Custom website vs Wix: what you pay, what you own, and how you'd leave
A custom website and a Wix site can look equally good on the day they launch. The differences show up later: in the plan you keep paying for, in what you're allowed to take with you, and in who can change what. Here is each one, including where Wix is the better choice.
Prices and platform terms checked September 2026You want to change the site yourself, often, without asking anyone.
Wix is built for owners who edit their own site: new photos, a price change, an event this weekend. If that is how you'll use it, the plan fee is the cost of that freedom, and a Wix partner can set it up for you if you'd rather not start from a blank page.
You want the site to belong to you, not to a plan.
A custom site has no plan to keep paying for and can be moved to any host. It is planned around how your customers decide, with the pages and the price fixed before work starts. The trade-off is real: after the thirty days of support, most changes go through a developer.
When not to hire me
Wix is the right answer for plenty of businesses. Don't hire me if any of these is true.
- You want to edit text, photos and prices yourself every week. Wix does that out of the box. A hand-built site needs a developer for most changes, unless editing is agreed up front.
- You want to read reviews from past clients before you hire. Wix Marketplace partners show them; I haven't published any yet.
- You need bookings, a store or a member area inside a fixed price. No package includes a payment gateway, and I quote those separately.
- You're happy on Wix and only want the site to look better. A Wix partner can redesign it without moving you.
- Your budget is under ₹25,000, and a Wix site you build yourself covers what you need.
Wix and a custom site, compared on what matters
Where Wix is the better option, the table says so.
| What matters | Wix | Custom site (this studio) | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upfront cost | Nothing to build it yourself, beyond the plan. If you hire a Wix partner, starting prices for a basic website ran from US$300 to US$3,000 on the profiles checked. | ₹35,000 or ₹45,000 for a five-page site. | Lower upfront: Wix, if you build it yourself. |
| Ongoing cost | A plan, for as long as the site is live. | No plan. Hosting on Cloudflare's free plan within its limits, and your domain renewal. Changes after the thirty days of support are priced when you ask. | Lower ongoing: the custom site, if you rarely need changes. |
| Who owns the files | Wix's help centre says a free site belongs to the account owner, and that ownership of a paid site usually follows its billing details. But the site runs only on Wix's servers, so there are no site files to hand over. | Once the project is paid, the site and its full source files are handed over to you. | Files you can hold: the custom site. |
| Speed of the finished site | Wix runs the hosting and the code underneath. You control the design, the apps and the images you add. | Built with only what the pages need, and checked for speed on a phone before launch. | Depends on the build. Test both with the free audit. |
| Who maintains it | Wix maintains the platform. You, or your partner, maintain the content. | Nothing to update to keep it online. Thirty days of support after launch; after that, changes are agreed and priced when you need them, unless editing is set up in the build. | Easier to change yourself: Wix. |
| What happens if you want to leave | The site itself can't leave Wix. You can export products, contacts, orders, collections and the media you uploaded, and transfer the domain. The design and blog posts have to be rebuilt. | You take the source files and the notes. Any web developer can host or change the site. | Easier to leave: the custom site. |
| Realistic skill required | Low. Drag-and-drop editing, with Wix's help centre when you're stuck. | None to own it. A developer for most changes. | Least to learn for everyday edits: Wix. |
| Reviews you can read first | Wix Marketplace partner profiles show a star rating and reviews from past clients. | None published yet. You can judge the concepts, the audit tool and what each package lists. | More evidence up front: a Wix partner. |
Prices and platform terms checked September 2026
What each costs over three years
A Wix plan is a small amount every month that never stops. A custom site costs more on day one and has no plan. Here are both, added up over 36 months.
| Cost | Custom site (this studio) | Wix, built by a Wix partner | Wix, built yourself |
|---|---|---|---|
| Build | ₹35,000 or ₹45,000 | ₹28,778 to ₹2,87,776 | ₹0 (your time) |
| Plan or hosting, 3 years | ₹0 | 36 × P | 36 × P |
| Changes after launch | C, after thirty days of support | The partner's rates, or free if you edit it yourself | Free: you edit it yourself |
| Three-year total | ₹35,000 + C, or ₹45,000 + C | ₹28,778 to ₹2,87,776, plus 36 × P | 36 × P |
- 01Domain
Left out: you renew it every year whichever you choose. Wix gives a free domain for the first year with selected yearly plans, if you claim it within two months of buying the plan, and charges the renewal after that.
