Wix vs custom website: which one fits a business?
Wix or a custom website: the short answer
In a Wix vs custom website choice, a builder is enough when you need a simple site live quickly and can work inside its templates. A custom website pays off when you need control over structure, hosting, and lead tracking, or when the site has to grow. The comparison below covers six points.
When is a builder enough, and when does a custom site pay off?
Pick a builder when the site is a few pages, you'll edit it yourself, and you can accept the layouts the platform offers. Pick a custom site when the structure has to follow your audience and your offer, when you want to see where every lead came from, or when you expect to add pages, languages, or markets later.
A business-card site is the middle ground. It's a custom build of 1 to 3 pages, described on our Simple website details page.
How do a builder and a custom site compare side by side?
| Point | Builder (Wix) | Custom website |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | A recurring plan for as long as the site is live. | A one-time price for the build, listed below. |
| Control and ownership | You work inside the platform's editor, templates, and settings. The platform hosts the site. | The structure is drawn from your audience research. Your domain and server are registered to you and we hand over access. |
| Speed | You can start from a template today. | A business-card site takes 5 working days. For larger sites we give the timeline after the brief. |
| SEO and performance | You can edit titles, descriptions and URLs. Page weight and markup depend on the platform. | Titles, markup, page weight, and redirects are set per page. |
| Scaling | Fine while the site stays inside the platform's page types and apps. | Pages, languages, and tools are added to your own build. |
| Lock-in | Leaving usually means rebuilding the pages on the new platform. | Access is handed to you, so you can change the studio. |
Our fixed prices for custom builds: a business-card site (a design template adapted to your brand and a request form) costs $655. A landing page (a selling offer structure based on your buyer persona, page design and build, and a lead form) costs $1,100. The Standard turnkey site (simplified prototype, design template, build, and a CRM) costs $1,300.
How do you decide, and when should you move off a builder?
Ask four questions. Do you pay for ads and need to know which one produced each lead? Do you rewrite your pages to fit a template? Do you plan a second language or market? Does anyone besides you need to change the site? Two or more yes answers point to a custom site.
The three ways to get a site differ in who does the work:
- Builder: you do the structure, text, design, and upkeep yourself.
- Web designer: draws how the site looks. Check who builds it and who sets up lead tracking.
- Web developer: writes the code from a design you bring. Check who writes the text and plans the structure.
A studio covers the whole chain: concept and audience research first, design second, then the build and lead tracking. For a business, the signal to move from a builder is the first month you spend on ads and cannot tell which ad brought a lead. Our page on website design for business shows what the build includes.
Common questions about builders and custom sites
Is it better to build your own website or use a website builder?
Coding a site yourself costs the most time and only suits you if programming is already your job. For most owners the real choice is a builder or hiring someone, and the four questions above settle it.
Can I move my site from Wix to a custom website?
Yes. Your text and images carry over and the pages are rebuilt on the new platform. Keep your domain, and set a redirect from every old address to its new page so visitors and search engines find it.
Website builder vs web developer: which is cheaper?
A builder costs less to start. A developer costs more up front and gives you code you own. Compare the builder's yearly plan with a one-time build price over the time you plan to keep the site.
Next step: talk through your site with us
Leave your phone number in the request form on the website design for business page. We call you back, talk through your task and fill in the brief with you. You pay by invoice under the contract.
Related guides: guide: how much does a website cost for a business and guide: how to choose a web design agency.
We call you back and help fill in the request