Custom website or WordPress? An honest comparison

"What will it be built on?" is a question we hear in almost every enquiry. We build custom websites and WordPress sites, so we have nothing to sell you. Here's how we choose between them.

In short: what's the difference

WordPress is a content management system. The site has an admin where you edit copy, photos, articles or news yourself, without a developer. Features are added with plugins.

A custom website is coded for exactly your purpose. Nothing extra you don't need. We update the content, or we build a simple admin just for the things you change often.

Neither is "better". They suit different situations.

When WordPress makes sense

• You change content often yourself. You write articles, add events, news or project photos and don't want to message us every time.
• Several people work on the site. Each with their own account and role.
• You need common features. A blog, gallery, multiple languages or a simple form. There are proven plugins for that.

The price of convenience: WordPress and its plugins need regular updates. An un-updated site is the most common way someone gets in who shouldn't. That's why we always recommend WordPress together with a care plan in which we look after updates and backups.

When a custom website makes sense

• Speed is a priority. A site without unnecessary add-ons loads faster, which visitors on mobile and search engines both notice.
• You need your own logic. Bookings with capacity limits, a price calculator, a connection to your stock or internal system. Where WordPress would be five plugins that have to cooperate, custom code is simpler and more reliable.
• Content rarely changes. A company presentation you update a few times a year doesn't really need an admin.
• You want minimal maintenance. Fewer third-party add-ons mean fewer updates and fewer places where something can break.

What to ask before you decide

1. Who will edit the site, and how often? If it's you, every week, lean towards WordPress.
2. Do you need something an ordinary website can't do? If yes, lean towards custom.
3. Who will take care of updates? If nobody, WordPress without a care plan is a risk.
4. How important is loading speed? For sites meant to bring enquiries from search, it matters.

And the price?

A simple site costs about the same either way. Scope and features make the difference, not the technology itself. Our price tiers are in the pricing section, with a detailed breakdown in What a website costs and why. How the whole collaboration works is in How we build a website, step by step.

For e-shops the decision is similar, except Shoptet stands where WordPress does here. We go through it in Shoptet, or a custom e-shop?

Not sure which is right for you? Tell us what the site should do and we'll recommend a solution that will still make sense in three years.