Why You Should Definitely Not Use a Website Builder in 2025.

The Real Cost of Drag-and-Drop Convenience.

If you’re considering using top website builders like Wix, Squarespace, Hostinger, or any big-name website building platforms this year – my advice is not to.

I bang on about these things all the time, but I always try to make this clear: I think the people who create these things are amazing – they are such complex apps and there are talented teams behind them, but they are just not right for businesses that are serious about their websites.

They promise sleek website templates, AI shortcuts, and a drag-and-drop editor with all the bells and whistles. But if you’re serious about your site – if it’s supposed to do something for your business – you need more than marketing buzzwords and subscription fluff.

Let’s get honest about what these platforms offer (and what they don’t).

Advertising tells you these website builders are great: I am telling you they are not.

You know the saying:

Pay peanuts, get monkeys.

But in the world of business, this is serious. If you are working your arse off to build your business, the last thing you need is some snakeoil shit telling you to create your website on WIX.

These are complex and clever products, but even the developers behind them surely know that they are not anywhere near as good as a professionally built website.

The Best Website Builder Myth: Built for Hobbyists, Not Businesses.

Every company claims to be the best website builder of 2025. Wix offers over 2,000 templates and a shiny drag-and-drop builder. Squarespace gives you “award-winning” designs. GoDaddy can create a website in 30 seconds. Hostinger throws in an AI website builder with AI tools for content and images.

That sounds impressive until you realise all of this is designed for consumer-level users. It’s for people dabbling, not serious website building.

You know why they all show up on all these shitty affiliate sites? They pay money to be there – they are not there because they are any good or because they have the marketing budget to be there.

These platforms are fine if you’re a wedding photographer making a personal website, or you want a free website about sourdough.

If you are serious about your website and the success of your business, how far do you think £2.99 per month is going to get you?

They’re simply not fit for purpose.

You’re picking from pre-made layouts. You’re building inside tight guardrails with limited ecommerce features. You’re not designing anything – you’re filling out a form to build a website.

You Don’t Own Your Own Website.

That lovely Wix website builder creation? It’s not your own website. You’re renting the infrastructure and web hosting. The same goes for Squarespace, GoDaddy, and other website builders. If you stop paying – or decide to leave – you start again from scratch. You can’t just migrate your website data somewhere else. You’re locked in.

Even their forever-free plan options, which seem appealing at first glance, come with ad banners, subdomains, and stripped-down features. Want a custom domain or a free domain name to remove ads? Get your wallet out.

You’re Paying for Limitations, Not Value for Money.

Yes, Hostinger and GoDaddy’s builder plans start at £2.69 and £2.99/month, respectively. Wix starts around $17, and Squarespace is about £12. But those are entry points for basic plans, not a premium website builder experience.

By the way, these are not affilicate links to these sites, I don’t do that.

Want to sell online with e-commerce capabilities? Extra. Marketing tools and built-in marketing tools? Extra. Booking functionality for your small business website? More extras.

Wix’s ecommerce website tools are solid – if you pay more for their premium plan. Hostinger won’t charge transaction fees for your online store, but only if you’re using their ecommerce plan. You’ll constantly be bumping into paywalls, even with a free day trial.

If you’re building something for your online business, you shouldn’t choose the right website builder based on the cheapest.

Free Templates Mean You’re Just One of Many.

The most attractive website templates from Wix, Squarespace, Hostinger and others are available to everyone – lots of free templates. But everyone else gets the same ones. That’s how you look like every other life coach, yoga studio or startup founder.

Now, I am a firm believer that it’s what your website says rather than what it looks like. If you asked 1000 designers to design your homepage, you’d get 1000 different results, but you really don’t want to look the same as everyone else.

Same design also means the same code; this is something else I think Google is getting savvy about. Hey. look at all these websites with pretty much exactly the same code: is this a link farm or PBN (and therefore shit…).

With Wix, once you’ve picked a template and gone live, you can’t change it without rebuilding your entire site. How’s that for a user-friendly experience?

“Customisation” Isn’t Really Custom for Professional Looking Websites.

Sure, Wix and Squarespace offer some CSS editing capabilities. Hostinger gives you its drag-and-drop editor. Squarespace lets you fiddle with HTML, competing with a WordPress website in flexibility.

