WordPress, Wix or a hand-coded website: which one really suits you

There are three common ways to get a business website: build it yourself with Wix, have it built in WordPress, or have it hand-coded. None is best for everyone. Here's how they really differ, with numbers, and when each one suits you. Including when the one I make doesn't.

The three options in one line

1. What it costs: always look at year two

Year one is misleading. Almost everyone gives something away at the start: the domain, months of hosting, a discount. What matters is what you'll pay every year from the second year on. Approximate prices, excluding VAT, checked in October 2026:

Watch out for hosting deals. A real example: one of the best-known WordPress hosts advertises its basic plan at €2.99 a month for the first year and renews it at €15.99 a month. That's a jump from €36 to €192 a year for the same website. It's not a scam, but you need to know before comparing quotes.

A hand-coded website can live on free hosting (such as Cloudflare Pages, which I use) because it needs no server or database. That's why the only fixed cost is often the domain.

2. Who makes the changes

This is where hand-coded loses, and it's only fair to say so.

• Wix: you change everything yourself, whenever you like, without coding. That's its big advantage. The risk is the flip side: since you can touch everything, the site easily gets messy over the years.
• WordPress: you can edit text and photos from the dashboard. But many agency-built WordPress sites use complex visual builders where a small change can break a page layout. In practice, many businesses end up asking someone to do it.
• Hand-coded: there's no dashboard. Changes are made by whoever maintains it: you send a message and they change it. If you update your site a few times a year, you won't notice. If you need to edit it every day, it's not the best choice.

3. Speed

A slow website loses people before it loads, especially on mobile. Speed depends more on how a site is built than on the tool, but each option has a tendency:

• Wix loads its platform code on every site, whether you use part of it or all. It has improved a lot, but that starting point has weight.
• WordPress can be very fast or very slow. A heavy theme with ten plugins, each with its own files, is one of the most common causes of slowness.
• A hand-coded site only carries what it uses. It's naturally the lightest, as long as whoever builds it doesn't load it with unnecessary videos and animations.

Don't take anyone's word for it, mine included: run your site through PageSpeed Insights and look at the mobile result.

4. Security and maintenance

The differences here are big, and almost nobody mentions them when selling you a website.

WordPress is safe if kept up to date, and risky if not. The problem is rarely WordPress itself: it's the plugins. According to the annual report by Patchstack, a company specialising in WordPress security:

• In 2025, 11,334 new vulnerabilities were found in the WordPress ecosystem, 42% more than the year before.
• 91% were in plugins, 9% in themes, and only 6 in WordPress core.
• 46% had no fix from the developer when they were made public.
• The ones attackers target most start being exploited within hours, not weeks.

In short: WordPress needs someone to update it often and back it up. If nobody does, it's a matter of time. That's why WordPress maintenance isn't an extra: it's part of the cost.

Wix takes care of platform security for you. It's one of the real benefits of paying the subscription.

A hand-coded site has no database, no login panel and no plugins. There's nothing to update and almost nothing to attack. What you do need to protect are the accounts: domain and hosting, with a good password and two-step verification turned on.

5. Who owns the site, and what you take if you leave

It's the question asked least and the one that causes the most headaches.

• Wix: Wix says so in its own help pages: for the site to work, it has to be hosted and run on Wix's servers, and its architecture doesn't support external hosting. If you ever leave, you take your domain and your text, but the site has to be rebuilt.
• WordPress: it can be moved to other hosting (files and database), but you need someone who knows how. If the agency holds the hosting in its own name, you depend on them handing it over.
• Hand-coded: it's a folder of files. You can copy it, keep it on a USB stick and put it on any hosting in the world. If the provider disappears, the site is still yours.

Whichever you choose, the domain must be in your name, in your own account. That's what makes your address yours.

6. When each one suits you

Wix suits you if:

• You want to build it yourself, have the time and enjoy tweaking it.
• You have very little budget to start and can take on a monthly fee.
• The site is simple and depending on the platform doesn't worry you.

WordPress suits you if:

• You publish often: news, a weekly blog, a menu that changes daily.
• Several people need to edit the site.
• You need complex features that already exist as plugins: member areas, courses, a shop with many products.
• And you accept it will need monthly maintenance, by you or someone else.

A hand-coded website suits you if:

• You change things a few times a year.
• You want it fast, secure and with no compulsory fees.
• You want your own design, not a template a hundred other businesses use.
• You're happy for someone else to make the changes.

And if you sell lots of products online, none of the three is the best answer: look at shop platforms such as Shopify or WooCommerce.

Five questions for any provider

1. Which tool do you use, and why that one for my business?
2. How much will I pay each year from year two, all included?
3. If I want to change opening hours or a photo, how do I do it and what does it cost?
4. Who updates the site and backs it up?
5. If I ever want to leave, what do I take and how?

Clear answers are a good sign, whatever the tool.

Why I hand-code

Because most small businesses change their website a few times a year, want it fast and don't want to pay fees for something they don't use. For them, a hand-coded site is cheaper in the long run and causes fewer problems. Small changes are done by me with the Clauer plan, or paid separately when needed.

And if yours is one of the cases that needs WordPress or a shop, I'll tell you at the first meeting. There's no point selling you something that doesn't suit you. If you're unsure, the two-minute quiz gives you a first answer.

Sources: Patchstack, State of WordPress Security in 2026; Wix help on hosting your site elsewhere; published prices from Wix, WordPress.com and SiteGround, checked October 2026. Prices change often: check them before deciding.