It’s one of the first decisions when building a website: do I use a template or go custom? There’s no single answer — it depends on what you need. But there is a way to decide without regretting it later.
The template
It’s fast and cheap. To get started, validate an idea or run a simple project, it can be more than enough. The trouble shows up as you grow: you hit the design’s limits, it’s hard to stand out (there are thousands of identical sites), and forcing a template to do something it wasn’t built for usually gets expensive.
The custom website
It costs more upfront, but it’s built around YOUR goal: it loads only what it needs, fits how you work, and grows with you without patches. It’s the difference between a one-size-fits-all suit and one tailored to you.
How to decide
Ask yourself one question: is this site an experiment, or a key piece of your business? If it’s the latter, custom almost always pays off — not as a luxury, but because every detail pushes toward your goal.