The real cost of a "free" website builder

Website builders advertise a low monthly price, and some offer a free tier. For a hobby site, that's a great deal. For a business, the subscription fee is only the first line of a longer bill.

Line 1: the subscription

Free tiers usually put the builder's branding on your site and use their domain name instead of yours. Most businesses quickly move to a paid plan, and the features a business actually needs — your own domain, forms, removing ads — tend to live on the higher tiers.

Line 2: the add-ons

Booking widgets, extra storage, email, premium templates, and app-store extensions are often sold separately. A few small monthly charges add up quickly.

Line 3: your time

This is the big one. Ask any owner who built their own site how many evenings went into it. Then ask how many hours a month go into keeping it current. Multiply that by what your time is worth on a job.

Even a couple of hours a month, at a tradesperson's hourly rate, usually costs more than the subscription itself.

Line 4: what doesn't get done

The most expensive cost doesn't appear on any bill. It's the seasonal promotion that never went up, the new service that never got a page, and the outdated prices that made a customer call someone else. When updating the site is a chore, it doesn't happen.

Line 5: leaving

Many builders make it hard to take your site with you. Your design, your pages, and sometimes your content are tied to their system. If you ever want to leave, you may be starting over.

A fair comparison

When you compare options, compare the whole picture: the monthly price, the add-ons, the hours, and the freedom to leave. We built Flagstage around one flat price that includes hosting, upkeep, and the updates themselves — and you get a full copy of your site any time you want it. That's the comparison we're happy to be measured on.