Should I Create A Website With A Website Builder Or Web Developer?

In today’s world, you don’t need to be a web developer to create the website of your dreams. With the rise of user-friendly website builders, almost anyone can design and publish a website with minimal effort. But this raises an important question: Should I create a website with a website builder or web developer?

Website builders are designed to make creating a website easy for people without coding experience, offering pre-designed templates and drag-and-drop functionality. However, while they’re convenient, they do come with limitations. For example, website builders might lack the flexibility or customization needed for complex features, which is where hiring a web developer can make all the difference. Web developers bring technical expertise and creative freedom to projects, allowing you to build a fully customized and scalable website tailored to your specific needs.

Ultimately, the choice between a website builder and a web developer depends on your requirements, budget, and vision for your website. Understanding the pros and cons of each option can help you make the best decision.

Should I Create a Website with a Website Builder or Web Developer - Logo

Some popular website builders that exist on the Internet are:

  • WordPress
  • Squarespace
  • Shopify
  • Wix
  • Weebly
  • Webflow

My Experience

I recently collaborated with a church’s creative director to revamp their website using a web builder. Previously, they had a WordPress site, but it was outdated, with unsupported PHP code on the back end. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the tools or expertise to update the PHP, which hindered the site’s performance and functionality.

In my current role, the company relies on Ecwid for website management. However, I wouldn’t recommend it for businesses needing advanced customization. Ecwid’s limitations, combined with its lack of flexibility, can make it challenging for businesses aiming to scale effectively.

Additionally, both the WordPress and Ecwid sites faced slow performance issues, as indicated by Google PageSpeed Insights. Slowly loading websites and limited customization options can severely impact a business’s growth potential and overall online success.

Cons

Limited Functionality

Website builders have limited functionality versus coding your website. The church listed its events through a third-party content management system.

This system stored all the church’s events, but you could not show the events on the Webflow site. I could have manually written the code to get all the events, and the events could have been displayed on the page if they had gone the custom route.

Lack of Customization

Using website builders is known as “What You See Is What You Get.” I am familiar with WordPress, which has templates for your website’s design, known as themes. However, since many websites use WordPress, you have similar themes and do not have the originality you do on a custom-built site.

Limited Storage

There is only so much you can store on the backend of the website builder and some website builders. If you want more storage, you have to cough up some money.

Once you hit the storage quota on a website builder, you’ll need to pay for upgrades to store additional files like images, audio, or PDFs.

May Have To Pay Monthly

When I was helping with the Webflow website, there was an upcharge for more functionality and having more than one person work on it simultaneously, and you had to pay more for extra features. They tried to make you buy more features.

Performance Flaws

If you are using a web builder, you are very limited in controlling how the website performs or how fast it goes. If you want to understand the performance score of a website, I recommend going to Google PageSpeed Insights.

Here’s why website builders often struggle to match the performance of custom-built websites. Sometimes you may want features that the web builder doesn’t offer. Depending on the web builder, you can get extra functionality by using add-ons or plugins. However, having a lot of plugins can really bog down your site. You also run into the possibility that those plugins may not be coded properly, and this may impact your performance negatively.

Pros

No/Low Coding Knowledge

If you have no or low coding knowledge, a website builder is your greatest ally. You can get running in minutes.

Easier to Maintain

A website using a web builder is easier to maintain if you have no coding knowledge.

Even though I was frustrated with Webflow, I realized that it was better for the client so that he could maintain it without having to come back to me.

Time

Website builders simplify the process of developing web pages, especially if you need a website quickly and don’t want to wait for a developer to build it from scratch, which can take several months. Typically, they feature an intuitive drag-and-drop interface that allows you to quickly start adding your desired content.

When to Use a Website Builder?

You should use a website builder if you need a website right away, and if you have a small marketing page, you should use it.

Should I Create a Website with a Website Builder or Web Developer - Website Builder

A website builder is ideal if you’re launching a personal blog, a small local business page, or a portfolio site. For instance, using Wix, you can have a functional website live within a few hours.

If you’re an entrepreneur launching a basic website for a local business or portfolio, a website builder like Wix or Squarespace is ideal due to its simplicity and low cost.

Web builder use case: Great for portfolios, personal blogs, or single-page sites where advanced features are not required.

When to Use a Developer?

It would be best to use a developer to build a website when you need advanced functionality, and many website builders may not have the features or integrations that someone needs.

If you need integrations like a custom CRM, advanced e-commerce features, or dynamic content displays (e.g., real-time inventory), a web developer is essential.

