The honest comparison from someone who builds all three. No affiliate bias, no hidden agenda — just what each is actually good for.
Quick verdict
Squarespace — if you love design and have a spare weekend.
Wix — if you want maximum control and don't mind mess.
Custom-built — if you want the site to actually get you clients while you focus on your business.
Now the honest breakdown.
Squarespace
Cost: $16–$65/month AUD.
What's genuinely good: Beautiful templates. Consistent design system. Easy to use if you have a design eye. Reliable hosting. Good on mobile out of the box.
What's genuinely bad: Templates all look identical. Everyone else's Squarespace site looks like yours. Limited flexibility once you hit the edges. Cheaper competitors do the same job for less. You still have to build it yourself — 15–25 hours minimum for a professional result.
Real cost of "$16/month": $192/year in fees + 20 hours of your time. At even $50/hour of your time, real cost is $1,192 in year one.
Choose Squarespace if:
- You have design instincts
- You have a spare weekend to invest
- You're okay with your site looking similar to every other Squarespace site
- You enjoy the puzzle of building it yourself
Wix
Cost: $15–$60/month AUD.
What's genuinely good: More flexibility than Squarespace. Wix AI can generate you a decent starter site in 10 minutes. Cheaper than Squarespace at the entry tier.
What's genuinely bad: Templates can look dated fast. Editor is genuinely confusing until you've used it 20 hours. Sites can get slow with too many features. Mobile view often needs manual fixes. Common design pattern: Wix sites frequently "look Wix."
Real cost: Similar to Squarespace — $180/year + your weekend time.
Choose Wix if:
- You want maximum control at a cheap price
- You're patient with a learning curve
- You want AI-generated starting points
- You accept spending time on manual mobile fixes
Custom-built (productised)
Cost: $197 one-off (SiteInADay), or $500–$1,500 for a bigger productised build. $3,000+ for a full agency custom.
What's genuinely good: Doesn't look like everyone else's site. Real designer craft. Locked design system means quality is consistent. Fast to launch (24 hours to 1 week). Hosting handled. Real support. Genuinely mobile-optimised, not "mobile-checked."
What's genuinely bad: Higher upfront cost. You don't get to obsess over the design yourself. Locked scope means "I want to add 20 pages of content" isn't the answer here — go agency for that.
Choose custom-built if:
- Your time is worth more than $30/hour
- You want the site to look like YOUR business, not a template
- You want to launch this month, not this quarter
- You want someone else to handle the hosting, SEO basics, and technical setup
The honest cost comparison
Over a 3-year period, real total cost:
- Squarespace: $600 in fees + 20 hrs of your time + ongoing content updates = ~$1,500 total
- Wix: Similar to Squarespace = ~$1,400
- SiteInADay: $197 one-off + optional $27/mo Care Plan for 12 months ($324) = $521 total, no ongoing time
The custom option is genuinely cheaper over 3 years, if you value your time above $10/hour. Which you should.
The pattern I see most often
Solo operators try Squarespace/Wix first. Spend a weekend. Get 60% done. Give up. Come back 3 months later. Get 80% done. Never finish. Site sits half-broken for 2 years, losing bookings the whole time.
The alternative is spending $197 once, having it live in 24 hours, and getting on with running your business.
Get a real website built
Order SiteInADay — $197 AUD, live in 24 hours →
Or apply for one of our 5 free monthly builds: The Founding 5.
0 comments