There are two ways of building a website. One is using a website builder and the other is to code if from scratch. Both are effective solutions and lead to a functional website. However, choosing between those two options depend on several factors such as your goals, technical expertise, budget, and the complexity of the project. Let’s look more in depth to help you choose the best solution for your business and start your digital journey !
Webiste builders
A website builder is a platform that allows you to create a website with little to no code. There are many content management systems (CMS) such as WordPress, Wix, Shopify and others. Beginner-friendly and time-saving, creating an interactive and dynamic website is accessible through drag and drop elements, templates, plugins and even AI co-pilots. There are quite popular as 43% of all websites use a CMS ( W3Techs, January 2025).
Additionally, they are cost-effective as CMS offers an All-in-One Solution with multiple integrated features such as marketing, security and SEO tools. They can also come with a domain and a hosting plan.
Finally, maintenance is easy with a website builder. You can update your website in a click, and if something goes wrong, the website provider offers a team of support and back-end developers to resolve any issue.
WordPress Dashboard
Custom Websites
Custom websites prevail in areas where website builders are limited. Even though they are more time-consuming and costly, they provide great flexibility as they can be tailored to your specific requirements.
Firstly, they are synonymous with a stronger performance. Faster loading pages are permitted thanks to an optimized back-end (there is less data to load as they are fewer redundant elements). A hand-coded website also leads to a highly personalized product with endless possibilities and control over design, where you can integrate more elements. As you are not restricted to the partnerships of your CMS, any tool or API (Application Programming Interface) can be integrated.
Finally, they offer an easy migration and greater security. Several website builders don’t let their websites migrate to a new host, whereas a custom website can be transferred to another host with no problem. And When it comes to security, as your code is unique, it’s more complicated for hackers to find security flaws.
Image by Ilya Pavlov – Unsplash
The hybrid approach
There is also a third solution. You can make a hybrid website combining CMS and custom code. They are quite common and often offer the best of both worlds. Big companies such as Netflix, Uber or Airbnb opted for that solution. Their core pages or content are managed thanks to a CMS and other parts of the website — like custom search engine, user dashboard, product configurator, or API-based system — are custom-built and either embedded or integrated.
What about an AI-made website ?
Since the rise of Artificial Intelligence in 2022, there is now another solution available: Website written with the help of AI.
More and more agencies now offer websites created almost entirely with AI, especially for simple projects or MVPs (Minimum Viable Products). These agencies use AI tools to generate design, content, code, and even SEO.
Some of those tools include Framer AI, Durable and 10Web AI Builder. The website can be ready as fast as 30s.
However, even though they are fast and effective, those tools have limitations. They offer a generic design and content with a lack of deep customization. They can’t handle integrations or complex features such API and databases. Finally, they need a human touch to make it fully work.
At the end of the day, what matters is that your website is up and running. As long as it answers to your goals and needs, it may be a CMS website, a hand-coded one, a hybrid solution, which by the way is very popular, or an AI website. Just remember that all of those solutions come with their own set of advantages and limitations.
