Building a professional website for your business requires time, money, effort, and skill. While you could leave it to the pros, there are also a number of great website builders that enable anyone to build their own site—leaving you to wonder whether you should hire a developer or do it yourself (DIY). To help make the answer clear, we’ve broken down hiring a developer vs DIY based on several critical factors like ease, affordability, capabilities, and turnaround time.
When to Hire a Web Designer
Here are the main reasons why you should consider hiring a professional web designer for your website:
- If you have the budget, but not the time for or interest in building your own website
- If you do not have experience and do not want to learn
- If you are trying to make a unique website with uncommon functionality
If you’ve thought it through and hiring a web designer is the most beneficial decision to make, and you have a clear vision of what you would like to see as the end result, head over to Upwork or Fiverr to check out a list of potential web designers to hire.
When to Build Your Own Site
Find out if DIY is the way to go by going through this list:
- If you are working on a tight budget
- If you have the time to invest in doing it yourself
- If you are either experienced or willing to learn
- If your website is not extremely complicated
- If you are comfortable experimenting with the results
If building the website yourself is something more practical, there is still a way for you to come up with a site that looks professionally designed without being too taxing and can be created by a beginner—choose Squarespace.
Price: DIY vs Hiring a Web Designer
Winner: There’s no comparison when it comes to cost—DIY is far more affordable.
The prices may vary when creating a website. The most affordable option is the DIY WordPress, and the most expensive option is to hire a web designer. To thoroughly understand website costs, it is important to be as detailed as possible, knowing which features you want to include and whether they can be sourced out for free or not.
Cost of Hiring a Web Designer vs DIY
DIY With WordPress | DIY With Wix or Squarespace | Hire a Web Designer | |
|---|---|---|---|
Overall Cost | Most affordable | Affordable | Most expensive |
Cost to Build | $0 to $100 | $0 | $500 to $10,000+ |
Monthly Cost | $3.95 to $25 per month | $12 to $18 per month | $3 to $500+ |
Ecommerce Cost | No additional costs with free plugins | $23 to $26 per month | On the higher end of average costs |
Having websites built can be a lucrative business in itself—the most expensive website called VacationRentals.com was sold for $35 million in 2007. A lot of other factors go into the price of the website, including the domain name, other extra widgets, premium plugins, and even images you will want to buy to make your website extra unique.
DIY Website Builder Price Comparison
If you’re going to DIY your website, here are three beginner-friendly website builders:
 |  |  | |
Price | $12/month | $3.95 to $25/month | $14/month |
Ease of Use | Beginner | Intermediate | Beginner to intermediate |
Design | 110 free templates | 11,000+ themes (extra cost) | Maximum customization capabilities |
Ecommerce | Ecommerce plans start at $26/month | Available through ecommerce plugins | $23/month |
Functionality | 1,000+ apps, integrations, extensions, and plugins | 50,000+ plugins (compatibility not guaranteed) | 250+ web apps |
Capabilities | All leading capabilities are included, but limited for unique needs | Unlimited with code | All leading capabilities are included, but limited for unique needs |
Support | Top-rated with 24/7 support through live chat and phone | Only forum support available | Chat support is available in some locations |
Hiring a Web Designer Comparison
There are many niche platforms where you can source out a web designer. These are our top picks based on price, reliability, and specialization:
 |  |  | |
Price | $15 to $30+ per hour | $50 to $300+ per project | $70 to $150+ per hour |
Turnaround Time | 7 days to 3+ months | 3 to 30 days | Varies |
Additional Fees | 5% to 20% service fee; 3% payment processing fee | 5.5% fee + $2 for gigs at $50 or less | None |
Expertise Level | Beginner to intermediate | Beginner to intermediate | Expert |
Pros | Price options, work diary, skill test tool, reviews | Affordable, browse gigs or post a request, transparency, reviews, Fiverr support | Tips are charged, inflated ratings, no direct support |
Cons | Must remain on Upwork, high Upwork fees | Highly skilled, recommendations, interviews before hiring | Expensive, highly specialized |
Only trust the best freelance web designers when having your website designed. Hire the right people to maximize your investment and get the job done.
Capabilities: DIY vs Hiring a Web Designer
Winner: For simple business websites, DIY. For complex sites with unique requirements, hire a web designer.
There are loads and loads of website builders—from Wix to WordPress and others in between. Depending on the desired outcome, some small business website owners would prefer to use Wix or Squarespace if they need to make their own website right away. For those with a more visionary picture of their website, using WordPress allows them to tap into more complicated and interactive features through the use of plugins and coding.
Building a DIY website—although feasible—requires a great deal of expertise or at least time to learn the codes, especially if you’re eyeing complex design and elements. This is why DIY websites usually steer clear of complicated platforms and opt to have a simplified yet fully functional website.
