Blog Post
DIY vs Professional
Which Is Right for You?

Can you save money building your own website? Sure. But what does it cost you? Here's an honest comparison.

6 min read · June 9, 2026

The DIY Appeal

Wix. Squarespace. WordPress. Drag-and-drop builders make it easy to slap together a website for $100-300/year. Sounds great on paper.

But here's what you're really paying for when you go DIY:

Your Time (The Biggest Cost)

Building a website properly takes 20-40 hours. That's one full work week, minimum. What's your hourly rate? A plumber in Kingston makes $75-100/hour. A contractor makes $80-150/hour. If you do, too, you're spending $1,500-6,000 in labor to save $300.

Limited Customization

Template builders are fast, but you're locked into their templates. Your site looks like thousands of others. No competitive advantage.

Slow Performance

Platform builders load slowly. Google ranks fast sites higher. Your DIY site just lost SEO points.

The Professional Advantage

A professional designer builds a site that's custom, fast, and optimized for Google. It converts better. It costs less to maintain. It actually makes you money instead of just existing online.

At Illucid Design, we start at $549 for a landing page. That's less than one work day for most business owners, and you get a site built to convert.

Ready to stop wasting time? Let's talk — we'll have you live in days, not weeks.