As your business grows, you may need advanced functionality not supported by a website builder. Suppose those features are detrimental to your business. It can be a challenge to find a website builder that has all the features that you need.

Suppose you found out that the website builder does not have that feature. What do you do now? You are stuck and kicking yourself for not going the custom route.

You think you will hire a developer to make that feature and integrate it with the website, but unfortunately, the builder is closed source, meaning it is impossible to access the source code.

This means starting from scratch with a developer, resulting in higher costs due to the initial investment in the website builder.

The church I worked with wanted the events displayed on the website. Still, unfortunately, the website builder did not have any integrations for that content management system, and the events link took you to a different website, which is not great if you want to keep people on your webpage.

Outgrowing a builder can cost you more time and money in the long run when you need to rebuild your website.

When to use developers: Ideal for businesses requiring integrations like custom APIs, real-time dashboards, or multilingual support.

Conclusion

Make sure to consider all the advantages and disadvantages before deciding to create a website. I hope that this article has helped you and others.

Feature Website Builders Web Developers
Customization Limited to templates Fully customizable
Time to Launch Immediate Weeks to months
Cost Low upfront, ongoing subscription Higher upfront, no ongoing fees
Scalability Limited for large or complex sites High scalability
Ease of Use Beginner-friendly, drag-and-drop Requires technical knowledge
Maintenance Easier, handled by platform Requires developer or in-house team
Best For Blogs, small businesses Scaling businesses, complex sites
Examples WordPress, Wix, Shopify Custom-built platforms

If you want to learn to code to make a website for yourself, friends, or freelance, check out my article on freelancing.

What has been your experience with website builders or web developers? Share your story in the comments below!

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10 thoughts on “Should I Create A Website With A Website Builder Or Web Developer?”

  1. Enjoyed this article—super informative! It’s great to see the pros and cons laid out so clearly between using website builders and hiring developers. Your insights help in understanding what might work best depending on project needs. Could you recommend any specific website builders or developers for small business sites? Thanks for breaking it down so nicely! Excited to weigh my options now.

    Reply
  2. Hey Jordan, what a great article! I have been trying to figure out a few things about the design of my WordPress website. I have used a designer before and wanted to do it on my own. WordPress can be very impressive for most websites, but when it comes to implementing things like WooCommerce and inventory and such I am finding it gets difficult. 

    Reply
  3. It’s absolutely essential to weigh the pros and cons before you build out your website so you can pick the best route to take.  Bummer that the church wasn’t able to connect their events to their site with the web builder.  I imagine the web builders are typically geared towards small or solo businesses that don’t have the same requirements a larger business would need.  Of the builders you listed, which one do you feel has the most functionality?

    Reply
    • I actually don’t have a lot of experience with web site builders because I do not like playing by their rules. 

      Like that quote from dirty dancing, “Nobody puts baby in the corner”. 

      You are correct, they are ideal for smaller websites. I just made a client website on Wix and the church website on Web Flow; however, Web Flow didn’t have the functionality that the church needed. That’s the downside of the website builder; you start using one, and then you realize it doesn’t have all the functionality you need.

      Reply
  4. Hello Jordan and thank you for this.

    I enjoyed going through this breakdown of using website builders versus hiring a web developer. It’s helped me to clarify some of the options for my own website.

    I have a couple of questions if you do not mind?

    The first one is, do you think the type of product or service being offered should influence the choice between these two options?

    And I was also wondering, given the significant cost differences between the two options, do you think the type of product or service you are offering should sway the decision towards one over the other?

    I enjoyed my visit.

    Thank you

    Reply
    • Yes, depending on what you want. There is a difference. A website builder is usually not as scalable as a custom-made website. But if it’s just some marketing website, the website builder is the way to go. I just made a client website a the website builder.

      Making a custom-made website will always be more expensive; however, you have more control over the code and don’t have to play by the website builders’ rules. Also, depending on the specific functionality you need, it could potentially cost the same amount of money as a custom-made website because there are a lot of plug-ins that cost money for that specific functionality on the website builder.

      Reply
      • Thanks Jordan, I appreciate you getting back to me.

        I have done some more research and yes, A custom made site can cost more, but in all honest you get what you pay for right?

        This is the option I will probably go ahead with, there is a learning curve of course, but that goes with the territory.

        Thanks again my friend. I was happy to hear back from you.

        Chris

        Reply
  5. Hi there!

    This is a fantastic breakdown of the website-building dilemma.

    As a web developer, I’ve navigated through various tools, and indeed, the capabilities of modern website creation tools often exceed expectations and they alone can often satisfy customer needs.

    For immediate needs and simpler projects, they can be a perfect fit. 

    Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

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