WordPress, Wix or custom code: what should an SME choose?

Choosing between WordPress, Wix or a custom-built website comes down to two questions: who will edit the text, and who will handle updates, security and hosting. With WordPress, those tasks fall to you or your provider. Wix, Framer and Webflow handle them on their own servers, in exchange for a subscription and a harder exit. With custom code, the developer handles them during the support period; a text-editing interface is a priced option.

What is left for you to do with WordPress, Wix or a custom website?

The table compares what remains your responsibility once the site is live: WordPress.org installed with a hosting provider, Wix, Framer and Webflow, and a website coded by Eljadi WORKS. Amounts are for the cheapest plan that accepts your own domain, as published by each provider and checked on 23 September 2026 for the page on website prices in Switzerland.

The domain name comes on top: a .ch costs CHF 9.89 a year excluding VAT at Infomaniak and CHF 15 including VAT at Hostpoint, with a lower first-year price at both (prices checked on 23 September 2026).

WordPress gives you the most freedom over hosting and handover, and the most upkeep to organise. Wix, Framer and Webflow take that upkeep off your hands and make leaving harder. If you are weighing up Wix or WordPress, start with the hosting row: a Wix site stays on Wix servers, whereas a WordPress.org site can move to another host. The Framer, Webflow and WordPress columns follow the comparison on the business website offer page, which also rates technical SEO and speed.

Can you leave Framer, Webflow or Wix and take your website with you?

According to the providers' help pages, checked on 5 October 2026:

• Framer does not offer HTML export for hosting the site elsewhere. Page pre-rendering, image optimisation and global delivery run on its own infrastructure. Framer itself says it may not be the right solution if you need complete control over hosting or need to export source code (Framer Help, updated 15 September 2026). Assets and the list of redirects can be exported separately.
• Webflow lets you export the site's HTML, CSS, JavaScript and assets on a paid Workspace plan; Site plans do not include code export. CMS content, user accounts, ecommerce and localised content are left out of the export, and site search and forms stop working on the exported site. CMS Collections can be exported separately as CSV files (Webflow Help Center).
• Wix states that the content you build belongs to you. The site must still run on Wix servers, so another host is not an option: Wix runs as software as a service (SaaS), which relies on its own technology and services. You can buy and manage the domain with another provider, then connect it to the site on a paid plan (Wix Help Center).
• WordPress.org is licensed under the GPL: you can install it, modify it and move it to a compatible host (WordPress.org).
• A custom website from Eljadi WORKS: I hand over the code and access once the invoice is paid in full, with notes for whoever takes it over. The domain, hosting and connected services keep their own terms.

Whichever option you choose, keep the domain name in your own name. You then keep the same address if the site changes host.

Does a custom website need updates too?

The websites I code rely on libraries, which in turn rely on other libraries. Their authors publish security fixes, and the site has to keep up with them. OWASP ranks software supply chain failures third in its Top 10 for 2025. Among the warning signs, it lists not tracking the versions of every component, including nested dependencies, and not scanning them regularly for vulnerabilities (OWASP, A03:2025).

Before every release, I work through this checklist (October 2026):

• the site works, with no bugs or inconsistencies;
• local penetration tests, in proportion to how sensitive the site is;
• data leak tests under the nFADP and the GDPR: no data or requests sent to an unauthorised server, and consent respected;
• a Lighthouse audit, every time;
• a search for known vulnerabilities in the site's dependencies and in their own dependencies;
• publication only when everything is green.

These checks cover the state of the site at the moment it goes live. They are neither a certified security audit nor a guarantee of legal compliance. During support, automatic alerts flag an outage or a security flaw, including in the site's dependencies. If you stop the support, these updates pass to whoever hosts and takes over the site.

Why I moved the Ahmed Ghattour & Co. website from WordPress to React

Ahmed Ghattour & Co. is a firm in Tripoli, Libya, offering accounting, audit and advisory services. Its WordPress website was slow and only available in one language. Ahmed Ghattour contacted me to bring it up to date. Early in my career, I moved it to a React website (HTML, CSS) in English and Arabic, with Lighthouse scores above 90.

