Website Builder Costs in Year One
Published · updated · 4 min read
Key takeaways
- Squarespace runs $16/mo Personal, $23/mo Business and from $28/mo for commerce.
- Wix runs $17/mo Light, $29/mo Core and $36/mo Business.
- Webflow site plans start at $14/mo, with CMS from $23/mo and stacked workspace pricing.
- Shopify starts at $39/mo Basic and jumps to $105/mo Grow and $399/mo Advanced.
- For a store, transaction fees and apps routinely cost more than the plan itself.
The ranking at a glance
| # | Tool | Pricing | Twinover Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shopify | subscription | 9.1 |
| 2 | Webflow | freemium | 8.8 |
| 3 | Squarespace | subscription | 8.6 |
| 4 | Wix | freemium | 8.2 |
The headline price is a floor, not a price
Every builder advertises its cheapest plan. That plan is usually not the one you end up on: it lacks the feature you discover you need in week three, such as a booking form, a checkout, or a custom domain connection. Read the plan two above the one that matches your current needs and use that as your budget.
- Squarespace: $16 Personal, $23 Business, from $28 Commerce
- Wix: $17 Light, $29 Core, $36 Business
- Webflow: from $14 site plans, CMS from $23
- Shopify: $39 Basic, $105 Grow, $399 Advanced
Selling something changes the maths completely
A brochure site costs the subscription and a domain. A store costs the subscription plus payment processing plus apps plus, on Shopify, transaction fees if you do not use Shopify Payments. Basic at $39/mo is a real number, but a busy store's app stack often exceeds it every month on its own.
Where each builder hides its extra cost
Squarespace charges transaction fees on the Business plan, which pushes sellers toward the more expensive commerce tier. Wix cannot change templates later, so a redesign is a rebuild. Webflow's pricing stacks site plans on top of workspace pricing. Shopify's costs live in the app store.
- Squarespace: transaction fees on Business, so selling means the higher tier
- Wix: template choice is permanent — pick carefully on day one
- Webflow: site plan plus workspace costs, plus a real learning curve
- Shopify: apps and transaction fees, which scale with sales
What a year of each actually costs
Multiply the monthly plan by twelve and add a domain, then add what your situation implies: apps for a store, a CMS plan for a blog-heavy site, a booking or forms add-on for a service business. A $16/mo site is roughly $192 a year plus extras; a $39/mo store plus two apps is closer to $900 before processing fees.
Choosing by what the site has to do
If the site is a portfolio or a restaurant page, the cheapest tier of Squarespace or Wix is genuinely fine and the extra cost never materialises. If the site has to sell, plan for Shopify's real total rather than the advertised one. If you or a designer will build it properly and want control over the markup, Webflow's price is worth it and its learning curve is the price of that control.
The decision that saves the most money
Decide now whether you are selling. Not selling: pick the builder whose templates you like and pay the entry price. Selling: budget the store tier plus apps plus processing, and choose the platform whose checkout and inventory you can live in for three years, because moving a live store is expensive in more than money.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the real cost of a website builder in the first year?
- Plan for twelve times the monthly price of the plan you will actually need, plus a domain, plus add-ons. A simple site is around $200-$450 a year; a store on Shopify Basic plus a couple of apps is closer to $900 before payment processing fees.
- Is Shopify more expensive than Squarespace?
- For selling, usually yes at the plan level — Shopify Basic is $39/mo against Squarespace's commerce plans from $28/mo — but Shopify's checkout, inventory and app ecosystem are stronger, and Squarespace charges transaction fees on its Business plan.
- Can I switch templates on Wix later?
- No. Wix locks you to the template you start with, so changing the look of your site means rebuilding it. If you expect a redesign within a year, that constraint is worth more than the price difference between plans.
- Do I need a paid plan to use my own domain?
- Most builders require a paid plan to connect a custom domain. Some free plans include a domain for the first year on an annual subscription, so check whether the domain is bundled before paying for it separately.