Website Builder vs Managed Website
The Real Cost for Small Businesses
Choosing how to get your business online is one of the most confusing decisions you'll make — partly because the industry makes it confusing on purpose. This guide breaks down the three main options honestly, including what they cost, what they actually include, and what nobody mentions until you've already signed up.
Three Ways to Get Your Business Online
Every option for getting a website falls into one of three categories. They're often confused with each other — especially the last two — and that confusion costs small businesses time and money.
Build It Yourself
Website Builders
Wix, Squarespace, Webflow, Shopify, WordPress.com
You pick a template, customise it, write the content, and manage it yourself. The platform handles the hosting.You pick a template, customize it, write the content, and manage it yourself. The platform handles the hosting.
People comfortable doing the work themselves who want to keep costs low upfront.
£9–£42/month + your time$14–$49/month + your time
Hire and Host
Developer + Managed Hosting
WordPress.org + WP Engine, Kinsta, Cloudways
A developer builds your site. A hosting company keeps the server running. You coordinate between them and handle everything else.
Businesses that want a custom site and don't mind managing the relationship between designer, developer, and host.
£70–£300/month + dev costs$85–$350/month + dev costs
Hire an Agency
Web Design Agency
Local agencies, digital marketing firms, full-service studios
An agency designs and builds your website as a project. You pay for the build, then either manage it yourself or pay a monthly retainer for ongoing changes and hosting.
Businesses with bigger budgets who want a professional build and are comfortable with project-based pricing.
£2,000–£10,000 build + £100–£500/month retainer (if ongoing)$3,000–$15,000 build + $200–$600/month retainer (if ongoing)
What's Actually Included
The monthly price is just the starting point. Here's what each option actually covers — and what you'll need to arrange yourself.
What to Budget For
The price you see on a website or in a quote is rarely the full picture. Here's what the first year typically looks like for each option — including the things you don't find out about until you're already committed.
Build It Yourself
What they don't tell you: Your time has a value. If you charge £30/hour for your work, 100 hours of website time costs your business £3,000 in opportunity cost — time you could have spent on clients, sales, or growth.
What they don't tell you: Your time has a value. If you charge $50/hour for your work, 100 hours of website time costs your business $5,000 in opportunity cost — time you could have spent on clients, sales, or growth.
Hire + Host
What they don't tell you: The initial build cost is just the beginning. Every content change, every design tweak, every "can you just..." is billable. And when your developer moves on, finding someone who understands their code is its own project.
Hire an Agency
What they don't tell you: Agencies do professional work, but the build is a project with a start and end. After handover, changes go through an account manager, not the person who built it. Retainer hours are often capped — go over and you pay extra. If you leave, you may or may not own the code depending on the contract.
There's no wrong answer — each option makes sense for different situations and budgets. The important thing is knowing the full cost before you commit, not just the number on the pricing page.
If none of these feel quite right, there's a different approach — Click here to skip ahead.
* Hosting costs are based on managed cloud hosting providers (e.g. WP Engine, Kinsta, Cloudways), not shared hosting.
Does Website Speed Actually Matter?
Short answer: yes. Google uses page speed as a ranking factor. Faster sites rank higher. Faster sites also keep visitors longer — 53% of mobile users leave a site that takes more than 3 seconds to load.
Google provides a free tool called PageSpeed Insights that scores any website from 0 to 100 across four categories: Performance, Accessibility, Best Practices, and SEO. These scores are based on real-world data about how your site loads for actual visitors.
There's a persistent claim in the web industry that scoring 100 on PageSpeed Performance is either impossible or requires stripping your site down to nothing. This gets repeated by platform providers, developers, blog writers, and — because these claims are so widespread — even AI assistants repeat them as fact when asked.
It's not true.
Achieving 100/100/100/100 on Google PageSpeed requires clean code, proper image handling, minimal HTTP requests, and infrastructure designed for speed. It's engineering work — not magic, not tricks, and not stripping the site to a blank page. The reason most sites can't hit these targets is that the way they're built — with page builders, bloated frameworks, and third-party scripts — makes it structurally impossible.
