Essay · 7 min read
May 2026
Wix vs Squarespace vs Custom: 5-Year Real Cost Breakdown
What you actually pay for a website over five years — including platform rent, transaction fees, redesign costs, and the hidden math nobody talks about.
The setup
Most website cost comparisons stop at the upfront price. That's how Wix and Squarespace win the comparison — they look cheap at month one. The real number is total cost of ownership over the life of the site, which for most businesses is 3-5 years.
Here's the actual math, no platform marketing involved.
Wix Premium — 5-year total: $1,140 to $4,200
- Wix Premium plan: $14-30/mo (most service businesses end up on Business Basic at $30/mo)
- Apps and add-ons: $5-30/mo extra (forms, SEO tools, automation)
- Transaction fees on Wix Stores: 1.5%
- Domain: $15-30/yr
- Annual platform price increases: 7-12% per year compound
5-year cost for a basic service business site: ~$1,800-2,400 in pure platform fees. For an e-commerce site doing $50K/year: add $3,750 in transaction fees over five years.
You also don't own anything you can take with you. If Wix raises prices or shuts down a feature, you're rebuilding from scratch.
Squarespace — 5-year total: $1,440 to $4,500
- Business plan: $23-49/mo (most settle at $33/mo)
- Squarespace Commerce transaction fee: 0% on top tiers, 3% on Business plan
- Apps and integrations: similar add-on cost to Wix
- Domain: $20/yr first year, $40/yr after
5-year cost for a basic site: ~$2,000-3,000. For e-commerce doing $50K/year on the Business plan: add $7,500 in transaction fees.
Squarespace looks better than Wix at first because the Commerce plan has 0% fees. But the Commerce plan is $40/mo and required for the fee waiver. Math swings on volume.
WordPress + hosting — 5-year total: $1,200 to $6,000+
- Hosting (decent): $30-100/mo
- Premium theme: $80 one-time, then $80/yr renewal for updates
- Premium plugins (forms, SEO, security, backup): $200-500/yr
- Maintenance/updates: 2-4 hours/month at $75/hr if outsourced = $1,800-3,600/yr
- Inevitable hack/breach within 5 years: $500-2,000 cleanup
5-year cost if you maintain it yourself: ~$2,500. If you pay someone: $8,000-15,000 over five years.
WordPress is the most expensive over time despite looking cheap. Plugin compatibility breaks. Themes get abandoned. Security patches require constant attention.
Custom-built (the work I do) — 5-year total: $750 to $2,800
- Initial build: $750-2,500 one-time
- Hosting on Cloudflare Pages: $0/mo (free tier handles 100K+ visits)
- Domain: $12/yr
- Optional maintenance: $50/mo, cancel anytime — $0 if you don't need updates
- No transaction fees (Stripe direct: 2.9% + 30¢, same as Wix's processor underneath)
- No platform price increases — you own the code
5-year cost for a basic site, no maintenance: ~$810. With maintenance the whole time: $3,810. For e-commerce doing $50K/year: $810 + $7,250 in Stripe fees you'd pay anywhere = $8,060 — but no platform rent on top.
The hidden cost nobody mentions: redesign at year 3
Wix and Squarespace sites typically need a "refresh" every 2-3 years because the platforms push new editor versions, themes go out of style, or the site stops looking modern. That's another $500-2,000 in upfront cost OR another $20-40/mo for a "premium" theme upgrade.
Custom sites built on Next.js + Tailwind don't have this problem because the technology stack doesn't shift visually every year. The site I shipped in 2023 still looks current in 2026 because the design choices weren't dependent on a platform's evolving UI.
The ownership question
This isn't strictly a cost issue but it's worth naming: Wix and Squarespace sites can't be migrated. If the platform changes pricing, sunsets a feature, or you outgrow them, you rebuild from scratch. Custom code transfers to any host, anywhere, anytime. That's optionality you pay for once.
The honest summary
| Option | Year 1 | Year 5 total (basic) | Year 5 total (commerce, $50K/yr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wix | $360 | $1,800-2,400 | $5,500-6,150 |
| Squarespace | $416 | $2,000-3,000 | $9,500-10,500 |
| WordPress (DIY) | $300-600 | $2,000-2,500 | $3,500-5,000 |
| WordPress (managed) | $1,800-2,400 | $8,000-15,000 | $10,000-18,000 |
| Custom-built | $762 | $810-3,810 | $8,060 |
When each makes sense
- Wix — testing an idea, no real budget, willing to migrate later
- Squarespace — pure visual portfolio, no commerce, designer aesthetic priority
- WordPress (DIY) — comfortable with technical maintenance, content-heavy site
- WordPress (managed) — almost never the right choice for service businesses
- Custom — established business that knows what it needs and wants to own the asset
The real take
Custom-built websites cost less than Wix over 5 years for almost every service business scenario, despite costing 2-3× more upfront. The math flips because platform fees compound. People miss this because they're optimizing for month 1 instead of year 5.
If you want the math run on your specific business — current platform, traffic, transaction volume — send me your details on WhatsApp. Five-minute response, no obligation. Or see what each tier of custom build actually includes.
Want this kind of work for your business?
Custom websites that bring in customers — three days from kickoff to live, sub-second loads, ranking on Google from week one.