Website Builder vs WordPress: Which Should a Small Business Use?
Time, cost, control and what happens when you want to leave — compared from building the same site eight times.
Time to launch
Our five-page test site took 79 minutes on GoDaddy, 94 on Squarespace, 102 on Hostinger, 131 on Wix and 139 on WordPress.com. Self-hosted WordPress would add hosting setup and theme choice on top.
Cost over three years
Hostinger's builder is the cheapest (about $108 with hosting and a first-year domain). Squarespace Core is about $830; Wix Core about $1,040. Self-hosted WordPress on shared hosting from our hosting ranking is $100–$470 plus a theme.
Control
Builders stop where their features stop. WordPress has a plugin for nearly everything, at the price of maintaining it.
Leaving
Wix, Squarespace, Shopify, GoDaddy and Hostinger do not export a working site. WordPress.com and Webflow do.
Our rule
Brochure site, portfolio, small shop: Squarespace. Store: Shopify. Content you will build for years: WordPress.
» See the full rankings: Best Website Builders of 2026, Best Website Builders for Small Business, Best Website Builders for Blogging .