A builder is right when
You are testing an idea, the budget is close to nothing, you are comfortable writing your own pages and you have the hours to do it. A simple, finished builder site beats an ambitious site that never launches.
Home · Website builder or web designer
An honest comparison
Website builder or web designer: which does a small business need?
A website builder such as Wix or Squarespace lets you make the site yourself for a monthly fee. A web designer makes it for you for a one-off price. Both are reasonable choices. This page sets out what each really costs over three years and when each one is the right answer.
Last updated 14 October 2026
The short answer
Use a builder if you have the time. Hire someone if you do not.
A builder gives you a template, a drag-and-drop editor and hosting in one subscription. If you enjoy that kind of work, have a free weekend and only need a few pages that say who you are and how to reach you, it will do the job and it will cost less in cash.
What a builder does not give you is the thinking. It will not decide what the homepage should say, write the words, choose the photos, work out which searches you ought to appear in, or set up your Google Business Profile. Those are the parts that decide whether the site brings in work, and they are the parts most owners never get round to.
So the real question is rarely “which is cheaper”. It is “who is going to do the work, and will it get finished”.
A fair test
If you opened a builder account more than a month ago and the site is still not live, the tool was never the problem. Time was.
Three-year cost
What each option costs over three years
A builder is a subscription that never ends. A designed site is a one-off price plus hosting. Three years is a fair period to compare them over.
| Option | Up front | Each year | Three years | Who builds it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Squarespace Basic | £0 | £144 | £432 | You |
| Squarespace Core | £0 | £204 | £612 | You |
| One-Page Local Launch (Cheviot) | £249 | £96 hosting | £537 | Me |
| Launch, up to 7 pages (Cheviot) | £399 | £96 hosting | £687 | Me |
How these figures were worked out, checked 14 October 2026. Squarespace figures are its published UK prices for annual billing, £12 and £17 a month, taken from squarespace.com/pricing; paying monthly costs more (£16 and £24). Wix publishes its prices by country and they are not quoted here. Cheviot figures are the Founding Client Rates from the pricing page plus the hosting-only plan at £96 a year (regular £120). A domain name is extra with either option. These are illustrative examples, not a quotation, and builder prices change, so check the source before deciding. Squarespace and Wix are trademarks of their owners; Cheviot Web Studio is not affiliated with either.
The honest reading of that table: on cash alone a builder costs about the same or a little less. The difference is that one column says “You” and the other says “Me”.
Choosing
When each one is the right choice
A designer is right when
The business is already trading, your time is worth more on the tools than at a laptop, and the site has one job: to bring in calls, bookings or orders from people searching nearby.
A developer is right when
The site has to do something a template cannot: take restaurant orders without commission, handle booking requests with photos, or run an admin panel. That is development rather than design.
Beyond the price
Three differences the price does not show
Where the site lives. A builder site lives on the builder’s platform. It cannot be lifted out and hosted somewhere else, so leaving means rebuilding. With a Cheviot site you own the domain and the content outright and get the full source files under a perpetual licence, so it can be moved to any host.
What happens if you stop paying. A builder’s paid plan is what keeps your own domain and features switched on. A designed site has no subscription beyond hosting, and care plans are optional.
How it looks next to competitors. A template is used by thousands of businesses. That is not a problem in itself, but in a small town where three firms picked the same one, it shows. Every Cheviot site is designed from scratch for that business.
The middle path
The One-Page Local Launch is £249: one sharply designed page with a contact form, WhatsApp and the SEO basics, live in under a week. It exists for businesses that were about to open a builder account and would rather not spend the weekend on it.
Straight answers
Questions about builders and designers
Is a website builder good enough for a small business?
Often, yes. If you need a few pages that say who you are and how to reach you, and you have the time to build the site and write the words yourself, a builder will do the job. It is a poorer fit when the site has to bring in enquiries from local searches or do something a template cannot, such as taking restaurant orders or booking requests.
Is it cheaper to build my own website or pay a web designer?
On cash alone a builder usually costs about the same or slightly less over three years, because its subscription never stops while a designed site is a one-off price plus hosting. The table on this page shows the published figures. The larger difference is your own time, since with a builder you do all of the work.
Can I move a Wix or Squarespace site to another host later?
Generally not as a working site. The design and layout stay on the builder's platform. You can take your text, images and domain name with you, and the site is then rebuilt elsewhere.
Can you improve the builder site I already have instead of replacing it?
Yes. The Local SEO & AI-Visibility Boost, a one-off £245, is applied to an existing website on any platform: Google Business Profile setup, structured data where the platform allows it, an AI crawler access check and a list of local directories.
What is the cheapest way to get a professionally designed website?
The One-Page Local Launch is £249: a single individually designed page with a contact form, WhatsApp and the SEO basics, live in under a week. It is limited to two a month.
Who owns the website when a designer builds it?
With Cheviot Web Studio you own the domain and the content outright and receive the full source files under a perpetual licence, so the site can be moved to any host. Arrangements differ between designers, so ask before signing.
Still not sure which you need?
Tell me what the business does and what the site is for. If a builder would do the job, I will say so.