We build custom websites, so treat this accordingly — but the honest answer is that a builder is the right choice for a lot of businesses, and we will tell you when yours is one of them.
Comparing the monthly fees misses the point. A builder is a subscription to a tool you operate. A custom build is a thing you own and someone else operates. Those fail in different ways.
| Squarespace | Wix | Custom build | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you're buying | A subscription to a design tool | A subscription to a design tool | A site that belongs to you |
| Who does the work | You | You | Someone else |
| Time from you | Days to weeks of your evenings | Days to weeks of your evenings | One 45-minute call |
| Entry cost | Roughly $12–19/mo (annual billing) | Roughly $14–17/mo (annual billing) | From $3,500 once |
| Ongoing | Forever, or the site goes away | Forever, or the site goes away | Optional — $195/mo, or nothing |
| If you stop paying | Site goes offline | Site goes offline | Site stays up |
| Integrations | Whatever's on the connector list | Whatever's on the connector list | Whatever you already run |
| Custom booking flow | Within what the platform allows | Within what the platform allows | Built around your process |
| You own the code | No | No | Yes |
| Moving away later | Rebuild from scratch | Rebuild from scratch | Take the files |
Builder pricing is indicative and changes constantly with promotions, billing cycle and currency — published figures for the same plan range from roughly $12 to $19 a month depending on the source, and Canadian pricing differs from the USD figures most comparisons quote. Check Squarespace and Wix directly from a Canadian connection before deciding. We have not independently verified their current CAD pricing and are not going to pretend otherwise.
If several of these describe you, use Squarespace or Wix and keep your money. We would tell you the same thing on a call.
The subscription is the small number. The one that matters is the hours, and nobody puts those on the pricing page.
Roughly $430–680 in fees over three years, plus 20–40 hours of your own time to build it and more whenever it needs changing. If your time is worth $75 an hour, that is the larger half of the cost.
The subscription plus $1,500–3,000 for a freelancer to set it up — and you still do not own it, still pay monthly forever, and still hit the same ceiling when you need something the platform will not do.
$3,500 once, live in 14 days, nothing due afterwards unless you want hosting and updates handled. Year four costs nothing. The builder is still charging.
Hours are an estimate from projects we have run, not a measured study — your mileage will vary with how fussy you are.
This is the difference nobody notices until it matters. On Squarespace or Wix you own your content and your domain — but the site itself lives inside the platform. Cancel and it goes offline. Move and you rebuild from scratch, because there is nothing to take with you.
A custom site is a set of files. If you fall out with us, you take them and hire someone else. That is the whole point, and it is worth more than any feature comparison on this page.
For a straightforward brochure site they are close enough that the deciding factor is which editor you find less annoying. Squarespace has fewer plans and a tidier default result; Wix gives you more control and more ways to make a mess. If you are going to build it yourself, pick the one whose trial you enjoyed more — that is genuinely the best selection method.
When the site has to do something specific that the platform does not do natively — a booking flow wired into the system you already run, a review feed pulled in automatically, custom intake that writes into your CRM. At that point you are paying a monthly fee to fight the tool, and a custom build stops being the expensive option.
Ours start at $3,500 for a five-page booking-ready site, fixed price agreed before anything is built, live in 14 days. Hosting afterwards is optional at $195 a month, and plenty of clients take the site and run it themselves.
You own your content and your domain, but not the site itself — the design and functionality exist inside the platform and do not come with you if you leave. With a custom build the code, hosting and accounts are all yours from day one.