Website builder, paying someone or a monthly service: an honest comparison

Three ways to get a website

If you need a website, you’ve got three real options. You can build it yourself with a website builder. You can pay someone once to build it. Or you can pay a monthly service to build it and look after it.

We sell the third one, so you should know that going in. We’ve tried to be fair here, and there’s a section below on when we’re the wrong choice.

Option 1: a website builder

Tools like Wix, Squarespace and GoDaddy let you put a site together from a template. It’s usually the cheapest way in dollars. You’re in full control, and you can change a phone number at 10 p.m. without asking anyone.

The real cost is your time. You have to pick a template, write every word, sort out photos, connect your web address and check how it all looks on a phone. That’s a few evenings at least, after a full day on the tools. Plenty of people get halfway and stop. Others finish, never touch it again, and the site slowly goes out of date.

This is a good choice if you like that kind of thing, you have the time and you want to keep costs as low as they can go.

Option 2: paying someone once

A freelancer or a web agency builds the site and hands it over. A good one can do things a template can’t, and you usually end up with something that feels more like your business. If you have a specific idea or a bigger company, this can be the right call.

The catch is the bill. A small site can run from around a thousand dollars to several thousand. The build often isn’t the end of it, either. Hosting, your web address and future changes can all cost extra. Think about what happens a year from now, when you want to add a service and the person who built it has moved on.

Before you sign, find out who owns the site and the web address when it’s finished. Get that in writing.

Option 3: a monthly service

This is what we do. You pay a monthly fee with no build fee, and it covers the site, the web address, the hosting and changes when you need them. Ours is $49 a month, or $99 a month with Local SEO. That’s US dollars in the States, and Canadian dollars plus tax in Canada.

The good part is that there’s no big bill and nothing to learn. You tell us what you want changed and we take care of it.

Here are the downsides, straight. You pay for as long as you have the site. $49 a month is $588 a year before tax, and $2,940 after five years. Over a long stretch, that can come to more than paying someone once. You also depend on us for changes. If you cancel, you stop paying and your site comes down at the end of your paid month. We’ll transfer your web address to you if you want to keep it, but you’d need another site to point it at. The website plan has no contract. The Local SEO plan has a 3-month minimum, then it’s month to month.

When we’re not the right choice

You’d like to own your site outright and never pay a monthly fee. Pay someone once, or build it yourself.

You enjoy tinkering and you’d rather make your own changes. A website builder will suit you better.

You need more than a simple business site, like an online store, a customer login or a booking system tied into your software. Go see a web developer or an agency.

You want someone local who’ll sit down at your kitchen table. We’re based in Toronto and we do this by phone and email.

You’re booked solid, winding down or already have a site that does the job. You may not need anything from anybody. Save your money.

You want to see a long track record first. We’re new, and we won’t pretend otherwise. That’s part of why the draft is free: you can judge the real site instead of taking our word for it.

And if anyone, including us, tells you a website alone will fill your calendar, don’t believe it. A site helps. Local search takes months. Your reviews and how fast you call people back matter too.

Five questions to ask anybody

Whichever way you go, ask these before you pay. Who owns the web address? What happens to my site if I stop paying? Who makes changes, and what do they cost? Is there a contract, and how long is it? What will this cost me over three years, all in?

A straight answer to all five tells you a lot about who you’re dealing with.

How to pick

Short on money but have evenings to spare? Use a builder. Have a budget and something specific in mind? Pay someone once. Busy on the job and happy to pay monthly to have it handled? A service like ours makes sense.

If you’re curious, have a look at the draft. It costs nothing and you don’t need a card to see it. If it’s not for you, you walk away.