Creating a website is a crucial step for any business aiming to establish a strong presence online, it's also crucial if you plan to sell online. Before deciding how to make a website, it's common to wonder, should you use a website builder or hire a web developer?
Choosing the right method for how you build your website is important as it affects not only the initial setup but also the long-term functionality and scalability of your site. Understanding the differences between these two options will help you make the best decision for your company.
What is a website builder?
A website builder is a tool that allows you to create a website without needing to write code. These platforms provide user-friendly interfaces with drag-and-drop functionalities, making it easy for anyone to design and launch a website. Popular website builders like Wix are known for their simplicity and accessibility, meaning you can create a professional-looking (and functioning) site with minimal effort.
Website builders typically offer a range of features, including customizable website templates, SEO tools and integration capabilities with various third-party applications — like bookings or print on demand integrations.
What are the advantages of using a website builder?
Cost-effectiveness and efficiency: Website builders are generally more affordable than hiring a web developer — they can be used to create a website for free, or with Wix for examples paid plans start from $17 a month. They allow you to create a site quickly (and with an AI website builder in minutes) which is ideal for businesses looking to launch a site quickly.
Ease of use: Designed for non-developers, these platforms require no technical skills and their intuitive interfaces make it easy for anyone to build and manage their site. This is a strong pro when deciding why to use a website builder.
Integrations: Many website builders offer seamless integration with tools like email marketing services, e-commerce platforms and social media channels. This means you can add a lot of business and marketing functionality to your website without the need for complex coding.
Learn more: How to choose a website builder
What are some of the limitations of a website builder?
Customization: While convenient, website builders often have limitations in terms of customization. You may find it challenging to implement unique designs or advanced features as your business grows. This isn't true of all website builders however and there are many, including Wix Studio that allow for more advanced design capabilities.
Professionalism: For businesses requiring highly specialized or complex websites, the lack of customization options can result in a less professional appearance compared to custom-built sites by web developers. It might also limit functionality in some cases.
What is a web developer?
A web developer is a professional skilled in creating and maintaining websites. They play a crucial role in web development, using programming languages like JavaScript, HTML and CSS to build sites from scratch. Web developers are adept at front-end development, which focuses on the user interface, as well as back-end development that handles the server-side operations.
What are the benefits of using a web developer?
Highly customized websites: Web developers can build websites that are uniquely tailored to your business requirements. This customization ensures that your site can grow and evolve with your business. A highly skilled web developer should be able to build almost anything you ask for in terms of design or functionality.
Professionalism: Developers bring a level of professionalism to your website that is hard to achieve with standard templates. They focus on enhancing user experience by optimizing site performance and design quality.
What are the challenges of using a web developer?
Higher costs and longer development times: Hiring a web developer can be more expensive than using a website builder. Plus the process often takes longer due to the custom nature of the work involved.
Ongoing maintenance: Working with a developer requires regular communication with them to ensure that the project aligns with your vision. Additionally, ongoing maintenance may be necessary to keep the site updated and secure. You will also need to arrange your own hosting, domain name registration and security potentially — website infrastructure that is a given with a website builder and is maintained by them, not you.
What often gets forgotten when talking about choosing a website builder is the capabilities of the infrastructure that’s promised to you—the reliability of the hosting, the level of security in place to protect your visitors’ data and, of course, your site's speed. Even if infrastructure is not the first thought that comes to mind when creating a website, if it’s not robust enough, it can cause major headaches for website owners when trying to scale a website later on. Esin D. Habif, product marketing lead (outbound) at Wix
What are the main factors to compare between a website builder and web developer?
Cost
When deciding between a website builder and a web developer, cost is a significant factor. Website builders are generally more budget-friendly, offering subscription-based pricing that includes hosting and support. This makes them an attractive option for small to medium businesses with limited budgets.
In contrast, hiring a web developer involves higher upfront costs due to the custom nature of their work. Prices can range from several hundred to thousands of dollars, depending on the scale and customization of the website.
Flexibility
Website builders might offer limited customization options, which can restrict your ability to create unique designs or implement specific functionalities. This is changing however and there are many advanced website builders, like Wix studio that offer headless CMS, responsive website templates and capabilities such as custom CSS and breakpoints for more advanced web design.
Web developers provide greater flexibility, allowing you to achieve bespoke designs and complex features that align with your brand identity.
Scalability
As your business grows, your website needs may change. Website builders can be limiting in terms of scalability, as they may not support advanced features or high traffic volumes effectively. This is not always the case however — if your website builder has reliable site infrastructure (Wix has 99.99% uptime, for example) it can handle scale both in terms of traffic, sales or whatever you need.
The most important consideration is to choose a website builder that grows and scales with you and your business. Esin D. Habif, product marketing lead (outbound) at Wix
Web developers can build scalable websites from the start that accommodate growth, so that your site remains functional and efficient as your business expands, without too many changes or upgrades.
How to make the choice between a website builder and web developer?
When choosing between a website builder and a web developer, consider the following in relation to your own business:
Budget: Assess your financial resources and determine how much you can allocate to website creation.
Business goals: Identify your long-term objectives and how your website will support them.
Complexity of your needs: Evaluate whether your site requires advanced features or custom designs.
Timeframe: Consider how quickly you need to launch your website.