WordPress, Squarespace, Wix…
or something simpler?

“What should my website be built on?” It’s one of the first questions clients ask me, and the honest answer is: it depends on what you need your site to do.

After more than 20 years of building websites, I’ve learned there’s no single best platform. There’s the right fit for you. Here’s how the most popular options compare, plus a simpler option many small businesses don’t know exists.

WordPress is a popular choice for good reason. It’s flexible enough to support a blog you post to every week, an online store, member areas, event calendars, and much more.

It’s my go-to for clients who plan to grow, publish regularly, or need features beyond a few pages. Here I’m talking about self-hosted WordPress, where you choose your hosting. With that flexibility comes a dashboard to learn and regular updates to keep everything running smoothly, which is why many clients pair it with a care plan.

WordPress, its theme, and plugins need ongoing updates and care.

There’s a dashboard to learn, even if you only use a few parts of it.

Squarespace and Wix bundle design tools, hosting, and editing into one subscription. They’re popular with people who want to build and manage a site themselves.

The tradeoff is that ongoing subscription and working within the platform’s tools. Both offer substantial design flexibility, but more unusual layouts or features can take extra work or may run into platform limits.

Squarespace currently lists its Basic plan from about $19 USD per month when billed annually. Wix pricing varies by location, billing term, and plan, so check its current pricing page for the cost that applies to you. Annual plans are generally paid upfront, and add-ons can cost extra.

An ongoing subscription is part of the cost.

You work within the platform’s design tools and feature limits.

Moving to a different platform may require rebuilding some or all of the site.

Not every business needs a full content-management platform. If your site is a few beautiful pages that tell your story, introduce your team, and invite people to get in touch, a hand-coded site may be the right fit. Your designer builds the pages directly, without WordPress or a hosted website builder underneath.

Blogs, online stores, and member areas aren’t built in. They require additional development or an integrated service, which may bring separate costs.

Changes are usually made by your designer unless an editing tool is included.

Hosting, domain renewals, and any connected services still need to be considered. Custom code and editing tools can also need maintenance over time.

That last limitation doesn’t have to get in your way. I can add Pixel Studio Live Edit, my own editor, to your hand-coded site so you can update your words and photos. There’s no separate website-builder account to sign up for: the editor is built into your site.

A recent client was in exactly that spot. She didn’t want WordPress because she didn’t want the ongoing updates. She didn’t want Squarespace either because she didn’t want another monthly subscription. But she did want the freedom to make her own changes. So we built her a hand-coded site with Live Edit.

Now she logs in to a private edit page and sees her actual website. She clicks an editable headline, paragraph, button, or photo, makes her changes, and hits Save to put them live. She can swap photos from her computer or the editor’s connected free stock libraries, highlight words in her brand colors, and undo changes.

The editable areas and available tools are set up for each project. Hosting, domains, connected services, and any ongoing support are considered separately.

Pricing checked October 29, 2026. See current Squarespace plans and Wix plans. Prices, taxes, and available features can vary by location and billing term.

Not sure? That’s what I’m here for. Let’s talk through what your site needs to do, how you want to manage it, and what ongoing costs make sense for you.