The platforms can't meet the standard, so they tell you the standard is wrong. This is worth questioning.
Typical Website Builder Site
Clean Custom-Code Site
Website builder scores are representative ranges based on publicly testable sites. Custom-code scores reflect what's achievable with proper engineering. All scores can be independently verified using Google's free PageSpeed Insights tool.
Which Option Is Right for You?
There's no single right answer. Each option genuinely makes sense for different situations. Here's an honest breakdown.
A Website Builder Might Be Right If…
- You're comfortable doing the work yourself and enjoy learning new tools
- You have more time than budget right now
- Your website is simple — a few pages, minimal ongoing changes
- You don't depend heavily on search engine traffic
- You're happy to handle maintenance, updates, and troubleshooting yourself
Good options: Squarespace (portfolios, creatives), Shopify (e-commerce only), Wix (simplest learning curve)
Be aware: Your time has a real cost. If your website needs regular updates or you care about search rankings and speed, the limitations will become frustrating over time.
A Developer + Hosting Might Be Right If…
- You have the budget for a custom build (£2,000–£10,000+$1,000–$10,000+)
- You have a clear vision and detailed requirements upfront
- You don't need frequent changes after launch
- You're comfortable coordinating between a designer, developer, and hosting provider
- You're willing to pay hourly rates when changes are needed
Good options: A trusted local developer + WP Engine or Kinsta for managed WordPress hosting
Be aware: The initial build is just the start. Ongoing costs (hosting, plugins, maintenance, changes) add up. When your developer moves on, their replacement needs to understand the existing code — which doesn't always happen smoothly.
An Agency Might Be Right If…
- You have the budget for a professional build (£2,000+$3,000+)
- You want a polished, brand-focused design with strategy input
- You need multiple services (web, SEO, marketing) under one roof
- You don't mind project-based timelines and retainer structures
- You're comfortable with an account manager rather than direct access to the developer
Good options: A local agency with a strong portfolio in your industry — ask for references and check their clients' sites
Be aware: Agency work is often project-based. Once the build is done, ongoing changes are retainer-based or hourly. Ask upfront who owns the code, what happens if you leave, and whether retainer hours roll over.
That's Why I Built Something Different
Everything above — the custom code, the hosting, the performance, the changes, the monitoring — included in one monthly price. From £75/month.From $99/month. This is Sitethreesixty.
I Build It
Your website is built from scratch with clean, custom code. No WordPress. No templates. No page builders. Every line of code is written for your specific business. The result is a site that loads fast, ranks well, and does exactly what you need.
I Manage It
Deployed on Cloudflare's global network — the same infrastructure that powers Discord, Shopify, and Zoom. Unlimited bandwidth. Unlimited storage. SSL certificates. DDoS protection. Automatic backups. Performance monitoring twice a week.
I Change It
Need something updated? Tell me. Through 360Dash, by email, by phone, or by live chat. Most changes are done within 24–48 hours. Unlimited requests. No hourly charges. No change request fees.
I Prove It
Every Sitethreesixty site performs in the top 2% of all websites for speed — and scores a perfect 100 for Accessibility, Best Practices, and SEO. Don't take my word for it — every score is independently testable using Google's own PageSpeed Insights tool. Pick any of my sites below and check for yourself.
Wondering why I don't just offer traditional shared hosting? Here's my thinking →
Don't Take My Word For It
Everything on this page is independently verifiable. Here are live Sitethreesixty sites — test any of them right now using Google's own PageSpeed Insights tool.
Ashford & Grey
Luxury SalonEduprint Solutions
EducationYour Home Tech Guy
Service BusinessSCB Trading International
B2B CorporateSitethreesixty
My WebsiteYou can also visit the Our Work page to test your own website's speed — enter any URL and see how it compares.
If This Sounds Like What You Need
Custom code. Cloud deployment. Guaranteed performance. Unlimited changes. A direct line to the person who built it. Everything managed. Everything included. From £75/month.$99/month.
30-day rolling. Cancel anytime. No lock-in contracts.
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