- 02P, your plan price
Wix's plans page lists Light at US$17.77, Core at US$29.77 and Business at US$39.77 a month, each billed yearly, but it shows those prices in US dollars for reference only, and the currency varies by location. Use the price Wix shows you before you buy.
- 03Partner fee
US$300 to US$3,000: the starting prices for a basic website on seven Wix Marketplace partner profiles, or ₹28,778 to ₹2,87,776 at ₹95.9253 to US$1, the FBIL reference rate the RBI published for 15 September 2026. Prices vary by partner and by what you ask for.
- 04Hosting for the custom site
Cloudflare's free plan serves the pages with no limit on requests or bandwidth, and the enquiry form shares its free allowance of 100,000 server requests a day.
- 05C is not zero
C is what you pay for changes to a custom site after the thirty days of support, quoted when you ask. It has no published price, so the total doesn't count it.
Built yourself, Wix costs less over three years than the ₹35,000 package as long as your plan is ₹972 a month or less, and you can change the site whenever you like. A Wix partner's fee comes on top of the same plan: from ₹28,778 on the profiles checked. Either way, at the end of three years the site still can't leave Wix.
Prices and platform terms checked September 2026, from India. Wix shows plan and partner prices in US dollars, and partner fees are converted at ₹95.9253 to US$1, the FBIL reference rate the RBI published for 15 September 2026.
Your content can leave. The site can't.
What you can take
- Your domain. It can be transferred away, but not within 60 days of buying it or of changing its registrant details.
- Store products. They export as CSV files of up to 5,000 rows each.
- Contacts, orders and CMS collections, as CSV files.
- The images and videos you uploaded, downloaded from the Media Manager.
What stays behind
- The site itself. A Wix site has to run on Wix's servers.
- Blog posts. Wix doesn't currently let you export blog posts to another platform.
- Digital products, and anything from Wix's free media library or Shutterstock.
Sources: Exporting a site · Domains · Store products · Contacts · Blog · Media
You leave with the files.
What you can take
- The site and its full source files, handed over once the project is paid.
- Plain-English notes on running it, so another developer can pick it up.
- Your domain, and the enquiry sheet in your own Google account.
What stays behind
- Third-party items keep their own terms: fonts, paid services, a hosting account.
- Changing or moving the site yourself needs a developer if you aren't technical.
Sources: What each package includes · Terms
Who this is for, and who it isn't
Before you choose Wix or a custom site.
What people ask when a Wix plan and a custom quote are both on the table.
01Can I move my Wix site to another host later?
Not the site itself. Wix's help centre says a Wix site has to run on Wix's servers. You can export some content, such as store products, contacts, orders, CMS collections and the media you uploaded, and transfer your domain. The design and your blog posts have to be rebuilt somewhere else.
02A Wix partner quoted less than ₹35,000. Why pay more?
You might not need to. Add the plan to the partner's quote: 36 months of whatever your plan costs. A custom site has no plan fee, and you keep the files. If you'd rather edit the site yourself, the partner-built Wix site may still be the better fit.
03Isn't Wix easier to update?
Yes, and that's its genuine strength. If you'll change the site often, weigh that against the plan fee and not being able to move. With a custom site, how you'll edit content is agreed before the build, and changes after the thirty days of support are quoted when you ask.
04Do I own my Wix website?
Wix's help centre says a free site belongs to the account owner, and that ownership of a paid site usually follows its billing details. Either way, the site only runs on Wix, so owning it isn't the same as being able to take it somewhere else. With a custom site, the site and its files are handed over once the project is paid.
05Will I lose my Google rankings if I leave Wix?
Not if the move is planned. Your page addresses will change, so every page that brings in visitors needs a permanent redirect from its old address to its new one, with its title and description carried across. Skipping those redirects is how a move loses its search traffic.
Fixed prices, from first sketch to live on your own domain.
Each package lists its pages, what is included and when it goes live, all written down before you pay anything. You pay 50% to start and 50% on delivery.
- Real Estate Landing Page₹25,000
- Practice Website₹35,000
- Business Website₹45,000
- Two rounds of revisions
- Basic on-page SEO
- Domain, hosting, and SSL setup
- Thirty days of post-launch support
- Full source files handed over to you