WordPress powers around 41% of websites (according to W3Techs). That popularity has a price when you compete for premium clients: many sites are built from the same themes, so it is easy to look like your competitors.
Short answer: WordPress wins on a budget of a few thousand for a site that simply needs to exist. Custom code wins when one client is worth thousands and the site has to help win them - then better conversion can repay the higher price, and upkeep comes down to hosting and updates.
What you actually buy in a template
A $60 theme is code written for everybody, which means for nobody. In practice that often means several seconds of load time on a phone, dozens of plugins with conflicting interests, and a design that was modern three years ago.
- Every plugin is a potential security hole and tens of kilobytes of script.
- Without well-configured caching, every page view is assembled by PHP on the server, which slows loading down.
- Changes beyond the theme's limits mean fighting somebody else's code.
What custom code changes
A Next.js site can be generated statically and served from a CDN, which makes fast loading easier - provided someone takes care of images, fonts and scripts. There are no plugins, because the features are built in, and the limits are set by the budget rather than a theme.
A 2020 Google and Deloitte study (37 brands, over 30 million mobile sessions) found that in lead generation a 0.1-second speed improvement was associated with 21.6% more people reaching the form page. It is a correlation, not a guarantee, but the direction is clear.
The biggest jump appears where a site stops being a brochure and starts walking the client down a path: a specific specialisation, proof, an easy way to make contact. Why speed converts into enquiries is covered in Core Web Vitals and sales.
SEO: what actually depends on the technology
Both engines can be SEO-correct, so the name of the technology will not rank anybody. The difference sits in three places.
- Speed. Core Web Vitals is a real signal in Google. WordPress slows down with every plugin added, while a Next.js site starts from a CDN with nothing left to load.
- Control over structure. Titles, descriptions, structured data (FAQ, article, breadcrumbs) and redirects are part of the site's code rather than plugin settings that can change after an update.
- No filler pages. By default WordPress creates tag, author and date archives. Unless someone switches them off or marks them noindex, you get thin, near-identical URLs. It can be fixed within WordPress itself - someone just has to remember to do it.
The five-year sum
Comparing build costs alone is misleading, because it ignores what happens afterwards.
| WordPress | Custom code | |
|---|---|---|
| Build | 1.5-15k zł (template or agency) | from 12k zł (company site) |
| Per year | 1.2-3.6k zł (care, plugins) | hosting and updates |
| Mobile score | median ~40 (HTTP Archive) | easier to score well |
| Ceiling | the theme's limits | set by the budget |
| Who maintains it | any freelancer | somebody who knows React |
WordPress needs plugin and theme updates, and any of them can break something - hence the monthly care plans. A site with no plugins has nothing to update every month. Over five years the totals usually meet, and on a site that genuinely sells, the conversion difference tips it long before that.
It is also worth defusing the myth that WordPress is free. The engine is free; the site is not: hosting, a premium theme, paid plugins for forms, SEO and backups, plus the time spent on updates and security patches. You pay in small instalments, forever.
Who maintains it after you
This is the honest argument in WordPress's favour and it is worth knowing. You can find a WordPress developer in any city, at any budget, on any Saturday. A Next.js site needs somebody who knows React - fewer people, higher rates.
Two things genuinely reduce that risk: the code in your own repository from day one, and documentation written in plain language rather than as comments on functions. Worth asking about before signing, whichever technology you pick.
Who edits the content
The most common worry about leaving WordPress: "how do I change the text myself?" The answer depends on how often you do it.
- Once a quarter - a request to your supplier, usually inside the care plan.
- Weekly, one person - an admin panel simple enough to edit copy and images without technical knowledge.
- Daily, several people, an editorial team - then you need a full CMS, and that is a real argument for WordPress or for a headless CMS behind custom code.
Worth settling before the quote, because an admin panel is a separate scope and a separate line in the budget.
When WordPress makes sense
Honestly: if your budget is 3-5 thousand and the site is a brochure with a phone number, WordPress is enough. Custom code starts paying when the site has to sell: when a client is worth thousands, the conversion difference repays the build many times over.
Choose WordPress when
- The budget is 3-5k and the site is a brochure
- Content changes daily and several people edit it
- You need a working shop by yesterday
- You have nobody technical and want to keep it that way
Choose custom code when
- One client is worth thousands or more
- The site has to win work rather than merely exist
- Speed and search position matter
- You need features no plugin provides
The decision comes down to one question: is the site a cost to minimise, or an asset meant to earn? The ranges for both roads are in how much a website costs.
FAQ
Can a site move off WordPress without losing rankings?
It can, on one condition: a 301 redirect map from old URLs to new ones, prepared before launch. A rebuild without it wipes out the positions you earned, and it is the most common way companies lose traffic when changing sites.
Does custom code mean being locked to one agency?
Only if you do not get the code. A repository on your own account and hosting access from day one removes the problem - worth asking before the first price is quoted.
What about the plugins I use?
Most are replaced by one function written once: a form, a gallery, a cookie banner, a map. The ones that are genuinely expensive to reproduce are full shops and booking systems, and those are a real reason to stay.
Is WordPress slow by itself?
No. What is slow is what usually gets installed on it: a universal theme plus twenty plugins. A well-built WordPress site can be fast - it just costs about what a site written from scratch costs.
Is Next.js the same as custom code?
Next.js is a React framework we use to write sites from scratch - one of the technologies custom code is built with. In practice "Next.js or WordPress" comes down to whether the site is assembled from a ready-made theme or written for your business.
What about an online store?
That is a separate calculation. Hosted shop platforms have a real advantage with a small catalogue and a quick start. We compare them with a custom headless store in how much an online store costs.
Summary
This is not a choice of technology but a choice about the role the site plays. A brochure can sit on a template. A site meant to help win clients worth thousands should be fast, free of ballast and shaped around how you sell - and then better conversion has a chance to repay the price difference.