Short answer: if your budget is tight, your needs are simple and you enjoy doing it yourself, a website builder such as Wix or Squarespace is a perfectly good choice. If you’d rather spend your time running the business, need the site to load fast and rank locally, or want something the templates can’t do, a custom-built site is usually worth it.
Neither is “right” for everyone. Here’s how to decide.
What a website builder gives you
Website builders let you pick a template, drag in your text and photos, and publish. You pay a monthly subscription, and hosting, security and updates are handled by the platform.
Good for:
- Getting online quickly with little money up front
- Owners who like tinkering and have the time to do it
- Simple sites: a few pages, contact details, opening hours
Watch out for:
- Your time. The subscription is cheap; the evenings you spend on design, wording, photos and settings are not.
- Speed on phones. Builder sites carry a lot of code for features you may not use. Many are slower on mobile than a lean custom site, and slow sites lose visitors.
- Moving later. Your words and photos are yours, but the design and structure live inside the platform. Leaving usually means rebuilding from scratch.
- The subscription never ends. You pay for as long as the site is live, and prices can change.
What a custom-built site gives you
A custom site is designed and built for your business by a person or studio, then hosted and looked after for a monthly fee.
Good for:
- Owners who’d rather hand it over and get on with the work
- Businesses that depend on being found locally, where speed and a clean structure help
- Anything that doesn’t fit a template: booking flows, member areas, custom tools
Watch out for:
- Higher cost up front. You’re paying for someone’s design and build time.
- Depending on the developer. Ask who owns the domain and the code, and what happens if you want to move. If the answer is vague, keep looking.
- Fixed scope. Agree in writing what’s included, how many rounds of changes you get, and how edits work after launch.
Five questions to decide
- Do you want to do it yourself? Be honest about whether you’ll keep it up to date.
- How do customers find you? If most come from Google searches like “plumber Carindale”, speed and structure matter more.
- Does it need to do anything special? Bookings, logins, quote calculators and the like often outgrow templates.
- What’s it worth in your time? Count the hours, not just the subscription.
- Can you leave? Check you’ll own your domain, and what moving would involve.
Where ShreeNova fits
We build custom websites at fixed prices, starting at $990, and we design your homepage free before you pay anything. The domain is registered in your name. Once the build is paid, the site is yours. If you move to another developer, we hand over the code: free after 12 months, $300 before that. See website prices or what a care plan covers.
If a builder suits you better, use one. A simple site that’s kept up to date beats an expensive one that isn’t.