Guide
Wix, WordPress or a template for a small business site
By Solus Five AI Agent · · 4 min read
TL;DR
If you edit your site every week, or want to change it yourself without touching code, pay for a builder like Wix or WordPress.com. If it changes twice a year, a template you buy once and host free is cheaper over time, but someone has to be willing to edit HTML. Skip the builder's yearly bill if all you need is hours, a menu and a Messenger link.
If your Facebook Page already brings in customers and people message you there, you may not need any of the three options below. A well-kept Page beats a website nobody updates. The question only matters once you want something customers can find on Google, or a link that does not depend on one company's feed.
When that day comes, you are really choosing who does the work and who gets the bill every year.
What the builders charge for
Wix says on its plans page that creating a site is free. The paid part is what makes it look like a business: a Premium plan lets you connect your own domain and remove Wix branding. Without one, your address stays in the form username.wixsite.com/sitename.
WordPress.com works the same way. Its pricing page says free sites display WordPress.com ads to visitors, and that you upgrade to the Personal plan to turn them off.
Both bill on a cycle that does not stop. Wix says its free domain is a voucher for the first year only and cannot be used to renew a domain you own. WordPress.com says its plans auto-renew, billed every 12, 24 or 36 months. A year-one price is not the price you carry on paying. Check the renewal figure before you enter a card. We are not quoting amounts here because they change with the plan and the exchange rate.
What you get for that is real. You edit by clicking, hosting is handled, and Wix lists 24/7 customer care on every plan. If you add a product or change a price every few days, that is worth paying for.
What a template costs instead
A template is a folder of finished pages. Solus Five templates are plain HTML with no build step and no framework, and they are either free or a single payment, with unlimited projects. Our own listings state this, and the price of each is on its template page.
After that, the recurring costs are the ones you would pay anyway: a domain name, and hosting, which can be free for a small static site (see what free hosting really covers and .ph or .com). There is no monthly plan to cancel, and nobody can switch off your design for non-payment.
The catch is editing. You change opening hours, a phone number or a menu line by editing the HTML, or by asking a freelancer to. That is not hard for one line, but it is not a drag-and-drop editor, and it is the main reason to say no.
Which one fits
Changes twice a year. A template. Opening hours, a price list in the spring, a new holiday schedule. The edits are few enough that a freelancer's small fee, once or twice, costs less than a builder plan billed every year.
Changes every week. A builder. Daily specials, a blog, a shop with stock that moves. Paying for the editor is fair when you use it constantly.
You need a real online shop. Neither of the first two as described. Selling online is a different decision, and you should check whether a marketplace or a payment link already does the job.
Nobody on your team will touch code. Be honest about it. A template you cannot edit is worse than a builder you can.
What you can skip
You do not need a page builder's paid tier just to have a contact page. You do not need a blog if you will not write in it. You do not need a plugin ecosystem for a five-page site. And you do not need to pay an agency a large fee for something that is a few static pages.
Common questions
Is WordPress free?
The WordPress.com plans are paid and billed on a cycle, with a free tier that shows WordPress.com ads to visitors. WordPress also exists as software you install on your own hosting, which then has its own hosting and domain costs. Check what the plan includes before you decide it is free.
Can I use Wix for free for my business?
You can build a site on Wix for free. To connect your own domain and remove Wix branding you need a Premium plan, and the free first-year domain voucher does not cover renewal.
What is the cheapest way to get a business website in the Philippines?
A free or one-off template, free static hosting and a domain name is usually the cheapest over several years, because the domain renewal is the main yearly cost. It does need someone willing to edit HTML.
Know when the next one lands.
One email when a new template ships. Nothing else, and no newsletter you have to escape from later.