Guide

Should I use Squarespace or Wix, or pay for a custom website?

Marc Wargo Brady Wolford, founders

For a lot of small businesses, Squarespace or Wix is the right answer. We say that as people who build custom sites for a living. Both host the site for you, both are quick to start, and you can update them yourself without calling anyone. ChatGPT can now build and host a basic site too. A custom-coded site makes sense when your website has to do more than a template allows, or when you already know you’ll outgrow the platform.

The part almost nobody prices in is leaving. Neither platform lets you pick the whole site up and move it, so it’s worth knowing what you’d leave behind before you build.

Section 1

Use Squarespace or Wix if this sounds like you

If most of these are true, keep your money:

  • You need a handful of pages: what you do, where you are, how to reach you.
  • You’ll make the edits yourself, and you’d rather click than send an email.
  • Your business fits a shape the platforms already know, like a menu, an appointment calendar, or a small shop.
  • A subscription suits your budget better than a one-time build.
  • You’re testing an idea and might change direction within a year.

Here’s what you get without hiring anyone:

  • Hosting, handled. Both platforms run the site on their own servers.
  • A security certificate. Squarespace includes one free, and Wix includes HTTPS on every site.
  • Selling. Every paid Squarespace plan lets you sell products or services.
  • Appointments. Wix has its own booking system, plus an app for running your business from your phone.

For a new bakery, a dog groomer, or a contractor who mostly needs a phone number that works on a phone, that’s plenty.

Section 2

What you can take with you if you leave

Ask this before you build, because the answer is different on each platform. Here’s what their own help pages say about the site itself.

Squarespace exports part of your site as one file, in WordPress’s format.

  • It includes regular pages, one blog with its posts, and text and image blocks.
  • It leaves out store pages, product, video and audio blocks, drafts, your design settings, and any custom CSS.
  • Images and uploaded videos can’t be exported in bulk. Squarespace’s page says you can download images one at a time.

Wix says a Wix site “needs to be hosted and operated on Wix’s servers.” The content you build is yours, per Wix’s own help page, but the site can’t be moved to another host.

Both platforms let you transfer your domain name to another provider. Neither transfer moves the website with it. So leaving comes down to three jobs:

  1. Rebuild the site somewhere else.
  2. Point your domain at the new site.
  3. Set up redirects, so old links and search results still reach the right page.

Neither fact should put you off these platforms. Decide with your eyes open: if there’s a real chance you’ll outgrow one in two years, the easy start comes with a rebuild at the end.

Section 3

What a custom-coded site should get you

“Custom” gets used loosely. Here’s what it should mean, and what to ask for in writing:

  • The code is yours, and the hosting is in your name. If you part ways with your web designer, us included, the site goes with you.
  • A structure that fits the business. A page for each service in each town you serve, or a booking form that asks your questions in the order your customers think of them. A template gives you the sections its designer imagined.
  • Only the code the page needs. Squarespace’s own help page explains that many of its features “rely on our platform’s JavaScript and CSS.” A custom site doesn’t have a platform to carry.
  • Accessibility written into the contract. You can require the site to meet WCAG 2.2 AA, the published accessibility standard, and have it checked before launch.

One thing custom doesn’t give you by default: the thirty-second edit. If you want to change your hours from your couch, say so before you sign, and make sure it’s in the build.

Section 4

Can ChatGPT, or an AI builder, just make the site?

Yes. OpenAI’s documentation currently lists ChatGPT Sites as a public beta.

  • ChatGPT Sites. OpenAI says Sites “lets ChatGPT create, host, refine, and share websites.” It’s on paid ChatGPT plans, and OpenAI hosts the site.
  • Squarespace and Wix both have AI builders. Squarespace calls its version Blueprint AI Builder. Wix describes its AI website builder as going “from a prompt to a business-ready website.”

For a first draft, all three are useful. Two pieces of advice. Read every line it writes about your business before it goes live, and fix anything you wouldn’t say to a customer yourself. And ask the section 2 question before you rely on one: what could you take with you if you left?

Section 5

Compare three costs, not one

The subscription is the number people compare. Over a few years, the other two can easily be bigger.

  1. The subscription itself, billed monthly or annually, for as long as the site exists. The platform’s pricing page has the current figure.
  2. Your hours, building the site and keeping it current. On a builder, you’re the one doing the building.
  3. The rebuild, if you outgrow it.

A custom site moves most of that cost up front. Ours start at $3,500 for a site of up to five pages. More pages, a system for editing it yourself, or online booking cost more, and our guide to website costs in Oregon breaks down what moves the price.

Section 6

When custom is worth it

Our honest threshold. Custom earns its price when at least one of these is true:

  1. Your website is how customers choose you over the next name on the list, and a template makes you look like that next name.
  2. You sell different services in different towns, and each one needs a page that answers that customer’s question.
  3. You’ve already hit a wall on the platform: a booking flow it can’t do, a page it won’t let you build, a slow page you can’t fix.
  4. You plan to be around in five years and would rather not pay for a rebuild in two.

If none of those are true, build it on Squarespace or Wix this weekend. You can always call us later. We’ll start by asking what exports.

FAQ

Can ChatGPT build a website for my business?

Yes. OpenAI’s Sites feature, currently a public beta on paid ChatGPT plans, can create and host a website from a description. Squarespace and Wix have their own AI builders that produce a first draft on their platforms. Any of them will get you a working draft quickly. Read every sentence it wrote about your business before you publish, and find out what you could take with you if you later moved the site somewhere else.

Is Squarespace or Wix better for a small business?

It depends on what the site has to do. Wix has its own booking system and an app for running your business from your phone. Every paid Squarespace plan lets you sell products or services. If you might move the site later, Squarespace’s export is the one to read first: it hands you your pages and one blog in WordPress’s format. Wix says its sites run only on Wix’s servers. Try both free before you commit.

Can I move my Squarespace or Wix site to a custom website later?

Yes, but plan for a rebuild. You can transfer your domain name away from either platform. The website doesn’t come with it. Squarespace exports some content in WordPress’s format, without store pages, design settings, or custom CSS. Images come out one at a time. Wix sites run only on Wix’s servers. Expect to recreate the pages, move images by hand, and set up redirects so old links and search results still reach the right page.

Is a custom website better for SEO than Squarespace or Wix?

It can be, but not by default. Speed and clean structure help, and a custom build gives you control over both. A Squarespace site whose pages answer the search well can still outrank a slow, thin custom one. Custom pays off in search when you need many specific pages, like one per service per town, or when the platform itself is what’s slowing the page down.

How much does a custom website cost compared to Squarespace or Wix?

Squarespace and Wix charge a subscription, and their pricing pages list the current plans. A custom site costs more up front. Ours start at $3,500 for a site of up to five pages, with more pages and features costing more. Our guide to website costs in Oregon breaks down what drives the number. Add your own time to the comparison: on a builder, you’re the one building it.

Sources

What a website costs in Oregon Getting recommended by ChatGPT Web design

STILL DECIDING?

Tell us what the site has to do. We’ll tell you if you need us.

If Squarespace or Wix will do the job, you’ll hear that from us on the first call. The first call is free.

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