Is it better to build your own website or use a website builder?

By Charlie B, Deliberate Design.

The short answer: if you can code, building your own is cheapest and gives you full control, and most people who ask this question cannot. A builder is the middle road: no code, monthly fee, you do the work. Having it done is the other end: someone else's time, your money. Pick by how much of your own time you want to spend.

Build it yourself in code

A simple site is a few pages of HTML and a £5 a month host. Fastest to load, cheapest to run, yours entirely. The cost is learning, and keeping it up when you have a business to run.

A website builder

£16 to £17 a month for Wix or Squarespace. No code. You still choose the layout, write the words, and keep it updated. Many sites built this way stall half finished.

Having it done

A freelancer at £1,200 to £2,000, or a template filled in and hosted for £99 and £20 a month. Someone else does the building and you do the approving.

Two years from now

This is the part people skip. The builder site needs you to keep paying and keep editing. The coded site needs someone who understands it. The template site needs you to ring us when prices change, or log in and change them yourself. Decide which of those you will actually do.

What we would say

Unless you enjoy it, do not be your own web designer. Your time is worth more than £20 a month.

Prices in this post were checked on 2 October 2026.