For most Hobart businesses, WordPress is the best platform choice — it balances flexibility, SEO capability, and ownership without the high cost of a fully custom build. Wix works for quick, simple sites. Custom development suits businesses with complex needs. Here’s an honest breakdown.
[image of three website platforms compared side by side on screens]
Wix — Easy but Locked In
Wix is a drag-and-drop website builder. You pick a template, customise it visually, and publish. Hosting, SSL, security, and updates are all included. You can have a basic site live in an afternoon.
Pros
- Genuinely beginner-friendly — no coding required
- All-in-one pricing: hosting, domain, and security bundled
- Built-in SEO tools have improved significantly, with sitemaps, meta tags, and structured data handled automatically
- Fast launch — hours to days, not weeks
Cons
- Template lock-in — switching designs means rebuilding
- Vendor lock-in — you can’t easily export your site to another platform. Your content lives in Wix’s ecosystem
- Monthly subscription costs add up over time. A mid-tier business plan runs $30–$40/month, every year, forever
- Limited deep customisation — constrained by what Wix’s app market offers
Wix suits a sole trader who needs a simple three-page presence and doesn’t plan to scale significantly. The moment you want to own your site, rank competitively, or add custom functionality, the limitations become apparent.
WordPress — Flexible and Ownable
WordPress powers over 40% of all websites globally. We’re talking about self-hosted WordPress.org — the open-source version you install on your own hosting — not WordPress.com, which is a managed service with restrictions on lower tiers.
Pros
- Full ownership — your files, your database, your domain, your hosting. Nobody can change the rules on you
- Massive ecosystem of themes and plugins (60,000+) for SEO, e-commerce, bookings, memberships, forms, and virtually anything else
- Excellent SEO capabilities — plugins like Rank Math or Yoast give you granular control over meta tags, schema, sitemaps, and content optimisation
- Scalable — start with five pages, grow to fifty. Add a blog, an online store, a booking system. Same platform
- Cost-effective long-term. The software is free. You pay for hosting ($15–$40/month) and any premium plugins or themes
Cons
- Steeper learning curve than Wix. The dashboard takes time to understand
- You (or your developer) handle updates, security, and backups. WordPress is a popular target for hackers because of its market share — plugin and theme vulnerabilities are the most common entry point
- Performance depends on hosting and theme quality. A poorly built WordPress site can be slow
For a Hobart business that wants to grow — add services, rank on Google, build a content marketing engine — WordPress is the pragmatic choice. The maintenance burden is real but manageable with a decent host and a developer who sets things up properly from the start.
Custom — Maximum Control, Maximum Cost
A custom site is built from scratch using modern frameworks — Next.js, Astro, React, or similar — often with a headless CMS for content management. Nothing is off-the-shelf.
Pros
- Complete design freedom — your site looks like nothing else
- Top-tier performance. Custom sites can hit 95–100 on PageSpeed Insights, with clean code and no plugin bloat
- SEO is built into the architecture rather than bolted on
- Unlimited integrations — connect to any API, CRM, or system you use
- Full code ownership and a smaller security attack surface
Cons
- Highest upfront cost — $5,000 to $25,000+ for a business site, more for complex builds
- Longer timeline — weeks to months, not days
- Every change requires a developer. No drag-and-drop editing for non-technical staff
Custom development makes sense when your website is a core part of your product — a booking platform, a marketplace, a tool that does something no plugin can. For a standard business website, it’s usually more than you need.
Cost Over Three Years
Wix runs ~$1,200–$1,500 in subscription fees over three years — simple but you never own the asset. WordPress costs ~$3,000–$6,000 upfront plus $500–$1,000/year in hosting and maintenance — higher initial outlay, but you own the site. Custom starts at $5,000–$15,000+ plus ongoing developer costs — justified only by specific needs.
Our Take
If you’re a Hobart business with growth intentions — and most are — WordPress gives you the best long-term value. You own your site, control your SEO, and can extend it as your business evolves. Wix is fine for getting online quickly, but the subscription costs compound and the lock-in stings when you want to leave. Custom is powerful but rarely necessary for a standard business website. Pick a platform that grows with you.
Sources: QuickSprout — WordPress vs Wix · LM Prod — Wix vs WordPress vs Custom 2026 · Codivox — WordPress vs Custom for Small Business · ZDNet — Best Website Builder for SEO
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