Wix, Squarespace and WordPress themes are legitimate tools — and in the ads they sound unbeatable: a site in a couple of hours, a few dozen euros a month. But the math gets interesting once you look at a 2–3 year horizon and add what builders don't give you.
When a builder is the right choice
For a hobby project, an event page or validating an idea before investing money, a builder is a great choice. If the site is just a "business card with a phone number" and customers find you elsewhere — it's perfectly enough.
The hidden math
A builder subscription with e-commerce and your own domain realistically costs €300–600 a year — forever. Over three years that exceeds the price of a custom site you fully own, with no monthly platform fee.
The second bill is invisible: builder sites often load slower, limit technical SEO and look like templates. If Google rankings bring you customers, that gap can cost more per year than the site itself.
When you need custom development
Custom development pays off if at least one of these is true:
- Customers find you via Google — you need real SEO competitiveness.
- The site is a sales channel, not a formality.
- You need multiple languages with correct hreflang (often painful in builders).
- You don't want to depend on platform price hikes and limitations.
The most common mistake
The most expensive scenario we see regularly: a year on a builder, the site "doesn't work", then a custom build gets ordered anyway — paying for both. If the site matters to your business, it's cheaper to start with a foundation you own. At €600 with a fixed deadline, that is no longer a big bet.