On this page
Use a website builder if you need a simple site quickly, you have more time than budget, and you are happy to do the writing, design and upkeep yourself. Hire a web designer if the website has to bring in enquiries or sales, you need South African payments or a proper shop, or you simply do not have the hours to learn a builder and keep it up to date.
A builder looks cheaper on day one, but it charges every month or year for as long as the site exists, and several builders, including Shopify and WordPress.com, price in US dollars. A designer charges once, and you then pay for hosting and a domain. Over three years, a builder's fees can easily pass the cost of a once-off package. The other differences are who does the work, who owns the result and how easily you can move it. We sell web design, so we have a stake in this, but we have set out both sides, including when a builder is the better choice.
Key takeaways
- A builder is a monthly or yearly subscription. A designer is usually a once-off fee plus hosting and a domain each year.
- Shopify's South African pricing page and WordPress.com's pricing page show US dollars, so your rand cost moves with the exchange rate.
- Wix sites cannot be moved to another host, and Squarespace exports leave out shop pages, products and your design.
- Shopify Payments is not listed for South Africa, and Shopify's pricing page adds a fee on sales through third-party payment providers.
- Whichever route you choose, POPIA still requires a lawful basis for processing personal information, a privacy notice and secure storage, and online sellers must show the details required by the ECT Act.
The Short Answer: Builder, Designer or Somewhere in Between
Here is how the two routes compare at a glance.
| DIY website builder | Web designer | |
|---|---|---|
| Who does the work | You: layout, writing, photos, SEO settings, updates | The designer builds it; you supply content and approve |
| How you pay | Monthly or yearly subscription, sometimes in US dollars | Once-off build fee, then yearly hosting and domain |
| Time to launch | As fast as you can work, usually evenings and weekends | From about a day (static site) to about a week (WordPress) once content is in |
| Design | Templates you adjust yourself | Built around your business, brand and customers |
| Moving it later | Limited or not possible, depending on the builder | WordPress and static sites can move to any host |
| SA payments | Depends on the builder; check before you build | PayFast, Yoco or Peach set up for you |
| Best for | Hobby sites, testing an idea, a tiny budget with plenty of time | Businesses that need leads or sales and want someone to call |
There is also a middle route: a designer builds the site, then hands it over with an editor so you can change text and photos yourself.
What a Website Builder Gives You
A website builder is a hosted service where you pick a template, drag sections into place and type your content. Wix, Squarespace, Shopify and WordPress.com are the best-known examples. The platform handles hosting, security updates and SSL, so there is nothing to install.
The trade-off is that you are renting the platform. Here is what the main builders say on their own pricing and help pages, checked on 5 November 2026:
- Wix has a free plan, but free sites run on a wixsite.com address and carry a Wix banner ad at the top, according to Wix's own help centre. A custom domain needs a paid plan. Wix's plans page says prices and currency vary by location, and the prices it displays are for yearly plans paid up front.
- Squarespace has no free plan, only a 14-day trial. Its pricing page showed rand prices when we checked, and its Basic plan charges a 2% fee on online store sales.
- Shopify lists its plans in US dollars even on its South African pricing page: Basic is US$19 a month paid yearly or US$25 paid monthly.
- WordPress.com also prices in US dollars. Its free plan shows WordPress.com ads to visitors, and paid plans charge a transaction fee on payments, from 8% on Personal down to 0% on Commerce, according to its pricing page.
What a Web Designer Actually Does
A good web designer does far more than pick colours. The work usually covers:
- Planning and copy help: which pages you need, what each should rank for, and clear headings and calls to action (call, WhatsApp, buy or enquire).
- Design and build: a mobile-first layout that matches your logo and looks trustworthy on a budget Android phone.
- Technical setup: hosting, your .co.za domain, business email, SSL, forms, WhatsApp buttons and, for shops, a local payment gateway.
- SEO foundations: page titles, meta descriptions, a sitemap and Google Search Console.
- Handover: logins, an editor, and someone to ask when something breaks.
You still supply the facts about your business. Our checklist of what to prepare before your website build shows what a designer will ask you for.
What Each Route Really Costs Over Three Years
Comparing a monthly subscription with a once-off fee is misleading, so add up three years instead. Here is a worked example for a simple 5-page business website.
Designer route example
Our Website Special package is R2,950 once-off for up to 5 pages, and it includes the first year of Gold hosting and a free .co.za domain registration. From year two you pay R790 a year for Gold hosting and R250 a year for the .co.za domain.
| Item | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Website Special (5 pages, design and build) | R2,950 | - | - |
| Gold hosting (annual) | Included | R790 | R790 |
| .co.za domain | Included | R250 | R250 |
| Total | R2,950 | R1,040 | R1,040 |
That is R5,030 over three years, paid in rand, with no monthly debit order.
Builder route example
Take Shopify Basic, which a lot of small shops start on. At US$19 a month paid yearly, that is US$228 a year or US$684 over three years, before apps, themes or transaction fees. The rand cost moves with the exchange rate each time your card is charged, and the bill grows with any paid apps you add. Squarespace, which showed rand prices when we checked, had no plan below R300 a month, so it passes R5,030 in under a year and a half. The subscription never ends.
The cost you do not see on any invoice is your time. Building even a simple site well takes many hours of writing, editing photos and testing. If those hours would otherwise go into paid work, the builder may be the dearer option.
South African Checks Before You Choose
Most comparisons of builders and designers are written for the United States. These are the points that matter here.
Your .co.za domain
Whoever registers your domain controls it. Make sure the .co.za is registered in your name or your business's name, and that you can get its transfer details. Wix and Shopify both let you connect a domain you registered elsewhere, although on Wix this needs a paid plan. If a designer registers it for you, ask for it in writing that the domain is yours.
