Shortlist WordPress for content and service sites and Webflow for a managed visual content management system (CMS). Look at Shopify when running an online store is the main job. Consider custom development when a tested requirement or business case justifies the extra work. Wix and Squarespace can suit simpler sites, as long as the people maintaining the site can run it.
Choose from requirements before preferences
Start with the main job. That might be enquiries, publishing content, selling online, taking bookings or running a business workflow.
A new build, a working site and a broken site are different starting points. If your current site works, find a real unmet requirement before paying to move. Our guide to building a website for a small business covers the wider planning.
Then write concrete requirements. A booking should reach the right calendar. The owner should be able to publish a price update safely. A fashionable framework isn't a business requirement.
A site can mix jobs, so treat these as starting points. Every route still needs the essential checks below.
Essential check | Evidence needed before you commit |
|---|---|
Customer task | A working demo of the full journey, including error messages |
Integrations and data | Named systems, required fields, failure handling and an owner |
People and permissions | Your editor completes a task with the quoted logins and roles |
Content and growth | Templates, records and languages fit the plan or a costed upgrade |
Budget and continuity | Build, running costs, support, access and recovery are assigned |
Accessibility and privacy | Required journeys and data handling work within the scope |
Record each essential as pass, fail or unknown. An unknown needs a test or written confirmation, plus a person to resolve it. A failed payment, integration, accessibility or permission requirement can't be offset by nice design.
Preferences, such as an animation style, only help compare options that already pass. Our website compliance checks cover the data and permission side.
Essential task: [what the customer or owner must complete]
Required systems: [named integrations and data]
Evidence requested: [demo, documentation or prototype]
Status: [pass, fail or unknown]
Cost and responsibility: [plan, work, owner and next check]
Use one copy per important requirement. A filled template is a request, not proof that testing happened.
WordPress for content and flexible operations
WordPress here means the self hosted WordPress software, run on a hosting service you choose. WordPress.com subscriptions are a different product with their own pricing.
What WordPress lets your team control
WordPress supports drafts, scheduled publishing and revisions. Administrators manage the site while editors work with content. Themes change the design and plugins add functions. A developer can add custom content types, such as case studies or locations.
That suits service sites and substantial publishing when the build and care arrangements fit. Our guide to what a CMS does explains the editing side.
A custom theme can use the native block editor. The owner doesn't have to touch code. Page builders are a separate choice. Plugin count isn't a quality measure, and skipping a page builder doesn't guarantee speed. Our WordPress editor and builder choices guide compares the options.
What you must maintain on WordPress
The host, database, theme, plugins and deployments each need a named owner. Some hosts take on part of that work. A free software licence doesn't make hosting, labour or support free. WordPress suggests a backup before every update.
Our guide to choosing website hosting covers the operating requirements. Our guide to whether WordPress fits your business covers the bigger question.
Webflow for a managed visual CMS
Webflow combines a visual design environment with a structured CMS. Don't assume it only suits brochure sites. Check the actual content model, limits and workflow instead.
What Webflow manages
Webflow hosts the site under its Site plan. Workspace plans for collaboration are a separate charge. In October 2026, Webflow listed Basic at US$15 a month, billed yearly, for sites without a CMS. Premium started at US$25 a month, billed yearly, with the CMS included. Prices are per site, in US dollars, plus applicable taxes.
A dollar sign doesn't mean Australian dollars. The tier, access and extras you actually need decide the quote. Don't put a blog on Basic, because it has no CMS.
What to verify before choosing Webflow
Ask the supplier for the proposed:
content collections, templates and the links between them
languages and permissions
publishing process and plan limits
Hosting doesn't cover every custom script, integration, editorial task or export need. Run the owner trial, set out further down, on the real setup. Webflow's code export has firm limits, covered in the ownership section below.
Bottom line Fund the care, then use the flexibility
Bottom line Check limits and exports before you commit
Neither option wins by default. The right one passes your essentials and your owner trial.
Shopify when selling is the main job
Shopify brings the catalogue, checkout, inventory, shipping and store operations into one workflow. The question is whether you can run your actual store on the proposed plan. Crossing 20 or 50 products doesn't decide it.
