Comparison
Bespoke website vs WordPress.
WordPress powers about 40% of the web and that's not an accident — for some sites it's genuinely the right tool. For most small businesses though, it's quietly expensive, regularly broken, and bought on an assumption ("it's free") that falls apart once you add the plugins, hosting, themes and occasional developer. Here's the honest comparison.
First, the bit most comparisons skip
Your base bespoke site is free.
If you're a UK small business, retailer or tradesperson, I'll build your base informational website for free. You pay for hosting and your domain. Additional work — bookings, e-commerce, custom features — is charged at a small hourly rate, pay-as-you-go. No monthly plan fees, no upgrade paths, no plugin subscriptions.
£0
Base build & design
£25/mo
Managed hosting
£20/yr
Domain name
For a small informational site.
A brochure-style site for a local business — services, about, contact. This is where my free offer applies, and where WordPress looks suspiciously cheap on paper.
| Aspect | Free bespoke offer | WordPress (self-hosted) |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront build | £0 | £0 DIY, or £500-2k if you hire someone |
| Hosting | ~£25/mo managed | £5-40/mo depending on host |
| Theme / template | Designed specifically for you. Free. | Free ones OK; premium ~£50-100 one-off |
| Plugin subscriptions | None — features built in | £50-300/yr typical (SEO, forms, security, backup) |
| Maintenance | Handled — no updates to manage | Your problem, or a dev's at £500-2k/yr |
| 5-year realistic cost | ~£1,600 | ~£1,500-5,000 depending on plugins & support |
For a larger or more complex build.
Booking systems, custom e-commerce, client portals, SaaS. This is where my hourly rate comes in — and where WordPress starts stacking paid plugins at speed.
| Aspect | Bespoke (Laravel) | WordPress |
|---|---|---|
| Custom features | Built exactly to your workflow | Plugin-assembled; breaks at the edges |
| PageSpeed (mobile) | 95+ routinely | 40-80 typical without heavy optimisation |
| Security surface | Small — no public admin, no plugin monoculture | Large — plugin CVEs arrive most weeks |
| Ongoing changes | Pay-as-you-go hourly rate, no retainer | Dev time + plugin licence shopping |
| Ownership | 100% yours | Yours, but tangled up in paid themes / plugins |
When each is the right call.
Bespoke wins when…
- — You're a UK small business that qualifies for the free offer.
- — You want a site that looks nothing like anyone else's.
- — You need custom workflow, booking, or pricing logic.
- — You're fed up with plugin conflicts and update-day breakages.
- — You'd rather pay for what you actually need, when you need it.
WordPress wins when…
- — You run a content-heavy blog and love Gutenberg.
- — You already have in-house WordPress skills.
- — You need something live this weekend.
- — You're happy to manage plugin updates and backups yourself.
I don't build WordPress sites, but I'll tell you honestly if it's the better fit. Better to say so up front than over-engineer something you don't need.
Bespoke vs WordPress FAQs.
What's the catch with the free website offer?
Genuinely, there isn't one. I offer it because every small business deserves a proper website, and it costs me very little to build one. Hosting and domain are your costs; anything beyond a standard informational site is charged at my hourly rate. If you ever want to leave, the code is yours.
Can I move my WordPress site to a bespoke build?
Yes. Content, URLs and SEO redirects all come across. Your blog posts, pages, images and URLs stay the same — Google doesn't notice the swap.
How much is the hourly rate for extras?
Small and fair — I'll tell you up front before any work starts, and quote in advance so you never get a surprise invoice. Most small add-ons are a couple of hours, not a couple of days.
Is WordPress actually insecure, or is that exaggerated?
WordPress core is fine. The problem is the plugin ecosystem — the average site runs 10+ plugins, each a potential entry point. Most compromised WordPress sites got hit through an outdated plugin, not through core.
Fed up with your WordPress site?
Get a free audit of it first — then decide whether a rebuild is worth it.