When you hire a web designer, however, the horizon is quite vast regarding what you want to appear on your website, how your website functions, and even how your website interacts with your potential customers or viewers. To build a complicated website successfully, sourcing out to a website designer is a more feasible option. If your website doesn’t need to be that complicated, you only need to follow five steps to build a Wix website.
Turnaround Time: DIY vs Hiring a Web Designer
Winner: DIY, hands down. It’s possible to build your own website in a matter of hours with one of the leading all-in-one website builders, such as Squarespace, whereas professional development can take months.
Depending on the complexity of the website, the turnaround time could be from just a few hours to a number of months. A simplified one-page website can easily be built in as little as an hour or so. For an interactive website that hosts multiple products and has multiple functions, you’ll either need to invest chunks of your time learning the code, sourcing the right plugins, or even tweaking the right theme.
If you’re short on time, hiring a web designer can save you a good amount of time. However, keep in mind that hiring a designer will still demand your attention. Not only does it take time to find the right designer for your project, but you also need to brief your designer on site requirements and specifications. Granted, if you’re in a rush, many designers will finish the project in a narrow time period for a premium rate.
The element of time is important in any business, and if your time frame is limited, you can either compromise on your site’s complexity, elements, or features, or choose to hire a web designer. Although website builders like Wix and Squarespace already offer a wide variety of these options, you want something a bit more personalized, and this is where hiring a web designer comes in handy.
Ecommerce: DIY vs Hiring a Web Designer
Winner: DIY for the average online store. However, those that have unique site requirements and complex ecommerce needs will find professional development a better choice.
Building an ecommerce website has never been easier with website builders like Shopify, which are already designed to be an easy-to-use online ecommerce platform. Shopify is synonymous with ecommerce, and it is a fairly DIY-friendly platform, making your own online store simple. The problem with Shopify, however, is that design can be very limited. You’ll likely need to invest in a premium theme (approximately $30 to $75), and it’s not cheap at $29 per month.
For a small business website wanting a beginner-friendly online store that is easy to build and looks professional, Square is one of the best all-in-one site builders for selling online. It’s not only easy to use and highly customizable, but also more affordable than Shopify at just $18 per month for its online payments-enabled plan. Learn more about the best website builders for ecommerce.
The level of complexity required to build a fully interactive online store can be quite overwhelming, especially if you have a unique way of presenting the product. You can also learn how to make a WordPress website that directly focuses on ecommerce.
If you want a simple ecommerce website, don’t hire a web designer. If you want a fully integrated and more interactive ecommerce website, opt for hiring a web designer.
Pre-website Design Checklist
Before spending your money, either way, assess what you truly need to accomplish. This will provide you with a more detailed idea of how much you are going to spend, if a DIY can give you good results, or if it is better to hire a web designer.
Here’s a pre-website building checklist:
Yes or No | |
|---|---|
1. Do you have a definite purpose and goal? | |
2. Do you have a domain name? | |
3. Do you have a set of website priorities? | |
4. Do you have an ideal number of pages? | |
5. Do you have ample storage space for images, videos, and other content? | |
6. Do you have the solution to integrate your website with social media? | |
7. Do you know how to implement the tools (blogs, customer reviews, maps) you want to use? | |
8. Do you know how to make your website ecommerce-equipped (e.g., shopping cart)? | |
9. Do you know how to equip your site with a video and/or audio player? | |
10. Do you know how to make your website mobile-optimized? |
Once you’ve answered this checklist, you can then proceed to decide whether or not you want to DIY the website or hire a web designer. If the majority of your answers are “Yes,” you’re ready to make a DIY website. If most of your answers are “No,” then you’re better off hiring a web designer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a developer to build a website?
No. You can build a website by yourself. However, depending on the complexity of your ideal website, you will be limited by your time, resources, and skills. There are platforms like Wix that are very beginner-friendly and can help you make a website within a day.
How much does it cost to hire a developer for a website?
Costs vary and can go from $500 to $10,000. This depends on a number of factors like how many pages you want, what functions you want, and how user experience (UX)-friendly you want your website to be. Instead of sourcing out your work from a professional website-building company, there are freelance web designers who won’t break your budget.
Why should you hire a developer?
The right website developers are already skilled in building websites, so when you want something done, they will finish it in a fast, reliable, and secure manner. A website can be divided into three parts: functionality, appearance, and security. The right web developers and web designers are capable of providing solid results on all three fronts.
Bottom Line
Building a website from scratch can either be simple or complex, affordable or expensive, and instant or delayed. Assess your needs before building or hiring a professional web designer. With the advancement of technology, website builders have become easier to use, and there are a great many more functions to choose from. Review the checklist, write down your needs, and decide whether to make a DIY website or hire a web designer.
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