Store requirement | What to confirm |
|---|---|
Products and variants | The structure fits without awkward workarounds |
Stock locations | Inventory stays accurate across each location |
Subscriptions or wholesale | Native, paid app or custom, and its upkeep |
Discounts and returns | The rules you need work as written |
Fulfilment and tax | Shipping and GST settings match your obligations |
Payments and integrations | Eligibility and each required connection are tested |
A native feature, a paid app and custom development carry different costs and upkeep. Verify the selected setup. Don't assume every gateway or carrier works smoothly.
Shopify Payments works in Australia online and in person through Shopify POS. It supports major cards and wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. Eligibility and conditions still need checking for your business. An external card terminal in a shop isn't proof of an online gateway integration.
These checks apply to Shopify and WooCommerce alike.
Where WooCommerce fits
WooCommerce can suit a business that needs the WordPress content environment and control over its store. It needs capable support.
How big a store can grow comes down to the setup. A cheap host won't carry every store. Hosting and extensions affect capacity. So do traffic and catalogue complexity.
Shopify isn't wrong for every service business either. A service business with real product, digital or subscription sales may have good reason to use it. A simple enquiry site should weigh the selling features against what it actually needs.
Our guide to comparing Shopify and WooCommerce covers payments, shipping and extensions in depth. Ecommerce website design support can scope the store with you.
Custom development and headless Next.js
Custom can mean three different scopes. Don't treat them as one product:
a tailored design or theme on a standard CMS
targeted custom functions or integrations
an application assembled from frameworks and services
A visually unique site doesn't necessarily need a new application stack.
What headless means
Headless separates the content system from the website interface that shows the content. Next.js is a React framework for building that interface. It isn't an editor, a database, a hosting plan or a maintenance service.
A headless site can still use WordPress or another CMS for content. A store can keep a commerce backend. Name each layer and its owner.
That's a teaching model to adapt to the contract. Another provider or an internal team could own the developer work.
Next.js can deploy on a server, in a container or as a static export of plain files. Static export supports a limited feature set. It doesn't package accounts, server logic or every vendor service into portable files.
Self hosting needs an operating plan. Next.js recommends a reverse proxy, a server that sits in front of the site. Several servers also need a shared cache. Next.js doesn't require Vercel. Changing host still isn't always trivial.
When custom work is justified
Decision | What should justify it |
|---|---|
Standard platform | The important task fits the selected product and plan |
Targeted extension | A defined gap can close without replacing the site |
Custom application | A demonstrated need or costed case covers the running burden |
You don't need proof that no product anywhere could do the job. A costed operating advantage can justify custom work. It still needs a real alternative, stated assumptions and acceptance criteria.
A portal, calculator or booking form alone doesn't make that case. Compare an existing service or a scoped integration first. A common mistake is funding a custom build to solve a problem a supported extension already handles.
Prove the riskiest requirement first with a small proof of concept. That might be previewing content or returning an accurate quote. It might be keeping records consistent after a failed connection.
A broader custom option can still win when a quantified business case backs it. The tree is a starting route, not a rule.
Where simpler website builders fit
Wix and Squarespace can belong on the shortlist for a straightforward site. That holds when the owner can run the editor and the required features fit the plan. Don't treat either as temporary or automatically unprofessional.
Test the actual appointment, form, product or content workflow. Confirm whether scheduling, email campaigns and commerce features are included or charged separately. Extra collaborators and third party tools can add cost too.
Simpler requirement | First options to test | What would rule them out |
|---|---|---|
Small service website | Wix, Squarespace, a CMS build | An integration they can't support |
Portfolio, rare updates | Squarespace, Wix, Webflow | Export needs the plan can't meet |
Simple booking business | A builder with bookings | A booking flow that fails the trial |
Wix runs the builder and the hosting together. Wix sites must be hosted on Wix's servers. That suits a site staying put. If you might leave, plan on rebuilding elsewhere.
