WordPress or custom-built? This is a question many people ask before commissioning a new website. And the answer you'll usually find online is: "It depends." That's true — but it doesn't really help.
In this article, you'll get an honest comparison. No WordPress-bashing, no hymn of praise for custom development. Instead: concrete facts so you can make the right decision for your project.
For transparency upfront: At YB Digital, I work with custom web development (Next.js and React). That means I have a natural preference — but I'll do my best in this article to present both sides fairly.
What Is WordPress?
WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that started as a blogging platform in 2003 and has evolved into the most widely used website builder in the world. Currently, about 43% of all websites worldwide run on WordPress.
How WordPress Works
WordPress provides a pre-built system with three building blocks:
- Themes: Ready-made design templates that determine the look of your website. There are thousands of free and paid themes.
- Plugins: Extensions for additional functionality — SEO, contact forms, online shops, security, caching. Over 60,000 plugins are available.
- The backend: An admin area where you can create pages, edit text, upload images, and manage settings — without any coding skills.
The concept is fundamentally clever: You install WordPress, pick a theme, add a few plugins — and you have a working website. For many use cases, that's a very efficient approach.
What Is Custom Web Development?
With a custom-built website, nothing comes from a kit. Everything — design, structure, features, code — is programmed from the ground up. Typical technologies include React, Next.js, Vue.js, Svelte, or similar modern frameworks.
What This Looks Like in Practice
- No theme: The design is created entirely from scratch — pixel by pixel to match your brand.
- No plugins: Features are written directly into the code. What isn't needed doesn't exist. No bloat.
- No CMS overhead: The website consists of lean, optimized code. No database queries on every page load, no unnecessary PHP processes.
- Full flexibility: If you need a feature that no plugin covers, it gets built. There are no technical limitations.
The result is a website that does exactly what it's supposed to — nothing more and nothing less. No bloated code, no compromises on design or functionality.
The Honest Comparison: WordPress vs. Custom
Now let's get specific. Here are the most important criteria in a direct comparison:
| Criterion | WordPress | Custom Development |
|---|---|---|
| Initial costs | Lower (€500 – €5,000) | Higher (€2,500 – €15,000+) |
| Ongoing costs | Higher (plugin licenses, updates, maintenance) | Lower (hosting + domain) |
| Performance | Often slower due to plugin overhead | Very fast, since only what's needed is loaded |
| Security | Frequent attack target, regular updates required | Smaller attack surface, less maintenance |
| Flexibility | High through plugin ecosystem, but bound by limits | Unlimited, but more development effort |
| Content management | Simple, familiar backend | Depends on the solution (headless CMS, Markdown, etc.) |
| SEO | Good with plugins (Yoast, Rank Math) | Optimized from the ground up, full control |
| Maintenance effort | High (updates, plugin compatibility, backups) | Low (no plugin management needed) |
| Uniqueness | Limited by theme constraints | Fully custom |
Let's go through the key points in detail.
Costs: Cheaper Start vs. Cheaper Long-Term Model
WordPress lures you in with low entry costs. A theme for $60, a few free plugins, affordable hosting — and you have a website for under $1,000. Sounds tempting.
But the math often doesn't add up in the long run:
- Premium plugins: Many important plugins require annual license fees. SEO plugin: $99/year. Security plugin: $79/year. Form plugin: $49/year. Backup plugin: $69/year. That adds up to $300-500 per year — just for plugins.
- WordPress maintenance: Regular updates (WordPress core, theme, plugins) are mandatory. If you can't do this yourself, you'll pay a developer: $50-200 per month.
- Performance issues: When the website gets slow — and this happens frequently with WordPress — you need someone to optimize it. That costs money.
A custom website has higher upfront costs but significantly lower ongoing costs. Hosting with a modern provider like Vercel often costs under $20 per month. And there are no plugin licenses that need to be renewed annually.
For more on website costs in detail, check out my comprehensive pricing guide.
Performance: This Is Where the Rubber Meets the Road
This is the most important difference for me. And it's not theoretical — you notice it immediately.
WordPress: Every page load triggers database queries. PHP generates the page dynamically. Add to that the scripts from all active plugins. The result: Load times of 3-6 seconds are not uncommon with WordPress — especially on mobile devices.
Yes, you can make WordPress faster. Caching plugins, CDN, image optimization — that helps. But you're fighting against an architecture that wasn't built for speed. You're optimizing a problem that doesn't exist with a custom website in the first place.
Custom: A website built with Next.js is pre-rendered as static HTML. When the page loads, no PHP needs to be interpreted and no database queried. The page is simply there. Load times under 1 second are the norm, not the exception.
Why does this matter? Because speed directly affects your conversion rate. Google favors fast websites in rankings. And visitors leave slow pages before they've even seen the content.
Security: The Underestimated Risk
WordPress is the most widely used CMS in the world. That makes it the most popular target for hackers. This isn't an exaggeration — according to security reports, over 90% of all hacked CMS websites are WordPress sites.
The most common entry points:
- Outdated plugins: A plugin that isn't updated can have a security vulnerability that attackers exploit.
- Outdated WordPress core: Ignoring updates opens the door to known vulnerabilities.
- Insecure themes: Caution is especially warranted with free themes from dubious sources.
- Brute-force attacks: The standard login page (wp-admin) gets bombarded with automated password combinations.
This doesn't mean WordPress is inherently insecure. With regular updates, good security plugins, strong passwords, and professional hosting, WordPress can absolutely be operated securely. But it requires constant attention.
A custom website simply has a smaller attack surface. No publicly known CMS, no standard login path, no plugins with potential vulnerabilities. That doesn't make it unhackable — but it's significantly less attractive as a target.
