The Hidden Costs of Website Builders

"$16 per month." "$14 per month." "Start for free."

Website builder pricing looks straightforward. Pick a plan, pay monthly, get a website. Simple, right?

Not quite. That advertised price is just the beginning. Let's break down what you're actually paying when you build on Squarespace, Wix, WordPress.com, or similar platforms.

The Advertised Price (What They Show You)

Let's use real numbers. As of early 2026, here's what the major platforms advertise:

• Squarespace Business: $27/month (billed annually)
• Wix Business: $27/month (billed annually)
• WordPress.com Business: $25/month (billed annually)

Seems reasonable for a professional website. But this is the "billed annually" price—meaning you're actually paying $300+ upfront. And that's before the hidden costs kick in.

Hidden Cost #1: Transaction Fees

Selling products or services online? Most platforms take a cut of every sale on their lower-tier plans.

• Squarespace Business: 3% transaction fee on all sales
• Wix: No transaction fees, but payment processing fees still apply
• Both: Payment processor fees (Stripe, PayPal) add another 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction

If you're doing $5,000/month in sales, that 3% platform fee alone costs $150/month—on top of your subscription. That's $1,800/year you didn't see in the pricing page.

Hidden Cost #2: Apps and Extensions

That "all-in-one" platform isn't actually all-in-one. Want advanced features? You'll need apps.

• Email marketing integration: $10-50/month
• Advanced booking/scheduling: $15-30/month
• SEO tools: $10-30/month
• Form builders with logic: $10-25/month
• Backup solutions: $5-15/month

A typical small business easily spends $50-100/month on add-ons. That "$27/month" website is now $77-127/month.

Hidden Cost #3: Premium Templates

Free templates exist, but they're limited. Want something that doesn't look like everyone else's site? Premium templates run $50-200. And when you switch templates, you often have to rebuild your content structure from scratch.

Hidden Cost #4: Storage and Bandwidth Limits

Check the fine print on storage limits:

• Video hosting often counts against storage caps
• High traffic can hit bandwidth limits
• Exceeding limits means upgrading to a more expensive plan

These limits rarely matter for small sites. But grow your business, and you'll hit them—right when you can least afford platform migration headaches.

Hidden Cost #5: Domain and Email

"Free domain for the first year!" Great. Year two? That's $20-50 for domain renewal through the platform—often more than registering directly through a domain registrar.

Professional email ([email protected])? That's extra too. Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 runs $6-12/user/month. The platform might offer it bundled, but you're still paying.

Hidden Cost #6: Design Changes

Website builders limit what you can customize. When you need something outside their templates—a specific layout, custom functionality, a unique interaction—you have two options:

1. Hire a platform specialist. Developers who work within Squarespace or Wix constraints charge $75-150/hour. And they're fighting the platform every step.
2. Accept the limitation. Your vision compromises to fit the tool.

With custom code, a developer implements what you need. With platforms, they implement what's possible.

Hidden Cost #7: Migration

Eventually, every business outgrows its platform. Maybe you need features it doesn't offer. Maybe prices increased too much. Maybe the platform is sunsetting your template.

Migration from a website builder typically means:

• Exporting content (often incomplete)
• Losing your design entirely
• Rebuilding from scratch on a new platform
• Paying a developer $2,000-10,000+ to recreate what you had

All that monthly subscription money? It bought you nothing transferable.

The Real Five-Year Cost

Let's add it up for a typical small business website on a major platform:

• Base subscription: $27/month × 60 months = $1,620
• Essential apps/add-ons: $50/month × 60 months = $3,000
• Domain renewals: $40/year × 5 years = $200
• Professional email: $12/month × 60 months = $720
• One template change: $150
• Two rounds of custom tweaks: $800

Five-year total: $6,490+

And at the end? You own nothing. Cancel your subscription, and your website vanishes.

The Alternative

A custom-coded website costs more upfront—typically $2,000-10,000 depending on complexity. But consider what you get:

• No monthly platform fees. Hosting costs $5-20/month, or nothing if you self-host.
• No transaction fees beyond payment processing.
• No app subscriptions. Features are built in.
• No migration costs. Your code works anywhere.
• No forced upgrades. Change happens on your schedule.

Five-year cost of a $5,000 custom site with $10/month hosting: $5,600. Less than the platform, and you own an asset.

When Platforms Make Sense

Website builders aren't always wrong. They work for:

• Quick experiments and MVPs
• Temporary sites (events, campaigns)
• Non-technical users who need something today
• Businesses that might pivot significantly

But for established businesses planning to operate for years? The math rarely favors renting over owning.

Questions to Ask

Before committing to a website builder, ask:

1. What's the total cost including all features I'll need?
2. What can I export if I leave?
3. What happens to my site if I stop paying?
4. What are the limits I might hit as I grow?
5. What's the cost to migrate away in three years?

The answers might change your calculation.