Squarespace also bundles design tools and hosting. Its export creates a WordPress file with layout pages, one blog and text and image blocks. Store, portfolio and product content doesn't come across. Check that against what you'd need to keep.
Content rights and portability are different things. Export limits shape the exit plan. They don't stop either platform doing a useful job now.
Run an owner trial on any shortlist
The owner trial applies to every platform on your list. Change a heading and an image, create a content item and preview it on mobile. Then recover a mistaken edit and confirm an enquiry reaches its destination. If a step needs an app, a paid tier or a developer, record that and its cost.
Editor and permissions: [actual role and plan]
Task: [edit, publish, preview and recover a mistake]
Customer journey: [enquiry, booking or purchase]
Observed result: [what worked and where help was needed]
Extra cost or dependency: [seat, app, developer or none]
Decision and next test: [owner and date]
Test the setup you'd actually get, not a demo by an expert. Accessibility and privacy needs stay part of the trial.
Compare SEO, speed and accessibility
A platform can make SEO tasks easier or harder. It doesn't award rankings. Separate native controls from controls a theme or extension adds, and from work someone must build.
Platform | Documented capability | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
WordPress | Flexible content types and extensions | Theme, SEO setup and redirect owner |
Webflow | Page and CMS metadata, canonicals, sitemaps | CMS model, plan limits and output |
Shopify | Editable SEO fields, automatic canonicals | Theme, variants, apps and redirects |
Custom or headless | The team builds metadata and routes | Crawlable content and live updates |
Webflow lets you set page titles and descriptions, with patterns for CMS pages. It has canonical settings and an automatic sitemap that updates on publish. A canonical tells Google the preferred address for a page.
Shopify generates canonical tags, a sitemap and robots.txt automatically. Merchants can edit titles, descriptions, URLs and alt text. A plugin's score isn't a Google ranking score.
Check these on a service or product page and a new article:
a page specific title and description
public content and crawlable links
the intended canonical and indexability
working permanent redirects
sitemap contents and useful structured data
a published content update that shows live
Submitting a sitemap doesn't guarantee indexing.
The same platform can produce different results in different hands. Treat this as an acceptance process, not a ranking test.
Google can render JavaScript. Google still says server rendering or prerendering is a great idea, because not all bots run JavaScript. That doesn't mean every JavaScript site fails SEO. Check the rendered output and Search Console's inspection.
Speed and accessibility
For speed, test representative pages and customer journeys under comparable conditions. Our guide to diagnosing a slow website covers how. Theme, media and hosting choices can change the result on any option.
Core Web Vitals measure page experience. The field Core Web Vitals are what Google's ranking systems use. Good scores still don't guarantee rankings.
For accessibility, test keyboard use and labels in the proposed build. Then check error recovery and the main journey. A platform badge or one automated scan isn't a compliance guarantee. Our guide to website accessibility for Australian businesses covers the full set of checks.
Compare the cost over three years
A fair cost comparison keeps these apart:
one off costs
running costs
usage costs
owner effort
future events
The examples below are teaching budgets in AUD excluding GST. They aren't Elev8d quotes, national averages or client results.
Owner time and uncertain future events sit outside that sum. They're shown separately, then included where they actually apply.
Count bundled items once. Our guide to website costs in Australia covers full delivery costs. Our guide to what a low cost website includes explains the scope gaps.
Scenario A: a service website
Scenario A is a 20 page service website with a modest blog and one business editor. A form reaches a monitored inbox, with basic measurement and a defined handover. There's no store or account portal. Extra editor logins, languages or special integrations would add cost.
The WordPress figures match our build cost and maintenance guides. Delivery comes to $10,600:
$8,000 build
$1,200 copy
$900 photos
$500 migration
Webflow uses the same $2,600 of content and migration with an $8,000 build. Custom uses the same $2,600 with an $18,000 build.
The Webflow Site plan uses Premium at US$25 a month, billed yearly. At an assumed A$1.60 per US$1, that's US$25 × 12 × 1.60 = A$480 a year. That's a scenario rate, not a market quote. Bank fees, paid Workspace logins or add ons would be extra.