Local payments: PayFast, Yoco and Peach
This is where builders differ most for South African sellers:
- Shopify: Shopify Payments is not on its list of supported countries, so South African stores use a third-party provider. PayFast and Yoco both have official Shopify apps. Shopify's pricing page then adds a fee on sales made through a third-party provider: 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow. That is on top of the gateway's own fee.
- Wix: Wix's payment providers list includes Yoco, Peach Payments and Paystack for South Africa. PayFast was not on the list when we checked.
- Squarespace: we could not find a native PayFast, Yoco or Peach integration in Squarespace's own documentation. If you plan to sell, check this with Squarespace before you build.
- WordPress with WooCommerce: WooCommerce can connect to PayFast, Yoco and Peach through their plugins, and a designer can set the right one up. Our WebUltimate package includes the shop and payment setup.
For a side-by-side of the three local gateways, see our PayFast vs Yoco vs Peach comparison.
POPIA and the ECT Act
No builder makes your site legally compliant for you. Under POPIA, a contact form that collects names, emails or phone numbers makes you a "responsible party". You need a lawful reason to process the information and a privacy notice explaining what you collect and why, and you must keep it secure, as the Information Regulator sets out. If you sell online, section 43 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act lists what your site must show, such as your full name, physical address, the full price including transport costs, taxes and other fees, and your refund policy. On a builder, these pages are your job. Our POPIA website compliance checklist walks through it.
Speed on mobile data and where the site is hosted
Visitors on mobile data pay for every megabyte, so a heavy page costs them money as well as time. Google uses Core Web Vitals in its ranking systems and suggests a Largest Contentful Paint within 2.5 seconds, according to Google Search Central. Before you commit to a builder, test a few sites made with it on your own phone using mobile data, and check where it hosts your site. A site built lean and hosted close to your visitors has an advantage here. Our guide to local vs overseas web hosting explains when server location matters.
SEO: Can a Builder Site Rank on Google?
Yes. Builder sites can and do rank. Wix and Squarespace both have built-in SEO settings and guides for connecting Google Search Console, and Squarespace creates a sitemap automatically. In our experience, the platform is rarely what stops a small business site ranking. The usual problems are thin pages, missing local details and slow, image-heavy layouts.
What a designer adds is the groundwork most DIY sites skip: one page per service and area, a clear heading structure, structured data that tells Google who you are and where you work, and a site built to load quickly. Google's Search Essentials tell site owners to "create helpful, reliable, people-first content", and that is something you or your designer have to write. No builder writes it for you.
Lock-In: Who Owns Your Website?
This is the point people only think about when they want to leave:
- Wix: Wix's help centre says a Wix site "needs to be hosted and operated on Wix's servers" and cannot be exported to another host. If you leave, you rebuild.
- Squarespace: its export is a single file in WordPress format. It covers basic pages, one blog and text and image blocks, but leaves out store pages, products, audio and video blocks, style settings and custom CSS.
- Shopify: products export to a CSV file, which you can import elsewhere. Shopify's help does not show a way to take your theme with you, so budget for a new design if you leave.
- WordPress (self-hosted): you own every file and the database, and any host that runs WordPress can take the site.
When a Website Builder Is the Right Call
- You are testing a side business or idea and do not want to spend on a build yet.
- Your site is a simple online business card that rarely changes.
- You enjoy design and writing, and have the evenings to spend on it.
- You do not need local card payments, or the builder supports the gateway you want.
If that is you, start small and keep your domain in your own name so you can move later.
When to Hire a Web Designer
- The website has to bring in enquiries, bookings or sales.
- You need a shop with PayFast, Yoco or Peach, delivery options and proper terms.
- Your time is worth more than the build fee.
- You tried a builder and the site still does not look like a real business or show up on Google.
- You want to own the site outright and pay in rand, once a year.
Before you pay any designer, ask: will the domain be in my name, will I get the hosting and website logins, what does it cost each year after launch, and will the site include a privacy policy and POPIA consent on its forms?
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a website builder cheaper than a web designer?
In the first month, yes. Over a few years, often not. A builder charges for as long as the site is live, while a designer charges once plus yearly hosting and domain fees. Our 5-page example comes to R5,030 over three years, which a R300-a-month builder plan passes in under a year and a half.
Can I move my Wix site to another host later?
No. Wix says its sites must be hosted on Wix's own servers, so the site itself cannot move. You can keep your domain and point it at a new host, but the website has to be rebuilt there.
Which website builders work with PayFast or Yoco?
Shopify has PayFast and Yoco apps, built by those companies. Shopify Payments is not listed for South Africa, and Shopify's pricing page adds a fee on sales through third-party providers. Wix lists Yoco and Peach Payments for South Africa. WooCommerce can connect to PayFast, Yoco and Peach through their plugins.
Can I update my website myself if a designer builds it?
You should be able to. Ask for an editor and a short walkthrough at handover. All of our website packages include a backend editor, so you can change text and photos without paying for every small update.
How long does a web designer take to build a website?
It depends on the site and how quickly you supply content. We usually have a static site live within 24 hours of getting your content, and a WordPress site in about a week. Larger sites and online shops take longer.
Get a Website Built for You
If you would rather spend your time running your business than learning a builder, our web design packages start at R1,450 once-off for a one-page site and R2,950 for up to 5 pages. Every package includes the first year of hosting, a free .co.za domain, email on your domain and an editor so you can make changes yourself. You own the domain and the site, and you pay in rand. Ask for a quote on the web design page or send us a WhatsApp, and we will tell you honestly whether a builder would do the job for you.
Sources
Web Design Hosting SA has hosted and built websites for South African businesses since 2009. Prices in our guides come from our live price list and are checked when a guide is updated. How we write our guides. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
