Hidden Costs of “Free” Website Builders: What Wix and Squarespace Don’t Tell You

Website builders like Wix and Squarespace are marketed heavily on the promise of a free or very cheap website. For many people starting out, that promise is part of the appeal: build something quickly, see how it looks, and worry about cost later.

The problem is that “later” tends to arrive faster than expected, and the true cost of running a website on these platforms is often considerably higher than the headline price suggests. This guide looks at where those hidden costs come from, what you actually get for your money, and how the real cost compares to self-hosted WordPress.

The Headline Price Versus the Real Price

Free plans on most website builders are designed to let you try the platform, not to run a real business. They typically come with significant limitations:

• A subdomain address (such as yourbusiness.wixsite.com) rather than your own domain name
• Adverts for the platform displayed on your site
• Limited storage and bandwidth
• No access to ecommerce features
• Restricted or no access to apps and integrations

For a genuine small business website, none of these are acceptable, which means almost everyone ends up on a paid plan within days of starting. Once you are on a paid plan, the “free” framing quietly disappears, but the marketing impression often lingers.

Where the Hidden Costs Come From

1. Custom domain connection

To use your own domain name (essential for any business), you need at least the entry-level paid plan. On most builders, this alone moves you from “free” to a recurring monthly cost, often somewhere in the £10 to £20 per month range depending on the platform and plan tier.

2. Removing adverts

Many free and even some lower-tier paid plans display the platform’s branding or adverts on your site. Removing these usually requires upgrading to a higher plan, again adding to the monthly cost.

3. Ecommerce plans cost significantly more

If you want to sell products or take payments, even a small number of items, you typically need to move to an ecommerce-specific plan. These are usually priced considerably higher than basic plans, sometimes two or three times as much, because the platform is also providing the online store infrastructure.

4. Transaction fees on top of subscription costs

This is one of the most overlooked costs. Some website builders charge a percentage transaction fee on every sale you make through their platform, in addition to your monthly subscription and any payment processor fees (such as those charged by card payment providers). Over a year of sales, this can add up to a substantial amount, particularly for businesses with healthy turnover.

5. Apps and add-ons

Website builders often have app marketplaces for extending functionality, similar to WordPress plugins. However, many of the most useful apps (advanced forms, SEO tools, booking systems, email marketing integrations) come with their own separate monthly fees on top of your hosting plan.

6. Storage and bandwidth limits

As your website grows, particularly if you add a lot of images, video, or downloadable files, you may find yourself needing to upgrade plans simply to get more storage or bandwidth, even if you do not need any additional features.

7. Switching costs later

Perhaps the largest hidden cost is what happens if you later decide to move away from the platform. Content, design layouts, and sometimes even your domain setup can be difficult to migrate cleanly, often meaning a website rebuild rather than a simple transfer. The longer you stay, the more content you accumulate, and the bigger this task becomes.

A Realistic Cost Comparison

To make this concrete, here is a rough comparison of the ongoing cost of a small business website with a custom domain, no adverts, and basic ecommerce, over a three-year period.

Website builder (with ecommerce)

A typical ecommerce plan on a popular website builder might cost somewhere between £20 and £35 per month once you include the plan upgrade needed for a custom domain and online store. Over three years, that is roughly £720 to £1,260, before any transaction fees or paid apps are added.

Self-hosted WordPress with WooCommerce

A domain (around £10 per year) plus a WordPress hosting plan suitable for a small online store (typically £49 to £69 per year) gives a three-year cost of roughly £147 to £207, with no platform transaction fees on top, and full ownership of the site and its design.

The gap widens further once transaction fees and paid apps are factored in on the website builder side, and it widens again if you ever need to migrate away from the builder later.

What You Do Get From Website Builders

To be fair, website builders are not without genuine advantages, and for some people they remain the right choice:

• Very quick to get started with minimal technical knowledge
• Drag-and-drop design with limited risk of “breaking” the site
• Hosting, security and updates are all handled by the platform
• Good for short-term projects, events, or testing a business idea before committing further

The key is going in with realistic expectations about cost, rather than assuming the advertised entry price reflects what you will actually pay once your business needs grow even slightly.

When Does It Make Sense to Move to WordPress?

Moving away from a website builder tends to make financial and practical sense when one or more of the following apply:

• You are paying for an ecommerce plan plus several paid apps each month
• Transaction fees are noticeably eating into your margins
• You want more control over design, SEO, or site structure than the builder allows
• You are planning significant growth and want a platform that scales with you rather than requiring repeated plan upgrades

The earlier you make this move, the less content and design work needs to be recreated, which is why many businesses find it easier to switch sooner rather than waiting until the site has grown very large.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Wix or Squarespace actually free?

Only in a very limited sense. Free plans do not allow a custom domain, usually display platform branding, and are not suitable for a business. Almost all real businesses end up on a paid plan, and often a higher-tier one once ecommerce and apps are considered.

Are transaction fees charged on every website builder?

Policies vary by platform and by plan tier, with some higher-tier plans removing or reducing transaction fees. It is worth checking the specific terms of the plan you are considering, as this fee structure is not always prominent in marketing materials.

Is WordPress really cheaper in the long run?

For most small businesses, particularly those selling products or expecting to grow, self-hosted WordPress with good UK hosting tends to be more cost-effective over a few years, mainly because there are no transaction fees and fewer forced plan upgrades as the site grows.

Is moving from a website builder to WordPress difficult?

It involves rebuilding the site rather than a direct transfer, since builder platforms and WordPress use different underlying systems. However, with planning, content such as text, images and products can usually be carried across, and a good hosting provider can support you through the process.

Considering a Move to WordPress?

If the ongoing costs of your website builder are starting to add up, particularly once apps, ecommerce plans and transaction fees are taken into account, moving to self-hosted WordPress on UK-based hosting can often pay for itself within the first year or two.

Switchweb offers affordable WordPress hosting with no transaction fees, UK data centres, and support for WooCommerce stores of all sizes. If you are weighing up your options or planning a move, our web hosting plans are a good place to start.