Two Google Workspace Business Starter mailboxes cost $11.80 each a month on the Flexible plan. That's $283.20 a year. Google's plan page doesn't say whether tax is included. We treat it as excluding GST, so check your invoice. Mailboxes aren't CMS editor logins.
AUD ex GST | WordPress | Webflow | Custom Next.js |
|---|---|---|---|
Initial delivery | $10,600.00 | $10,600.00 | $20,600.00 |
Domain | $35.00 | $35.00 | $35.00 |
Hosting or site plan | $600.00 | $480.00 | $960.00 |
Separate CMS | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | $600.00 |
Care or support | $1,440.00 | $720.00 | $2,400.00 |
Extensions and tools | $240.00 | $210.00 | In allowances |
Two mailboxes | $283.20 | $283.20 | $283.20 |
Annual recurring | $2,598.20 | $1,728.20 | $4,278.20 |
Year 1 with delivery | $13,198.20 | $12,328.20 | $24,878.20 |
Total, three years | $18,394.60 | $15,784.60 | $33,434.60 |
Each three year total is delivery plus three years of recurring costs. WordPress is $10,600 + 3 × $2,598.20. Webflow is $10,600 + 3 × $1,728.20. Custom is $20,600 + 3 × $4,278.20. Recurring costs are held constant.
Chart data:
| WordPress | Webflow | Custom Next.js | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 13198.20 | 12328.20 | 24878.20 |
| Year 2 | 2598.20 | 1728.20 | 4278.20 |
| Year 3 | 2598.20 | 1728.20 | 4278.20 |
SourceExample teaching budget, not quotes or client bills
The support allowances assume different workloads. WordPress care covers its named software work. Webflow support covers the remaining site and integration tasks. Custom support covers the agreed application. They aren't proof of equal service levels.
Get matching written scope before treating a lower allowance as a saving. If the scope you need costs more, swap in the real figure first.
How small savings flip
Under these inputs, Webflow is $2,610 lower than WordPress over three years. That's a scenario result, not a platform ranking.
Add $75 a month of required work to Webflow and it costs $2,700 more. That wipes out the gap. Raise the WordPress recurring total by 10% from year two and it adds $519.64. The three year total becomes $18,914.24.
Currency matters too. At A$1.80 per US$1, Webflow's US$300 a year becomes A$540 instead of A$480. That's A$180 more over three years, before bank charges and tax. It's a sensitivity check, not a forecast.
Keep possible future events out of the base ledger:
a later exit or major redesign
content growth
incidents and business losses
Add a quoted amount if one is planned. Otherwise show it as an unresolved cost, not a silent zero.
Scenario B: an online store
Scenario B is a separate store. Each platform gets the same products, journey and handover. Delivery is $16,000 for each. The Shopify example uses Basic, with one merchant account. Basic includes no staff accounts, so price a bigger plan if you need them.
AUD ex GST | Shopify example | WooCommerce example |
|---|---|---|
Initial delivery | $16,000.00 | $16,000.00 |
Domain | $35.00 | $35.00 |
Plan or hosting | $504.00 | $960.00 |
Apps or extensions | $360.00 | $360.00 |
Support allowance | $1,200.00 | $1,920.00 |
Two mailboxes | $283.20 | $283.20 |
Annual recurring | $2,382.20 | $3,558.20 |
Year 1 with delivery | $18,382.20 | $19,558.20 |
Three years, before fees | $23,146.60 | $26,674.60 |
In October 2026, Shopify Basic cost A$42 a month on yearly billing, so $504 a year. Shopify adds GST on top unless the ABN exemption below applies. Monthly billing at A$56 makes it $672, adding $504 over three years. Hosting is included, so don't add a second hosting bill. The WooCommerce hosting, app and support figures are examples.
Add payments separately. For teaching only, assume $300,000 of annual sales across 2,000 orders. Use a blended 2% plus $0.30 an order. It isn't a quoted Shopify or WooCommerce processing rate.
Over three years that's $19,800. Added to each ledger, the totals are $42,946.60 for Shopify and $46,474.60 for WooCommerce.
