You might not need a custom website

We build custom websites for a living, so keep that in mind while you read this. Still, plenty of businesses don't need one, and some would be worse off with one.

When a website builder is the right choice

• —You're just starting out and need to be online this week, not next month.
• —The site is a digital business card: who you are, what you do and how to reach you.
• —You want to change it often, by yourself, without waiting for anyone.
• —Your budget is a few hundred euros, not a few thousand.
• —You sell a handful of products and a standard checkout like Shopify's suits you.

Builders have improved a lot. The templates are decent, hosting and security are taken care of, and you pay a predictable monthly fee. Pick a clean template, write clear text and use real photos of your work, and you'll be ahead of many expensive sites.

Signs you've outgrown it

• —You spend more time working around the template than with it.
• —Your pages are slow on phones, and you can't change what's slowing them down.
• —You need something the builder can't do: your own booking flow, a calculator, a members' area or a link to a system you already use.
• —The monthly fees for apps and add-ons have quietly added up to more than the plan itself.
• —You'd like to move, but your content is hard to get out of the platform.

The middle ground

It doesn't have to be all or nothing. A common approach is to keep a platform like Shopify for orders, payments and stock, and build a custom front end or a single feature on top of it. You keep the dependable parts and change only what's holding you back.

Another sensible path is to start on a builder, learn what your customers actually use, and then commission a second version with a much clearer brief. Money spent that way goes much further.

If you're not sure

Ask us. If a builder will do the job, we'll tell you which one and why, free of charge. When a custom site does make sense, a single page starts at €490 and a business website at €1,200, so you can compare honestly.