In the Lighthouse audit of the home page, captured at delivery, the Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) went from 13.4 s to 3.0 s. The desktop SEO score dropped from 100 to 91: I chose a stricter bilingual canonical setup, which avoids duplicate content between the two languages. Lighthouse is a lab test; it does not measure what each visitor experiences.

React suited this particular site: two languages, one of them Arabic read from right to left, and a home page that loaded far too slowly. These measurements compare two versions of the same site, before and after the migration. They support no general conclusion about WordPress or React.

My skills have grown since then. I do not want a client who trusted me to keep a site below my current level, so I am rebuilding it for him free of charge. As of 5 October 2026, the new version is in preparation and the first one remains online. The screenshots are in the Ahmed Ghattour & Co. case study. If your current site needs to change technology, the article on when and how to prepare a redesign sets out the steps.

Who edits the text on a custom website?

WordPress, Wix, Framer and Webflow all come with an editor. In WordPress, you create pages and posts, schedule publication and look back through revisions; roles separate administrators, editors and authors (WordPress.org).

On a custom-coded website, the editing interface (a CMS) is planned in the quote. It lets you change text and images without touching the code. I offer the business website at the standard price of CHF 2,500, with a CHF 995 launch offer for the first clients; the package includes copywriting based on your information and a review after launch, with a limited text or form adjustment. The editing interface is not included by default. Without it, other changes go through me or another developer.

If you publish every week, ask to try the editing area before you sign, with the tasks you will actually do: posting an offer, replacing a photo, correcting opening hours.

When is WordPress the right choice for an SME?

WordPress works well in these situations:

• your team often publishes news, offers or articles itself. Drafts, scheduled publication, revisions and per-person roles are part of the software (WordPress.org);
• you already use WordPress and your team is comfortable with it;
• a feature you need exists as a maintained plugin. The official directory lists thousands, from forms to calendars (WordPress.org);
• someone is responsible for updates: you, a colleague or a provider. Since WordPress 5.5, automatic updates can be switched on theme by theme and plugin by plugin (WordPress.org);
• you want to stay free to change host or provider, thanks to the software's open licence.

In these cases, a well-maintained WordPress site does the job. A custom website makes sense when your text rarely changes and you would rather entrust the design, copywriting and upkeep to one person.

Which platform suits the way your business works?

Before asking for a quote or comparing subscriptions, write down:

• how often you will publish, and who will do it;
• the real number of pages and languages. If a single page is enough, the article on choosing between a landing page or a business website helps you decide;
• the features you expect, such as online booking, a form or payments, with the tool you already use for each;
• who will handle updates, backups and the domain renewal;
• what you would need to take with you if you change tool or provider: text, images, code and access.

These notes let you rule out the options in the table above that do not fit how you work. If you then hand the site to a provider, the article on choosing between a freelancer and a web agency shows how to compare quotes.

Sources

• WordPress.org, "Features", checked on 5 October 2026.
• WordPress.org, "Plugins & Themes Auto-Updates", checked on 5 October 2026.
• Framer, "Can I export my website to HTML and self-host it?", updated 15 September 2026, checked on 5 October 2026.
• Framer, "Guide to Framer hosting infrastructure", checked on 5 October 2026.
• Webflow, "How do I export my Webflow site code?", checked on 5 October 2026.
• Wix, "Exporting or Embedding Your Wix Site Elsewhere", checked on 5 October 2026.
• Wix, plans page, checked on 5 October 2026.
• OWASP, "A03:2025 Software Supply Chain Failures", Top 10 2025, checked on 5 October 2026.
• Pricing pages of Framer, Webflow, Hostpoint WordPress, Hostpoint domains and Infomaniak .ch, prices checked on 23 September 2026.
• Eljadi WORKS, Ahmed Ghattour & Co. case study, Lighthouse audit of the home page captured at delivery.