The honest answer
Should you just build it yourself?
Honestly? Maybe. An AI site builder will hand you a decent-looking website in an afternoon, and I use AI tools in my own work, so I won’t pretend otherwise. But the tool was never the risk. What matters is everything the screenshot doesn’t show: who owns the domain, whether backups actually run, what the security defaults leave open, and who answers when something breaks. Below is the whole picture, so you can decide with your eyes open.
When doing it yourself is the right call
You like this stuff
If an evening tweaking your site sounds like fun, then build it yourself. I mean that sincerely. Budget hours for the upkeep, not just the build, and check whose name the domain is registered in before you publish.
You need a placeholder, today
One page with your name, hours, and phone number beats nothing. A free builder gets you that this afternoon. Just register the domain yourself, in your own account, so the page can grow up later.
The budget is truly zero
Then don’t buy a website, from me or anyone. Claim your free Google Business Profile first. For a local business it works harder than a rushed site anyway. When there’s room to do it right, I’m here.
What you're actually signing up for
Building the site is the visible tenth of the job. This is the rest of it, the part that doesn't show up in the builder's demo video.
| The part nobody sees | Doing it yourself | On any plan here |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the domain | Registered to whoever clicked “buy.” Sometimes the platform, sometimes a helper. Owners find out when they try to leave. | Registered in your name from day one. It’s written into the guarantee. |
| Security | The builder’s defaults, plus every plugin you add. And almost all WordPress vulnerabilities ship in plugins. | No plugins to hack: a hardened baseline with the same headers this site runs. Test mine right now at securityheaders.com. |
| Backups | “I think it does that automatically?” Untested until the day it matters. | Running and restorable, on every plan. |
| Accessibility | Unknown until a demand letter shows up, and most of the companies sued are small businesses. | Built to the WCAG 2.1 AA floor from the start and checked as part of the build, not bolted on after a letter. |
| Your Google listing | A second dashboard to learn, suspensions with no support line, hours that drift out of date. | Claimed, verified, and kept in step with the site, included in every plan. |
| Email that arrives | Replies from a personal @gmail address, or a domain with no sending records, landing straight in the spam folder. | Contact forms that land in your inbox, with sending set up so confirmations actually arrive. Business email on your own domain is a flat-priced add-on, on the tag like everything else. |
| Words and photos | Template filler text, your patience, and a stock-photo search at midnight. | I write the site from what you give me, whether a menu or an old brochure, and real photos are the rule, never stock people. |
| Friday, 9 pm, site’s down | You, a help forum, and a chatbot. | One person who built it, answers for it, and fixes it. That’s what the monthly plan is. |
That last column is doing a lot of quiet work. See the extras that come standard on every build →
Don’t take my word for it
These are the reports and the court case I’d show a friend: primary sources, not marketing posts. Each link opens on the publisher’s own site.
- State of WordPress Security in 2025 · Patchstack, 2025(opens in a new tab)
7,966 new vulnerabilities were found in the WordPress ecosystem in one year. 96% of them were in plugins, and a third had no fix available when publicly disclosed.
- Data Breach Investigations Report (small-business snapshot) · Verizon, 2025(opens in a new tab)
System intrusion jumped from 36% to 53% of breach patterns at small and mid-sized businesses in a single year.
- ADA web accessibility lawsuit trends for 2026 · UsableNet, 2026(opens in a new tab)
More than 5,000 digital-accessibility lawsuits were filed in 2025, and 64% of the companies sued make under $25 million a year.
- DSPT International v. Nahum, 624 F.3d 1213 · U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 2010(opens in a new tab)
A webmaster registered the company’s domain in his own name, then held it during a pay dispute. The jury awarded the business $152,000, and the court confirmed that leverage game is unlawful.
Rather have it handled?
Fair either way. If building it sounds like fun, the list above is yours. If you would rather run your business, start with a free look at your site.