Originally published at https://rayastats.com/en/blog/custom-website-vs-website-builder The short answer: if you need a simple site that says who you are and how to reach you, and you have more time
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The deciding question for me is always what the site has to do, not how it looks on day one. If it just needs to say who you are, what you do, and how to contact you, a builder is usually enough — and being able to update it yourself without waiting on a developer is a real advantage.
Custom makes sense when the site has a job a builder can't do cleanly: bookings, listings that change often, specific search or filtering, or integrations with other tools you already use. The other thing I'd weigh is total cost, not just the build price — your time updating it, and how hard it is to move away later if you outgrow it. Start simple if you can, but don't lock yourself into something you'll have to rebuild in a year.
M Yurtsever
Building VeloCMS.org
That 30 hour estimate for setting up a builder site usually gets blown out of the water once mobile tweaks start piling up. How often do DIY site owners actually stick to that timeframe without hitting layout bugs on smaller screens? Doesn't it usually turn into a massive time sink?