Custom-coded vs WordPress
vs a site builder.
Every small business asks it: WordPress, a site builder like Wix or Squarespace, or something custom? Here's a straight answer from a web designer who builds the custom kind — including where the others actually make more sense.
Three ways to build a small-business website
WordPress is a content management system: a database, an admin login, a theme, and usually a pile of plugins. It's powerful and flexible, and it runs a big chunk of the web — but on a small-business site that flexibility mostly shows up as slowness to tune and plugins to keep patched.
Site builders like Wix and Squarespace are the easiest way to get something online yourself. The trade-offs are a template look, a monthly subscription that grows with the features you add, and a site you rent rather than own.
Hand-coded — what we do — means your site is written from scratch in clean HTML and CSS and served as static files from Cloudflare's edge. There's no database or dashboard, so it loads in a blink, has almost nothing to hack, and never nags you for updates. The catch: there's no self-service editor, so instead of logging in, you tell us and we make the change. For most small businesses that's less work, not more.
What about Shopify?
Shopify is a fourth option worth naming, because it's built for one job: selling products. If your business lives or dies on a large online catalog — hundreds of SKUs, variants, inventory, and shipping rules — Shopify is genuinely the right tool, and we'll build a fast storefront around it rather than talk you out of it. For a handful of products, though, you don't need a monthly ecommerce subscription: we wire secure Stripe or Snipcart checkout into a hand-coded site so you sell without the platform overhead. The honest rule of thumb: big catalog, Shopify; a few products or services, hand-coded.
Side by side
The short version, on the things that actually matter:
How the three compare.
| Hand-coded (Stonekept) | WordPress | Site builders (Wix / Squarespace) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed | Near-instant — static files on Cloudflare's edge, nothing to render | Depends on plugins, theme, and host; often slow without tuning | Usually fine, but you're on shared platform infrastructure |
| Security | Almost nothing to hack — no database, admin login, or plugins | The #1 way small-business sites get hacked: plugins & logins | Handled by the platform, but you don't control it |
| Who maintains it | We do — updates, backups & security on every plan; edits handled for you on a care plan | You (or a plugin) must keep core, theme & plugins patched | The platform updates itself; edits are yours to make |
| Ongoing cost | One flat monthly plan from $79; hosting & HTTPS bundled in | Hosting + premium plugins + a maintainer can stack up | Monthly subscription that rises as you add features |
| Ownership | Plain HTML & CSS you own outright and can host anywhere | You own the content, but you're tied to the WordPress stack | You rent the site; leaving means rebuilding elsewhere |
| Design | Fully custom, built around your brand from scratch | Theme-based; truly custom work needs a developer anyway | Template-based, recognisable, limited to the builder's blocks |
| Best for | Small businesses that want it fast, secure, and cared for | Content-heavy sites with an in-house team to maintain them | DIY hobby sites or a quick placeholder |
Every row is a generalisation — the right answer depends on your business. The point isn't that WordPress or Wix are bad; it's that for a typical small-business site, hand-coded is faster, safer, and less hassle to own. Want the numbers? Run the 3-year WordPress-vs-custom cost calculator.
Fair
questions.
Is WordPress bad?
No — WordPress runs a huge share of the web and it's the right tool for some sites, especially large, content-heavy ones with a team to maintain them. Our point is narrower: for a typical small-business site, a hand-coded static site is faster, safer, and less hassle, because there's no CMS to patch, secure, or slow it down.
What do I lose by not using WordPress?
Very little for most small businesses. You don't get a self-service dashboard — but that's the trade we make on purpose: instead of you logging in to wrestle with an editor, you send us the change and we make it, as part of your care plan. No plugin to break, no update to miss, no login to get hacked. On the $79 hand-off plan you get a change a month instead — it keeps the site running, where a care plan grows it — so new pages and heavier work are quoted as they come up. Worth knowing if you expect to change the site often.
Can a hand-coded site still have a blog, store, or bookings?
Yes. We build fast static blogs and wire in trusted tools — Stripe or Snipcart for checkout, booking and events platforms as needed — without the weight of a full CMS. For a very large catalog we'll point you to Shopify, honestly.
I already have a WordPress site — can you move me off it?
Often, yes. We can rebuild it as a fast hand-coded site and bring it onto a care plan; most takeovers get dramatically faster overnight, and we use 301 redirects so you keep your rankings. See our website redesign page. If your site genuinely needs WordPress, we'll tell you.
Want it fast, secure,
and cared for?
Tell us about your business and we'll map out the right approach — hand-coded or not — on a free discovery call.