Wix, Squarespace or a custom-built website: which suits a small business?

You've decided you need a website. Now you're stuck on how.

Wix and Squarespace adverts promise a beautiful site in an afternoon for a few pounds a month. A web designer quotes you a few hundred pounds or more. A friend says WordPress is the only proper option.

They all work. The right choice depends less on the technology and more on three things about you: your time, your budget over the next few years, and how much you care about owning what you build.

I build custom websites, so I have an obvious interest here. I'll try to be straight about when a website builder is the better choice, because sometimes it is.

Quick answer: A website builder like Wix or Squarespace suits you if you have time to build and update the site yourself, you're happy paying a monthly fee indefinitely, and you're unlikely to move it. A custom-built site suits you if you'd rather someone else did it properly once, you want low ongoing costs, and you want to own the code and be free to move. Compare them over three years, not one month.

Three questions we'll answer:

• Which is actually cheaper once you add it all up?
• Will one rank better on Google than the other?
• What happens if you want to leave?

What each option actually is

A website builder (Wix, Squarespace and others) is a service you subscribe to. You pick a template, drag things around, type your words and publish. Hosting is included. The site lives on their system, and you pay monthly or yearly for as long as you want it online.

A custom-built website is made for you by a designer or developer. It might be hand-coded, like the sites I build, or built on an open system like WordPress. You pay for the build, then pay smaller ongoing costs for your domain and hosting.

Neither is automatically better. They're different deals.

Cost: look at three years, not one month

Here's the first question. Monthly prices make builders look cheap, and they are cheap to start. But they keep going.

To give you real numbers: when I checked Squarespace's UK pricing page on 25 October 2026, plans started at £12 a month (the lower price shown is for paying annually), up to £79 a month for the top plan, with higher prices for paying monthly. Wix shows different prices in different countries, so check its UK plans page for your figure.

Prices change, so treat those as a snapshot and check the current pages yourself.

To compare fairly, work out the three-year cost of each option:

Do the sums with real quotes and real plan prices. Sometimes the builder wins. Sometimes the custom site is cheaper by year three, because its running costs are lower.

My guide on what a small business website costs in the UK explains how to list the yearly costs, so nothing's missing from either column.

Your time is a cost too

This is the one people underestimate.

Building a good website on Wix or Squarespace isn't just dragging boxes around. You still have to:

• Work out what pages you need.
• Write all the text, and make it clear and persuasive.
• Take or find decent photos.
• Get it looking right on phones as well as computers.
• Set up the basics for Google: page titles, descriptions, and a sensible structure.
• Keep it updated.

If you enjoy that sort of thing and have evenings free, a builder can be a good fit. If you're out on jobs all day and doing your accounts at night, the "afternoon" often turns into several weekends, or a half-finished site that never goes live.

Be honest with yourself about which one you are.

Will one rank better on Google?

Here's the second question, and the honest answer is: not because of the tool.

Google ranks pages on whether they're useful and relevant for a search. It doesn't give points for being built on a particular platform. A clear, well-written Squarespace site can outrank a badly made custom one.

Where the build method does make a difference:

• Speed. Hand-built sites can be very lean, because they only include what's needed. Builder sites carry the platform's own code, which can make them heavier. Test any site with Google's free PageSpeed Insights to see how it performs on mobile.
• Control. A custom site gives you full control over every page title, heading and line of code. Builders give you most of that, but within their limits.
• Structure. Whatever you use, separate pages for your main services and areas give Google more to match against.

The words on the page, and whether they answer what customers search for, matter far more than the platform.

What happens if you want to leave?

This is the third question, and the one that matters most a few years down the line.

On a website builder, your site is built in their system. You can keep your domain name if it's registered in your name. But the design and pages generally can't be lifted out and run elsewhere. If you leave, you'll usually be rebuilding, even if you can export some text or blog posts.

With a custom site, you should be able to take the files and move them to another host or designer. Whether you actually can depends on the deal. Before you agree to anything, ask:

• Is the domain registered in my name?
• Will I get the website files and the logins?
• If I want to move, what do you hand over?

I make sure every client owns their domain, code and content from day one, because I think that should be the default. But not every designer works that way, so always ask.

When a website builder is the right choice

Choose Wix, Squarespace or similar if:

• You enjoy doing it yourself and have the time.
• You want to start very small and see how it goes.
• You need lots of quick, frequent changes and want to make them yourself.
• You're comfortable with the monthly fee as a long-term cost.

When a custom site is the right choice

Choose a custom-built website if:

• You'd rather spend your time on your business than on building a website.
• You want it done properly once, with good words and a clear structure.
• You want low ongoing costs, rather than a subscription that never ends.
• You care about owning your website outright and being free to move it.
• You want a site that's lean and quick on mobile.

A middle option

You don't have to pick one forever. Some businesses start on a builder to get online quickly, learn what customers ask about, then move to a custom site once they know what they need.

If you do, register your domain name separately and in your own name from the start. That way, whatever you build on, your web address stays with you.

And if you're still deciding whether you need a website at all, my guide on whether a Facebook page is enough covers that question first.