First, a fair warning
I build websites for a living, so I am not neutral. I have kept this to facts you can check: the Wix facts come from Wix’s own help pages, and the rest is how my websites work. Wix is a good product for the right person. The question is whether that person is you.
Who does the work
With Wix, you do. You pick a template, write the words, take and size the photographs, and set it up for Google. Plenty of owners enjoy that, and the editor makes it possible without any code.
With a built website, someone else does. With me, every page is written for you from what you tell me, and the photographs you already have are put where they do the most good. You look at the finished thing and decide.
What you pay, and how often
Wix’s help pages say that connecting your own domain and removing Wix’s adverts needs a paid plan, and that a site needs an active plan to stay connected to that domain. So with Wix, the cost carries on for as long as the site is live on your own address. A free Wix site lives on a wixsite.com address and shows Wix adverts.
A built website is usually paid for once. With me it is £650 built and live, the domain is about £10 a year paid to the registrar in your name, and the hosting costs nothing on the kind of site I build. There is no monthly fee unless you choose monthly care.
What you own, and what you can move
Wix’s help pages say the content you build on Wix belongs to you, but that the site itself has to run on Wix’s servers, because it relies on Wix’s own technology. You cannot take the site to another host. You can transfer a domain you bought through Wix to another provider.
A built website of plain HTML and CSS files runs on any host. With me, once it is paid for, the hosting moves into an account in your name, every login is handed over in writing, and you can have the files as a zip. Any other web person can work on it. There is more on this in who owns my website?.
What happens if you stop paying
On Wix, if the plan expires, Wix’s help pages say the site stays live but moves back to a free Wix address with Wix adverts, and your own domain is disconnected until you pay again.
On a website built and paid for once, there is nothing to stop. If you never send me another message, the site keeps running on the hosting account in your name, as long as you keep renewing the domain.
Changing it later
This is where Wix wins. You can change anything yourself, whenever you like, without asking anyone.
With a built website you either learn to edit the files or ask someone. With me up to five changes are £50, back within two working days, or monthly care covers up to five a month for £29. If you change your website every week and enjoy doing it, that matters, and Wix may be the better fit.
Which to choose
Choose Wix if you want to do it yourself, change it often, and are happy paying a plan for as long as the site is up. Choose a built website if you would rather it was done for you, written properly, paid for once and yours to move. If you already have a Wix site, you do not have to guess: I can rebuild it, send you the link, and you can compare the two side by side.
Sources
Checked against these on 6 October 2026. Rules and help pages change, so check the current version before you rely on a detail.
