The short answer: Google Sites is free, easy, and a sensible choice for a very simple club page or an internal information site, especially if your committee already lives in Google Drive. A club-specific website builder is better when you want a site that is written for your kind of club, with news, results, a contact form, your own address and email, and a members area, without assembling those yourself.
Neither is "best" in the abstract. This guide sets out what Google Sites does well, where it stops, and when to move. Facts about Google came from Google's own help pages on 30 October 2026.
What Google Sites does well
- It costs nothing to start. You build and publish from a Google account with no card.
- It works with what you already use. You can embed a Google Calendar, a Google Form, a Doc or a Drive folder, so a club that keeps its rota and minutes in Drive can show them on a page.
- Permissions are simple. Google lets you publish a site as public or restricted. A restricted site can be limited to named people or groups, which suits an internal committee site.
- You can use your own address. Google's help page explains how to connect a domain you own: go to Settings, choose Custom domains and follow the steps with your registrar. You do not need Google Workspace to connect a domain you already own, though Workspace lets you buy a domain through Google. You must add a CNAME record and use a subdomain such as www.
That last point matters because older advice claims Google Sites needs a paid account for a custom domain. According to Google's help page it does not, though connecting the domain is a technical step many volunteers find fiddly.
Where it runs out of road for a club
None of these are faults. They are simply things Google Sites was not designed to do:
- It is a general page layout tool, not a club tool. You choose a template and then write every page. There is no idea of a fixtures page, a results table, a membership page or a committee page unless you create them.
- Custom-domain quirks. Google notes that Google Groups embeds do not render properly on custom domains, features relying on Google Account sign-in may not work, and some fonts available in Google Docs and Slides will not work on custom URLs. Changes can also take up to 48 hours to appear.
- No members area or forum of its own. You can restrict who sees a site, but there is no club members' space with discussion built in.
- Email on your domain is separate. Sites does not give you addresses like secretary@yourclub.org.uk. Google Workspace's Business Starter plan lists at £5.90 per user per month excluding tax (annual commitment), with a temporary discount shown on Google's page. For a committee of four that is over £280 a year at the standard price, so budget for it if you want proper addresses.
- Ownership is tied to a person. Only the owner of a site can connect it to a domain, and Google lets you change ownership. If the person who built it leaves and nobody has been made owner, the club is stuck. Make sure ownership sits with a role-based or shared Google account that two committee members can reach, and write it down. Our guide to handing over a club website has a checklist.
- No AI-written first draft. You start from a blank template. For a first-time volunteer that blank page is the real cost.
Side-by-side
| Google Sites | A club-specific builder (Natterio as the example) | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Free with a Google account | Permanent free plan: 3 pages, no card, no ads |
| Custom domain | Yes, via CNAME; you need to own a domain; setup is manual | Paid plans from £7/month include a custom domain and email addresses |
| Written for your club type | No, start blank | Yes, a starter site written for your type of club in about a minute |
| Results or league tables | Embed a Sheet or build a table by hand | Upload a CSV or Excel file and it shows as a results table |
| Contact form | Embed a Google Form | Built-in contact form |
| News or blog posts | Build posts as pages by hand | News and blog posts included |
| Members area or forum | Not included | On higher plans |
| Fixtures feeds, court booking, online membership payments | No | No |
| Ownership and handover | Tied to a Google account owner | Account-based; share logins with two committee members |
We make Natterio, so read our column with that in mind. The honest line is that Google Sites matches it on being free, and beats it on being embedded in Drive.
Which should your club pick?
Pick Google Sites if:
- It is a tiny group (a book club, a walking group) and you need one page with the next date and a contact.
- You want an internal committee site restricted to named people.
- Someone on the committee is already confident with Google tools and enjoys it.
Pick a club website builder if:
- Nobody wants to design pages and you would rather have a starter site written for you.
- You want news, results, a join or contact form and a members' area later.
- You want your own web address and email with less technical setup.
- You expect committee turnover and want a tool that is quick for a newcomer to pick up.
Pick neither (use a management platform) if you need league fixtures, court booking or online membership payments. See our Pitchero alternatives guide and ClubSpark alternatives.
Moving from Google Sites to something else
If you outgrow it, the move is manageable:
- List your pages and copy text and photos into a folder or a Doc. We found no one-click export to other builders, so expect to copy and paste.
- Keep the web address. If your domain points at Google Sites, you only need to change its DNS records at your registrar to point at the new site. Check who controls the registrar login first.
- Build the new site first and test it on a phone.
- Switch the domain over and keep the old Google site unpublished rather than deleted until you are sure.
- Tell members on your email list and social pages where to find you.
If you want a quick test, build a free site in a minute and compare it with your Google page. Our best free club website builder guide compares the other free options, and what pages your site needs helps whichever tool you choose. Check pricing for the paid options.
Sources and last checked (30 October 2026)
- Google Sites Help, set up a custom URL: https://support.google.com/sites/answer/9068867
- Google Sites Help, publish your site and control who sees it: https://support.google.com/sites/answer/6372880
- Google Workspace pricing: https://workspace.google.com/pricing
Google changes products and prices; confirm on the pages above before deciding.