Creating a website is a crucial step for any business aiming to build a strong presence online. It's also crucial if you plan to sell online. Before deciding how to make a website, it's common to wonder, should you use a website builder or hire a web developer? Wix offers a powerful website builder.

Choosing the right method for how you build your website is important as it affects not only the initial setup but also the long-term functionality and scalability of your site. Understanding the differences between these two options will help you make the best decision for your business.

What is a website builder?

A website builder is a tool that allows you to create a website without needing to write code. These platforms provide user-friendly interfaces with drag-and-drop functionalities, making it easy for anyone to design and launch a website. Popular website builders like Wix are known for their simplicity and accessibility, meaning you can create a professional-looking (and functioning) site with minimal effort. Wix provides an easy-to-use website builder with designer-made, fully customizable templates.

Website builders typically offer a range of features, including customizable website templates, SEO tools and integration capabilities with various third-party applications — like bookings or print on demand integrations. Wix offers an AI website builder for on-brand, professional design.

What are the advantages of using a website builder?

• Cost-effectiveness and efficiency: Website builders are generally more affordable than hiring a web developer and they can be used to create a website for free, with Wix's website builder paid plans start from $17 a month. They allow you to create a site quickly (and with an AI website builder in minutes) which is ideal for businesses looking to launch a site quickly.
  

• Ease of use: Designed for non-developers, they require no technical skills and their intuitive no-code interfaces make it easy for anyone to build and manage their site. This is a strong pro when deciding why to use a website builder.
  

• Business and marketing integrations: Many website builders offer seamless integration with tools like email marketing services, e-commerce platforms and social media channels. This means you can add a lot of business and marketing functionality to your website without the need for complex coding.

Learn more: How to choose a website builder

How AI website builders are closing the gap with developers

The traditional argument for hiring a developer was design quality and customization. Modern AI website builders have shifted that calculus. With AI-generated layouts content and images tailored to your specific business an AI builder can produce a result that looks polished and bespoke without the developer price tag or timeline. AI also handles the technical setup that historically required developer help SEO meta tags structured data sitemaps responsive design optimization and accessibility checks. For most small to medium businesses today the gap between a well-executed AI builder site and a custom-coded site has narrowed to a point where the developer premium is harder to justify unless you have genuinely unique requirements. Wix Harmony, for example, lets you describe what you want in plain language and Aria builds and refines your site continuously, closing much of the customization gap traditional builders had.

What are some of the limitations of a website builder?

• Customization: While convenient, website builders often have limitations in terms of customization. You may find it challenging to implement unique designs or advanced features as your business grows. This isn't true of all website builders however and there are many, including Wix Studio that allow for more advanced design capabilities.
  

• Professionalism: For businesses requiring highly specialized or complex websites, the lack of customization options can result in a less professional appearance compared to custom-built sites by web developers. It might also limit functionality in some cases.

What is a web developer?

A web developer is a professional skilled in creating and maintaining websites. They play a crucial role in web development, using programming languages like JavaScript, HTML and CSS to build sites from scratch. Web developers are adept at front-end development, which focuses on the user interface, as well as back-end development that handles the server-side operations.

What are the benefits of using a web developer?

• Highly customized websites: Web developers can build websites that are uniquely tailored to your business requirements. This customization ensures that your site can grow and evolve with your business. A highly skilled web developer should be able to build almost anything you ask for in terms of design or functionality.
  

• Professionalism: Developers bring a level of professionalism to your website that is hard to achieve with standard templates. They focus on enhancing user experience by optimizing site performance and design quality.

What are the challenges of using a web developer?

• Higher costs and longer development times: Hiring a web developer can be more expensive than using a website builder. Plus the process often takes longer due to the custom nature of the work involved.
  

• Ongoing maintenance: Working with a developer requires regular communication with them to ensure that the project aligns with your vision. Additionally, ongoing maintenance may be necessary to keep the site updated and secure. You will also need to arrange your own hosting, domain name registration and security - website infrastructure that's a given with a website builder and is maintained by them, not you.

Choosing between a website builder and a web developer often comes down to design ambition. The honest truth is that today's best website builders close most of the design gap thanks to AI, advanced editors and high-quality templates. For the vast majority of businesses, you can get a polished, on-brand site without writing a single line of code, and you can iterate on it yourself as your brand evolves. Shir Berkovitz, design team lead at Wix Studio

What are the main factors to compare between a website builder and web developer?

Cost

When deciding between a website builder and a web developer, cost is a significant factor. Website builders are generally more budget-friendly, offering subscription-based pricing that includes hosting and support. This makes them an attractive option for small to medium businesses with limited budgets. Wix delivers an AI website builder that shortens your time to launch.

In contrast, hiring a web developer involves higher upfront costs due to the custom nature of their work. Prices can range from several hundred to thousands of dollars, depending on the scale and customization of the website.

Flexibility

Website builders might offer limited customization options, which can restrict your ability to create unique designs or implement specific functionalities. This is changing however and there are many advanced website builders, like Wix Studio that offer headless CMS, responsive website templates and capabilities such as custom CSS and breakpoints for more advanced web design. Wix Harmony is powered by Aria, an agentic AI trained on millions of real Wix websites.

Web developers provide greater flexibility, allowing you to achieve bespoke designs and complex features that align with your brand identity.

Learn more: What is web design?

Scalability

As your business grows, your website needs may change. Website builders can be limiting in terms of scalability, as they may not support advanced features or high traffic volumes effectively. This is not always the case however — if your website builder has reliable site infrastructure (Wix has 99.99% uptime, for example) it can handle scale both in terms of traffic, sales or whatever you need. Wix Harmony pairs vibe coding with Aria, an AI assistant that can build and manage sites end-to-end.

The website builder you pick should match where your business is going, not just where it is today. Look at how it handles growth, scale and changing customer needs, because the cost of switching platforms later is far higher than picking the right one upfront. Shira Re'em, head of community at Wix Studio

Web developers can build scalable websites from the start that accommodate growth, so that your site remains functional and efficient as your business expands, without too many changes or upgrades.

How to make the choice between a website builder and web developer?

When choosing between a website builder and a web developer, consider the following in relation to your own business:

• Budget: Assess your financial resources and determine how much you can allocate to website creation.

• Business goals: Identify your long-term objectives and how your website will support them.

• Complexity of your needs: Evaluate whether your site requires advanced features or custom designs.

• Timeframe: Consider how quickly you need to launch your website.

When to choose a website builder

A website builder is the right call if you're a small business owner solopreneur freelancer or creator who needs a professional site live in days not months. It's also the right pick if your budget is limited and you'd rather invest in marketing inventory or your craft than upfront development fees. If your site is mostly informational a portfolio a service business landing page a small online store or a content blog a modern website builder can deliver everything you need with built-in hosting templates SEO tools and payments out of the box. If you want the ability to update and iterate on your own without waiting for a developer's schedule a builder gives you that ownership.

When to hire a web developer

A web developer is the right call when your site has requirements that exceed what any builder reasonably supports: deeply custom workflows complex database structures bespoke integrations with internal business systems unusual performance demands at extreme scale or a pixel-perfect brand design that no template can approximate. Established mid-market and enterprise businesses with dedicated tech teams typically work with developers because they need full control over every layer of the stack. If your site is the core revenue engine of a complex business and you have the budget and timeline for a 5-15 week custom build a developer delivers tailored results a builder can't match.

Website builder vs web developer FAQ

I'm on a tight budget, is a website builder a good idea?

Yes, absolutely. Most website templates are designed professionally and are so high-quality that most customers won't know or care you did it yourself.