Website builder or web designer? Build it yourself if you have spare evenings, you enjoy fiddling with layouts, and all you need is a simple page with your name, your hours, a few photos and a phone number. Hire a web designer if your time is worth more than the builder’s subscription, if you need bookings or payments, or if you want Google handled by someone who does it every week. The website builder vs web designer question has a third answer that suits most Irish shops and trades best: a designer who builds the site and then runs it for a monthly fee, so it never goes stale.
This page is about the decision, not the tools. If you want Wix and Squarespace compared screen by screen, that is in Wix vs Squarespace vs hiring someone. Here we want to help you work out which kind of owner you are, and what to ask before you give anyone money, us included.
The real cost is your evenings, not the subscription
Builder adverts sell the site as free or nearly free, and the software often is. What they do not mention is the twenty or thirty hours between signing up and having something you would put on the side of a van. Picking a template is the quick bit. Writing the words, cropping photos so they do not look stretched, working out why the menu disappears on a phone, connecting a domain, setting up the contact form so it actually sends: that is where the weekends go.
Work out what an hour of your time earns in the business, multiply it by twenty, and put that number beside the designer’s quote. For a lot of tradespeople and salon owners the “free” site turns out to be the dearest option on the table.
You should probably use a builder if
- You like computers and you have evenings free. Not “could find the time”, but have it.
- Your needs are simple: one page, hours, photos, where you are, how to ring you.
- The business is new and you are still testing whether it is a business. A builder site is a cheap way to find out.
- Instagram is already doing the heavy lifting and you just want a home for your hours and prices.
- You will keep it updated. Be honest about this one.
A finished builder site that is kept current beats a lot of designer sites. A builder site that has sat at “coming soon” since March is worse than no site, because Google finds it and so do customers.
You should probably hire someone if
- You are time poor. Most owners are.
- You need bookings, deposits or payments. Builders can do these through add-ons, but it is where the weekends really go, and it is where things break.
- You want Google looked after: the Business Profile verified, the site in Search Console, structured data so your hours show up correctly.
- You sell something where trust matters before the first call: a dental practice, a childminder, a solicitor. A half-finished site costs you the enquiry.
- You already tried a builder and it is still not live.
The third option: a designer who also runs it
A once-off designer hands you the keys and leaves. That works for a year. Then the hours change for the summer, the software behind the site needs an update nobody applies, the contact form quietly stops sending, and the designer is busy or gone. Two years on, the site is a liability with your name on it.
The third option is a designer or a small studio that charges a set up fee and then a monthly fee that covers the running: hosting, backups, security updates, small changes when your prices move, and someone watching the Google listing. This is how we work, and we are not the only one in Ireland who does. The test is not the monthly figure, it is what the figure covers.
| Website builder | Designer, once-off | Designer who runs it monthly | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your time | Evenings and weekends until it is done, then every time something changes | A few hours answering questions and sending photos | The same few hours, then a WhatsApp message when something changes |
| Money up front | Nothing, or a paid template | A build quote | A set up fee |
| Money each month | The builder’s plan, plus the domain | Hosting and domain, usually arranged by you | One fee that should cover everything |
| When it breaks | You, with the help pages | The designer, by the hour, if they are still trading | Included |
| Google Business Profile | You | Sometimes, ask | Should be included |
| Bookings and payments | Add-ons at an extra monthly cost | Quoted as extra | Depends on the plan |
| Leaving | Hard to export; usually a rebuild | You keep the files if you asked for them up front | You should keep the domain and content; check the notice period |
Questions to ask any web designer in Ireland
Ask these of everyone you talk to, and write the answers down. The price will make more sense once you have them.
Whose name will the domain be registered in? Yours. Not the designer’s, not the studio’s. A .ie domain is registered through the .IE registry via an accredited registrar, and the registrant should be you or your business. If the designer registers it in their own name you cannot move without their say-so. We have set out the process in how to register a .ie domain.
What happens if we leave? Can you take the site with you, or only the text and photos? Is there an exit fee? How much notice? A fair answer is thirty days, no fee, and your content handed over in a usable form. The practical side is covered in how to move your website to a new provider.
What exactly is included each month? Hosting is the minimum. Ask about backups, security updates, how many changes you get, how fast they are done, and whether anyone touches the Google listing. “Maintenance” on its own means nothing.
Is VAT included in that price? Irish quotes are normally given before VAT, and the standard rate is 23%. A sole trader below the registration threshold may charge none at all. If you are VAT registered you claim it back; if you are not, the difference between two quotes can be almost a quarter of the price.
Who writes the words and takes the photos? The most common reason a site never launches is that the owner was supposed to send the text. Ask who is doing it.
How do we change a price on a Tuesday night? If the answer involves emailing the designer and waiting, you will stop updating the site within six months.
How long until it is live? Weeks is normal for a once-off build. If the answer is months, ask why.
What we do for clients
We are the third option. Essentials is €499 to set up and €50 a month, and that covers the site, a .ie domain in your name, hosting, daily backups, a private page where you change hours and prices from your phone, small changes by WhatsApp, and the Google Business Profile set up and verified. Complete is €1,499 and €100 a month and adds bookings, deposits and payments, a chat assistant, business email and the monthly Google work.
The answers to the questions above, in our case: the domain is yours, there is no contract, you can leave with thirty days’ notice and no exit fee, and you keep the domain, the content and the customer data. Prices on the pricing page are before VAT, and we say so there rather than in the small print.
If a builder genuinely suits you, we will tell you that in the first chat and save us both an afternoon.