WordPress makes sense when
- you publish several times a week
- other people write for you, each with their own login
- the site is an editorial team, a portal or a large blog
WordPress vs custom website: which one to choose
Two things decide this: how often your website changes and who changes it. A business website of up to six pages costs 5 200 zł with me at the introductory price, and below you get numbers from price lists I checked myself: three years of running costs in three variants, and an honest line past which WordPress is the better choice.
When WordPress
When does WordPress make sense?
WordPress makes sense when content is your product: you publish several times a week and other people write for you, because you run an editorial team, a portal or a large blog. A panel where every author adds a post without a developer is then worth its price, and I say so openly in my reply to your inquiry, even when you arrive with your mind made up on a custom website.
A business website that changes a few times a month is not that case. A new price, different opening hours and fresh photos from a job come in every few weeks, while the panel for making them has to be updated, secured and paid for all year round. You end up paying for a capability you hardly use.
So instead of talking you into one technology, I show below what each variant costs over three years and what you give up in each, and you make the decision yourself, with numbers instead of adjectives.
A custom website makes sense when
- the site changes a few times a month
- I make the changes, after one email from you
- the site is meant to bring in clients, and its content rarely changes
A custom website
What a custom website means here
On the market “custom” can mean anything from a bespoke WordPress theme to an application written from scratch, so before I compare costs, here is what the word means on this site.
- Technology
- A static website in Astro and Svelte: a set of ready files the browser receives immediately, with no database, no plugins and no admin panel running on a server.
- Updates
- The site has no plugins or system to update, so there is no list of versions waiting for a click and no patches to remember when the next release comes out. Once a year, on the Care plan, I refresh its dependencies as part of the technical review.
- Content changes
- Instead of a panel, you have me: on the Care plan an edit goes live within 48 hours of your email, with no limit, and without the Care plan each content change is a separate job for 150 zł.
- Ownership
- You get the code as a package at handover, together with a build ready to upload to any hosting, and after every edit you get an up-to-date package. The domain is registered in your name from day one.
- Moving
- The same files run with any provider without code changes. Only the contact form needs re-wiring, which any developer can do, or I can, as a 600 zł add-on from the price list.
- AI readability
- A custom website is plain HTML, so AI assistants read it as easily as Google does, without running anything first.
source: the price list, Maintenance and Ownership subsections
Three-year cost
Three years of running costs in three variants, with the arithmetic
I leave the build price out of the table, because in every variant it depends on the contractor; my packages are in the price list. What I count is what you pay afterwards: a year of running a business website according to price lists from August 2026, times three. I leave out the domain, because it costs the same everywhere, and I quote agency care net of VAT, as its price lists do.
WordPress, on your own
- Yearly cost
- about 500 to 700 zł, more with paid plugins
- Arithmetic
- 3 × 500 to 700 zł
- Three years
- about 1 500 to 2 100 zł
- Updates
- you do them: the system and every plugin separately
- Content changes
- you, in the panel
- When something breaks
- repair from 120 zł, after a breach from 350 zł
renewal price lists of cyber_Folks, LH.pl, dhosting, nazwa.pl; elementor.com · August 2026
WordPress with a care plan
- Yearly cost
- from 2 000 zł net
- Arithmetic
- 3 × 2 000 zł net and up
- Three years
- from 6 000 zł net
- Updates
- included
- Content changes
- usually extra, 70 to 150 zł an hour
- When something breaks
- usually included
care plan price lists of calmsite.pl, thenewlook.pl, studiokreatywnychstron.pl, wpplan.pl, kcmobile.pl · August 2026
A site under my Care plan
- Yearly cost
- 1 490 zł, final price
- Arithmetic
- 3 × 1 490 zł
- Three years
- 4 470 zł, final price
- Updates
- no plugins or system to update
- Content changes
- unlimited, included, within 48 hours
- When something breaks
- monitoring and backups included
price list, the Care plan paid a year upfront
WordPress run on your own is the cheapest in cash and I won’t pretend otherwise: you pay the difference between about 2 100 and 4 470 zł with your own time on updates, with learning a panel that changed its look again in May 2026, and with the risk of a post-breach repair at the worst possible moment.
A site on my Care plan comes out cheaper only once someone is supposed to look after it for you, and that difference holds even against the cheapest plan on the market: for less money you get hosting, backups and monitoring included, plus unlimited content changes, which most care plans either leave out entirely or bill by the hour.
The first conversation and the vision of your site cost nothing, and an inquiry commits you to nothing: the first money changes hands only once you accept that vision.
Send an inquiryThe yearly comparison on the homepage Packages and Care in the price list
What you give up
What you give up in each variant
No variant is free; each one just bills you in a different currency. An honest comparison names each of them.
