Wix, Squarespace or a web designer?
A fair comparison for a small business: what each really costs, in money and in your time, who owns the result, and when a builder is the right answer.
By Gary Blake · Bath IT, Radstock
Guides
WordPress
A website builder like Wix or Squarespace is the right choice if your budget is very small and you enjoy doing it yourself. A web designer is the better choice if you want a site that looks professional, loads fast and is yours to keep, without spending your evenings on it. Both are reasonable. The trick is knowing which one you are.
What a website builder really costs
Builders charge a monthly fee rather than a one-off price. Typical plans for a small business run from about £15 to £40 a month, and that is before apps. Bookings, extra forms, reviews, email marketing and some shop features are often paid add-ons, each with its own monthly charge.
A £25-a-month plan comes to £900 over three years, before any apps. That isn't a reason to avoid builders. It's a reason to compare like with like: a builder's monthly fee against a designer's one-off price plus hosting.
Your time is the hidden cost
The builder's price assumes you do the work. Choosing a template, writing every page, sizing photos, setting up the contact form, connecting the domain, then checking it all on a phone. For most people that's several evenings and weekends. If you enjoy it, that time is a hobby. If you don't, it's unpaid work on top of running a business.
The other trap is the half-finished site. Plenty of small businesses start a builder site, get two pages in and leave it. A finished simple site beats an unfinished clever one.
Design quality
Builder templates are well made. The problem is that they're made for everyone. Your site will look like a template unless you know how to change it, and changing one part often upsets another. A designer starts from your business: what customers need to see first, what they need to do next, and what makes you different from the firm down the road.
Good design for a small business is mostly clarity. A clear headline, a phone number that works with one tap, real photos and an obvious next step. A builder can do all of that. It just won't do it for you.
Who owns the site
With a builder, you rent the site. Your words and photos are yours, but the design and the site itself live on the builder's platform. Stop paying and the site goes offline. You can't pick it up and take it to another host.
With a designer, ask the question directly: what do I own at the end? You should own your domain, in your name, and be able to move the site if you need to. Our guide to what a business website costs lists the other questions worth asking.
SEO and speed
Builders handle the basics well: page titles, descriptions, a sitemap and HTTPS. Where they struggle is weight. A builder page carries code for features you may never use, and that slows it down on a phone. Speed matters to visitors and to Google, as we explain in why website speed matters.
A designer can build a lighter page and set up the parts builders leave to you. Structured data that tells Google your address and opening hours. A Google Business Profile that matches the site. Page titles written for what people in your area actually search for.
What happens if you want to leave
This is the question people forget to ask. Moving off a builder usually means rebuilding the site somewhere else. You can copy your text and photos, but the design doesn't come with you. If you bought your domain through the builder, moving it can take some effort too.
Leaving a designer should be easier. If the site is built on something standard and the domain is in your name, someone else can take it over. If a designer can't tell you how you would leave, that's worth knowing before you start.
When a builder is the right answer
Be honest with yourself. A builder is a good choice if:
Your budget is very small and you need something online this month.
You enjoy design and writing, and have the time to do them properly.
You're testing an idea and may change direction soon.
You need very little: one page saying what you do and how to reach you.
If that's you, go for it. Pick a simple template, use your own photos, put your phone number at the top, and finish it. A finished builder site is far better than no site at all.
What Bath IT costs
Our websites start at £495, one-off, plus £100 a year for hosting, your domain, security updates and backups. There's no contract. You can edit the site yourself whenever you like, and the domain is in your name. Every price is on our prices page, and what each site includes is on our websites page.
Before you pay anything, we'll build a free mockup of your homepage so you can see what you'd get. If you still prefer a builder after seeing it, that's fine. Either way, you'll know what good looks like for your business.
Quick answers
See your new homepage before you decide
Send us your current site or just your business name. We'll build a mockup of your homepage, free, so you can compare it with anything a builder would give you.