The True Cost of Wix, WordPress & Squarespace in 2026

The advertised prices

If you visit the pricing pages of the three biggest website builders, here's what you'll see:

At first glance, these look like a bargain. For the price of a few coffees a month, you can have a website. But that price gets you a blank canvas - and a blank canvas doesn't bring in customers.

What the sticker price doesn't include

Here's what you still need to do yourself - or pay someone else to do:

• Design

  You need to choose a template, customise it, pick fonts and colours, source images, and make it all look professional. Most people spend 20-40 hours on this.

• Content

  Every page needs copy - headlines, descriptions, calls to action. Writing good web copy is a skill. Bad copy costs you customers.

• SEO

  Getting found on Google doesn't happen by default. You need to research keywords, optimise meta tags, structure your content, build internal links and submit sitemaps.

• Plugins and integrations

  Want a contact form that actually works? A booking system? Analytics? Payment processing? Each one is another plugin, another subscription, another thing to configure.

• Maintenance

  Plugins need updating. Security patches need applying. SSL certificates need renewing. Things break. Someone has to fix them.

• Your time

  This is the big one. Every hour you spend wrestling with a page builder is an hour you're not spending on your actual business.

The real cost: a worked example

Let's say you're a small business owner building a 5-page website on Wix's Core plan. Here's a realistic breakdown of what you'll actually spend in year one:

That £16/month plan just became £145/month when you account for everything. And that's assuming you value your time at just £30 an hour.

The done-for-you alternative

At SpeedSite, our Starter plan is £39/month. That includes:

• ✓ Custom design - no templates
• ✓ Professional copywriting guidance
• ✓ SEO setup and optimisation
• ✓ Hosting, SSL and security
• ✓ Ongoing maintenance and updates
• ✓ Live in days, not weeks

Year one cost: £468. That's a third of the DIY route - and you didn't have to do any of the work.

The bottom line

DIY website builders are great tools. But "cheap" and "good value" aren't the same thing. If your time is worth anything, the maths doesn't add up. You end up spending more, taking longer, and getting a worse result than if you'd just hired someone to do it properly from the start.

That's what SpeedSite is for. We handle everything so you can focus on running your business.