Choosing WordPress, you give up
- time: WordPress ships several to a dozen updates a year, and every plugin updates separately
- a panel that stays put: it changed its look in May 2026, and since April Elementor gives new sites a different editor
- yearly renewals: the paid page builder and the theme renew every year, about 250 zł for the builder alone
Choosing a site under my care, you give up
- editing on your own: I make the changes, within 48 hours on Care or for 150 zł outside it
- a new page in a minute: a page or a section is an add-on with a fixed price, for example a page for 600 zł, a section for 300 zł
- publishing several times a week: if that is what your site is going to look like, say so at the start, because then you need WordPress
Speed and Google
Speed counts with Google and with your customer
WordPress doesn’t have to be slow: I don’t measure other people’s sites, and a well-built WordPress can load fast too. What I can tell you is what I measure on my own work and what I guarantee, because those are the only numbers I answer for.
PageSpeed Insights, Google's tool, rates a site in four categories. Performance is how fast the page loads on a phone, and it is the one that turns into inquiries, because a customer doesn't wait for a slow page. Accessibility, best practices and SEO check whether the site is comfortable to use with weaker eyesight, from the keyboard and with a screen reader, whether the connection is encrypted and the code runs without errors, and whether Google understands the content. Load speed is an official ranking signal on top of that.
I design every site to 100 points in all four categories, and in performance I guarantee a minimum of 95 on every page, measured at handover on the mobile profile: below that number I fix it at no extra cost, and if the score is still lower after two weeks, I take 20% of the package price off the second instalment.
Full guarantee terms The measured site: kochamfotografowac.pl
One measured site
- Site
- kochamfotografowac.pl, the Business site package
- Score
- 100/100 on desktop and mobile
- Guarantee
- a minimum of 95 performance points on every page, measured at handover
Decision
Five questions that settle the choice
-
How often does the content change?
If several times a week, WordPress is a good choice. If a few times a month, a custom website serves you better, because day to day the panel is just a cost.
-
Who makes the changes?
An editorial team or several people with their own logins need WordPress. If changes are rare and it is enough that I make them after one email from you, a custom website is enough.
-
Who will run the updates?
On WordPress someone has to: you, or a care plan whose cost is already in the table above. A custom website has no plugins or system to update, and once a year, on the Care plan, I refresh its dependencies during the technical review.
-
Is the site supposed to bring in clients from Google?
If so, speed and a structure built for search count from day one. With me you get a measured score and a guaranteed minimum of 95 points; in WordPress it depends on the theme, the plugins and whoever keeps an eye on them.
-
What has to stay yours when you change contractors?
In both variants the domain and the files should be in your name, so ask everyone about it. I register the domain in your name from day one, and you get the code as a package at handover.
A website without a subscription What a landing page costs Website visible in AI
Tell me what you needFAQ
Questions that come up when choosing the technology
What does the build cost: WordPress or a custom website?
I left the build price out of the table, because it depends on the contractor. With me a business website of up to six pages costs 5 200 zł, a final amount at the introductory price for contracts signed by 31 October 2026, and a simple one-job site costs 2 900 zł. The difference in running costs over three years is in the table above.
price list, introductory prices for contracts signed by 31 Oct 2026
Is a static website the same as a custom website?
On this page, yes. A custom website as I build it is a static website: a set of ready files built from code, with no database and no admin panel running on a server, so when comparing offers, ask what the contractor means by it.
Can WordPress be made just as fast?
It can, and I don’t claim otherwise. The difference is who keeps it that way after launch: in WordPress the score depends on the theme, the plugins and each of their updates, so without a care plan it can change without you knowing. A site under my care does not update itself, so the score from the handover report stays for as long as I am the only one making changes to the site.
Can I start with WordPress and move to a custom website later?
Yes. I build the new site from scratch in a package from the price list, and from the old one you take the copy, the photos and the domain, provided it is registered in your name. The old WordPress stays where it is until the domain is switched to the new site, so nothing disappears in the meantime.
The WordPress figures come from public hosting renewal price lists and care plan price lists, read in August 2026, and concern a business website without a shop. The amounts in my price list are final, because I operate under the Polish VAT exemption, and the introductory prices apply to contracts signed by 31 October 2026. The performance guarantee applies on the terms in the Performance section of the homepage.
Contact
Talking to me costs nothing
I reply within 2 business days, with a price from the price list and a delivery date. If you don't know yet what kind of site you need, just tell me what your business does and we'll pick the package together.
or directly: kontakt@patrykmoga.dev
- Tax ID (NIP)
- 9970171965
- Address
- Klatka 9a, 98-400 Klatka
- Contractor
- Patryk Moga
- I have over eight years of commercial experience building websites and CRM and LMS systems, and I also build my own web products. I'm a freelancer, so you work directly with me and I'm the one who takes your site from design to deployment.