Squarespace, Wix or a Custom Site? An Honest Answer

I build websites for a living, so you'd expect me to tell you not to touch Squarespace or Wix. I won't. For some businesses they're the right answer. Here's when, what each option costs over three years in real UK prices, and where a site built for you earns its money.

When I'd honestly tell you to use Squarespace or Wix

Use a builder if:

• You're testing an idea. Not sure the business will look the same in a year? Don't spend on a build yet.
• Your site is a business card. Name, number, opening hours, a few photos. People find you by name, not by searching for a service.
• You enjoy it. Some people like spending a Saturday on their website. If that's you, a builder is a good tool.
• Cash is tight right now. A builder plan is less money up front than any build, including mine.

Both are good products. The templates look smart and the hosting is done for you.

What it costs over three years

UK prices per month, billed annually, as listed by ExpertSure and Startups in July 2026 (check the builder's own page before you buy; neither source says whether VAT is included):

Pay monthly instead and it costs more (Squarespace Core is £24, Wix Core £19). Both give you a free domain for the first year on an annual plan, then you pay the renewal.

Now the three-year totals:

• Squarespace Core: £612, plus two years of domain renewal.
• Wix Core: £576, plus two years of domain renewal.
• Me, one page (the Pup) + hosting (the Kennel): £500 + £1,260 = £1,760.
• Me, up to five pages (the Good Boy) + the Kennel: £950 + £1,260 = £2,210.

My prices exclude VAT; if your business isn't VAT registered, the price you see is what you pay. Email mailboxes cost extra on all of them, so I've left them out.

On cash alone, the builder wins. What the numbers leave out is the time: choosing a template, writing every word, taking the photos, working out why the mobile layout moved. And what the site actually does once it's live. With me, the words are written for you on every pack. My full prices are here.

What a site built for you does that a template can't

• It's fast, and not just because of the pictures. My sites are static pages with one script. The honest difference from a builder is fewer requests and scripts on every page, which is what speed tests like Lighthouse reward.
• Local SEO is built in, not bolted on. A page for each service and each town you cover, each written for what people actually search. V Signs has 21 service pages and 11 town pages, and every town page says the work is done at their Petersfield workshop rather than faking an address.
• The form asks the right questions. V Signs' Sign Finder asks eight plain-English questions and suggests the right service, so the enquiry arrives already sorted. Mooka lets a chef filter 89 gelato and sorbet flavours on a phone, and the filter works even with JavaScript switched off. P1 Wraps has a gallery filtered by service, so a fleet buyer never scrolls past motorbikes.

A client who moved off a builder

V Signs, a sign and wrap company near Petersfield, had their previous website on Squarespace. It showed their work well. What they needed next was different: a page for every service they sell, a page for every town they cover, the Sign Finder, and a gallery where every photo has an "I want something like this" button that drops the picture straight into the enquiry.

Their new site is 59 pages and went live on their own domain on 5 September 2026. All 28 old page addresses were redirected one to one, so nothing anyone had bookmarked or Google had indexed went missing.

The ownership question

This is the part people only think about when they want to leave.

• Wix: by Wix's own help centre, a Wix site can only run on Wix's servers. You can take your domain, but not the site.
• Squarespace: the export tool moves standard pages, one blog, and text and image blocks into a WordPress file. Store pages, style settings and custom code don't come with it.

Either way, leaving means rebuilding the design.

With me, once the build is paid in full, the site is entirely yours. There's no minimum term: hosting is monthly, with no contract. If you stop, the site stays up for 30 days, and you get your site files with instructions on how to use them on any host, plus your photos, copy and enquiries. I help you register your domain and you pay its yearly cost; moving it elsewhere is £25.

My rule of thumb in one line

If your website is a business card, use a builder. If it has to bring in work, have it built.

If you're still working out a budget, here's what a small-business website costs, start to finish, or see how I build websites.

Not sure which side you're on? Tell me about your business and I'll give you an honest answer, even if it's Squarespace.

Mark Jarvis

Born in Petersfield in 1986, now based in Poland. Twenty-five years running real businesses, and now I build websites, local SEO and socials for Hampshire small businesses. Every price I quote is on one page.