Website builders like Wix and Squarespace are a fair choice for some businesses. A custom website is a better choice for others. This guide compares them honestly, so you can pick the one that fits your budget, your time and your goals.
When a Website Builder Makes Sense
- ✓You have a very small budget and want to start today
- ✓You enjoy building things yourself and have the time
- ✓You only need a few simple pages
- ✓You want to test an idea before you invest in a full site
When a Custom Website Is the Better Choice
- ✓You want customers to find you on Google and turn visits into calls
- ✓You want a design made for your business, not one that looks like everyone else's
- ✓You need features a template does not offer
- ✓You want to own your website and not depend on one platform
- ✓You would rather spend your time running your business than building a site
Side by Side
| Website builder | Custom website (ours) | |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | Low, or free to start | One-time fee, starting at $299 |
| Ongoing cost | A monthly plan, often around $15 to $30 a month | Hosting from $11.99/month after the first year; maintenance is optional at $29.99/month |
| Who builds it | You | A designer, with your review |
| Design | Templates and the builder's tools | Designed from scratch for your business |
| Ownership | You use the platform; moving away can mean starting again | You own the site |
| Time to launch | Depends on how much time you have | 7 days with any of our packages |
The Costs People Forget About
- →Your time: building and updating a site yourself takes hours you could spend on customers
- →Extras: premium templates, apps and add-ons can raise the monthly bill
- →The missed customers: a site that is slow, hard to use or hard to find does not bring in work
Custom Does Not Mean Hard to Edit
A custom site can still be easy to update. We build both WordPress websites and Next.js and React websites. If you want to manage your own content, we use WordPress. For performance-focused projects, we build with Next.js and React. Tell us how often you expect to change things, and we will suggest the right fit.
Already on Wix or Squarespace? You Do Not Have to Stay
If your current site is not bringing in customers, you can move to a custom site at any time. We redesign websites on Wix, Squarespace, WordPress and other platforms. Read more about our website redesign service.
A Simple Way to Decide
- →Do you need customers to find you on Google? If yes, lean towards custom. Our local SEO guide explains why.
- →Do you have the time to build and maintain the site yourself? If not, lean towards custom.
- →Is your budget under a few hundred dollars right now? A builder may be the right start, and you can upgrade later.
Our Starter package is $299 for a custom 5-page site with a year of free hosting, which is often closer to a builder's first-year cost than people expect.
Not sure which option fits your business? Book a free consultation and we will give you an honest answer.