Template vs Custom Website: Real Numbers for SA Small Business
TL;DR
A template website looks cheaper at signup (R200 to R3,000) but locks you into monthly rentals, slows your site down, and tanks your Google ranking. A custom website costs more upfront (R7,900 to R29,900) but ranks better, loads faster, and you own it forever. Over five years a custom site is usually cheaper. Here are the real numbers, the real trade-offs, and how to decide.
Every week a South African small business owner asks us "why does a custom website cost R7,900 when I can get one online for R299 a month?" Fair question. The honest answer is that you can absolutely get a template site for less. You just end up paying more, getting fewer leads, and owning nothing. Here is the maths nobody shows you on the sales call.
What you actually get for R299 a month
Most R299-per-month services in South Africa give you a Wix, Squarespace, or local-builder template, a subdomain (yourbusiness.builder.com unless you pay extra), a hosted email forwarder, and limited customisation. The site itself is the same template thousands of others use. The hosting is shared. The SEO settings are basic. You cannot move the site to another host without rebuilding it.
At R299 per month, by year three you have paid R10,764. By year five, R17,940. And you still own nothing. The day you stop paying, the site goes offline. The domain often does too if it sat under their account.
What R7,900 actually buys you
At R7,900 for our Starter web design package, you pay once. You get a five-page custom site, mobile-first responsive design, on-page SEO, schema markup, Google Business Profile setup, contact form, WhatsApp button, Google Maps embed, and one month of support. You own the domain, the hosting account, and the full source code at handover.
Year one you spend R7,900 plus around R1,800 for your own hosting and domain. Year two through five you spend R1,800 a year. By year five, total spend is around R15,100, and you still own a real asset. Here is the full breakdown of what is inside the R7,900 package.
The five-year maths
Template at R299/m
- Year 1: R3,588
- Year 5 total: R17,940
- You own: nothing
- Move providers: rebuild from zero
Custom at R7,900
- Year 1: R9,700 (build + hosting)
- Year 5 total: R15,100
- You own: code + domain + hosting
- Move providers: copy and go
By year five, the custom build is R2,840 cheaper, faster, ranking better, and yours. The only year where the template wins on cash is year one. From year two onwards the gap closes, and from year four onwards the template is more expensive every single month forever.
SEO: where templates really hurt
Templates load slower because they ship code for hundreds of features you do not use. Mobile Lighthouse scores under 50 are normal on Wix and Squarespace small business sites. Google rewards fast-loading mobile sites in local rankings. A custom build hits 90 plus on mobile out of the box.
Templates also share generic schema markup, generic URLs, and limited control over headings, meta tags, and image alt text. We have moved clients off template sites onto custom builds and watched their Google rankings climb 20 to 40 positions in the first 90 days. Same business. Same content. Just better foundations.
When a template actually makes sense
We are not template haters. There are three real cases where a template wins:
- You need a site live in 48 hours. Templates are faster to launch. If you are pitching tomorrow, do not let perfect kill quick.
- You will replace it within 6 months. Quick interim site for a soft launch, with a custom build planned next quarter.
- Your business is genuinely a hobby. Sub R5k revenue per year, no leads expected. Templates are fine if nobody is supposed to find the site anyway.
When custom is the right call
Every other case. If your business needs to be findable on Google for buyer-intent searches like accountant centurion or solar installer pretoria, a template will fight you for years. If credibility matters because you charge meaningful money, a generic look hurts conversion. If you ever plan to integrate WhatsApp, a CRM, lead routing, or AI automation, custom is the only sensible foundation. See how AI automation plugs into a custom site.
Stuck on a template? Free audit.
We will run your current site through PageSpeed Insights, check Google Search Console signals, and tell you exactly what is costing you leads. Free, no pitch, 24 hour turnaround.
Frequently asked questions
Can I move my Wix site to a custom build later?
Yes, but the content is the only thing that transfers cleanly. Layout, code, plugins, and any custom logic have to be rebuilt. We typically rebuild from scratch using your existing copy and images, then add a 301 redirect map so your existing rankings carry over.
What about WordPress with a free theme?
Better than Wix in some ways, worse in others. Free WordPress themes are often bloated and laden with low-quality code. Self-hosting WordPress means you own the install, which is good. But maintenance, plugin updates, and security patches become your problem. We build static custom sites that have no CMS surface to attack and no plugins to break.
Do you build for businesses outside Centurion and Pretoria?
Yes. We are based in Hartbeespoort and serve clients across Gauteng and the North West. Local pages cover Hartbeespoort, Pretoria, Brits, Sandton, and Midrand.
What if I cannot afford R7,900 right now?
We split into 50 percent on approval and 50 percent on launch. So roughly R4,000 in two payments four weeks apart. Most clients earn that back from the first lead the new site captures. If genuinely the cash is not there, a free Wix template is a reasonable bridge until it is.