Where your money is actually going
A hosted CMS lumps your hosting, editor, and templates into one recurring bill, then charges you extra for the features you still need. Turns out most of those things are nearly free.
On a hosted CMS
Wordpress, Squarespace, Wix, you know the ones.
- ·A subscription bill every month, forever, for every site you own
- ·A pricier tier to unlock ecommerce, analytics, or your own code
- ·Paid plugins and themes, each with its own sneaky renewal date
- ·Price hikes you never agreed to and can't opt out of
- ·A full rebuild if you ever want out, because your content is stuck to the platform
On a site I build for you
Real code, regular hosting.
- ·Hosting that's often free at your traffic level, or just a few bucks per month
- ·Your domain renewal, which you were already paying for
- ·No subscription, no tiers, no plugin renewals
- ·Every file is yours, so you can move hosts whenever you feel like it. Nothing to rebuild.
- ·One project fee to me, and then it's yours forever
Most small business sites are a few pages and a contact form. That doesn't need a database, a login, or a subscription. And once you stop paying for all of it, the savings pile up every year you're online.