Website maker or done-for-you? A three-year cost check
Updated October 4, 2026
At the prices we checked, a Wix Light or Squarespace Basic plan costs $612 or $684 over three years before you count any time. A $99 a year done-for-you site costs $297 over the same period, with the domain included. Your own hours change the totals, so this worksheet adds them in at a rate you can change.
What does a website maker cost over three years?
Start with the subscription, then add your time. Wix Light is $17 a month billed yearly, or $204 a year, as we checked it in September 2026. Squarespace Basic is $19 a month billed annually, or $228 a year, according to its pricing page. Over three years that is $612 for Wix and $684 for Squarespace.
Your time is the part you cannot look up. We assumed 12 hours to build the site, the midpoint of the 9 to 15 hours in our step-by-step guide to building a small business website, plus one hour a month of edits. That comes to 48 hours over three years. Those are assumptions, so swap in your own numbers.
How do the three options compare on total cost?
Each total below uses $40 an hour as a placeholder for your time. Change the rate and every total moves.
| Option | Subscription, 3 years | Your hours, 3 years | Total at $40 an hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wix Light, you build and edit | $612 | 48 | $2,532 |
| Squarespace Basic, annual, you build and edit | $684 | 48 | $2,604 |
| Done-for-you plan, you answer questions and send requests | $297 | 2 | $377 |
The done-for-you row is the $99 a year plan, with the domain included and no setup fee. It assumes 2 hours in total: a 10-minute questionnaire, your approvals, and the change requests you send over three years. Those 2 hours are our guess. Your own number may be higher if you write long requests or review every draft closely.
At what point does a builder cost less?
A builder comes out cheaper only if the done-for-you route takes you more time than the builder route. The gap in subscriptions is $315 against Wix and $387 against Squarespace. At $40 an hour, that is about 8 hours and about 10 hours. So a builder would need your done-for-you route to cost you roughly 8 to 10 more hours over three years.
The Launch plan covers 2 change requests a month. An owner who regularly needs more than that is looking at the next plan up, which is covered below. Unlimited changes cost more. Grow is $290 a year, or $870 over three years, with changes made the same business day. That is $258 more than Wix Light and $186 more than Squarespace Basic. At $40 an hour, Grow only wins if it saves you about 4.7 to 6.5 hours over three years, depending on which builder you compare it with.
Does a builder ever win?
A builder earns its place on control. If you enjoy the editor, like testing layouts yourself, or have a staff member who already keeps the site current, you can change any page at any hour. At these prices, you pay more for that control over three years.
The question is how you feel about the work itself. Some owners find that editing a site is a pleasant way to spend an evening, and others put it off for weeks. Our website builders vs done-for-you websites guide covers how to tell which group you are in. Our comparison of done-for-you websites and building it yourself goes further on what the provider does and what stays with you.
What should you check before you trust the totals?
Three things can move the totals. The first is whether the plan includes a domain. Squarespace says that plans bought on an annual term "include one (1) year of free domain registration on available domains," so renewal is a separate cost after year one. The second is the value of your own hours. The third is how many change requests you will really send. Count last month's changes before you pick a plan.
Frequently asked questions
Is a website maker always cheaper than a done-for-you website?
Not at the prices we checked. Over three years, Wix Light and Squarespace Basic each cost more than a $99 a year done-for-you site, before you count any of your time. A maker can still be the right choice when you want to control every edit yourself.
How many hours does it take to build a site yourself?
Our step-by-step guide puts a basic site at 9 to 15 hours, with writing the copy as the biggest job. Your number depends on how much material you already have. Track your first session to see your own figure, then update the worksheet.
What does a done-for-you site ask of me?
You answer a 10-minute questionnaire and approve the site before it goes live. After that, you send change requests in your account. On the Launch plan, 2 requests a month are done within 2 business days.
Does the three-year total include the domain?
Only when the plan includes one. The $99 done-for-you plan includes the domain, registered in your name. For a builder, check whether the first year is free and what renewal costs, then add that to the years after it.
The short version
A website maker suits an owner who wants to make every edit personally and has the time to do it. At the prices we checked, it costs more over three years than a $99 a year done-for-you site, even before your hours. Put your own hours and your own change count into the worksheet, then choose the option you will keep current. If you would rather hand off the work, Front Step Sites is $99 a year with the domain included and no setup fee.