Website builder (Wix) or your own site: what costs more

A website builder looks like a sensible choice at the start. A few dozen euros a month, a template, done. The question comes later — when the business has grown and the site has stayed where it was.

Let's be honest about when a builder (Wix and the like) makes sense, and when it already costs you more than your own site.

Count three years, not one month

A €25–40 monthly subscription sounds small. But that's €300–480 a year and €900–1,440 over three years — and at the end you still own nothing.

Your own site is a one-off cost, after which you only pay for hosting and a domain (a few dozen euros a year). After 1.5–2 years it comes out cheaper. And the gap grows every month.

Most importantly: a subscription can't be «paused». Stop paying and the site disappears, along with your data and your search rankings.

What you are actually renting

You aren't paying for a site, you're paying for the right to use it while you pay. That comes with limits you don't notice straight away:

• No access to the code. Any non-standard feature is either impossible or needs a paid third-party app.
• Speed isn't in your hands. Builders load a lot of unnecessary code; that hurts both usability and search rankings.
• Limits on everything. Number of products, pages, forms — usually tied to your plan. Your business grows, so does the bill.
• Commissions. On some platforms, a cut of every sale on top of the subscription.
• Your data lives in someone else's system. Getting it out in a usable form is often a quest of its own.

While the business is small, none of this gets in the way. Once you have branches, a catalog or your own booking logic, you hit the ceiling fast.

When a builder is a fine choice

Honestly, it makes sense if

• you need one simple page «just to exist»,
• you're testing an idea and don't know yet whether there'll be a business,
• it's a one-off landing page for an event,
• the site isn't a source of customers and isn't meant to become one.

If that's you — change nothing. This article isn't about you.

When it's time to move

Signs you've outgrown the platform:

1. You pay for apps on top of the subscription — because the basics aren't enough.
2. You want a feature and hear «that's not possible» — booking with a choice of branch, a filtered catalog, a customer account.
3. The site brings in enquiries — so it's an asset now, not a business card. An asset is worth owning.
4. Speed and the mobile version are slipping, and there's nothing you can do about it.

The big fear: «what if I lose my Google rankings»

It's a fair worry — and it's exactly why many people stay on a subscription for years.

In practice, moving is safe if it's done right:

• Capture the full structure of the old site — every page with its address, title and description.
• Move it one-to-one, not «make something similar».
• Keep the page addresses or set up proper redirects.
• Leave the old site untouched until the last day — so a rollback is always possible.
• Check after the move that search engines see the site and every page is in place.

Two moves from our practice

A driving school with six branches. 14 pages moved with their original titles and descriptions, rankings kept, plus online booking and a consultant that answers around the clock. See how it looks.

An online shop on a subscription builder. We moved an 84-product catalog to a custom engine: structure and rankings kept, the classic online-payment checkout replaced by an enquiry form (deals here are confirmed by phone), and the platform's monthly fee dropped to zero.

What you get instead

• The site, domain and data are yours. No monthly dependency.
• Any feature is possible — from online booking to an AI chat; it's a question of scope, not of the platform's permission.
• Speed under your control, not «whatever the platform allows».
• Your own hosting. You're not tied to one company and its rules.
• Growth without paying for limits.

What it costs

A starter page from €300, then modules: extra pages, online booking, catalog, chat. You pay once for what you need, not every month for everything. Current prices, or see what goes into the price in what a website costs.

What to do next

If you're unsure, don't rush to switch. Work out two numbers: what you'll pay in subscription over three years, and what your own site with the features you need costs. Often that's enough to make the decision obvious. You can also put together your own site and see the price on the website page.

And if you'd like to see how your site could look before deciding anything, write to us — we'll make a preview as a gift and tell you honestly when a builder is enough and when it isn't.

impeca — websites, marketing and AI for one business.