Wix, Squarespace, WordPress or a managed website? An honest comparison

We build and look after websites for a living, so you might expect us to tell you never to touch Wix. We are not going to.

All of these options can be the right choice. The question is not which platform is best. It is which one fits your time, your budget, your confidence and what you need the website to do.

Wix

Wix is a website builder you use yourself. You choose a template, drag things around, and it handles the hosting.

• Good for: owners who want to build and update their own site, have some time to spend on it, and need something fairly straightforward.
• Worth knowing: you are working within what the platform offers. It is very easy to start; moving a Wix site somewhere else later is much harder, because the site is built on Wix's own system.

Squarespace

Squarespace is similar in principle: a hosted builder you manage yourself, with a reputation for polished, design-led templates.

• Good for: design-focused businesses, portfolios and owners who care a lot about presentation and are happy to work within a template.
• Worth knowing: the same trade-off as Wix. It is simple because it is a closed system, and that also limits what you can change and how easily you can leave.

WordPress

WordPress is software that runs a huge share of the web. It is flexible and mature, with a plugin for almost anything.

• Good for: sites that need flexibility, lots of content or particular features, built by someone who knows it well.
• Worth knowing: WordPress itself is free, but a WordPress site has moving parts: hosting, a theme and usually several plugins, all of which need updating. Left alone, a WordPress site does not stay the same; it becomes an unpatched one. Someone has to own that job, and it is worth being clear who.

A managed website

This is what we do, so read this section with that in mind. A managed website means someone else designs and builds the site, hosts it, keeps it updated and secure, and makes changes when you ask.

• Good for: owners who would rather spend their time on the business than on the website, and want one place to go when something needs doing.
• Worth knowing: you are paying for people and infrastructure, not just software, so it costs more than a DIY builder. Read the terms on ownership and cancellation carefully before you sign, whoever you use. Our own are on the website ownership page, in plain English.

Custom development

For businesses that need something unusual, such as bookings with complex rules, integrations with other systems or a customer portal, a custom-built application can be the better route. It costs more up front, but it does exactly what you need rather than nearly what you need. We quote those separately on our development page.

Five questions that decide it

• How much time do you honestly have? A DIY builder costs less money and more evenings.
• Who will update it? If the answer is "I will", a builder may suit you. If it is "nobody, really", plan for that.
• What does it need to do? A brochure site and a booking system are very different projects.
• Who do you call when it breaks? Builders have support desks. WordPress sites have whoever you hire. Managed services have the people who built it.
• What happens if you want to leave? Ask before you start, not after.

If you have the time and the inclination to do it yourself, a builder may be exactly right, and there is nothing wrong with that. If you would rather hand it over, that is what services like ours are for.

Common questions