Wix, WordPress or custom: which one for a small business?

The question behind the question

When someone asks which platform to use, they're usually asking something else: how do I avoid making a decision I'll regret?

So let's answer that one instead. Each of these three is a reasonable choice. Each becomes the wrong choice in a specific, predictable way. Knowing which failure you can live with is the whole decision.

Wix and Squarespace: fastest to launch, hardest to leave

The editors are genuinely good now. Drag, drop, publish. If you have a weekend and some patience, you can put something respectable online without talking to anyone.

They handle hosting, security and updates for you. For a business with five pages and a contact form, that's most of what you need.

Where it breaks: you can't leave. There's no export that produces a site you can host somewhere else. If in three years you want something the platform can't do, you're not migrating — you're starting over and paying for it again.

The second issue is subtler. Because everything is inside their editor, you're limited to what they've decided to support. Most of the time that's fine. The day it isn't, there's no workaround.

Choose it if: you're testing whether the business works, you have more time than money, and the site is a brochure rather than a system.

WordPress: flexible, and that's the problem

WordPress does almost anything. Booking systems, online stores, membership areas, multiple languages. There's a plugin for it, usually several.

That flexibility is the reason it's everywhere and the reason it goes wrong. A WordPress site is a stack of parts made by different people, all updating on their own schedules. Someone has to keep those parts current.

Where it breaks: neglect. An unmaintained WordPress site accumulates out-of-date plugins, and out-of-date plugins are how sites get compromised. We've been called in to clean up sites where nobody had logged in for two years.

The other trap is plugin sprawl. Every plugin adds code that loads on every page. Sites with thirty plugins are slow, and slow costs you visitors before they ever see your business.

Choose it if: your site needs to do something specific, and either you or someone you pay will maintain it monthly. Not annually. Monthly.

Custom: when it makes sense and when it's overkill

A custom build means code written for your situation rather than assembled from parts. It's faster, more secure, and does exactly what you asked for.

It's also the most expensive, and for most small businesses it's overkill. A restaurant with a menu, a location and a phone number does not need custom software.

Where it makes sense: when your website is doing a job, not describing one. A booking flow tied to your calendar. A quoting tool. A client portal. Anything where the site is part of how the business runs rather than how it advertises.

Where it's overkill: when a template would have done the same thing for a tenth of the price, and the only reason you're not using one is that custom sounds more serious.

What each costs over three years

This is where the comparison changes shape. One year makes Wix look cheap. Three years tells you more.

• Wix: roughly $324 a year in subscription, plus your own time. Add a rebuild at some point if you outgrow it.
• WordPress: build cost once, then hosting and maintenance. If nobody maintains it, add the cost of fixing it after something breaks.
• Custom: highest upfront, lowest ongoing, assuming whoever built it is still reachable.
• Monthly with an agency: predictable, no upfront shock, and you stop paying when you stop wanting it.

The honest observation is that the cheapest option over three years is usually the one that doesn't need replacing in year two.

The migration cost nobody mentions

Every quote is for building a site. Almost none is for leaving one.

Before you commit to a platform, ask what happens if you want out: can you take the site with you, or only the words on it? Who owns the domain? Is your content locked inside a proprietary editor?

Those answers cost nothing to get and save thousands later.

How to decide in ten minutes

Answer three questions.

• Is your website describing your business, or running part of it? Describing means a template is fine. Running means you need something built.
• Who will maintain it in eighteen months? If the answer is nobody, avoid WordPress.
• What's your time worth? If you bill for your hours, the do-it-yourself route is rarely the cheapest one.

Most small businesses in Toronto land in the same place: a well-built template site, maintained by someone, with a monthly cost they can predict. Not because it's fashionable, but because it fails in the least damaging way.

If you want to check whether the site you already have is doing its job, the eight-point checklist takes about ten minutes.