Website builder or custom website: which fits your SME?
Short answer: a website builder (Wix, Squarespace, Jimdo) fits if the budget is minimal and you enjoy doing it yourself. A custom-built website fits if the site is supposed to bring in customers, your time is scarce, or you want to grow. The honest comparison, point by point.
The head-to-head comparison
| Criterion | Website builder (Wix & co.) | Custom-built |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | CHF 0–500 | from approx. CHF 4'000 |
| Running costs | CHF 150–500/year (subscription) | Domain + hosting from approx. CHF 100/year; maintenance optional |
| Your time investment | High: design, copy, upkeep yourself | Low: you bring the knowledge, the studio does the rest |
| Design | Templates — solid, but interchangeable | Distinctive, matching your brand |
| Loading speed | Medium to sluggish (lots of bundled scripts) | Very fast possible (lean code) |
| SEO | Basics are doable, limits in tech fine-tuning and speed | Full control over structure, speed and content |
| Multilingualism | Depending on the provider, tedious or paid | Cleanly implementable (DE/FR/IT/EN) |
| Data protection (Swiss FADP) | US providers, data flows hard to control | Free choice of hosting, no third-party scripts needed |
| Ownership & moving | Website stays with the provider — moving means rebuilding | Code and content belong to you, portable |
| Limits | Booking, integrations and special requests quickly hit limits | Grows with you: booking, integrations, portal |
When the builder is the right choice
Honestly: for a club, a hobby project or a very first web presence with a budget near zero, a builder is sensible. If you enjoy designing and the website is mainly a business card, you will do fine — provided someone actually maintains it.
When the custom website pays off
As soon as the website is supposed to bring in enquiries, the things templates do poorly start to matter: loading speed, clean SEO, copy that sells, and a presence that does not look like a template. Then there is the time maths: 40–80 hours of your own work in a builder — at your hourly rate — often costs more than a studio's fixed price.
The often overlooked point is ownership: with a builder, you rent your website. Cancel the subscription and it is gone. A custom-built website belongs to you — code, copy, design — and moves with you wherever you want.
Builder vs custom — quick answers
Can I switch from a builder to a custom website later?
Yes, and it is a common path. You can take your domain, copy and images with you; the design gets rebuilt. Plan the switch before the builder becomes a brake on growth — not after.
Do I keep my domain and email addresses?
Yes. The domain belongs to you (as long as it is registered in your name) and simply moves. Email addresses stay unchanged as long as the mailbox is not hosted by the builder provider.
Are builder websites bad for Google?
Not fundamentally — the basics (titles, copy, structure) work there too. Limits show up in loading speed, technical fine-tuning and multilingualism. For local searches, content quality often decides, not the tool.
What does switching to a custom website cost?
With us, like a new build: from CHF 4'900 at a fixed price, copy and SEO basics included. We keep existing content where it is good — and tell you honestly where starting fresh is better.
Not sure what fits you?
In the initial consultation we look at your situation honestly — even if the answer is "a builder is enough".