Yes, it is often cheaper to build a website yourself when you only need a simple site and you do not count your time, but it is not always the cheaper option once you factor in setup time, missed leads, and fixes.
DIY usually means you pay ongoing platform fees (website builder or hosting), plus a domain name, plus add-ons like email, forms, scheduling, ecommerce, and stock photos. In Orlando, the money difference between DIY and hiring help is rarely the builder subscription itself, it is whether the site actually turns mobile visitors into calls, bookings, and quote requests.
| Option | Typical cash cost | Your time cost | Best fit | Common downside |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DIY website builder (Wix, Squarespace) | $16 to $40 per month for a basic site, more if you need payments, booking, or advanced features, plus a domain ($12 to $20 per year is common for .com) | 20 to 60 hours to pick a template, write pages, format mobile, set up forms, connect email, and add tracking | New businesses, simple brochure sites, short timelines, owners who like tinkering | Cookie cutter pages, weak copy, slow images, or confusing navigation that quietly kills conversions |
| DIY WordPress (self hosted) | $10 to $30 per month hosting, plus domain, plus optional paid theme or plugins | 30 to 80 hours, plus ongoing updates and troubleshooting | Businesses that want flexibility and can handle upkeep or have an in house helper | Update conflicts, plugin bloat, security gaps, and performance issues if upkeep slips |
| Professional build (designer or agency) | Commonly a few thousand to five figures up front depending on pages, copy, photos, and features, plus optional care plan ($50 to $300 per month is typical) | 5 to 10 hours of your time for approvals, content input, and reviews | Service businesses where one new client is worth real money (dentists, attorneys, pest control, contractors) | Higher up front spend, and you still need someone accountable for updates and content over time |
DIY is truly cheaper when your site is mostly informational, you can write your own content, and you are comfortable handling basics like mobile layout, image compression, form testing, and simple analytics. If you are running ads or depending on local search, a DIY site that looks “fine” but loads slowly or buries the phone number can cost you more than the monthly platform fee.
Hiring help tends to be cheaper overall when you need custom sections (reviews, before and after galleries, appointment requests, financing, multi location pages), when your industry needs extra trust signals (healthcare and legal especially), or when you need the site to work as a lead machine from day one. That is where our web design service usually pays for itself, because the goal is more booked jobs, not more pages.
If WordPress is your preferred platform, plan for ongoing updates, backups, and security, because that is where many DIY sites start to break. Our WordPress hosting is built for business owners who want the site to stay fast and stable without spending weekends fixing plugins.
If you want to sanity check your budget before you decide, our FAQ on how much it costs to have a website designed gives you a practical range to expect.
One last practical tip, price your time like you would price a billable hour. If DIY will take you 40 hours and your time is worth $75 an hour, that is $3,000 in opportunity cost before you even count the value of missed leads.
