A contractor called me last year after spending 14 months on Wix. He'd built the site himself over a weekend, paid $22/month for the Business plan, and bolted on four plugins to handle forms, galleries, reviews, and booking.
Total cost in those 14 months: about $700 including plugins. Not bad on paper.
Total leads from the site: 11. He'd been averaging less than one per month. His competitor across town — custom site, proper SEO, real conversion strategy — was pulling 30+ calls a month from the same zip code.
That $700 "cheap" website had cost him roughly $150,000 in lost revenue by the time we talked. Not because Wix is a scam. Because it was the wrong tool for the job.
I've been building websites for contractors for over 15 years. Started as a wedding photographer, taught myself to design and code, and now run a web design agency in Sarasota that works primarily with home service businesses. I've seen the full spectrum — the $0 Google Sites page, the $800 Squarespace build, the $35,000 custom platform. Each has a place. The problem is most contractors pick based on the monthly price tag without doing the actual math.
Let's do the actual math.
The 3-Year Cost Comparison
This is where the "Wix is cheaper" argument falls apart. Because Wix IS cheaper — in month one. Over three years, the picture changes.
[Comparison table — see full post for details]
The custom build is obviously more expensive. No one's arguing that. The question is what you get for the money — and what the cheaper option costs you in leads you never receive.
When Wix / Template Builders Actually Make Sense
I'm not here to trash Wix. It's a real product that solves a real problem. Here's when it's the right call:
You just started your business and revenue is under $100K. Cash is tight. You need something online now. A clean template with your phone number, your services, and some real photos is infinitely better than no website at all. Build it yourself, spend $30/month, and reinvest every other dollar into your truck, tools, and first hires.
Your website is purely a credibility check. You get 100% of your work from referrals. The website exists so that when someone Googles your name, they see a real business with a real site. It's not generating leads — it's confirming what the referral already told them. A template does that fine.
You're testing a new market or service line. Want to see if solar panel installation is worth adding to your electrical services? Throw up a landing page on Squarespace. Test it for 90 days. If it works, build it properly. If not, you spent $80 instead of $5,000.
The Uncomfortable Truth About "Saving Money"
Contractors understand this better than almost anyone because they hear it from homeowners every day: the cheap option usually costs more in the long run.
A homeowner who pays $4,000 for a discount roof replacement ends up paying $12,000 when it fails in three years. The homeowner who pays $9,000 for the job done right doesn't think about their roof again for 20 years.
Websites work the same way. The contractor who pays $700 for a template site, outgrows it in 18 months, pays $10,000 to rebuild, and then spends months recovering their SEO rankings — they spent more than the contractor who invested $12,000 in a proper build from day one and never looked back.
I'm not saying every contractor needs a $25,000 website. That would be dishonest. What I'm saying is: know what you're buying, know what you're giving up, and do the math over 3 years instead of 3 months.
Want an Honest Assessment?
I don't sell Wix sites and I don't trash them to win custom work. If your template site is genuinely working for your business, I'll tell you to keep it.
But if you suspect your website is costing you leads — or you're about to invest in a rebuild and want to make sure you're spending in the right place — request a free audit. I'll walk through your current site and give you specific, honest recommendations. No pitch. No pressure.
Or if you already know it's time and want to talk about what a proper contractor website looks like for your business, reach out directly. I've been doing this a long time and I'll shoot straight with you.