Shopify Basic lists a 2% fee on transactions through third party payment providers. Say $120,000 of annual sales went that way. That adds $2,400 a year on top of processing. Over three years, it's $7,200.
The Shopify total in this variant becomes $50,146.60. Payments through Shopify Payments don't attract that extra fee. Processing still applies.
A lower subscription doesn't make a store cheaper. Reconcile payment mix and refunds. Check international cards and extra platform fees too, without double counting.
Shopify charges GST on the subscription unless you're registered for GST and your ABN is on the account. Use real invoices for cash planning. A common mistake is comparing subscription prices alone.
Count owner effort and future changes
A professionally delivered site and a DIY subscription aren't comparable if labour disappears. Price the builder plan, domain, extras and support, then show owner time separately. Wix and Squarespace totals should come from your actual Australian quote and billing term.
Here's an example owner time sum. Setup takes 40 hours, then 2 hours a month for 36 months. That's 112 hours.
At an assumed $60 an hour, it's $6,720 of time value. It isn't a cash invoice. Don't add it again if paid labour already covers the same work. A professional build still needs your briefing, approvals and content time, so compare only the extra hours.
Name any budgeted change, its timing and its owner. Examples include:
a new language
a bigger CMS tier
a new staff login
a checkout integration
A three year forecast doesn't freeze vendor prices.
Billing terms differ too. An annual commitment, annual prepayment, monthly billing and a monthly equivalent aren't the same thing. Leave introductory promotions out unless you show the first term and the renewal. A pricier option can be justified by a proven requirement or less operating work. Don't invent extra sales to make it win.
Ownership, migration and changing providers
Ownership has several layers. Separate these:
the domain and account control
content rights and code rights
third party licences
data exports
a working deployment
A login or a source archive doesn't prove everything can move.
Option | What to establish for a future handover |
|---|---|
Self hosted WordPress | Domain and host access, files, database, licences and a tested restore |
Webflow | Access and transfer terms, code export and separate CMS exports |
Shopify | Store account ownership, staff access, data and theme exports |
Custom or headless | Rights, repository, deployment notes, accounts and a capable successor |
A WordPress content export alone isn't a working site. Webflow's code export needs a paid Workspace plan. CMS content, forms, ecommerce, password protection and site search stop working after export.
On Shopify, CSV exports and theme downloads aren't the Shopify service. Apps, payments and checkout settings need rebuilding elsewhere. For custom work, keep secrets out of public documentation.
We own the website because we have a login and an export file
We know our rights, control the accounts and have tested what transfers
Run a transfer demonstration. Export a small approved sample and identify what's missing. Confirm the recipient can use it, then record any replacement work. Keep customer details out of the sample.
Same platform handover and cross platform migration are different jobs. A handover can keep the website while access and responsibility change. A migration may keep some data but need new templates, integrations or workflows.
List important URLs and redirects first. Add analytics, content and records, then test the destination. Nobody can promise zero search disruption. Our guide to transferring a website to a new developer covers access and handover. Our guide to planning a website migration covers URLs and redirects.
A contract saying you own custom work doesn't hand over the vendor's platform. It doesn't cover every third party asset either. Portability should match the business risk. Not every small site needs to self host everything.
Who maintains the site after launch
Hosted doesn't mean maintenance free. Custom doesn't mean depending on one developer forever. Ask who handles:
the application and its configuration
integrations and updates
backups and restores
testing customer tasks
A hosted provider runs its own infrastructure. You and your support still look after access, content and domain renewal. Billing, apps and connected systems stay with you too. For self hosted WordPress and custom builds, the contract must also assign server and software duties. Our guide to what website maintenance covers has the full checklist.
Name a response route for a broken enquiry, booking or purchase. Decide who gets alerts, what the workaround is and how records are reconciled after a failure. A vendor's support hours don't guarantee a third party app gets fixed in the same time.
Plan for capacity by recording what you expect to use:
CMS records and bandwidth
staff logins and storage
paid usage
Check what happens when a plan limit is reached or usage charges rise. Check what happens if a vendor retires a feature you rely on. Agree who approves the spending. A free tier isn't a permanent plan. A common mistake is ignoring plan limits until the site hits one.
