Wix, Webnode, Shoptet or a website made for you: what pays off?

A website builder like Wix, Squarespace, Webnode or Shoptet costs a small business about €100 to €600 a year in July 2026. It is enough when you are new, the budget is small and you enjoy building things yourself. A site made for you costs more at the start. It pays off when the site has to bring enquiries or work in several languages. It also pays off when your evenings are worth more than the money you save.

Below are the real prices from each builder's own price list, what they cost you in time and how I would decide.

What do the builders cost a year?

I took the plans a small business would really use. The lower end of each bar is a simple business website. The upper end is the plan you need for a proper online shop. All prices are for a year paid upfront, which is the cheapest way on every platform.

• WebnodeStandard to Business, without VAT€97-246
• SquarespaceBasic to Advanced€108-252
• WixLight to Business, converted from USD€179-411
• ShoptetBasic to Business, without VAT€178-594

Sources: official price pages of Webnode (SK), Squarespace (eurozone), Wix (USD, converted at the ECB rate of 1 July 2026) and Shoptet (SK), checked 7 July 2026

A few details that the big numbers on the price pages don't show:

• Webnode (a Czech builder) charges €8.10 a month for Standard and €14.70 for Profi when you pay for a year, without VAT. Paid monthly, the same plans cost €14.60 and €24.60. Standard allows only 2 language versions. Profi allows unlimited languages. The online shop plan, Business, costs €20.50 a month.
• Squarespace lists €9 a month for Basic, €14 for Core and €21 for Advanced in the eurozone, paid yearly. Basic takes a 2% fee on every sale in your online shop. Core and Advanced take none.
• Wix shows prices in US dollars to visitors from Slovakia: $17 a month for Light, $29 for Core and $39 for Business, paid yearly. Light can't take payments or run a shop. The final price in your currency, with tax, appears only at checkout.
• Shoptet (a Czech online shop platform) charges €16.50 a month for Basic with up to 100 products and €55 for Business with up to 1,000 products, without VAT. Paying a year upfront gives 10% off. Card payments through Shoptet Pay add a fee from 1.8% + €0.32 per transaction on Basic.
• The free domain in Wix, Squarespace and Webnode plans is free for the first year only. After that you pay for it like any other domain.

How do they compare beyond the price?

Price is the easy part. The real difference is who does the work and who you call when something breaks.

"Your time" is my estimate. A first version of a simple 5-page site on a builder usually takes a few full weekends if you have never done it before. An online shop takes longer, because every product needs a photo, a text and a price.

When is a builder enough?

That last point matters more than people think. Wix says plainly that a Wix site must run on Wix's servers. Squarespace can export only part of the content, as a WordPress file, and leaves out store pages. Your domain can move, but the site itself stays where you built it.

When does a site made for you pay off?

Do the maths with your own numbers. Count the hours you would spend building the site: learning the editor, writing, cropping photos, fixing how it looks on a phone. Multiply by what an hour of your time earns. For many owners that sum alone is larger than the price of a simple site made for them.

The second reason is what the site has to do. A simple site with your contact details can run on any builder. A site that should bring new customers needs clear texts, real prices, fast pages and a contact path that works on a phone. I wrote a 12-point checklist for exactly that. You can check any site against it, built on Wix or by hand.

And if you have no site at all yet, set up your free Google Business Profile first. It costs nothing, whichever way you go.

How would I decide in your place?

If you are just starting and money is tight, take Webnode Standard or Wix Light for a year. Use your own domain from day one. Write your texts in a separate document. Then they are yours, whatever happens with the platform. For a shop with a few dozen products in Slovakia or Czechia, Shoptet Basic is a sensible start.

If you are not sure, compare before you decide. Send me a short brief. Once we've agreed on the brief and materials, I build a free, clickable preview of your actual website within 24 hours. Put it next to your builder draft and look at both on your phone. You pay only if you keep it. If the builder version is good enough for you, I'll tell you so. Then keep that one.

When I build the site, I host it and look after it. By default the domain and hosting stay with me, and I transfer them to you whenever you ask. More on how I work is on the websites page, or send me a short brief.

Questions people ask

Is a free Wix or Webnode plan good enough for a business?

For testing, yes. For a business, no. Free plans run on the platform's own address and show its branding. Wix says you need a Premium plan to connect your own domain and remove the Wix branding. Take at least the cheapest paid plan with your own domain.

Can I move my Wix or Squarespace site to another provider later?

Not as it is. Wix says a Wix site must run on Wix's servers. Squarespace can export only part of the content, as a WordPress file, and store pages are not included. Your domain can move, but the design has to be built again.

Are builder prices with or without VAT?

It depends on the platform. Shoptet and Webnode list their Slovak prices without VAT. Wix says taxes are added according to your billing address. Always look at the final price on the checkout page before you pay.

Which builder suits a small online shop in Slovakia or Czechia?

Shoptet is made for online shops and has a Slovak price list, admin and support. Its Basic plan covers up to 100 products. If you sell a few items next to your services, the shop features in Webnode, Wix or Squarespace can be enough.

Can I start with a builder and switch to a custom site later?

Yes, many businesses do that. Keep your texts and photos in your own folder. Keep the domain in your name, or make sure it can be transferred. Then the switch is mostly rebuilding the design.

Sources

1. Wix Premium plans (USD prices shown for reference, yearly subscriptions), Wix.com, checked 7 July 2026
2. Exporting or embedding your Wix site elsewhere, Wix Help Center, checked 7 July 2026
3. Squarespace pricing (euro prices for the eurozone), Squarespace, checked 7 July 2026
4. Exporting your site, Squarespace Help Center, checked 7 July 2026
5. Cenník Prémiových služieb (website plans), Webnode, checked 7 July 2026
6. Cenník internetových obchodov (e-shop plans), Webnode, checked 7 July 2026
7. Cenník (e-shop plans and fees), Shoptet, checked 7 July 2026
8. Euro foreign exchange reference rates, US dollar (1 July 2026: 1 EUR = 1.1383 USD), European Central Bank, checked 7 July 2026

Facts and prices are as of the dates in the sources.