Every week, we speak to business owners who built their first website on Wix, grew their business, and now find themselves trapped. Their traffic is climbing, their clients are real, but their website can't handle a booking system, can't integrate with their accounting software, and can't export to anything else. Starting again means losing their domain history and potentially their Google ranking.
The six questions below won't tell you which builder is "best." They'll tell you which builder is right for where your business is going — which is a different question entirely.
Question 01
Do you need to accept payments online?
If yes, this alone eliminates most options for South African businesses. Squarespace's native payment support does not work for SA-registered businesses without a UK/US entity. Wix's PayFast integration requires a premium plan. Self-hosted WordPress with WooCommerce and a PayFast or Ozow plugin is the first genuinely workable out-of-the-box option. Custom development is the most flexible.
Question 02
Will you collect any personal information from visitors?
If you have a contact form, newsletter, quote request, or booking system — you collect personal information. Under POPIA, you are legally required to disclose exactly what you collect, why, and how. Generic privacy policy templates from Wix or Squarespace do not satisfy POPIA's specific requirements around Information Officers and breach notification. You need a customisable platform and a lawyer or compliance firm to draft proper documentation.
Question 03
Where do your clients find you — and how fast does your site need to load?
Most South African clients are finding businesses via Google on mobile, often on 4G or LTE. Google's Core Web Vitals — particularly Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) — directly affect your search ranking. Wix sites historically perform poorly on LCP because of heavy JavaScript payloads. A custom-built static site hosted on a CDN-edge network (like Vercel) can load in under 1 second on SA mobile networks. This is not a minor difference — Google has confirmed that page experience is a ranking factor.
Question 04
Who owns your content — and what happens if you stop paying?
This question should be in every website contract and platform evaluation. With Wix, Squarespace, or any hosted builder, stopping your subscription means your site goes offline immediately. You cannot export your design, your custom functionality, or in some cases even your blog content in a portable format. A self-hosted or custom-built site means you own every file — and your site continues to function regardless of who you pay hosting to.
Question 05
Will your website need to do more than show information?
Think ahead 24 months. Will you need online bookings? Staff scheduling? Client portals? Automated invoicing? Integration with your practice management system, your accounting software, or WhatsApp? Template builders can handle some of this via plugins — but every plugin adds load time, a monthly cost, a security vulnerability, and a dependency on a third-party developer who may abandon the plugin. Complex functionality belongs in custom code.
Question 06
What is your realistic budget — all-in, over three years?
The "R300/month" Wix plan is a loss leader. Add a premium theme (R1,500 once), a booking plugin (R200/month), an email marketing integration (R300/month), a form builder (R150/month), and a chat widget (R200/month) — you're at R1,150/month or R41,400 over three years. A custom-built site from ASi Imperium that does all of this natively runs R8,000–R25,000 once, with hosting at R50–R200/month. The maths matter.
So What Should You Choose?
Here is a simple framework based on the answers above:
- All No answers above + budget under R5,000: Use WordPress.com's free plan or Wix free tier to validate your idea. Don't pay anything yet.
- Accept payments + collect data + professional service: Self-hosted WordPress with proper POPIA configuration, or custom development.
- Medical, legal, or regulated practice: Custom development with POPIA compliance built in from the architecture up. No exceptions.
- SME with 12+ months of proven revenue: Custom-built site. You have outgrown templates. Your website should be an asset on your balance sheet, not a recurring expense.