The question sounds simple, and the answer depends on two things: how much money you have and how much time. Route number five appeared only recently and changes the whole calculation, so if you’ve read comparisons from two years ago, keep reading.
Route 1: a website builder (a day’s work, $0–40 a month)
Builders means Wix, Squarespace and dozens of similar tools. You click, drag blocks around, pick a template. The site is ready the same day, and for the first year it’s usually enough.
Who it’s for: a business that needs a simple online business card with a phone number and an address, has no budget, and has someone on the team who enjoys tinkering.
The catches: the site belongs to the platform, not to you. Leave, and your site disappears. Free plans add the builder’s ads and don’t let you use your own domain. After two years of tweaks, “quick and cheap” has turned into weekends spent wrestling with blocks.
Route 2: a template plus a freelancer (a week, $1,500–5,000)
The freelancer buys a ready-made template, drops in your content and logo, and puts it on hosting. With a bit of luck, it looks decent.
Who it’s for: a small business that wants to look solid, has some budget and doesn’t need anything unusual.
The catches: quality depends on one person and their availability. Get the deadline in writing and make sure the domain and hosting are registered in your name, not the provider’s. Every change, you pay again.
Route 3: DIY WordPress (a weekend and then some, $100 + hosting)
The software is free, hosting costs next to nothing, and there are millions of tutorials. A huge part of the web runs this way.
Who it’s for: someone who likes to tinker and accepts that the site will be a project, not a product.
The catches: updates, plugins, themes and security are on you for years. WordPress powers around 40% of the web, so it’s also the most attacked. The mobile version and speed depend on how many plugins you pile on. We cover when it makes sense in a separate comparison of WordPress and static websites.
Route 4: an agency (3–8 weeks, $5,000–25,000)
The full process: a brief, a design from scratch, copy, photography, testing, maintenance. Expensive and slow, but in return you get a site built for your business, and someone to call.
Who it’s for: businesses for which the website is a sales tool and that track enquiries from the contact form.
The catches: price and timeline. Half of all delays come from waiting for materials from the client, so prepare them in advance and you’ll cut weeks off the project.
Route 5: AI that builds websites (under an hour, from $29 net)
The newest route, and the one we offer ourselves. You paste the address of your current site (or describe your business if you don’t have one), and an AI agent analyses your content, brand and industry, then designs and codes a new site. A few minutes instead of weeks, tens of dollars instead of thousands.
Who it’s for: businesses with an old site they’re embarrassed to show customers, and businesses with no site at all, which together make up most small businesses out there.
The catches: AI tools differ from each other more than agencies do. Some generate a generic template filled with made-up facts; others work with your real content and go through quality checks. Before you choose, read why sites from AI generators can all look the same and how Webomat works.
The common-sense comparison
- Budget close to zero: a website builder or DIY WordPress. Expect to do the work yourself.
- A few thousand dollars and peace of mind: a freelancer with a template.
- Website as a sales tool: an agency, or AI with quality control.
- Old site to replace, budget of a couple of hundred dollars: AI. Nothing else comes close.
- Simple shop for smaller sales: a builder with a store, WordPress with a plugin, or Webomat’s shop package (from $129 net).
- Large shop with integrations, bookings, customer portal: an agency. AI can’t honestly do that today.
Each route, step by step
Website builder. You create an account, pick a template from the catalogue, enter your business name, fill in the sections and connect a domain (if you buy one). The minimum plan: one evening to choose a template, another for the content. The biggest mistake: leaving it half-finished and never coming back.
Freelancer. Look for recommendations, not ads. Send a ten-question brief (you’ll find a template in the post about materials), compare two or three quotes, and sign a contract that covers deadlines and the price of changes. Keep it on track with two or three scheduled check-ins. The key: good materials from day one.
DIY WordPress. You buy hosting with a one-click installer, run the install, pick a theme and fill in the content. The real cost of the first week: a dozen or so hours of learning. After that, an hour a month for updates. Watch out for the plugin trap: every plugin chips away at security and speed.
Agency. Brief, workshop, design, approval rounds, development, testing, launch, support. Your role: decision-maker and supplier of materials, not project manager. The best results go to clients who pick a single decision-maker and reply within a day.
AI (Webomat). You paste your address. A minute later you have a screenshot and an audit. Within 15–25 minutes, design proposals to choose from. Once you order, the full site usually takes another 15–20 minutes. Revisions via chat, publishing on your own domain or as a file package. Your role: you choose and refine. We’ve described exactly how Webomat works under the hood.
Mistakes that cost you on every route
Whichever route you choose, these mistakes come up again and again:
- No goal. A “we just need a website” website is the most expensive site in the world, because it never pays anything back.
- Starting with the look. First decide what the site should say and to whom, then how it looks. Do it the other way round and you’re in for weeks of cosmetic tweaks.
- Hiding information. Prices on request, a phone number in tiny print in the footer, an address “available on request”. Customers don’t ask twice.
- Desktop only. Be honest: when did you last check your site on a phone?
- “We’ll finish it later.” Sections under construction, empty spaces, lorem ipsum. Later never comes.
The three-year comparison
All routes, total cost of ownership for a five-page website:
- website builder: $500 to $1,500 (subscription plus domain),
- freelancer: $1,700 to $6,000 (build plus hosting),
- WordPress: $250 to $1,000 (hosting plus your own time, counted as a hobby),
- agency: $5,000 to $25,000 plus maintenance,
- AI: from $29 (net) once, plus $0 to $29 a year for hosting (free in the first year).
The cheapest route isn’t the cheapest once you count your own time. The most expensive isn’t the most expensive if the site sells. The number you really care about is the cost of winning a customer, and you’ll only be able to work that out after a few months.
Whichever route you take: start with a free audit of your current website. A minute of your time, and you’ll know what you’re leaving behind and what’s worth bringing with you.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to make a website in 2026?
From $0 with a website builder, through $1,500–5,000 with a freelancer, to $5,000–25,000 at a small agency. A site built by an AI agent, as with Webomat, starts from $29 (net) for the whole thing.
Can I make a website myself, without a developer?
Yes. A website builder or WordPress is enough for a simple business-card site. Count your own time: building it takes an evening or two, then an hour a month for updates and tidying up.
Which route is the fastest?
A website builder: a day’s work. An AI agent: usually 15–25 minutes from pasting your current site’s address to the first proposals for the new one. The other routes are measured in weeks.