Local support can help with working hours, communication and handover. Ask a potential replacement provider to review the actual stack and documentation. Knowing the platform's name isn't proof they can support your build.
Name the person for each step. Hosting uptime alone doesn't prove forms, bookings or checkout work.
Use the decision tree and shortlist tool
Use the tree once the requirements and trade offs are clear. It narrows the field to a few options worth testing. It certifies nothing.
A simple site answer doesn't rule out professional delivery. The essential checks still apply on every route.
Our shortlist tool compares five options: WordPress, Shopify, Squarespace, Webflow and custom. It asks three things: project type, build budget excluding GST and how much SEO matters. It doesn't include Wix. It doesn't test workflows, running costs, skills or data needs.
Its points are editorial weights, not marks out of ten or measured SEO performance. A custom build may drop out below an assumed budget. Treat the result as a starting order, not a guarantee.
Here's the method:
enter your actual project and read the reasons
keep two plausible options
apply the essential checks and run the owner trial
get comparable three year quotes
If the result conflicts with an essential requirement, investigate or drop that option. If every option fails, revise the brief or get a scoped specialist review.
Our free audit checks what your current site does well and what a move would cost you.
A recommendation you can explain
Go back to your requirements. State why the chosen option fits, what could change the decision and what still needs checking. It's a conditional recommendation, not a podium.
Business situation | Initial shortlist | Evidence that could change it |
|---|---|---|
Service business, regular posts | WordPress and Webflow | Content model, trial and care cost |
Store with standard operations | Shopify and WooCommerce | Payments, catalogue and fulfilment |
Simple portfolio or enquiry site | Wix, Squarespace or a CMS | Integrations, exports and owner time |
Workflow with a proven gap | Extension or custom build | Proof of concept and running budget |
Mistakes that make the choice expensive
Choosing a favourite first
Define the main job and essentials first
Comparing subscriptions alone
Compare three year cash and owner time
Accepting an untested integration
Demo the full journey before signing
Letting an average hide a fail
Treat any failed essential as a stop
Treating source files as an exit plan
Test what transfers and what doesn't
Expecting a platform to fix content
Fix weak content and broken measurement
What we recommend at Elev8d
Choose from evidence, not a favourite. Test the essentials, run the owner trial and price three years before you sign.
Our web design page describes custom WordPress themes that are easy to edit. It says they're built without page builder bloat. For stores, it lists Shopify, with WooCommerce or BigCommerce when they suit better. For custom work, it lists React and Next.js for fast, app like sites. Laravel is listed for projects needing a solid back end, their own data or integrations.
We cover Webflow here because it's a credible option. Our service page doesn't list it as something we build. Elev8d's web design team can still help you test your requirements.
Frequently asked questions
Is WordPress better than Webflow for SEO?
Neither gets an automatic ranking advantage. Compare the controls you need, the content model, the build and the evidence.
Should a small business choose WordPress or Shopify?
Start with the main job and operating needs. Selling products points to a store comparison, not a product count rule.
When is custom web development worth it?
When a tested requirement or costed business case justifies the custom work and its ongoing responsibilities.
Is Next.js a CMS?
No, it's a framework. Your chosen setup must provide editing, data storage, deployment and support.
Can I move my website to another provider?
A same platform handover and a move to another platform differ. Check accounts, rights, exports, dependencies and replacement work.
Which platform is cheapest over three years?
It depends. Compare matched scope, labour, renewals, fees and changes. Use the ledgers above as a method, not a market ranking.
Are Wix and Squarespace suitable for Australian businesses?
They can be when the workflows, terms and running costs fit. Trial the actual setup and understand the export limits.
Will changing platform improve rankings or speed?
Only if it fixes a real constraint. A move can also introduce migration and performance problems. Diagnose first.
Next steps
Document the choice
Write down the preferred option and the requirement it solves.
Name the next test
Pick the riskiest unknown, the person testing it and the date.
Price it properly
Record the full three year cost assumptions, with owner time shown separately.