SEO: Both Roads Lead to Rome
I want to be honest here: Both approaches can deliver excellent SEO. The difference lies in the how.
WordPress + SEO plugin (e.g., Yoast or Rank Math): You install a plugin that helps you create meta titles, descriptions, sitemaps, and schema markup. It works well. Millions of websites rank excellently with WordPress. But you're limited to the capabilities of the plugin.
Custom development: SEO is built directly into the architecture. Clean HTML, optimal heading structure, blazing-fast load times, automatically generated sitemaps, structured data without plugin overhead. You have full control over every technical SEO aspect — and the performance advantages give you a bonus on Core Web Vitals.
Content Management: The WordPress Advantage
Here, WordPress has a clear advantage, and that needs to be acknowledged. The WordPress backend is intuitive. Editing text, uploading images, creating new pages — it all works without technical knowledge. You log in, click "Edit," change the text, and hit "Publish."
With a custom website, content management depends on the chosen solution. There are options:
- Headless CMS (e.g., Sanity, Strapi, Contentful): Offers a user-friendly backend, similar to WordPress. You edit content through a web interface.
- Markdown files: Content is written in simple text files. Straightforward, but requires some getting used to.
- Custom admin panel: A tailor-made backend that provides exactly the features you need.
None of these solutions are quite as easy as WordPress. That's an honest disadvantage that needs to be stated.
When WordPress Is the Right Choice
WordPress isn't bad. It's a powerful tool that can be the best choice for certain use cases:
- Content-heavy websites: If you regularly publish articles and content is the heart of your website, WordPress offers a proven system for that.
- Frequent content changes: If you need to change content daily or weekly and don't want to depend on a developer.
- Limited budget: If you currently have $500-2,000 for a website and need to get online quickly.
- DIY approach: If you want to build and maintain your website yourself without writing code.
- E-commerce with WooCommerce: For smaller online shops, WooCommerce is a solid and proven solution.
- Wide plugin variety: If you need specific features (booking system, membership area, forum), there's often a ready-made plugin for it.
If you choose WordPress, make sure you invest in good hosting, plan for regular updates, and don't install 30 plugins that slow your website down.
When a Custom Website Is the Better Investment
Custom development pays off when the following apply to you:
- Performance is business-critical: When your website needs to be fast — for example, because you're buying traffic through Google Ads and every second of load time costs money.
- Your brand presence must be unique: When you don't want to look like 10,000 other websites using the same theme.
- Less maintenance effort desired: When you don't want to deal with plugin updates and security patches.
- Long-term investment: When you view the website as a long-term business asset and prefer to invest properly once.
- Security is a priority: When you handle sensitive data or simply don't want to present an attack surface.
- You want full control: When you want to determine every detail of your website — from animations to the last pixel.
For more on what to look for when choosing a web developer, check out my separate article.
Headless CMS: The Middle Ground
There's a third way that combines the best of both worlds: headless CMS.
What Does Headless Mean?
In a classic WordPress setup, the backend (where you manage content) and the frontend (what visitors see) are linked together. With a headless approach, you separate the two:
- Backend: WordPress (or another CMS like Sanity, Strapi) serves only for content management.
- Frontend: A custom-built website (e.g., with Next.js) pulls content via an interface (API) and displays it.
What You Get from This
- The simple WordPress backend for content management
- The performance advantages of a custom-built website
- Full design freedom on the frontend
- Better security, because the WordPress backend doesn't need to be publicly accessible
The Catch
Headless solutions are technically more complex than either individual solution. You need a developer who can manage both the CMS and the frontend. And setup takes longer. This makes it more expensive than a standard WordPress setup — but for some projects, it's the perfect solution.
The True Costs: A Sample Calculation
To make the cost differences tangible, here's a comparison over 3 years for a business website with 5-8 pages:
WordPress
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Development / Setup | €2,000 – €4,000 |
| Hosting (3 years) | €360 – €1,080 |
| Premium plugins (3 years) | €600 – €1,500 |
| Maintenance / Updates (3 years) | €1,800 – €7,200 |
| Total over 3 years | €4,760 – €13,780 |
Custom Development
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Development | €4,000 – €10,000 |
| Hosting (3 years) | €180 – €720 |
| Plugins / Licenses | €0 |
| Maintenance (3 years) | €0 – €3,600 |
| Total over 3 years | €4,180 – €14,320 |
The ranges overlap. But the trend is clear: WordPress is cheaper at the start but becomes more expensive long-term due to ongoing costs. A custom website costs more upfront but saves money over the years.
And this doesn't even account for the time you spend on WordPress maintenance yourself. Your time has value too.
What Really Matters
At the end of the day, it's not about WordPress vs. custom. It's about your goals.
Ask yourself:
- What should the website do for me? (Win customers, inform, sell?)
- How important is a unique presence to me?
- What's my budget — now and long-term?
- How much time do I want to invest in maintenance?
- How important are speed and security to me?
The answers to these questions will show you the right path. The technology doesn't determine your website's success — whether it fits your goals does.
Conclusion: There's No Wrong Choice — Only the Wrong One for You
WordPress is a powerful, proven system with a massive ecosystem. For content-heavy websites, tight budgets, and DIY projects, it's often the most pragmatic solution.
Custom web development offers maximum performance, security, and uniqueness — at higher upfront costs but with lower follow-up costs.
And the headless approach combines the strengths of both worlds but requires more technical know-how.
My honest advice: Don't be led by dogma. "WordPress is trash" is just as wrong as "Custom development is unnecessarily expensive." The right technology depends on your project, your budget, and your goals.
Not sure which path is right for you? Get in touch — I'll give you honest advice, even if the answer ends up being "Go with WordPress."