Custom Website vs Wix / Squarespace — What's Actually Better?

The honest answer

A template is fine when you just need a basic online presence, have no real SEO ambitions, and are working with a very tight budget. Wix and Squarespace are genuinely decent for a café putting up a menu or a freelancer sharing a portfolio link.

It's not the right choice when you want to rank on Google for competitive local searches, care about how fast your site loads on mobile, want to own your site outright without ongoing platform fees, or need your site to actively generate leads rather than just exist.

PageSpeed: hand-coded vs templates

Custom hand-coded sites built by Stamp Code consistently score 90+ on Google PageSpeed. Wix and Squarespace typically land between 45–65 on mobile. That gap matters — Google uses PageSpeed as a ranking signal. A slow site doesn't just frustrate visitors; it actively hurts your position in search results.

Side-by-side comparison

Feature	Custom (Stamp Code)	Wix / Squarespace
PageSpeed score	90+	45–65 typical
Looks unique	Yes	Often template-recognisable
Full SEO control	Yes	Limited
You own the code	Yes	No — platform locked
Mobile-first	Yes	Responsive (not mobile-first)
Ongoing cost	Optional retainer	Monthly platform fee forever
Loading speed	Fast	Often slow on mobile

What I build instead

Hand-coded HTML, CSS, and JavaScript — no CMS, no plugin dependencies, no platform fees. The same quality you'd get from an agency, at a fraction of the cost, built by someone who's shipped products for Fisher & Paykel and IAG. You own the code outright, hosting is free for most small business traffic levels, and it'll load in under 2 seconds on mobile.

Want to know what it costs? See the Australia pricing guide →

Looking for a Melbourne-based web designer? Find out why local matters →