But true customisation – structural control, performance tuning, advanced ecommerce features, integration with third party apps – is almost always out of reach or hidden behind “developer mode” not aimed at developers with coding knowledge.

You’re customising within their walls, not building a professional-looking website that’s truly unique.

The AI Tools and AI Image Generator Stuff is a Gimmick.

Hostinger and Wix brag about their AI website builder capabilities. GoDaddy says you can build a website in under a minute with their AI tools. Squarespace uses an AI image generator to guide you through setup.

But here’s the thing – AI can generate some images, suggest layouts from stunning templates, maybe spit out a few paragraphs of placeholder content – but it can’t plan your structure, write compelling copy, or perform design. That still takes actual strategy.

Their AI tools are shortcuts to mediocrity, not advanced tools for serious website building.

SEO Tools and Marketing Tools Are Half-Baked.

Every site builder tells you they come with built in SEO tools and marketing and SEO tools. That usually means you can set a title tag and meta description, connect to Google Analytics, and get your site noticed by search engines. Whoop-de-doo.

Some include basic social sharing, a newsletter tool, or Google integrations, but real business tools? Proper content planning, structured data, and site performance tuning for search engines – none of that comes with most website builders out of the box.

Wix and Squarespace offer marketing apps through their app market – email, automation, and upsells. But you’ll need to wade through app stores (Wix has over 800 third-party apps) and keep signing up for more paid add-ons to make the same tools useful across as many websites as you manage.

Customer Support Exists – But 24/7 Customer Support is Still Limited.

Most of them brag about 24/7 customer support and phone support. You get scripted live chat, robotic ticketing systems, and agents reading from a FAQ sheet. Good luck if anything goes genuinely wrong with your test website.

And if you’re on a free plan or low-tier subscription, expect to wait longer – or not get help at all when you need to create a website quickly.

Free Plans and Free Website Promises Are Just Bait.

Wix, Hostinger, GoDaddy, and other website builders offer free website creation. However, the free plan version comes with branding slapped on your site, no free domain, and limited control over e-commerce features.

Want a free SSL certificate and proper web hosting? That’s extra. Looking for a content management system that actually works for small businesses? Upgrade required.

It’s not a solution – it’s a sales funnel. You’re a conversion waiting to happen.

You Get a Template – Not a Strategy

All the website builders sell ease and speed over substance. What you get is a compromised tool, limited by someone else’s idea of what a website should be – not a whole website builder experience.

If your business is more than a hobby, don’t box it into a platform never meant for growth. A premium website builder should give you control, not take it away.

Want a site that reflects you? One that performs, scales, and doesn’t break when you breathe on it?

Don’t build on Wix. Don’t hack around in Squarespace. Don’t fall for GoDaddy’s AI speed-run. Hire someone who knows what they’re doing to make your own online store and professional website.

Get a bespoke-built WordPress site that is fit for purpose.

Your website is your most valuable marketing tool, so if you are serious about your business, your company website must be as good as it can be.

If a tight budget is pushing you towards a site builder, take a step back and ask yourself this:

Is my business going to succeed with some shitty website that’s cobbled together or does it require a professionally written, designed and built site that will last years and grow as my business grows?

FAQs.

Is there any case where a website builder is a good idea?

Yes – if you’re a hobbyist, building a personal website or one-pager for a side project, or testing out an idea without spending money. Just don’t expect to scale or get serious results from it. Small businesses looking to sell online need more than basic website-building tools.

What about SEO – don’t they say they include built-in seo tools?

They include a few token features like meta tags and sitemaps, but they don’t give you the flexibility or power you get from a properly built WordPress website or custom setup. Fundamental SEO tools require more than basic built-in features.

I saw a free website plan – what’s the catch?

Free website plans almost always include ads, use a subdomain (like yoursite.wix.com), and strip out the best features like custom domain options and advanced tools. They’re designed to upsell you to a premium plan.

Aren’t website templates better for non-designers?

Only if you’re OK with looking like everyone else using the same stunning templates.

Templates are rigid, and once you want to stand out or add new functionality to your online business, they become a limitation rather than a shortcut.

Don’t all websites need some support?

Exactly – and relying on ticket-based or chatbot support from a generic SaaS platform is a gamble. If your site matters to your business, get a human who knows what they’re doing rather than hoping 24/7 customer support can solve complex issues.