Credit first
What the builders do well
Wix gives you a real free plan, an AI builder that produces a site from a prompt, more than 2,000 templates, hosting included with a 99.99% uptime claim, and 24/7 customer care. It is the cheapest honest way to get a page online today.
Squarespace offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card, design-led templates, built-in AI tools on every plan, and clean commerce pricing: the online store transaction fee drops from 2% on Basic to 0% on Core and up.
And both share the biggest advantage: a predictable low monthly bill. If the budget is tight and you have the time to do it yourself, a $17 to $49 a month builder is genuinely the right answer, and we would tell you so.
The numbers
- 01
What they cost
Wix's current plans, billed annually in USD: Light $17 a month, Core $29, Business $39, Business Elite $159, plus the free plan. Squarespace runs Basic $19, Core $29, Plus $49 and Advanced $99 a month billed annually; month to month those become $25, $39, $65 and $139. Both sets read straight off the platforms' own pricing pages in July 2026.
- 02
What happens if you leave
Wix's own help center says it plainly: a Wix site must run on Wix's servers and cannot be moved to another host. Squarespace lets you export some content to WordPress format, but by its own support docs, store pages, style settings, custom CSS, product blocks, and video and audio blocks do not export, and you cannot export one Squarespace site into another. On both platforms the content you write is yours; the site itself mostly is not portable.
- 03
What the years add up to
A $29 plan is $348 a year, and the meter never stops. Our custom sites are $2,000 flat, with a Premium tier at $4,000 and online stores from $5,500, paid once. Once paid in full, the finished site and its project-specific code are yours, hosted wherever you like, with no required monthly LeadLeak retainer. Over five or six years a mid-tier subscription spends what our Standard build costs, and you still cannot take the site with you. The ownership difference shows up on day one.
Our side of it
What hand-coded buys you
A builder gives you a template and a page editor; the writing, the structure and the selling are still your job. We build the site around what you sell and who buys it: the copy, the search structure, the call and quote flow, and how it reads on a phone, where most of your customers first meet you.
And because it is plain hand-written code with no page builder underneath, it stays fast, and it goes wherever you go.
Questions
Builders vs custom, answered
Is Wix or Squarespace good enough for a local business?
Often, yes. If the business is young, the budget is tight and you have the hours, a builder is the sensible start. The ceiling shows up later: template sameness, and pages you cannot restructure around how your customers actually buy.
Can I move my Wix or Squarespace site later?
Mostly no. Wix states that your site must run on Wix's servers. Squarespace exports some content to WordPress format, but store pages, style settings, custom CSS and several block types stay behind, and you cannot export one Squarespace site into another. Plan on rebuilding, not moving.
Why does a custom site cost more up front?
Because you are buying the asset instead of renting it. Our sites are $2,000 flat, or $4,000 for the Premium tier, with online stores from $5,500. One clear price, quoted up front, and once paid in full the finished site and its project-specific code are yours.
How do I know if my current builder site is losing customers?
Run the free scan. It reads the site you have now and shows what is costing you calls and quotes, before you spend anything.
Find out what your current site is doing
If you have the time and want to run it yourself, stay on the builder; it is a fair deal. If the site is supposed to win customers while you work, see what it is missing first. The scan is free and takes about a minute.