Pricing
The monthly builder bill is a second job with rent
A monthly website builder looks cheap because the number is small and it sits next to Netflix on the card. Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, GoDaddy’s builder, Hostinger’s builder — paid plans are usually in the $16–$40 a month neighborhood once you want a custom domain and the ads gone. That is $192–$480 a year before you count the Saturday you spend fighting the editor. Two years is $384–$960. You still do not own a portable codebase. Leaving is a rebuild.
That math is why “I’ll just knock it out in Wix” is not automatically cheaper than hiring someone. Cheap Fast Websites sells a standard marketing site for $1,000, or $500* if you pay in full by September 30, 2026. Most standard jobs here finish in under 72 hours when the brief is clear. You pay once (or $100 down on the $1,000 job). You are not the designer next March. The builder bill is a second job with rent attached.
The meter, without the intro coupon
Read the renewal, not the first-year sale. Hosts and builders advertise $3 a month on a 48-month prepay, then renew at $11–$17 or more. Squarespace and Wix have intro prices that die. GoDaddy stacks email, security, and “SEO” add-ons on the domain you already bought. Carrd is the exception in this crowd: a few dollars a year if you like one-pagers and will actually use the editor. Everyone else is a lease.
Two years of a $25 plan is $600. Three years is $900. That is already the neighborhood of a $500* site, and you still rent. Add a domain at the registrar, a mailbox, and the afternoon you were going to “finish the About page.” Time is the line nobody puts on the pricing grid. If you enjoy clicking, that time is a hobby. If you opened this tab because you are sick of the hobby, price your hours like you would a plumber.
Free plans are free the way a crate is free. You can stand on it. You cannot put a proper address on it without paying. Ads show. The URL is someoneelse.com/you. Customers can see it is a crate. Fine for a weekend test. Not fine for a card you hand a customer who has other options.
| What you buy | Year-one cash (ballpark) | Year two | Can you leave with the site |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY builder, paid | $192–$480 + your hours | Same again, often higher after intro | Usually no — rebuild |
| Builder “AI” draft | Same subscription + the hours to fix the copy | Same meter | Still a login, not files |
| $27 one-page here | $27, or $54 with lifetime hosting on our server | $0 to us for that pack hosting | You have a page. You host it or we do. |
| Standard marketing site here | $500* once | Your host’s bill, not a builder lease | Yes — files and hosting you control |
$100 down starts the $1,000 job ($900 due). That is not the sale. $500 is only if you pay in full by September 30, 2026. Not a payment plan. Do not compare a $100 deposit to a $16 Wix coupon and call the builder cheaper. Compare two years, plus the rebuild when you want out.
What the monthly fee does not buy
It does not write your hours. It does not crop your job photos. It does not test the form on a phone. It does not notice the thank-you page 404s. The tool is an editor. You are still the designer, the writer, and the IT person. AI drafts do not change that. They fill the page with sentences you would not say out loud, then you spend the weekend deleting them.
The fee also does not include a ranking. Builders sell “SEO” as a toggle. Basic SEO is a title, a meta description, and Open Graph. We put those on a job here. We do not promise #1 Google. Neither should a $29 plan. If the contact path is broken, no plan tier fixes it.
Edits later: on a builder, you log in and hope the template still supports the block you used. Here, small changes are quoted and normal. You will not get a free forever-editor. You also will not get a surprise “your theme was deprecated, please rebuild.” If you need to swap a sale banner every Friday without asking anyone, keep the builder. That is a real reason. Be honest that you will log in next Friday.
When the subscription is still rational
You like the editor and you will actually use it. You are testing an idea for 60 days. You need the site to change every week and you refuse to email anyone. You already live in Squarespace and the form works, the phone is tappable, the lock icon shows. Stay. Run the free check first. If the bones pass, do not pay $500* for a color swap.
When it is not rational: three weekends in, lorem ipsum on About, no tap-to-call, and a card that will charge you until you cancel in a menu you cannot find. That is the usual case we see. The cheaper move is a page someone else finishes. If all you need is hours, phone, and three photos, use the pack. If you need it to look like a company, buy the marketing site. Most of those ship in under 72 hours when the brief is clear — name, one sentence, photos, current URL if any, domain or a yes that we should help.
Worldwide, 24/7. Phone 813-451-2204. Forms notify tampasbestdj@gmail.com. Not a cart, not an app, not a members area at this price. Look at live work if you want to see a paid-once page next to whatever you are renting now.
Free next step: paste the builder URL and see what a customer notices in five seconds. If you are done paying rent on an unfinished template, pay $500* once.