DIY Website Builders vs Hiring a Web Designer: An Honest Comparison

This isn’t a post about which website builder is best. It’s about a decision that comes before that — should you build your own website, or should you pay someone to do it for you?

There’s a right time to DIY. And there’s a right time to get help. The trick is figuring out which one you’re in.

What’s the short version?

If you’ve got more time than money, you’re comfortable learning new tools, and your website needs are simple — a DIY builder can work well. If you’ve got more money than time, you want it done properly, or you’ve already tried building one yourself and stalled — hiring a web designer is almost always the better investment. For most small business owners, the real cost of DIY isn’t the platform fee. It’s the time.

What does DIY actually involve?

The platforms themselves are good. Squarespace starts from around $24–$39/month in Australia depending on the plan. Wix is similar in USD pricing — $17–$39/month for the plans most businesses would need. Both include hosting, templates, and basic tools to get a site live.

What they don’t include is everything else.

You’ll need to choose a template, then customise it — layout, fonts, colours, images. You’ll write all your own page content. You’ll configure forms, set up your domain, connect Google Analytics, handle basic SEO setup, and make sure the whole thing works properly on mobile. If something breaks or looks wrong, you’re the one troubleshooting it.

None of that is impossible. But it takes time. For someone building their first business website, 20–40 hours is a realistic estimate. If your time is worth $50 an hour, that’s $1,000–$2,000 in your time — on top of the monthly platform fees.

And that’s if you actually finish it.

The pattern nobody talks about

Here’s what I see more than anything else. Someone signs up to a website builder, spends a few hours on it, realises it’s going to be more work than they thought, and tells themselves they’ll come back to it later.

Later doesn’t come. Other things get in the way — clients, invoices, life. But the monthly subscription keeps billing.

One business owner I worked with mentioned — almost as a side comment — that they’d been paying for the top-tier Shopify plan for over a year. More than $100 a month. For a store they never launched. They couldn’t figure out how to cancel it, so they just kept paying.

I had it cancelled within two minutes of getting access to their account.

That’s not an unusual story. The cost of a DIY website isn’t just the platform fee. It’s the months of subscription you pay while the site sits unfinished. For a small business where every dollar needs to stretch, that adds up.

What does hiring a web designer involve?

Depending on who you hire, the process varies. But with most solo developers and small agencies, you’re looking at a few conversations about your business, your goals, and what you need — then they handle the build.

With me, that means a Zoom call where I take the time to understand your business, your customers, and what makes you different. Then I design, build, write the content, set up SEO, and hand you a finished site you own outright. Your involvement is maybe 2–4 hours total.

A professional build typically costs $800–$3,000 for a standard small business website in Australia, depending on the provider and complexity. Agencies charge more — $3,000–$8,000+ — because they have bigger teams and higher overheads. For a full breakdown of what affects pricing, see my Australian website cost guide.

How do you decide?

This isn’t about one option being better than the other. It’s about which one is right for where you are right now.

DIY makes sense when…

You’re testing an idea. If you’re not sure yet whether this business is going to work, spending $800+ on a professional site might be premature. A simple Squarespace or Wix site gets you online fast and cheap while you figure things out.

Your needs are genuinely simple. A personal portfolio, a single-page site, or a basic blog doesn’t need a developer. The templates on modern builders handle these well.

You enjoy this kind of work. Some people genuinely like building things on a screen. If tinkering with layouts and design is your idea of a good Saturday, a DIY builder gives you full creative control.

You’ve got time but not budget. Early-stage businesses often have more hours than dollars. If that’s you, DIY is a legitimate path — just go in with realistic expectations about the time commitment.

Hiring a designer makes sense when…

Your time is more valuable elsewhere. If the 20–40 hours you’d spend building a site could be spent serving clients, growing your business, or just not burning out — the maths often favours hiring someone.

You’ve already tried and stalled. If you signed up six months ago, got 30% through it, and haven’t touched it since — that’s a clear signal. You’re paying for a tool you’re not using. A professional gets it done in weeks while you focus on your business.

You want it to actually perform. A website that shows up in Google searches, loads fast, and converts visitors into enquiries needs more than a template. It needs proper SEO setup, clear copywriting, and a structure built around how people actually use websites. That’s what a good designer delivers.

Your business depends on looking professional. For service-based businesses — tradies, consultants, therapists, coaches — your website is often the first thing a potential client checks after hearing about you. Most consumers see a business with a proper website as more credible than one with just a social media page. A well-built site earns trust before you’ve said a word.

What about the “I’ll do it myself to save money” argument?

I hear this a lot. And sometimes it’s the right call. But run the numbers honestly.

If your time genuinely has no opportunity cost — you’re not turning away paid work to build a website — then DIY is cheaper. But if you could be spending those hours earning revenue, the professional build often costs less in real terms.

And there’s the hidden cost of inaction. A site that sits half-finished for six months while you pay monthly fees hasn’t saved you anything. It’s cost you the subscription plus the business you didn’t get because you weren’t online.

Can you start DIY and upgrade later?

Yes — and this is a perfectly valid approach.

Start with a simple Squarespace or Wix site to test your idea and get online quickly. If the business takes off and you outgrow what the builder can do, hire a professional to build something more robust. You haven’t wasted money — you’ve validated the idea before investing further.

The only thing I’d flag: if you go this route, make sure you register your domain name separately from the builder platform, under your own account. That way, when you do upgrade, you take your web address with you. Don’t let it get locked into a platform you might leave.

Key takeaways

• DIY builders are a legitimate option for simple sites and businesses testing an idea
• The real cost of DIY is your time, not the monthly fee — factor that in honestly
• If you’ve signed up to a builder and stalled, you’re paying for something you’re not using
• Hiring a designer makes sense when your time is better spent on your business
• You can start DIY and upgrade to a professional build later — just own your domain separately

Not sure which path is right for you? Take my 30-second quiz to find out what your business actually needs.