as good as it seems.

Pros

  • +

    Excellent tools for musicians

  • +

    Very competitively priced

Cons

  • -

    Limited design flexibility

  • -

    Live support isn’t amazing

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Ranked as one of the best website builders in its niche, namely, as one of the best website builders for musicians, Bandzoogle is a great option for this very specific group. In short, it’s a beginner-friendly website builder designed for musicians, that comes with a suite of tools to help you showcase and sell your work, and everything appears great on the surface. 

In this Bandzoogle review, we dig deeper to see if things really are as good as they seem. We take a look at the platform’s main features, user interface, prices, and support, to help you decide whether or not it’s a good option for your needs.

Bandzoogle: Plans and pricing

Bandzoogle's pricing plans

There are three base subscription options available (Image credit: Bandzoogle)

There are three premium plans available, with prices starting from just $8.29 a month if you pay for 12 months upfront. Monthly payments are also available at a slightly higher cost. All plans come with a 30-day free trial, although a free-forever version is notably absent. 

For the cheapest annual plan ($9.95 if paid monthly), you get access to the basics. These include the Bandzoogle website builder, support for up to 10 site pages and 10 tracks, and the ability to upload up to 100 photos. You’ll also be able to sell music downloads or subscriptions, all whilst taking advantage of zero transaction fees. 

Upgrading to the annual Standard plan costs $12.46 a month ($14.95 if you pay monthly) and unlocks support for 20 site pages, 50 tracks, and up to 500 photos. You’ll also be able to sell band merchandise on top of your music and subscriptions. 

Finally, the high-end Pro plan comes in annually at $16.63 a month ($19.95 if you pay monthly) and unlocks unlimited pages, tracks, and photos. It also includes custom fonts, video headers, ticket sales, and a suite of other online selling tools.

You can add a custom email account to your plan for just $14.95 a year, and specialized custom plans are available on request. On top of this, Bandzoogle offers 100% free accounts for music-focused charities. 

Bandzoogle: Features

Bandzoogle's online sales tools webpage

Bandzoogle’s online selling tools are excellent (Image credit: Bandzoogle)

Bandzoogle is targeted directly at musicians and, as such, it provides a suite of features to help you showcase and market your tunes. 

Most website builders include some sort of third-party software integration, but Bandzoogle’s focus specifically on music. For example, you can connect directly to SoundCloud, Dropbox, Twitter, Facebook, and more with the click of a button. 

Monetizing your work can be very hard if you’re an up-and-coming musician, but Bandzoogle provides you with the tools to do this in a streamlined and simple manner.

It enables you to sell digital downloads of your music, tickets to both live and virtual events, subscriptions, band merchandise, and more. On top of this, all sales are 100% commission-free, which is a big plus for those on a tight budget. 

There are two very easy ways to add a tour calendar to your Bandzoogle website. Either sync directly with your Bandsintown account, or add a custom calendar via Bandzoogle’s native tools. 

Finally, all Bandzoogle users will have access to a powerful reporting dashboard that’s designed to display a range of useful information. Here, you’ll be able to see data about everything from how many listeners you’ve had and where they’re listening from, to how they find your site, and which are the best-selling tracks.

Bandzoogle: Interface and in use

Bandzoogle's website editor interface

The website editor is a little confusing and quite limited (Image credit: Bandzoogle)

Signing up for a free trial is extremely easy, and you won’t have to provide any credit card or payment details. Simply select a theme, add a cover image, set your site title, and start customizing. 

Choose which elements you want to be added to your initial site, then you’ll be taken to the Bandzoogle editor. It’s worth noting that the design flexibility here is far from amazing. You will be quite constrained by your template, but you can change things like color schemes, fonts, global designs, and element positions. 

The management dashboard is also quite basic, and advanced tools are almost entirely absent. You’ll likely find it quite confusing to navigate initially, but it shouldn’t take you too long to get used to it. 

Bandzoogle: Support

Bandzoogle's online support webpage

There are numerous self-help resources available  (Image credit: Bandzoogle)

Bandzoogle boasts a suite of self-help resources, including how-to articles, comprehensive guides, and video tutorials available through its YouTube account. 

Email and live chat support are also available, although neither option is 24/7. Live chat is available from Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm, and on Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 5pm. Email, on the other hand, is available Monday to Friday from 7am to 10pm and Saturday to Sunday from 8am to 8pm. All times are EST. 

Alternatives to Bandzoogle

Bandzoogle is the best music-focused website builder we’ve used, but there are still plenty of other options worth considering. 

For example, Wix comes with everything you need to build a high-quality website to showcase and sell your music. Its editor is one of the most powerful around and numerous add-ons are available through the Wix App Market, to help you increase your site’s functionality.

Another great option is WordPress, which essentially enables you to create anything you want. With thousands of plugins and themes available, your new music website will be limited only by your imagination. 

Bandzoogle: Final verdict

Unsurprisingly, Bandzoogle is best suited to musicians and music professionals. It offers a great range of music-specific tools, including a built-in music player, ticket sales, and ecommerce features, but other features are a little limited when compared to more comprehensive (and often more expensive) website builders.

Bandzoogle is a decent enough option if you’re looking for an inexpensive platform to showcase and sell your music. But if you want to do anything more than this, there are better options out there.

Further reading on WordPress, website builders, and web hosting

Read our guide on how to build a website with WordPress, and see wnat differentiates it from builders and hosting in our web hosting vs WordPress vs website builder comparison. 

Check out our buying guides outlining the best ecommerce website builders and the best small business website builders; and seek out the best web hosting services offering the best WordPress hosting should you elect to press on with WordPress.

Daniel Blechynden

Daniel is a freelance copywriter with over six years experience writing for publications such as TechRadar, Tom’s Guide, and Hosting Review. He specializes in tech and finance, with a particular focus on website building, web hosting, and related fields.