The Real Cost of Your Website: Own It Once or Rent It Forever
You run a trade business. Every buck matters. Subscription sites look cheap, $20 a month, drag and drop; but three years later, you’ve spent thousands and still don’t own a thing. Let’s break the numbers clean.
What We’re Comparing
Two paths:
- Subscription builders like Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy; monthly rent, limited control.
- WordPress ownership, one-time build, you keep everything.
If you want the deeper audit on what you truly own in each scenario, read our ownership checklist and the Wix vs WordPress comparison ; together they show how fast "cheap" rent turns into lost assets.
Time frame: 3 years. Typical 5-page contractor site with photos, contact form, basic SEO.
WordPress Ownership Costs
- Build: $1,500-$5,000 once. Custom, fast, mobile-ready.
- Hosting: $10/month.
- Domain: $15/year.
- Maintenance: $300/year.
3-year total: about $3,500.
After that, it’s yours. Cheap to run forever.
Subscription Builder Costs
- Base plan: $30-$50/month.
- Domain + email: $80/year.
- SEO + storage + upsells: $200/year.
3-year total: $3,000-$5,000.
Stop paying, site dies.
Looks cheaper. Isn’t. You rent every line of code.
Hidden Fees and Slow Bleeds
Platforms sell “add-ons”: $10 here, $20 there. Email, forms, analytics, storage.
You lose time waiting on support. You lose leads when slow pages drop your rank. Cheap turns costly fast.
How Agencies Pad Quotes
Watch for:
- “Custom package” with no line-items.
- Monthly “support” retainers you’ll never use.
- Migration fees that trap you.
If you can’t see what you’re paying for, you’re the product.
FunkPd Flat-Fee Baselines
No rent. No bloat. Straight numbers:
- GOFP: $500; one-pager, built in days.
- Core: $2-5k, full WordPress site, ownership included.
- Pro: $10k+, ecommerce or heavy builds.
All flat, scoped, hand-off complete.
Run Your Numbers
Add up what you’ve paid. Three years renting? You’ve likely spent more than owning.
Download our free cost calculator or send your quote, we’ll mark the fat.
